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Ever since we moved here we have gotten calls from collection agencies looking for someone called Jerod Sullivan or Edward Sullivan or something similar. I have been everything from polite to upset and explained over and over again that this is not the number this person lives at and to pls take it off the list.
But they persist. Today specifically I got the same number calling over seven times. Four of those times I answered and the other 3 I was out of the house. I even specifically called back the number and spoke to someone specifically in their collections area to tell them to lose the number completely. 10 min later, you guessed, a different idiot called again. I was not very nice to her.
My question is: how do you deal with this harassment? Short of changing my number which is a pita, is there an agency, group, anyone that I can report the caller to?
Yes, you can place your phone number on the "do not call" list: https://www.donotcall.gov
next, tell the callers specifically .."DO NOT CALL THIS NUMBER AGAIN". Be sure to record the time/date and phone number you are speaking to.
If/when they call again, go back to that do not call website and report them. They are fined for every call.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,684,299 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagomichauds
Ever since we moved here we have gotten calls from collection agencies looking for someone called Jerod Sullivan or Edward Sullivan or something similar. I have been everything from polite to upset and explained over and over again that this is not the number this person lives at and to pls take it off the list.
But they persist. Today specifically I got the same number calling over seven times. Four of those times I answered and the other 3 I was out of the house. I even specifically called back the number and spoke to someone specifically in their collections area to tell them to lose the number completely. 10 min later, you guessed, a different idiot called again. I was not very nice to her.
My question is: how do you deal with this harassment? Short of changing my number which is a pita, is there an agency, group, anyone that I can report the caller to?
Have you put your number on the do not call list? Once you do you have some leverage.
We have had the same issue and it is very frustrating. The DNC list helped a lot. Also, when a creditor calls you ask for the phone number for the company headquarters. Call and explain the situation and request that they put you on their DNC list and remove your phone number from the account. Let them know that you will be recording the date and time of any future calls and reporting them to the FTC. We got 90% resolution between those 2 steps. It's almost pointless to ask the collection person who calls you...they hear lies all day long from deadbeats who owe them money. How often do you think they hear, "That person doesn't live here anymore."?
I should add....as much as I hated to put the time into calling the main office of the credit collector or debt holder, the DNC list only goes so far in this type of situation. Once they get to collections the debts can be sold dozens of times, each one can call your number because it is still on the account and each time you request DNC they have 30 days to remove your number from the list. You could go insane trying to get your number purged from the system.
BTW....if anyone knows Arnold Velasco please kick him in the shin for me. He is the deadbeat who caused all of the calls to our number.
I don't believe the DNC list will help at all w/ collection agencies who are trying to track down folks. I also don't think the Fair Credit Act can do a thing for you, b/c after all - it is a wrong number - not like they are calling you personally.
I had this problem, too, after moving here. And folks simply would NOT believe that the guy they were looking for wasn't here! I had problems for maybe three months w/ these calls. I would try to explain to the caller and they never believed me. I called back numbers left on my VM and that seemed to do nothing as I kept getting calls. Of course, there were MANY different agencies after this guy.
I contacted the phone company and they offered to change my phone number and they also offered a 30 day "temporary" number. After 30 days, it would revert to our original number. But that was a hassle, too and I have no idea if they still offer that service (but you might consider it).
I finally got so desperate that every time someone called and their number didn't show up on caller ID or it was a number I didn't recognize, I answered it by stating in my greeting the name of a fake business.
I decided to be a mental health clinic, so when someone called, I would say . . . "Good afternoon, Crescent Ridge Mental Health Clinic. How may I direct your call?"
After a few weeks of this, they quit and I thought that was pretty good results after several months of these crazy phone calls.
Anifani, That is a great suggestion, I am going to use it!!! We have the number of a dead beat named Michael Ward.... extrememy frustrating and you are right the DNC list act refers to solicitors not debt collection agencies. I don't think it would do the poster any good to change his number because he will probably just get the number of another deadbeat. I really am frustrated when they call my cell phone which still is a TX number looking for this guy. I have counted 10 different companies looking for our guy. Everyone of them apolgizes and says they are taking our number off their list but they don't and the next agent resumes the harassment.
Location: Greensboro to Belgium to Michigan to Charlotte
109 posts, read 345,857 times
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Ani - GREAT idea.
We've been here in CLT almost a year, and have got the same thing going on. To make it worse, the deadbeats lived on our street, so everywhere I went and set up an account using my phone number and address (like at Lowes, purchasing our dryer) they would say "we've already got you on file, but under a different name". I would then have to go through the whole story, hoping the people didn't owe the store anything, and hoping they'd believe me.
Most of the collection agency callers have moved on, now, but I am still getting calls each semester from a local college thanking me for registering, and asking about payment. So, obviously, they're still around and using this number occasionally. If I could track them down, and throw them to the wolves, I so would.
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