Why Are They Being So Nice?

[nodollarsnomo]

The collection calls started a couple of weeks ago. BoA has already offered to drop my rate to 5% and half my payment. I told them that with no income I still couldn't do it. They told me that they understood and to let them know if my situation changed. I thanked them for being nice. The same thing with Citi for my HomeDepot acct. The guy even told me that his company was hiring and that I may want to check to see if there was an office close to me.
The lady with GE was extremely nice and said that she made anywhere between 500-800 calls a day and that she rarely found anyone who could pay. She also said that she was in the same boat as well as others in her family. She really sounded pretty hopeless. I have a feeling she knows that her attempts to collect are futile.
I'm sure that as time goes by my accts. will be turned over to the guys that are more heavy handed, but for now I can live with the calls.

[sassiebaz]

They are always nice in the beginning. They will even use the term "courtsey call", but that will soon change!

[anime-chicka]

Exactly, don't let them fool you. I had one creditor who told me I should just go without electricity and food to pay them. Or another who told me that I should make my husband give up his car to he could use his car payment to pay my debt. Just let the calls roll into voicemail. It will save you all the unwanted headaches and stress.

[deepend]

You're right - BOA is being so nice I don't understand. I'm sure it will change pretty soon now as I stopped paying in Jan, but the latest letter from them says "this letter is not asking for payment, but for communication. We believe you may be experiencing fianancial harship right now, and we would like to help you during this difficult time. Customer satisfaction applies to all customer, regardless of their situation." Makes me feel terrible, but I can't pay them so calling them would be pointless and I have to wait til Sept for some one time income to drop off. No doubt the tone will change down the line.

[sassiebaz]

Yeah, one time I had Chrysler tell me to borrow the money for my car payment. So, I replied to the girl on the phone, "You feel like giving me a loan"?

[damooster]

I actually credit Citifinancial with giving me the courage to file for bankruptcy. I talked with the office manager and a representative, and both suggested bankruptcy for me.

I wish the others were so understanding!

[fireworks]

It's coming up on 3 months since I stopped paying my CCs. So far most (but not all) of the calls have been very brief and very polite. I have a formula for handling the calls that's worked well for me:

-As they're introducing themselves and going through the spiel, I'm sitting down at my computer to pull up my list of creditors. If I need more time I stall by saying "let me pull that up in my computer" and they always do.
-Ask what account they're calling on so I can find it in the list.
-Ask them their name and the company they work for. If they say they're calling "on behalf of" one of my OCs or something like that, I ask them point-blank if they work for the OC or a third-party debt collection office. I also ask if they have any kind of operator ID number. All of this information goes on the list for future reference.
-Tell them that the call has been recorded, we're filing ch.7, all calls need to go to my lawyer, would you like his name and number?
-Once we finish that I ask if they have any more questions, pretty much anything they ask I answer with "you'll have to talk to my lawyer."

That's worked for me. As long as I'm the one asking questions they generally answer the questions and don't come back with anything else. I've noticed that they get much less aggressive when you tell them that the call is being recorded (even if it isn't, like when they call me on my cell). If they've called me before then I run down the list of who I spoke to on what dates. If they know that you're keeping records and you're recording calls they'll be very careful about what they say. After that point if they get nasty I'll mention the FDCPA and emphasize that they need to call my lawyer. So far I haven't had to hang up on anyone and I get very few second calls.

[Flamingo]

When we first started to get calls (we were current up until two months before filing and stopped paying at the advice of our attorney upon rentention), most of the callers expressed concern since we were long term account holders never being late so they knew there was a problem. I explained the income loss and that we had retained an attorney to file Chapter 13 but had not yet filed. In fact a few times we were thanked for being such good account holders and we were wished well as to bettering our situation. I think staying current with bills as long as we did trying not to file (hoping for that non-appearing job for my spouse during a one period period) eliminated a lot of the evil calls and this was during the period of time after the tech bust of 2000/2001 when a lot of high paying computer folks were eliminated and jobs just disappeared unless you wanted to move overseas. Now there are numerous folks without jobs or means to pay bills and with the high rate of bankruptcy right now, collection agencies must realize their rate of return is probably low so they try to be more supportive at the beginning in case circumstances change where they could get paid.

Also watch for scams from callers during the time your debt is high and reflected on your credit reports - there are places that scour credit reports for folks that appear in trouble and you can get contacted by them trying to help you out. We had one contact us several months prior to filing and after talking with them, I asked them to send us some information in the mail and when we reviewed it, it was a complete rip off and tailored to work on your emotions and get you to sign. The fees alone were $9,000 (this was a refinancing). What a rip off. We tore up the papers and when they called us back as to why they had not received any signed paperwork, we told them we were having our attorney look at it and we never heard back from them again.