Mickey's Musings
I have stories to tell.
Creditors
When you become unemployed after over 30 years of employment, there are normally bills you can no longer pay for services you can no longer afford. Health insurance, cable TV, deluxe cell phone service and home security monitoring service are just a few of those things.
Personally, I never liked credit so I don't have credit card bills to worry about now that I'm unemployed, but things always come up to suck you dry. Surprise bills like diagnostic radiology fees, lab test fees (I have always wondered why patients are never told that the test the insurance company paid for comes with a fee for interpretation that the insured must pay.), long-term illnesses that are extremely expensive, home maintenance fees for things like broken water heaters and furnaces, auto maintenance fees for parts that refuse to perform every time you achieve what you thought would be monetary breathing space, etc.
I have found that it is better to talk to your creditors, rather than shun them, and it is better still to work with them, rather than expressing your frustration with the situation. First, I try calling my creditors to work out some type of arrangement to pay them, emphasizing that unemployment does not pay much. I let them know that realize I owe them money and would like to pay them, but will not be able to make the same payments that I could make before I became unemployed. My goal is to compromise.
The ones that refuse that offer of compromise and the ones that I didn't even know I owed are the ones that set up robodial onslaughts, somehow thinking that this will intimidate me into finding some money that I apparently hid from them just to piss them off. They never leave a message.
Since these creditors think that you are very stupid, they set up unidentified calls that ring you many times throughout the day. I call these "stealth calls." If you answer the phone for one, most times you get a recording that tells you the person calling is too busy to actually speak to you at that time, so you should hold. How could you possibly have anything better to do than wait on hold to speak to someone who does not have time to address you personally? To them I say, "Good luck with that." I often just put them on my call block list because I am not obligated to deal with petty harassment in my home. After that, none of their calls come through. Sometimes these same creditors have a block of stealth call numbers that they randomly switch to. What pure genius! I add those to the call block list, as well.
If I answer the phone and an actual person is on the line, the call sometimes goes something like this:
Can I speak to Mary?
Who's calling?
My name is Jean. Can I speak to Mary?
What company are you calling from, Jean?
I'm from Blah-de-Blah Company. Is Mary there?
This is Mary.
Then we can have a conversation about trying to make things happen. Sometimes the bill collection representative even offers payment plans or referrals to agencies that may be able to help. Some people would be very surprised at the services out there that can help with all kinds of issues. It's just phenomenal, but it's all revealed only by word-of-mouth and it is often free. It goes to show that if you and your creditor can be reasonable with each other, things can work well and it's a winning situation for all.
However, sometimes things go like this:
Can I speak to Mary?
Who's calling?
My name is Jean. Can I speak to Mary?
What company are you calling from, Jean?
Is Mary there?
I need to know who you are. You can't just call me on my phone and ask me questions, expecting answers without fully identifying yourself.
I identified myself. I am Jean. Is Mary there?
Call back when you can identify yourself properly or when you find someone with an identity they don't mind sharing.
Then the number they used is immediately placed on the call-block list. I have had terribly upsetting calls from collection representatives and I now don't even bother when they get nasty. I let them know that they should call back when they have been trained to have civil, reasonable conversations with people. Then I hang up and block their calls because the obnoxious ones often call back over and over to say something nasty or leave nasty voice mail.
I wonder if they actually believe those methods are productive. I also wonder if the companies they are representing and trying to collect for realize the methodology these people use. Although the debtor has experienced an unplanned hardship, that person is more likely to spread positive recommendations to others who have good jobs and good credit if they have not been exposed to demeaning behavior by their creditor or the creditor's representative.
My brother has been a bill collector for years and has learned that he achieves better results when trying to work with people than when he tries to intimidate them. His advice is to send each biller whatever you can, even if it is only $5.00, and send it weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. It shows that you are at least trying, rather than ignoring your responsibilities.
Not every person with delinquent payments is a deadbeat. Sometimes things happen that a person cannot control.