Collections Calls, But They Have The Wrong Number......

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Do not give them any info because they'll just update your "file". Only tell them this: I do not owe any money and if you feel I do, take me to court.

They must stop the calls and either put up or shut up.
 
I got a new cell number a while back and started getting calls from a collection agency for some guy named Romel or something.. I told them on 3 different calls that I'm not Romel, I just got his old number with my new account. They kept calling so I just blocked their number. They called for like 10 months..that's some kind of dumb *** persistence... The cops actually called as well looking for him. They were a bit hard-core for about 15 secs and then they realized I wasn't who they were looking for, apologized and went on their way. So doing the math, the cops are about 1.7 million times smarter than collection agencies. :-)
 
RockerGuy said:
^^I would just ignore his calls if I'm busy. Don't want to go thru the hassle.
Or if u're bored:
-Tell him "please hold"
-open a beer
-watch some TV
-check your email
-make dinner
-see if he's still there
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I did that once, put the phone in the fridge while I made dinner. Came back 30+ mins later and she was still there :p
 
DaveOke said:
Do not give them any info because they'll just update your "file". Only tell them this: I do not owe any money and if you feel I do, take me to court.

They must stop the calls and either put up or shut up.
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The only problem with this, and I could be wrong (STRICTLYE?), is that the people who maintain your credit rating are an independent, private corporation. So they may have bad information on your record and if you don't clear it up it's there for all to see. The banks etc use them to assess your credit. So your credit rating is at the mercy of these people. And they are not an "official" agency. I think whoever mentioned the bit about reporting them to the Consumer Affairs people was probably most correct. It's rather bothersome that a private corporation is keeping records on you that may not be correct and then put the onus on the individual to correct the errors or omissions.
 
If you have "Fun with it" it can really bite you in the arse. Example When I was a credit counsellor someone thought is was funny to tell the rep that the person was deceased and not to call anymore. So we updated the file, cancelled all their credit cards and other lending products, put blocks on ther bank accounts etc. because we want to avoid fraud and prevent the estate from going into further debt.

Well the customer called back a week later ranting and raving about none of his bank accounts work and he can't pay his mortgage and his direct deposit got bounced back.....we told him he was dead, so if he really isn't he has to prove it at a branch and it can me an inconvienient process (especially when he is out of town). I advised him that if he was trying to play a prank it will cost him dearly because we were trying to help him.

He learned his lesson really quickly, and YES I was trying to help him, since we were credit counsellors not collections agents. If you didn't pay it didn't impact me I just offered soloutions to those who needed it.

And before they garnish your wages they have the right to offset your accounts. I frequently used to go into peoples accounts and clean out all their money on payday and apply it to their debt if they were not willing to discuss the issue in hand.

so.........again just address the issue and rectify it.
 
Red_Liner740 said:
only the government agencies can garnish your wages after its gone through court, or the court agrees to garnish your wages from a 3rd party request, but in either case, theres a hearing and a court date...

if you start getting court dates and subpoeans and you STILL ignore it, then you can really get into deep water.
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invictus43 said:
The only problem with this, and I could be wrong (STRICTLYE?), is that the people who maintain your credit rating are an independent, private corporation. So they may have bad information on your record and if you don't clear it up it's there for all to see. The banks etc use them to assess your credit. So your credit rating is at the mercy of these people. And they are not an "official" agency. I think whoever mentioned the bit about reporting them to the Consumer Affairs people was probably most correct. It's rather bothersome that a private corporation is keeping records on you that may not be correct and then put the onus on the individual to correct the errors or omissions.
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The only thing that me and the person they're looking for have in common is a name.....that's it. And it's not that uncommon of a name!! I live in Guelph and I personally know someone that has the same first and last name as me......and I know of 2 more within this general area!

Given that this collection agency only has a name, they can't do ****! They can't take me to court and they can't do anything with my credit rating if only for the simple reason that they only have a first and last name!! They would be taking a LOT of people to court or screwing with a LOT of people's credit score if they were allowed to do that.
Anyone who believes different is sadly mistaken.
 
Katatonic said:
The only thing that me and the person they're looking for have in common is a name.....that's it. And it's not that uncommon of a name!! I live in Guelph and I personally know someone that has the same first and last name as me......and I know of 2 more within this general area!

Given that this collection agency only has a name, they can't do ****! They can't take me to court and they can't do anything with my credit rating if only for the simple reason that they only have a first and last name!! They would be taking a LOT of people to court or screwing with a LOT of people's credit score if they were allowed to do that.
Anyone who believes different is sadly mistaken.
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I don't know specifically with your case, but I know people who have had incorrect debt information applied to their credit rating simply because someone gave them a name..they have no idea how it got on there. The problem is, when someone runs a check on your name, these things come up. They're totally incorrect but the person running the check doesn't care, they just decline you and tell you to clear it up with the credit agency. They aren't going to take you to court but they can mess up your credit rating. Hopefully they can't figure out who you REALLY are and apply it to your credit history, albeit incorrectly. For me, all they had was a phone number and a wrong name so it was really just an annoyance.
 
Tell them that you are NOT the person they are looking for and that they are NOT to call you ever again. You can do that. They will try to avoid your request and change the conversation but be forceful in a non agressive, shouty, sweary way. They cannot call you again after this conversation. If they do then you can report them.
 
invictus43 said:
The only problem with this, and I could be wrong (STRICTLYE?), is that the people who maintain your credit rating are an independent, private corporation. So they may have bad information on your record and if you don't clear it up it's there for all to see. The banks etc use them to assess your credit. So your credit rating is at the mercy of these people. And they are not an "official" agency. I think whoever mentioned the bit about reporting them to the Consumer Affairs people was probably most correct. It's rather bothersome that a private corporation is keeping records on you that may not be correct and then put the onus on the individual to correct the errors or omissions.
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They can't report anything with just a name...

This should help: http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/Personal_Finance_Collection_Agency_Rights.aspx
 
Any collection agency that is searching for a person DEFINATELY has more information than just a name. That is all the information that they will release without verifying that you are the person that they are looking for due to privacy reasons. If they are calling you it means they already bought your bad debt from the original financial institution which includes all the information to verify if you are the person that they are looking for. Hence if you actually talk to them you can get to the bottom of the confusion. They have account numbers transaction information they may even have the ability to place holds on your bank accounts if they are working on behalf of the banks.

And the orignal company who thinks you have a debt with them are already reporting derogatory info on you as well as the collection agency. Not sure why you think they only have your name. Why do you think they are asking for more info? to validate you. However if they can not validate you they should not proceed any further and try to rectify the issue, hence why YOU should escalate. Collectors get paid on how much they collect not how many people they help.
 
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strictlye said:
Any collection agency that is searching for a person DEFINATELY has more information than just a name. That is all the information that they will release without verifying that you are the person that they are looking for due to privacy reasons. If they are calling you it means they already bought your bad debt from the original financial institution which includes all the information to verify if you are the person that they are looking for. Hence if you actually talk to them you can get to the bottom of the confusion. They have account numbers transaction information they may even have the ability to place holds on your bank accounts if they are working on behalf of the banks.

And the orignal company who thinks you have a debt with them are already reporting derogatory info on you as well as the collection agency. Not sure why you think they only have your name. Why do you think they are asking for more info? to validate you. However if they can not validate you they should not proceed any further and try to rectify the issue, hence why YOU should escalate. Collectors get paid on how much they collect not how many people they help.
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Would it be worth it for him to do a credit check on himself to see if anyone reported him as a not paying? It might give him a clue at where it's coming from if it's legit at all.

I agree with strictlye that you nip it in the butt rather than wait and see or have fun approach. Don't let anything **** around your credit... you're going to regret it in the future.

Be calm when talking. Don't let them control the pace of the conversation EVER. In the end record everything... let them know the conversation is being recorded for your personal safety and you require every person to whom you speak to identify themselves before you attempt to settle this.
 
In contrast to previous reply, I would want to be 100% sure that they have the wrong person, then call their listen number and tell them they have the wrong phone number on file X.

I don't see why the caller can't give partial data on who they are looking for, say the last 3 digits of the postal code for example. Clearly they need to verify they have the right person and even if they did have the right debtor that person could give them false information to 'prove' they are not.

Even when dealing with legit collection issues I refused to give most information over the phone, since I hadn't moved in over five years I told them to mail my 'file' to the address they had on file so my lawyer could review it.

As Strictlye points out, they could really believe they have a legit debt to collect and the correct phone number. If that's the case you will have to work with them to resolve it. That can get tedious as it will likely involve a few other parties.

If you have ever co-signed anything, or had a companies corporate card issued to you, strange things can happen years down the road... ask me how I know.
 
strictlye said:
Any collection agency that is searching for a person DEFINATELY has more information than just a name. That is all the information that they will release without verifying that you are the person that they are looking for due to privacy reasons. If they are calling you it means they already bought your bad debt from the original financial institution which includes all the information to verify if you are the person that they are looking for. Hence if you actually talk to them you can get to the bottom of the confusion. They have account numbers transaction information they may even have the ability to place holds on your bank accounts if they are working on behalf of the banks.

And the orignal company who thinks you have a debt with them are already reporting derogatory info on you as well as the collection agency. Not sure why you think they only have your name. Why do you think they are asking for more info? to validate you. However if they can not validate you they should not proceed any further and try to rectify the issue, hence why YOU should escalate. Collectors get paid on how much they collect not how many people they help.
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As long as the OP isn't a victim of identy theft (which taking 5 minutes to do a credit check will tell him), and as long as this isn't his debt, then in his case all they have is a name. They might have other info, but this info will no way tied to him.

OP you could just have a lawyer send a nastygram too.
 
DaveOke said:
As long as the OP isn't a victim of identy theft (which taking 5 minutes to do a credit check will tell him), and as long as this isn't his debt, then in his case all they have is a name. They might have other info, but this info will no way tied to him.

OP you could just have a lawyer send a nastygram too.
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I agree that a credit check would help but it's not necessarily 100% a clear indication of what is happening. You don't have to pay for a credit check, you can get it for free by mail if you call them. If let's say you are behind on you're overdraft, the bank has to convert it into a loan so they can report it to the bureau since O/D are not reported. And since the bureau is only updated once a month by your creditor, it may take 30 days before it appears on your bureau. Hopefullly you are not a victem of identity theft though.
 
Ask them for their fax number so you can send them the documentation they require.

Then take a piece of black paper feed it through the rollars of your fax machine and tape it in the shape of a roll. Now send them the fax it will fax them thousands of pages of just black tying up their fax machine for hours and using up all the toner. If you're machine is good you can set to automatic radial when they unplug theirs. We had a customer once do this to us as a joke so it does work.
 
I agree that you should try and make sure it is in fact the wrong person. I would not give them any info over the phone to do so.

If you know for sure it is just a wrong number on file. You can add the disconnect triple tone to your answering machine. Most of these guys use an auto dialer and when it hears the triple tone it will remove the number from the list.
 
LiNK666 said:
Would it be worth it for him to do a credit check on himself to see if anyone reported him as a not paying? It might give him a clue at where it's coming from if it's legit at all.

I agree with strictlye that you nip it in the butt rather than wait and see or have fun approach. Don't let anything **** around your credit... you're going to regret it in the future.

Be calm when talking. Don't let them control the pace of the conversation EVER. In the end record everything... let them know the conversation is being recorded for your personal safety and you require every person to whom you speak to identify themselves before you attempt to settle this.
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It worth doint it every year, last year I find out I had 13 000$ of debt that wasn't paid off in their file....but was paid off in my bank's file.
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