Providian / Washington Mutual

[inhocknow]

Good afternoon folks,
I want to know if any of you had experiences with Providian - Washington Mutual harrassing you with continous phone calls 4-5 times per day? 1/2 of the time when I answer, there is nobody on the other line.

I am thinknig that they want you to just see their number on the caller ID and for you to return their call.

Today is a holiday and they called me at 8am.

The # is an 817 area code and I know its them as I called the various numbers back.

Thank you for your help.

[Boscoe]

What state do you live in? Some states have limitations on how often, what times, and even where (i.e. not at work phone numbers) that creditors can call.

Are you going to file bk soon? If so, or if you are not sure, please talk to a couple bk attorneys as soon as you can. As soon as you retain them, you can send the calls to the attorney. And of course, once you file, they are not legally allowed to call or contact you AT ALL.

[JRScott]

They use an autodialer and sometimes more folks pick up than they have operators which is why noone is there.

Mostly I just left my phone unplugged while I wasn't paying. You can actually get an answering machine and turn down the ringer so that it picks up. Getting caller ID and blocking all calls that do not show the caller ID is another good tip.

[Keebler]

We have a past-due account with Providian / WaMu and we've gotten a few calls but not that many.

Contrary to much advice here, I've been talking to the representatives whenever I get a chance. I'm pretty good at thinking quickly and responding to thier questions truthfully without providing any real information that I'm not already willing to provide. My favorite one is "May I ask why you haven't paid the amount that's due?" and my answer is always "It's the part where I don't actually have money available to pay the bill." Also, the question "When do you expect to send a payment." is answered by saying "I totally suck at predicting the future so I'm not even going to guess -- I do know that I can't make that payment today. You can be sure that I'm aware of the problem and I'm doing everything I can to correct it as soon as possible." I've also gone ahead and informed them that I am employed and I've had unexpected medical expenses that are keeping me from making my payments.

The last guy I talked to was mostly human with me after he got the answers above. It was clear to me that he was off script as he explained that the account was close to being passed on to collections. He gave me a tip by telling me the exact day it would change status and the specific amount they needed to receive to postpone the change for an additional 30 days.

[Boscoe]

Keebler, most people (like me) don't enjoy talking to past due creditors. If it works for you, great. But for most everyone else who don't want or need that stress in these challenging times of bk or pre-bk, simply let the answering machine take the calls.

And retain the attorney so you can forward the calls to them.

Financial problems are stressful enough without having to deal with creditor questions like "why haven't you paid?" "When can we expect payment?", over and over again each day.

[manglicmot]

I talked to my creditors when they called. It was actually a stress reliever, not a stress inducer. I simply told them I planned on filing Chapter 7 BK in a couple of weeks and that was the end of that.

[Keebler]

I talked to my creditors when they called. It was actually a stress reliever, not a stress inducer. I simply told them I planned on filing Chapter 7 BK in a couple of weeks and that was the end of that.

I agree. There's a certain frustration I felt having left things fall in to finincial disrepair and a certain comfort in taking charge and dealing with my problem head on.

Keebler, most people (like me) don't enjoy talking to past due creditors. If it works for you, great. But for most everyone else who don't want or need that stress in these challenging times of bk or pre-bk, simply let the answering machine take the calls.

And retain the attorney so you can forward the calls to them.

Financial problems are stressful enough without having to deal with creditor questions like "why haven't you paid?" "When can we expect payment?", over and over again each day.

The truth is that my wife and I continue to be suprised how few calls there have been compared to what we expected. I go out of my way to grab the phone when it rings and I still personally take less than a half dozen collector calls in a week from nearly a dozen creditors we've stopped paying. (My wife gets more during the day while I'm at work.) I know this can all change on short notice, but for now the level is very managable. I guess time will tell if it continues this way.

[TroubleinCalif]

My one and only creditor that has tried to harrass(sp) the crap out of me is Washington Mutual. Everybody else still calls but are so far talking what i have to say and note on their computer and i will get a call a week later. Wamu calls everyday and ask the same questions and i just say, nope, nope, don't know, nope, ect...I have thier script down to a tee, Then, have a good day and click. I get the Nobody on the other end calls. The i piss them off and start asking them questions, then they hang up on me. All of these calls are out sourced also and my guess is India. The last call, i told them to speak english better LOL, They Hung up on that one. I did one when they tell you that they are recording for quality purposes, i said, Yep, I'm recording this to for quality purposes too, He goes, I did not give you authurization to record me. I said well, you better hang-up then cuase thats what going to happen. He repeated him self again and so did i. after that, you guessed it, "Click" Once you have made the decision to file, its all just a game from then on, you can play or ignore, but its more fun and a great stress reliever to turn the conversation around and have a good laugh.......

[Keebler]

My one and only creditor that has tried to harrass(sp) the crap out of me is Washington Mutual. Everybody else still calls but are so far talking what i have to say and note on their computer and i will get a call a week later. Wamu calls everyday and ask the same questions and i just say, nope, nope, don't know, nope, ect...I have thier script down to a tee, Then, have a good day and click. I get the Nobody on the other end calls. The i piss them off and start asking them questions, then they hang up on me. All of these calls are out sourced also and my guess is India. The last call, i told them to speak english better LOL, They Hung up on that one. I did one when they tell you that they are recording for quality purposes, i said, Yep, I'm recording this to for quality purposes too, He goes, I did not give you authurization to record me. I said well, you better hang-up then cuase thats what going to happen. He repeated him self again and so did i. after that, you guessed it, "Click" Once you have made the decision to file, its all just a game from then on, you can play or ignore, but its more fun and a great stress reliever to turn the conversation around and have a good laugh.......

My favorite time was when the caller started going-off on me about how I needed to take control of my financial situation and make a payment right away. I insisted that I AM in COMPLETE CONTROL and she snapped back "how can you be in control if you haven't even made a payment in six months." I told her again that I'm in COMPLETE CONTROL and I could prove it. When she asked me real sarcastically "How can you possibly be in control..." I hung up on her.

I know it was childish, but I sat there laughing for a while afterward.

[epiphany]

Keebler, most people (like me) don't enjoy talking to past due creditors. If it works for you, great. But for most everyone else who don't want or need that stress in these challenging times of bk or pre-bk, simply let the answering machine take the calls.

And retain the attorney so you can forward the calls to them.

Financial problems are stressful enough without having to deal with creditor questions like "why haven't you paid?" "When can we expect payment?", over and over again each day.

I agree but I want my phone to stop ringing. Well the ringer is off so it doesn't ring, but when I check my voicemail I have to groan at the number of calls before I listen to them. I really am trying to gather the strength just to call everyone and tell them what's up.

I have told four creditors (7 accounts) so far about the BK. I must admit the ones that I have told have stopped calling me. But it's hard just to get up the strength to call.

The calls are the hardest part for me but this too shall pass. I keep saying I am going to just bite the bullet and do it but so far have only called the ones that have called my work or others. I can't take that and live in fear that another work call or family call will happen tomorrow. Sigh...........

EP

[Penny Less]

WaMu sucks...they are the reason I am going to have to file. They call all the time but don't work with me at all.