My default thus far

[Diesel73L]

I finally bit the bullet and stopped paying at the beginning of January. I have three different accounts-B of A, Chase, and Citi. Citi was due at the beginning of the month-after about a week they started calling my GV number once or twice a day. A week later they must have dug into my records and found my cell phone even though I "updated it" and called that. I never answered. Last week they called me at work (I don't remember giving them that number-oh well) and I simply stated that I cannot take personal calls at work and they asked what number to call on. I gave the GV number and said that they cannot call me on any other number. The girl on the other end cheerfully complied and hung up. They have called everyday, twice a day since on the GV number so things have been quiet.

As far as B of A goes, I had them on automatic payment because I had the largest balance and the lowest interest rate with them so I was paranoid about ever missing a payment and getting my rates jacked up. I was too late in cancelling the autopay and they snagged the minimum for January before the minimum went through, so as far as they are concerned I'm current until the beginning of February. That one has me a little more on edge because I owe them $20K+ and they just seem bigger, meaner, and more ruthless than the rest, or maybe that's just my imagination. They too have my GV number so we'll see how that goes. Chase is due tomorrow, but I've heard that they are toning down their collections/suits quite a bit as per an article that Catleg posted, so I wonder when or if they will start to call. We'll be filing over the summer at the latest, so I don't think we have to worry about being sued-I'm just hoping the calls don't drive us nuts before then. I cringe every time our home phone rings but so far we've received no calls there either. I'm thinking of ditching it anyway to save some money. Anyway, that's my story-it always helped to hear from others who had gone before me so I hope this gives someone else some peace of mind.

[Me2Broke]

I'm right with you Diesel. I stopped paying last month and it's just coming up on 60 days late on our credit cards now. Well at least they can't call me at work since I lost my job. Little consolation. I had a few of the cards on auto payment plans but I tried to clear out all the information on each of the site. Lucky I never put my cell phone number in as an option. GV is what's I am looking into setting up today.

[movinonnow]

I never put my cell phone number anywhere but they found it somehow. I subscribed to call block and that stopped them calling my cell. I also switched to Google voice. I blocked their calls on that one too. There is no reason why you have to endure these calls with all of the options available to block the calls.

[bluehue79]

I remember several of my credit cards would call me at work several times a day. I never answered, but it was a stressful couple of months before I filed. I was able to block them from calling my cell phone, though.

[keepsmiling]

Ah how well I remember the days before I learned to "stop worrying and love GV"
It was nerve wracking and embarrassing.
GV is like a dream come true. I have a few who dug up my cell too. I have a dumbphone so I just ignore those calls. I have been told by a bootcamper that calls to cells can be fined for. Interesting thought and you have the message recorded right there.....

As to BoA, I owe them even more than you do, Diesel, and haven't heard much from them other than offers to settle. I don't think they are any more aggressive than the rest of the bunch. In fact, it's been reported here that sometimes it's the "ankle-biters" and small balances that sue first. So, you never know. At any rate, you will almost surely be ok til the end of June. You can always figure out a way to stall them if they start in with you sooner.

[panda]

They all drove me nuts, and they all called in patterns. But AMEX was the absolute worst, and I had two cards with them. BOA would call me, as it was my card, hubby would answer, I would be unavailable, they would tell him to have me call,I wouldn't, then I would have a weeks reprieve. I had two chase cards, they were relentless as I was getting double the calls, and wells fargo was absolutely the stupidest, they would robo call me, we would answer the phone and there end would click and hang up, then not call for another week. This accelerated the second month, then I just never answered the phone again as we filed at the end of three months not paying them.

Good for you figuring out GV before this relentless calling gets really bad.

I know a heck of alot more now, and would have never answered the first call, I just thought it would by me time, but in the end I learned we had time until we got filed before they would do much.

Those calls are so unnerving and things are already stressful, I absolutely loved it when I turned the ringer off on the phone, then deleted the messages before I even heard the voices. That was truly my first day of peace in a long while, and when my stress levels finally started to decrease.

[subking]

Get rid of your home phone if possible and get a by the minute pre paid cell, that way your name is not listed under any number.

[Drazil65]

You can hook more than one phone into GV, "attach" it to your cell number and it will forward that call to GV just like the rest of them. I cannot remember everything on GV BUT I believe you can create a "rule" or "tag" for the collection people phone number (on your cell phone when they call) and have that one forwarded on to GV, check into that. I know you can involve several phones when it comes to GV just go into the computer screen for your account and look around the menu to see how to do things. Or just search it on Google of course!

[Diesel73L]

You can hook more than one phone into GV, "attach" it to your cell number and it will forward that call to GV just like the rest of them. I cannot remember everything on GV BUT I believe you can create a "rule" or "tag" for the collection people phone number (on your cell phone when they call) and have that one forwarded on to GV, check into that. I know you can involve several phones when it comes to GV just go into the computer screen for your account and look around the menu to see how to do things. Or just search it on Google of course!

I'll have to look into this as I thought you could only attach a GV number to one phone. We keep our landline because we have an infant and God forbid if my wife ever had to call 911 we would want the operator to instantly get our address without having to tell them. Cell phones can only give a location within 50-100 yards. If I can attach the home phone it might be a better option than just turning the ringer off. As for the "rules" for callers GV is great. Citibank always calls from the same number, so I tagged that number to receive it's own special VM (my name and address) without ringing my cell phone at all. I just keep track of how often they call on the computer.