Every day in my Chatham office, I get a phone call from someone who is overwhelmed with telephone calls from a collection agency.
The stories I am hearing are very similar, the collection agent has been rude, they are calling numerous times per day both at home and at work. Susan (not her real name), told me that a collection agency was calling her every half hour at work and told her they would keep calling her every half hour until they were paid. What the collection didn’t seem to understand, or care about, is that Susan’s boss was angry that all of these phone calls were taking her away from her job and Susan was afraid she would lose her job because of the phone calls.
Understand that you do have rights when it comes to deal with collection agencies and the collection agencies have rules they are supposed to follow. However, you must take the time to file a complaint, and when you are stressed about your debts; this may not be high on your priority list.
How should you deal with them? First – Treat them in a professional manner. Second – Don’t make a payment arrangement you can’t keep. Third – If you can’t pay them, don’t avoid them. They won’t go away on their own.
The bottom line is that they are calling because you owe money. You probably had a loan or credit card you weren’t able to pay. Your account was then sold to a third party collection agency who is now trying to collect the debt. Financial problems can happen to anyone for various reasons. Whatever the reason may be, it’s important to know there are options to deal with your debt. Maybe credit counseling can help. Or maybe you need the protection of bankruptcy or a consumer proposal.
It’s important to call us at 310-PLAN and talk to us about your options before the phone calls get overwhelming.
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