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Accounts Technical Advisor (aka debt collector) here pt1
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Posted by Sebastian (4.64.144.179) on January 12, 2003 at 14:17:28:
i know this posting is ooooooooold but anyway... i am an accounts technical advisor at Penncro Associates and we get lots and lots of flack from people daily because they do not want to pay their bills (they do have the money but we are not a priority at the time) or they get annoyed with our calls. i fully understand that, id hate having 5 calls a day from people who want my money now now now!! the thing is, we are within the legal bounds of the FDCPA (fair debt collections practices act) to call as many times as possible until we get debtor contact that ends with either a no promise or promise to pay. in rob's case, he was probably defrauded...i mean, we have many many claims that come through our office with people saying it but we are trained not to believe it. why? because 95% of it are lies. even if it was the truth, we would have no way of knowing that it is not your account and thus we'll keep calling. this brings me to another point, we run on an automatic dial. so its not like we are sitting there on a phone and dialing your number 5, 6, 7 times a day intentionally to annoy you, its just the way it is yet no one hangs on long enough to get an explaination. one more point, we CANNOT disclose any information to anyone other than the debtor, spouse (except in IA,AZ,MA, and AL), responsible party (ie cosigner or co-app), attorney, or authority on acct. i can't tell you how many times i get yelled at because i wont give information to joe debtors mom (hahaha). all i can do is sit there, let them vent, and hopefully get a payment on the account to forward to the creditor. if you get a call from Penncro, DO A CHECK BY PHONE, it is the fastest, easiest, and cheapest (free!!) way to get the payment done. if you dont have a checking, open one or use someone elses account if they authorize it. the information is kept confidential between yourself, us, and the creditor. if you encounter a rude collector, just plainly say no, i will not do a payment with you, put another rep on the phone. i admit, lots of collectors are rude and give us a bad name. they've been in the business for a long long time and take the abuse like water off a ducks back. on the other hand, my style is different, i like to keep a calm attitude, let the debtor vent, and talk him or her through the process. if they still refuse or hang up, i forward their account over to furthur collectons. this is another thing we are NOT ALLOWED to talk about. we can say "furthur collection action" but can't disclose what it is exactly unless the debtor asks. the reason being is because certain state laws deal with involuntary extraction of funds differently and it may not always be in the same manner (garnishing of wages, putting leans on property, differal of car, mortgage, or insurance payments, etc.). we are not allowed to say, "yes your wages will be garneshed if you dont pay me now" but we can say, "if you dont come up with a payment of intent now, my client will find a way to involuntarily extract funds from you." this is not a threat, its the truth. the first step before furthur collections is letting your account charge off. once this happens, you are screwed royally where credit is concerned for atleast 6 years onward to 10 years whether or not the balance in full is recieved by the creditor. your creditor usually lets it go on for 7 months before they charge it off and either sell your account to a collection agency or keep it and consider involuntary collections themselves. if you have an account with providian, mbna credit cards and loans, fcnb loans, and capital one, this is exactly the case. if you have a capital one debt, we will not be calling you since we don have their business (providian is a major competitor to them and they happen to be our biggest client.) associates bank debtors have better luck and do not charge off right away, but their acct closes at the end of 7 months. your best bet is to not let your account go into delinquency at all and keep making at least the minimum payments as long as its current. once you go over, you get hit with fees up the wazoo!! by the time it hits collections, no one wants to pay their fees and interest off so they just hang up and not take responsibility. if you ever had a call from Penncro and you're a providian cardholder, please set up a plan to pay the balance off (we can do it in 1-6 payments) or ask about the 6% or 3% plan. 6% will stop all fees and intrest from gaining as long as its done before your first due date (always ask the collector for your due date). 3% will not do you justice except if your debt is sky high. what it does is lower your intrest rate to 9.99% as long as the payments are done before the due date. if you are in collections, you are aquiring interest of 20% and over which is rediculous! so now that i have given you some knowledge, please make good use of it and pay on your account and do not put it off. also, since you are in collections, you should pay us since we now handle the account. once your account is brought current or paid in full, it will roll back to your creditor and we will no longer call you unless there is a glitch in the system (rare) or your creditor decides to hand it back to us to help them collect (it doesnt mean your account is overdue, its just means they would like the remaining balance paid off.). whatever payments you make with us may not show up on your statement until a month or two after so dont be alarmed if your $2,000 payment doesn't show up as a debit to your account right away. if you do have concerns, call us at the appropriate number given to you and calmly ask about the account or call the creditor directly. this is a difficult profession to be in but i've learned so much about credit and how important it is! trust me, it was not my first choice for a job, it was there at the right time when i needed it. however, it is so not worth
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