Getting creditors to call a new number.

[Quagmire]

I just heard of people using their computer based telephone numbers (i.e. Magic Jack, Vonage, Google Voice, etc.) as an alternative for collectors to call them, instead of the collectors calling their personal phone number (they already have on record).

I have pondered this, but short of changing my personal phone number, I do not know how I would get a collector to start using another telephone number to contact me at this stage of the game. As near as I can figure, whatever contact information that I put on my credit application (years ago) as far as my home, work, cell, and nearest relative not living with me telephone numbers, they will use ALL of those numbers to try to find me and or to harass and embarrass me to my (family or friends that they call as well).

Any suggestions? I had heard that Google Voice allows for you to set up your phone account so that you can have certain numbers that call you go directly to voicemail and you can even have a personalized greeting for any particular number that calls . . . however what good is this if you can not get the collector to call it AND not call your personal number any longer.

Quagmire

[jacko]

I went off the grid. Got rid of the land line. Now I have a seven digit local skype number plus unlimited long distance calling to land line and cells in North America for $60 a year.

[keepinitreal]

I was in a similar situation and made the choice to get new pre-paid phones with new phone numbers.
We buy the monthly minute cards with cash so our new phones aren't linked to our bank accounts.

We gave our family and friends the new numbers and asked them to not give these numbers out to anyone.
We let our old phone numbers and contract die and included the debt in our filing.
It was a pain, but we never got a creditor call.

We also have a google voice number that we give to non-family/friends.

[professorkev]

I use the Google voice too, has worked very nicely so far and I changed most creditor contact numbers to google voice. remember too, there is some law that stipulates how often they can call your cell number!

[GoingDown]

A lot of it depends upon how old your debt is. If it is still with the original creditor, and you have online access to your account, you can change the phone number online.

With older debts, cancelling the old phone number they have for your account is about the only way to stop them from calling it permanently. When it gets bounced from one junk debt buyer to a new junk debt buyer, they get all the old information that came with the account application information, and so they start calling it again. This is why people will often get phone calls from debt collectors asking for the former owner of that phone number.

They also get info from your credit report. If you apply for a new credit account, your credit report will often be updated with your new address and new phone number. So, you could go get a cheap pay as you go cell phone or a google voice number, and use that phone number to apply for credit, so they will find that number when they look at your credit report. You could even answer it a few times just to let them know they have found your new phone number. Then just screen all calls for that number to voicemail. And in your voicemail state your name clearly so they know they have the right number for you.

And of course, you could just write to them and give them this new googlevoice phone number to call. Answer it a few times, and identify yourself to let them know they called the correct number, and then screen all calls to voicemail.

Or if you are doing the pay as you go cell phone thing, then just call them and ask about your account, identifying yourself, and they will have your new pay as you go cell phone number. You may even mention that you have a new phone number and tell them this new throwaway cell phone number.

But using googlevoice is cheaper and more effective in the long run, because once you let the pay as go cell phone go defunct, they will start looking for another phone number to call. With googlevoice, it's free, and you can keep the number for creditors for year after year, and just keep using it.

[Quagmire]

Thanks Everyone. I certainly appreciate you taking the time to provide me some good feedback on this issue. As near as I can tell, unless I am willing to give up my personal landline number, my trying to get a collector to use a new number will not help much.

I did hear once a few years back about some guy got tired of (1) collector calling him (as I think he only had one delinquent account), so what he did was have his calls forwarded to a pizza parlor for about a week. Then after that, this guy stopped the call forwarding, and the collector finally stopped calling him. So he was able to keep his phone number.

Just for fun, after I read that, I tried that with an annoying wrong number call that I kept getting from in another state. I got the calls for about 2 years off-and-on. One day I picked up the phone and talked to the people (it was someone looking for one of their relatives in my state). So it was clear when we hung up, they had the wrong number. Yet those people would still call me about 2 times per month, generally somewhere between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.. Yet one week, they were calling me at least 2 times per day consecutively . . . (after I had told them several months before they had the wrong number). So by the third day they called, since the calls were coming to my cellphone (and rarely does anyone call me during the times that the wrong number kept coming in), I thought about that story I had read. So in my case, I had my calls forwarded to a local porn store for the rest of that week. Then I finally stopped that wrong number from calling me. That has been about a year ago that I did that, and I never again received a call from that wrong number. LOL!!! So I was wondering if collectors are wise to people forwarding their calls to another number? So I am wondering if I could do this for a few weeks? Since my family and friends do not call me until after 5:00 p.m. and since I get multiple calls from the same collector each day, I could at least forward my calls elsewhere between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. each day for a few weeks. That way I should have to do none to little explaining to my family and friends as to why they reached some other business when they dialed my landline number. Yet mainly, I do not want to have to change my landline number.

What do you all think?

Yet I figure, if the collector calls my number and the call is forwarded to a porn store, the collector more than likely ask for a verification of the number they called (from whoever answers the phone), and the porn store will give their number and the collector will say to their self, that is NOT the number they dialed. So the collector will then know what I did. “Oh well, it was a nice thought while it lasted.” LOL!!!

Quagmire

[tyson24]

I would just tell them that you don't live there anymore. They make say "Okay I will take this number off our list." Chase Mortgage did that to my husband the other day

[ccsjoe]

I would give them your "new" number (google voice or whatever) and tell them that as of XX day, the number you dialed will no longer be accessible for calling me. Please use this number and update your records immediately. Then when they call you after XX day on the old number just answer with various bodily function sounds.....ok, daydreaming, but who says it won't work? And you have fun with it at the same time?

[Quagmire]

Thanks Tyson24, and Ccsjoe.

Quagmire

[doni49]

Have your phone company forward all your calls to your google number. Then set up GV to route all call from your personal contacts to your cell phone. Set up a group for known colllectors and have that route directly to VM. Then for the remaining "unknown" callers, you can screen the calls.

The way GV does call screening is neat. They prompt the caller to state their name and then wait. GV will call your phone (displaying the caller-ID) and when you answer, you'll hear the caller state their name. You can choose to take the call or ignore it. If you ignore it, the caller doesn't even know that you ever got the call. If you answer and hear that it's a collector, add that number to the collector's group.

[Quagmire]

Thanks Doni49. I just got Google Voice a few weeks ago. I have been exploring creative ways I could use it, Thank you for your very helpful information, I appreciate it very much.

Quagmire

[Bell30656]

Why hide from the collection calls? Simply answer the phone, confirm you are the person they are looking for and tell them that you will not discuss your financial affairs over the telephone for them to feel free to mail you any communications they wish. Also mention that you are recording all calls to your line. Call volume will die down once you start actually taking the call but not telling them anything.

[treehugger1]

I agree with Bell. I've always taken calls and now after four years, I get no calls unless an account has been transfered to some new collection company. I seem to be such a "deadbeat" that even the new assignees don't bother to call.