It is illegal for collections to contact you at work. I work for my employer at home. An aquaintance was getting repeated calls for a cell phone bill, 2 and 3 times or more a day, at my home. It was getting unbearable, and I was trying to work. I finally told them this was my work number, stop calling. The lady said my number was the only number he gave to them on the application. I asked her why they have an application if they didn't check out the information contained in them, and she hung up. It ended the calls though.

Yes, John, that is probably the scenario, however, a collection agency DOES have the responsibility to check to make sure profanity is not used in their collection letters. If they can't do this, then perhaps the anti-collection agency stereotypes are not that false after all.

dealing with wrong call debt collectors is very simple, you just go nutty,get very loud and ask incoherent questions with a bad accent. Lead them on and then scream at them that you are in a hospital,how did they get that number. Basically just be as rude as they are.

I work at UNC Chapel Hill and one of our previous students first names was $hithead (pronounced shi they ed). How is the company supposed to know that that is not a real name? I have met many people whose names are unbelievably inapropriate in English. You can check the online white pages and find nearly every obscenity is someone's name.

This is a weak excuse for a story. ABC knows very well some joker used a fake name and the collection agency uses a computer to send out collection notices. Next...

Unless the guy who got the bill's given name really is Sh1t Face, why should this be an issue? "No one named Face here", end of story. Columbia House should eat the $16 for failing to check the credit reference on "Mr. Face" before they sent him the goods. (Of course, they have been known to prey on teens with no credit...)

I am a debt collector and I sure feel this way about these people. They should just pay their bills and quit their complaining. I really hate having to call them -- they're so rude about their failure to pay. They used to make excuses, now they just cuss me out. You should hear what I say about you when I have you on mute...

Nationwide has called my house to speak with my boyfriend who is on SS Disablity and they told him what a looser he was because he can't work. It was over a bill that he had about the time that he became disabled. They cussed at him and just been rude every told him that they were going to take his house and call family members to tell them about his debt. He told them to go ahead and try. I have told them to cease and disset with contacting my number again. Nationwide has been rude to me and I am not even a debtor. They need to be out of business with those kind of practices.

Tired of debt collectors calling you? Here's a simple way to stop it: Buy a good whistle, engage the bill collector in conversation all awhile putting the whistle next to speaking part of the phone, then blow as loud as you can into the speaking part of the phone!
End of them calling you!

Recently I had my phone number changed and wouldn't you know it I started to recieve dozens of calls for people I never herad of asking me for money when I explained to them I just got this number I was told Do you know how many times I heard that , and I told them guess you are going to hear it again if you keep calling me back , after a week of constanly calling me from early morning until late night I decided to prank them back ... I found a webpage where a man was so sick and tired of this kind of harrassment that the next time a collector called he prentended to be a homocide officer and asked the collection agency how they know the person they were calling and when is the last time they seen him or talked to him ...to make a long story short this man interrogated the bill collector to the point he never recieve another call! I thought this was hilarious Ikept that conversation from a website and when I recieve calls I give them back that same thing. Just like with all these credit card companies that send you mail saying you have been pre qualified to recieve a card they give you a pre paid enevelope to send back your application , well I look through the Sunday paper for coupons and send them back in the envelope,Why not they paid the postage already. I have not recieved any offers lately , Have fun with them instead of getting mad because once they know they got you to that point they will keep calling, or ask for their home number and tell them you will have the person call them back 15 times a day, or if they ask for a certain person ask them to hold on , put the phone down and go do wash come back 10 minutes later and say Sorry wrong number. Think of ways to take up as much of their time as you can I am sure that will end the calls.So sit back with a cup of coffee and let the games begin!

this is a must for all collection agencies, telemarketers and annoying phone calls!

Please sit back and enjoy

Hey ABC why is it you will not post a website for people to hear how to prank a telemarketer but you will AIR on national TV our soldiers getting killed and of all days Veterans day , just goes to show you how much control media has over what is aired and what is not .

say it aint so

I always take it as a most opportune time to practice my Mongolian language skills. If not, constant tapping on my phone receiver may cause my hearing aid to work better.

it is NOT illegal for a debt collector to contat you at work.. UNLESS you (or anyone else) tell them not to. PER FDCPA... If you do not specifically say "do not call my job" they will continue to call. I say if people payed their bills they wouldn't have to worry about debt collectors. For them, it is a job.. it is thier way of paying their bills..

I get calls for some gal who had this phone almost 3 years ago. I like some of the ideas here. I would never put up with a zillion calls a day. If they give me their address then I will take my vacation and go beat them.

By the way debt collectors should be required to verify who has a phone number before calling it.

I'd like to respond to the topic in general... "Bad Debt Collectors."

Perhaps the media should focus on the creditors that have suffered because they have customers that evade paying their bills, the entrepreneurs that are forced out of business because debtors evade paying while the media embraces the debtors by talking down about collectors.

Unfortunately, there are "bad debt collectors" just like there are bad apples in every industry there is. The fact is there are more good collectors than bad. And it's these collectors that are often directly responsible for saving businesses from folding and helping people in debt get out of debt because they are committed to working with them to resolve the problem.

It would be refreshing to see the media embrace creditors and focus on the services and products that are important to consumers and businesses. The sad part of this scenario is that creditors are forced to raise prices to cover for those who want something for nothing.

Perhaps the media that is supporting debtors that evade their financial responsibilities should sit in a debt collectors chair and hear the "abuse" they take on a daily basis from deadbeats that have no intention of paying for their purchases. This is not to condone bad collectors, but it is an issue that is never focused on.

Walk a mile in the shoes of a debt collector and you might get a new perspective on this topic.