What do I say to the early calls?

[walkthaplank]

How long was the time from when you stopped paying Citi until it went to collections?

Stopped paying in August 2008, went to collection agency mid January 2009.

[Humonese]

I'm so annoyed with the calls already, I've been avoiding them completely lately.

I think I'm ready to start answering, tell them we've retained an attorney, are filing bk and just give them my lawyer's name and number.

[tivo.junkie]

First of all, we don't answer the phone unless we want to. We usually take calls one or two nights each week. We leave our phone off the hook on weekend days that we plan to sleep in past 8 am. (We've received calls as early as 8:01 am).

We keep a running log of each call, basic information including date, time, person's name, the last four numbers of the account, and a brief summary of each conversation. This may sound like a lot of work but it really isn't and it is worth it.

As we begin each call we ask for the company's name, the collector's name and the last four digits of the account number. This seems to immediately result in a call that stays courteous and professional. We then scan our log and tell them when we last spoke with them and emphasis that 'nothing has changed.'

I think of it as being like an oppositional defiant child with the attitude that 'I'm not paying and you can't make me.'