This is topic You need to return my call and you know perfectly well what matter it's regarding in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.
I just got that nasty-gram on my answering machine.
I've no idea what matter or who the heck that guy is. His message was decidedly not nice and he addressed me as Ms. Taylor.
wtf?
Posted by Paul Goldner (Member # 1910) on :
Stalk him and cut him up with little razor blades.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
You should phone him back, tell him to piss off, and then tell him that if he wants to speak to you, he can phone back and be a little more polite about it. I hate rude phone people. They're not to be tolerated, because there's rarely an excuse to behave in that manner.
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
Tell him it wasn't your fault his order with Spartacus Alternative Love catalogue got screwed up. If he wants patent vinyl leather in the future he should specify patent vinyl leather.
And then hang up in a huff.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
So, uh, when are you going to call me back, mack?
-Bok
Posted by WheatPuppet (Member # 5142) on :
at Bok.
I'd leave the exact same message on his answering machine.
Posted by zip (Member # 4710) on :
If he left a number you can go to www.anywho.com and do a reverse look up on it, might give you a clue as to who it is. If i had to guess i would say that it is a new telemarketing trick. In any case i wouldn't return the call, if he really needs to talk to you he will leave another message and give you some more information.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
zip: You mean like those messages I get daily on my answering machine about, and I quote, "a matter that could possibly concern you"?
**Ela**
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
I don't think it's a telemarketer.
It's actually most likely a bill collector. The Fair Debt Collection practices act ties the hands of bill collectors--they can't say what the call is regarding to anyone, or anything, except you. Not your spouse, not your answering machine, not anybody.
So if someone calls for somebody else in your house and won't say what it's regarding, I know that usually sets of four-alarm-bells in everybody's mind that it's some kind of sleazy telemarketer trying to trick you, but odds are pretty good it's regarding a debt or something you haven't paid, and them keeping thier mouth shut about what it's regarding is really them complying with federal law.
(Think about it. Wouldn't a sleazy telemarketer do something less suspicious than refuse to say what it was regarding? Like maybe claim you'd won a prize, or it was about "your home loan" or "your phone bill" or whatever else they were trying to get you to buy, but make it sound like it was about the one you already had?)
Lots of these collectors get desperate, and resort to crap like this guy did, which is way out of line, and in and of it self probably violates the Fair Debt Collections Act, but you can't really sue somebody for being rude, unless they're threatening or call to the point where the ringing phone becomes a nusiance. But since he can't, on an answering machine, tell you he's about to take you to small claims or whatever, he's doing what he can to make the situation sound urgent, hoping he can intimidate you into calling, but without putting anything regarding the nature of the call onto an answering machine somebody else might overhear.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
I have bill collectors calling me everyday for "Lois Klaughcorn" or something like that. I'm spelling it that way because everyone prounces it weird like they really have to try. i.e. "Klowcorn? Uhhh...Klefcorn?"
They never believe me when I say I'm not her.
Recent convesation:
Me: Hello?
Bill Collector: Hi, Mrs. Klaughkorn? (He acts like he knows me, but that proves he's a bill collecter because I am not her!...heh heh.)
Me: No, this isn't her number anymore, sorry.
BillC: (huffs to himself) Oh, yeah right.
Me: No really, I get calls for her all the time though.
BillC: Whatever. *click*
The doofus hung up on ME! It made me so angry that this moron called ME, insulted ME by practically calling me a liar, and then hung up! *69 didn't reveal a number for me to call and complain to. I'm still mad about that. Mainly because I couldn't defend myself. He just judged and then hung up before I could argue. I really hate that, like when people state their point, and then say "Uh huh, yeah, uh huh, whatever, um hmm, sure, yeah," while you're trying to make your point. Like a kid with his fingers in his ears.
Or maybe I have another personality that I don't know about? The anal-retentive Lois.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
PSI - That sounds like calls we get regularly at our house. They call for any of about a million different "Miller"s. When I say "There's no one here by that name" or "You must have the wrong number", they act all shocked ("Are you sure?"). Sometime they'll even spell the names out for me. Yes, I'm sure neither I nor my husband have changed our names to _____ Miller (and I'm pretty sure that, smart as they are, our cats have not taken to using the phone). We've had that phone number for a year and a half and still sometimes get phone calls looking for them. The thing that frustrated me most is that our phone number is still listed as belonging to these Millers (so if someone calls directory assistance they get our number), even though I have complained about it to the telephone company.
I love the random telemarketer calls that begin with "I'm trying to reach you or someone you know".
[ August 27, 2003, 10:47 AM: Message edited by: ludosti ]
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
Hmmm, for as long as we have had our second phone number, which is a few years now, we have been getting phone calls on our answering machine for the same guy, MM. We never answer that phone, cause we only use that line for the computer and have never given the number out. People always talk to the machine as though they think MM is listening and is going to pick up. My husband looked MM up in the phone book, and our number is still listed as MM's number. He has tried, on several occasions, to call the phone company to correct the listing, but they kept him on hold for so long that he gave up.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
My favorite calls say something along the lines of:
"We have a very important call for you, but all of our representatives are busy. Please stay on the line and..."
I don't know what comes next because I always hang up.
I used to feel bad for stopping a telemarketer, so I would listen to their whole shpiel before saying "No thank you". Now I don't care. I get so many calls that I just hang up on them. I love it when they call and there's a long pause after I say hello. Then, like five seconds later they say "Hello?" I always wait for them to say hello a couple of times before I hang up. That makes me feel like we're even. Like we prank called each other.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
If it's some sort of bill collector, I've yet to see anything in writing (mail?).
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Maybe their address is updated and correct, but not their number.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Our current phone number used to belong to "The Gold Shoe" apparently an antique or thrift shop. We've gotten some interesting calls about people insisting we have to be them. I didn't know that phone numbers were ever written in stone!
AJ
Posted by Sopwith (Member # 4640) on :
Our home telephone number is still listed in my wife's maiden name... It's amazing how well that works in determining who is a telemarketer and who isn't.
Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
docmajik, The FDCPA, eh? In the industry?
Well, there are good collectors and bad, as with any other industry. When I worked for a collection agency a few years ago my job (among other unsavory things) included checking to make sure that our letters stayed compliant with the FDCPA, and other state level statutes. A third party collection agency cannot even include it's logo on the outside of an envelope, that is, when addressed to a debtor.
Also there's a pretty good rule of thumb about harrassment and collections: If you feel like you have been harrassed, then you probably have.
The good, and successful, collectors that I have known were like robots. Call until contact, then give the "mini-miranda" ("This is an attempt to collect a debt, and any information gained will be used for that purpose"--If they don't say it, then they have violated the FDCPA), then find out if the debtor intends to pay the debt. If the debtor does--go into payment mode. If the debtor does not--look to see if the debt is large enough to take to court. Otherwise, get on to the next fish, time is money. These successful collectors didn't have time to harrass anyone.
I hope the information gained here by all may help you in the future. I learned a lot from the industry, but I'm glad to be out of it as well.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
mack, did he use your name? Maybe he is looking for the last person that had your phone number.
Posted by Sopwith (Member # 4640) on :
Anyone who had a disputed bill from years ago with MCI, be on the lookout for new bill collection attempts..
Recently, I got a letter from a bill collection company on an MCI bill I had from 5 years ago... Five Years! Back then, I swallowed the bait and switched to MCI because they were giving away 300 free minutes. I made the switch and burned up the phone lines until I had used 300 minutes. How smart I was. Then the bill came and I owed them about $150 for all those minutes. After calling them on it, I was informed that the 300 free minutes were split between the third and sixth months of the bill. I politely told them where they could stick it, formally protested the bill and switched back to AT&T. A couple of months later they agreed that the plan was misleading and forgave the debt in hopes that I would come back.
Now, it appears, they've sold the old bill to a bottom-feeding collection agency. I've explained myself to them, they've said it's on me to prove that I don't owe anything.
My question is, if MCI set this up as a bad debt, it's already dinged my credit rating, whether it was settled or not. Can this second entity also ding my credit for the same debt? A debt that I don't feel I owed back then and know I don't owe now...
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Hey, I'm still waiting, Ms. Taylor!
Honestly, I think it's a prank. I've had weird calls like that before.
-Bok
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
I can tell it's a telemarketer when they stumble over "Olivia". Geez, people, it isn't that hard.
When we first moved here, our alternate line had belonged to the organizers of "Freaknik" a big spring break party targetted towards mostly African-American colleges. I think it had been listed as their fax number. We got calls from fax machines at all hours. The one and only year that Freaknik was in Atlanta was a year or two before we moved here, and we got the calls for at least a year. *sigh* It finally stopped.
Posted by seriousfun (Member # 4732) on :
I'm giving out way more personal information here than I should, but...
A few years ago, I started getting calls: "Is this the Black Tulip", "I'd like to make a reservation for...", and "Is your Fantasy Room available on xx/xx/xxxx?"
Sometimes none for weeks, and sometimes six calls a day. Always for the Black Tulip.
I scrolled down, and at the bottom is their phone number in the Netherlands. We here, having an IQ more than that of a rock, I hope, probably know how to dial internationally from the US, starting with 011 (and dropping the NL city code). If you dial the phone number as listed on the website, without the 011, you got - ME!
Though dialing-challenged, most of the callers have been polite and well mannered. One last week left three messages from NYC, each one wondering why the Black Tulip hadn't returned his call. I heard the second and third messages being left, all the time hoping he would leave his credit card number I still have these messages saved, and hope to do something evil with them.
I have emailed the Black Tulip, asking them to post a little instruction in how to dial from the US, to no avail. My calls increased when Dan Savage talked up the Black Tulip in his wicked sex columnSavage Love Read this at your own risk . I sent Savage a letter, asking him to intervene in the name of my children (who blithely ignore any incoming phone call, so no worries), to no avail.
I researched getting a 900 number: "Hello this is...to contact the Black Tulip Hotel, please dial 1 900-xxx-xxxx", and then the 900 message says "Hello. To reach the Black Tulip Hotel, please dial 011 xx xx xx xx xx", and I get an instant fee for the 900 call, but I ran the numbers and it wouldn't have been profitable.
I got caller ID, screen my calls, and delete six to ten hangups a day...
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
seriousfun, what you do is start taking reservations for it. Eventually, they'll change their number or at least have to deal with irate customers on a daily basis. Posted by Alucard... (Member # 4924) on :
Mack,
1. You usually can change your phone number by calling the telephone company and tell them you are receiving threatening calls. The phone company usually will give you one free opportunity to do this.
2. I sat at work once and figured out that the only comprehensible message my phone number can say is H-E-A-R-S-E-X. I tell my close friends this so they can remember my number easily, and they always email me saying "What sex is it again? I forget the first word!"
[sigh].
Posted by Theca (Member # 1629) on :
I got a phone call just the other day. Some guy calls, and warmly asks how I am doing. I said, fine, who is this?
He started laughing wildly and said, "you ARE fine, aren't you? You are FINE, really FINE."
He wouldn't stop laughing and I hung up on him. Creep.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
There is another guy in my town with the same name as me. He's a Protestant minister, and several times, folks from his congregation have called.
I resist the temptation to corrupt them to Mormonism . . . but it's so hard to be good.
Posted by Maccabeus (Member # 3051) on :
Ludosti, it's obvious...a Maker is trying to torment you. Your only option is to boycott Uncle Orson till he stops writing those books about that Miller dude....
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
LOL Alucard... Have them remember HEARSE-X or HEARSE SEX (eww). A little kink might embed it more firmly in their minds.
TheTick, "Start making reservations"?
Erik, what amount is one that's not worth filing suit? I don't have any consumer debt, but there are a couple of $300 medical bills left over from insurance snafus that I can't pay. Should I worry less?
Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
Dead_Horse
Think of it this way...
Court costs are astronomical, much more than the $300 you are talking about, even if the company would be fighting in small claims court. They would still have to pay their representative to go, and would still have to do the research/etcetera. It wouldn't be in their best interest to do so. However, many 3rd party collection agencies sign contracts with their clients (that's not you, but your creditors) in which they agree to persue amounts down to, say, $100.00. This could be a hassle for you.
In addition, the company may not persue legal action in the case. That does not stop them from reporting the collection account to the credit reporting agencies, and a collection on your credit report looks very bad, especially if it isn't paid.
I'd say for a small debt (yes, I know it doesn't seem small) in this case it would be better to just make arrangements to pay it off. Negotiate with the creditor, and, if it fails and you have been reasonable, then you have grounds to complain to the original creditors. Many agencies will not accept less than PIF (payment in full) for small debts such as these, but you might even be able to talk them into a settlement for x cents on the dollar.
But, if you tell them directly (as with anything, get their name, their supervisor's name, and the name of the collection agency) that they should not call you back, and that they may contact you via the mail, then they are obligated not to call you again, unless they decide to pursue legal action.
Of course, these laws very from state to state, so be careful. But it doesn't seem to me that it would be worth persuing so small a balance.
Procede with caution, but I'd say make some payment arrangements.
Posted by seriousfun (Member # 4732) on :
quote: seriousfun, what you do is start taking reservations for it. Eventually, they'll change their number or at least have to deal with irate customers on a daily basis.
I'm practicing my Dutch accent on a daily basis.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Sometimes, this is what happens over at AOL:
Me: "Hello, thank you for choosing America Online, my name is Nathan. Are you calling to set up your free trial of America Online?"
Caller: "Ya, well you see I'm calling because I'm being charged 23.90 for AOL but I don't have AOL."
Me: "Ok, I can understand that. Have you had an existing account with AOL before?"
(you'd be surprised how many people say yes)
Caller: "No, I've never had AOL."
Me: "Ok, once again my name is Nathan, can I have your name please?"
Caller: "Olivia Spammfurger"
Me: "Ok, and whats your area code?"
Caller: "707"
Me: "Ok, it does seem that there is an account with your name on it, but just to be certain can I have your address? ((confirm address)) Yup thats what my computer is showing. Is it possible someone in your house created an account with your name on it?"
****2/7 times they say it is possible
After that of course, its just a simple transfer over to the billing department. I both love and hate transferring people.
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
Erik, I think I'll just worry less and tell them to use the postal service. I know I eventually have to pay them. But I haven't had any income in almost 2 years. They'll just have to wait until I get my Social Security Disability, and that could be a while.
Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
It seems like that's your only recourse, so here's some further advice....
Any collection account may only remain on record for seven years (from the date of refferral of the debt to the collection agencie's office). If you make a payment, this "last activity" date becomes the date that they will base this on. If it is a judgement, it will remain for 10 years, or longer (this includes Bankruptcy). The Feds will keep after you even longer than that.
A friend of mine settled with all of his creditors, and negotiated to have all of the collection accounts removed. The only holdout, (edited to not slander a large corp....), settled, but would not take it off of his credit report. That debt stayed on his report for another seven years....
They get you coming and going.I won't actually state what I'm recommending here, but I think you get the idea.
Be safe, and cover yourself....
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
We get a lot of hang-ups...
It used to bother me, but it has happened to much, I stopped worrying about it.
**Ela**
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
Thanks, Erik,
Like I said on the other thread, if someone stole my identity, my credit rating would probably improve.
I am actually quite comfortable having no income...less stress and all. YEah, right! <Dead_Horse beats herself up>
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at Bok.![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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I still have these messages saved, and hope to do something evil with them.![[Confused]](confused.gif)
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