Rambling

Are you being harassed by a Debt Collection Agency over the phone? If you are you will know that they can bully you, lie to you, claim they have more powers than they really have and use all manner of tricks to get you to pay. Even if it is for a debt that is not yours!

If this is happening to you then there are some things you should know about Debt Collection Agencies. They have no powers what so ever, they are not bailiffs and can not take your possessions. Nor can they send a real bailiff to your house, only the courts can do that.

You should also know that the person who is calling you is probably a low paid worker who is working from a script. They are not the brightest people, but their wage depends on getting money out of you, so they will say just about anything to get you to pay.

The best way to deal with them is to tell them you will only deal with them via letter and put the phone down. They won’t bully you, threaten you, make false claims about their powers or anything else underhand in a letter.

However, if you must talk to them then there are several techniques you can use to beat them.

Who are you?

Due to the data Protection Act they can not discuss your debts with anyone but you. Therefore they have to verify your identity before starting the call. They do this by asking you certain “security questions”, things like your mother’s maiden name and your date of birth. If you don’t give them this information they can’t verify that it is really you they are talking to. So if you don’t answer those questions then they can’t continue.

You can also turn this on its head and gain the advantage over them. When they ask what your date of birth is you reply with “What is yours?” They will say they need to verify who you are, and you say that you need to verify who they are before you will talk to them.

Normally this will stump them and they will hang up, but you may just get one who will give you this information. Of course you will not know if the date of birth or mother’s maiden name they give you is correct, but that doesn’t matter. If they do answer your “security questions” then your last “security question” should be “What is the third, fifth and seventh letter of the password?” Of course there is no password, but they don’t know that so they can’t answer the question. Even if they do supply an answer you can say it is wrong and that you can’t talk to them as they don’t know the password.

Just say no!

The people who phone you from the Debt Collection Agency have only one agenda, to get you to say yes. Yes you owe the money, yes you can make the payments and yes you will make the payments. To combat this you continually say the opposite word, “no”. Every time you answer them you begin with the word “no”, even if it means you don’t make sense.

“Is your name Joe Bloggs?” “No, it’s Joe Bloggs” There will be more times when it sounds right than wrong, so don’t worry. The point is the person on the other end has only one goal, to get you to say yes. By continually saying no to everything he/she says, you drum into them that you aren’t going to say yes. Eventually they will put the phone down and scream “Does that person know any other words but NO?”

Be distracted!

Another good way to get the upper hand with the caller from the Debt Collection Agency is to always be distracted. You pick a subject and every time they ask you something you say you are not sure/don’t know, mention something about your subject then ask them a question about it.

Lets pick Tomato Plants. The man, or woman from the Debt Collection Agency rings and they ask you if you agree you owe the debt, you reply “I don’t know, to be honest I’m more worried about my tomato plants, do you know anything about tomato plants?

They ask if you can pay the debt and you reply “I don’t know, these tomato plants have got me worried, they just aren’t growing like they should. Do you think I should increase the fertiliser?”

They ask if you are going to make a payment and you answer “I’m not sure, these tomato plants are organic. Will they still be organic if I put insecticide on them?”

This technique is guaranteed to make them give up as they soon realise that you have no interest in what they are saying. Remember that they have no powers to make you pay, so they rely on bullying you into paying. If they can’t get you interested in what they are saying they can’t bully you.

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