Tele-Terrorists
...... not only broken, but being looted by a bunch of punks that hide behind the telephones and doors of the debt collection industry.
You've got no excuse for not writing if your rights as a consumer are being violated. Federal Trade Commission offices are listed in the INFO BOOK. For your convenience, it also furnishes a sample complaint letter to the FTC. Use the same letter format to complain to your state's attorney general.
More importantly, follow up when you receive the FTCs standard complaint form. Follow up, document your complaint and push them to the point of resolution Or maybe not ... give it to a friend or relative.
"I'm Sorry, The Number You Have Dialed Is No Longer In Service "
The telephone. The greatest invention ever created in the eyes of the debt collectors across the country. The tool of location. The tool of interrogation. The tool of intimidation. The tool of tele-terrorists.
Why some people continue to answer their phone when they're heading towards difficult financial times never ceases to amaze me. This inanimate device that allows the debt collector into your home at any hour of the day or night is so easy to control.
Your Consumer RightsConsumer credit reporting agencies (CRAs) collect credit information on you from banks, ..... STEP ONE: Change the number. I know it's obvious, but sometimes those are the things that elude all of us. Change the number immediately. Call the phone company and tell them you've been receiving obscene or harassing phone calls and you need the number changed at once.
STEP TWO: Before you hang up on your protectors of privacy at the phone company, tell them that you need the new number to be UN-listed and NON-published. Instruct them that you want your address to be UN-listed and NON-published as well.
STEP THREE: At the same time, be sure to give them your new mailing address.
STEP FOUR: Request a "password" on your account. Anyone calling in to the phone company posing as you or your spouse must know the password or they will not get information.
Don't forget: the debt collectors will call those people on your credit applications first, usually your family and friends, and weasel your new phone number out of them. Some are successful because they're great liars ... others are assisted by friends or family members that are either not clued in to what's going on or are, shall we say, "mentally challenged" in the area of common sense. Don't give those people a chance to break through your safety shield. Give them the voice mail number.
INFO TIP: If you should return a phone call to a creditor or debt collector, saving money and calling them back on their toll-free "800 number," beware! Any company that has an "800 number" and is in the business of collecting debts may frequently utilize a little-known fact about these numbers. Every time you call in to a toll-free number the phone company providing the service can provide their subscriber with an "ANI" listing. "ANI" stands for "Automatic Number Identifier," a technical way of saying that every time you call in on an "800 number" the party on the receiving end instantly (in many cases) knows the telephone number from which you're calling. American Express used to use this service extensively, in the name of high-tech customer service. An American Express cardholder would call in from their home and the operator who answered would say: "Good evening, Mr. Dover! What can we do for you this evening?"
Don't think your friendly debt collector would ever hesitate in using the same technology to find your new "unlisted" phone number. Be smart if you want to save money and communicate with your creditors. Use a pay phone. Hotel lobbies always have quiet areas where you can make your calls safely.
|
