What should I do???

[jane taylor]

Dh lasted one week working for a collection agency. Some people are really nice, but some are just bullies. The broken record technique works well. Or the broken CD--LOL--I'm really showing my age now ! I only say one thing over and over and pretty soon it gets on their nerves so they hang up!

Hard to do when your really stressed, though. They are trained to know exactly what buttons to push.

Nervous, you did great!!!

And of course you're welcome here. Hang in there, friend!

[lacyloulynn]

The credit card people started calling our neighbors. That really pissed us off. One of our neighbors is a relative, but not all of them are. They called one of our neighbors that we aren't "close to" and said that we put them as our contact, but we don't even know their number. How do they have the right to look up numbers to our neighbors and call them? They say and do anything to get their money. Do some of these people have a heart? Not all of them were mean, one actually felt for us and understood what we were going through, but couldn't do anything about it. I can't wait till this is all settled and we can move on with our lives.

[SinkingFast]

There's actually a Forum, like this one, for people working in the Collections Business. I've been there. They have a section for Consumers to ask questions of the Collectors. I've scanned thru that section.

One guy asked how they lived with themselves. The Collectors blasted right back, "How do you live with your self for not paying your bills." Several went on to boast about the high lifestyle they live due to commissions made collecting on other people's bad debts. For this guy to think about that as he's not paying his bills and no one will loan him a penny.

One female collector chimed in that she has never been rude and abusive to people she calls. That mostly the debtors treat her poorly. But she loves her boss and the company she works for and the money she makes doing Collections. She kinda dreaded the idea when she first started but wouldn't do anything else now. It's so easy, she said. It's just like chatting with people all day on the phone.

But someone, a consumer, did ask if any of them would take their child to work. Not a one responded. When someone else asked how they explained to their children what they do for a living, one guy said he told his son he's in Corporate Finance. Then little Timmy finished dinner and ran off to play with some expensive toy like any 8 year old would do. And then he went on to brag about his expensive house and cars and his wife's jewelry and the lavish vacations they take as a family. All that stuff his kids were getting to enjoy because Dad was so successful at his work.

I thought, UGH!! The arrogance!! Those Collectors really have no clue. Yes I'm here. Yes we did make some mistakes in spending. But my kids never had expensive toys. Or wore expensive clothes. We've never had expensive furniture or lived in plush, McMansion homes. Just regular old houses with old furniture. We finally bought new after the kids got a bit older and took better care of things. WoooHooo!! A new sofa, loveseat, and recliner chair!! 8 years ago. The old stuff was about to fall apart when we finally got new.

[aa06a47]

Well, life is full of good guys and bad guys. Unfortunatly, in society, we are labeled the bad guys. You might find a few people out there that will show some sympothy for the situation we are in, but we (people who file bk) are a minority of the population.

We all chose to not live within our means to some extent or another, maintained a life style after a job loss or income decrease, gambled away our money, and yes, there are hospitals that will see us based on our income and provide medical care without putting us in BK (so I'm told anyway). When I get my discharge, I could never look MBNA or Chase or Citi or BofA in the eye and be able to tell them me filing bankruptcy was the moral thing to do. It was the right thing to do in my situation, as is most people on this board. We all kinda is a sorta way robbed the bank, and now we are asking society for a pardon.

The only thing I can think of as far as credit collectors are concerned. They are really only collecting money from people who can actually pay the money. You can't get blood out of a turnip. They are only bothering the rest of us that can't pay. Those big houses and nice toy's were bought by people who could pay there debt but chose not to do so. A small percentage is probably from people who paid something due to pressure.

Think of CA's as attorneys. Most attorneys live in nice homes, kids have nice things. We pay them big money to file our BK's. Attorneys are slime balls unless we need one. CA's are slime balls unless we need one to collect something owed to us.

[nervousSC]

Thank you all for your encouraging words. I was nothing short of a mess yesterday! You know how you get that pit in your stomach and it just won't go away....that's what I had and then I saw a co-worker nibbling on a Hershey bar and I thought, hmmm.....wonder if it really will make me feel better? Sure enough the chocolate did the trick.... I still felt nervous but I didn't feel so hopeless, maybe it wasn't the chocolate...but....

All your advice has been so helpful, thanks so MUCH for giving me step-by-step instructions on how to handle the no calls at work letter, Sinking!! All of you have been much more helpful than my atty.

While I am ashamed of the debt that I have incurred and will NEVER get/request a cc from BoA, Capital One, Chase, Target, Best Buy, JC Penney...I know that I am learning a very valuable lesson and will be able to pass this on to my child. I just hope that creditors realize that most people that go into debt aren't "bad" people trying to thwart the system, I genuinely feel horrible for allowing myself to be in this mess and I don't need a credit card collector to berate me and make me feel worse, if I were able to pay them I definitely would. Young, immature people are bombarded with credit cards the moment they enter college, some even before, tempted by the offer of percentages off totals and free t-shirts (what's sick is that the universities actually get paid by these cc companies for allowing them to solicit on campus), but no mandatory requirement of money management classes. While I don't know if this would necessarily help people to not incur so much debt it's certainly worth a try....I mean you can't drive a car without a license, right...I would say our roads are safer than if a license weren't required...? Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

In the end, I hope to be a more fiscally mature, responsible person and to put all of this in the past.

Again, thank you for your help and shoulder to cry on. I'm sure this won't be my last post in which I feel like I'm falling off a cliff!

[nervousSC]

This time "Dana" just called me from BoA...a SENIOR account representative. She told me that if I didn't give her my checking account information NOW the balance would be charged off next Friday and sent to either a atty or collection agency. She said all we need is $71 to keep your acct with us. I asked her if I could mail her a money order for $71 (which I would have done just to keep them at bay)....she told me not to waste my money, the only it would work was if I gave them my account information or used Western Union. She told me that I didn't realized the severity of this issue and she told me I wasn't willing to work with her or BoA. I asked her if the call was being recorded and she said it was, so I said Let me make a statement....If I had the money to pay this bill I most certainly would, and that I am more than willing to send in $71 dollars with a money order.

She said nope, don't waste your money it will be charged off next Friday.

[anonymuse]

Nervous, Even she has a supervisor. Have you heard from your attorney?