teachermom2834 Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 You can try the following- say loudly into the phone " You are now being reported for harassment, stop calling" say even if they don't answer but are on the line. Then you can report them to FTC. I personally like to answer these calls by having some nice music of my choice on player and when they call, I answer and say " Your call is being transfer" and hit the music. After three of these, we had them stop. Other one that we tried for the aggressive non listener was to speak a foreign language to them like latin. It was fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Are they saying they're calling about account collections, or do you just know that's what they are based on your knowledge. If they say they're collecting on an acct, I believe they're violating the federal fair debt collections practices act. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 You can't stop the calls. Telling the collection agency that they are not allowed to call back/have the wrong number is all you need to do to stop them from calling again. I hate those that have no one on the line. Computer glitch is my best guess. (Automated call that is supposed to switch to a person if the call is answered.) I have found that the agencies are very nice (but annoying). The agents have always been very polite. The calls have always stopped immediately (from that agency/over that bill) when requested. That doesn't stop another ageny/bill from being called about. We have been getting calls for the last 25 years. (That would be since moving here.) There is someone in town with dh's name who has exceptionally bad personal spending habits. The collection agencies cannot find him, so they find dh instead. I cannot believe anyone would allow him to purchase anything on credit. They deserve to lose their money if they do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Do you have caller I.D.? After you've told them that you'll be reporting them to the FTC for harrassment, don't answer again. And absolutely report them; I don't think it's legal for a company to contact friends and family members, besides the fact that they are not supposed to keep calling after you've told them not to. I was getting calls from "Portfolio Recovery." I finally looked them up (the # showed up on caller I.D., which also helped in find them on the Internet), and it turned out that it was a legitimate company. It was also a member of the Better Business Bureau. So I contacted the BBB and filed a complaint aganst the company. All I wanted was for them to quit calling, KWIM? And they quit calling. Oh, and there were hundreds of complaints against them. :-/ Anyway, it might be worth your time to do a little sleuthing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 It is illegal. If you have the number, report them to the FTC. Don't bother answering again - you've already told them you mil doesn't live with you, legally they have to stop calling your number. You may also be able to report the number to your phone company to block it going through to you. Makes me wonder if the series of phone calls (several a night over three nights) I had a month or so ago was from a collection agent. she never got past asking for the woman's name (our phone # now appears with our last name and dh's first initial), which was the same first initial as dh's. but the calls were always late at night (once at midnight - since we're on the west coast, I know it wasn't someone cluess about time zones. we've had those too, but in the morning.) she sure didn't want to take - this is a wrong number - as an answer. It got to the point I would greet her with (thank you caller ID) "why are you still calling me - I told you we don't know a ___, and you're calling the wrong number." she'd even try to argue with me about the person she wanted living here. she finally gave up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 You can't stop the calls. Telling the collection agency that they are not allowed to call back/have the wrong number is all you need to do to stop them from calling again. I hate those that have no one on the line. Computer glitch is my best guess. legally, once she tells them she isn't the person they want - they have to stop calling. period. they may not have someone on the line, but they are still calling and it is a form of harassment. It is a known tactic of collection agencies. (why have a person do the harassing when a computer can do it for you?) this problem isn't an accidental computer glich, but their way of continuing the calls without having someone on the line. they simply refused to remove her number from their computer, and yes, they can have it dial her number and not switch to a collections agent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 legally, once she tells them she isn't the person they want - they have to stop calling. period. they may not have someone on the line, but they are still calling and it is a form of harassment. It is a known tactic of collection agencies. (why have a person do the harassing when a computer can do it for you?) this problem isn't an accidental computer glich, but their way of continuing the calls without having someone on the line. they simply refused to remove her number from their computer, and yes, they can have it dial her number and not switch to a collections agent. I am assuming, that like in my situation I which I explained, the calls are not from the same company. The way these calls normally go, and I get them quite regularly, is the phone rings, you answer, there is a click, a person answers on the other end, they ask for ...., you say they are not home (in my case) or do not live there, end conversation, hang up. Unless you specifically tell them to stop calling, they do not have to. Even if THAT agency stops, there are others. These people normally are not behind or not paying just one bill. There are many bills out to many different agencies. Honestly, I was having at least 10 different agencies calling per week at one point. I have actually found the collections agencies/agents to be exceptionally polite. Hey, at this point, pretty much everyone knows you can get them into deep trouble if they aren't. The reason you cannot stop the calls is because new collections are going into the system for that person all the time. I am guessing that the collection agencies are most likely changing their names frequently. Just a personal feeling there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 http://www.consumer....debt-collection I would report them to the FTC and also your state's attorney general office. If there have been other complaints about the same company(s) filing a report may help add to the momentum for prosecution. If you get a real person, I would let them know that you are aware of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and that you will be reporting them. If they are forthcoming with information such as an address, get that information and turn it in as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 these guys want money - they dont' care from whom. We had a collection agency calling for a company we had *successfully* sued for breach of contract (nullifying the contract). It was illegal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I have lots of family who have bills in collections. I get calls for all of them. I just tell them I don't know who they are asking for, to take me off their phone list and to not call back. I am quite firm, but polite. Then I hang up. Sometimes they stop right away, sometimes I get a couple calls from the same company but they do stop after that. Never acknowlege that you know the person, they will keep calling. There are some legit companies that will stop calling if you ask them to. There are others though, that are not ethical and will keep hounding you if they have a glimmer of a hope that you know the person who is short on thier bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basschick Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 With our phone provider I can get them to block specific phone numbers from coming through. I did that after we moved and got a new phone number. 2-3 times a week we were getting calls from a guy through a dating service asking to speak to the same person over and over again, but the person on the other end of the phone chat couldn't hear us. It was one of those things where the person being called has to press 1 to accept the call. Finally after several months of this, I just got the number blocked through our phone provider. Nice feature! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basschick Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 My mom kept getting calls for me from a telemarketer 10 years after I left home! I can't figure out how or why! She kept saying I didn't live there, that they had the wrong number. After a long time, she finally told them I had died. They didn't call back ever again. Lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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