Having worked for a litigation law firm for several years I learned that the consumer actually DOES have rights with regards to credit issues. Bet you didn’t know that you can tell anyone calling you about a bill, they cannot call you at all that they must communicate by mail. You even have the right to refuse that if you wish. Of course, they can always sue you if they have no way to contact you, but better by mail than being harrassed daily at home or at work. They can be told you cannot be contacted at work, etc also.
Anytime you have a bill collector of any kind threaten you, tell them you are hanging up and not to call you again, then write to the company and insist they not ever call again because of how you were treated. It is always good to get everything in writing. Anytime you have a conversation like this, take down the time, date, etc and GET THE PERSON’S name. The more information you have the better off it is for you.
You cannot be bullied into making payments you can’t afford either. If you have a bill they want $500 a month for and you only have $50 tell them they can have $50 a month, that is all you can afford and don’t let them start bullying you, hang up.
I had a scenario just recently happen to me. We have an old bill that I have been paying to a lawyer for over a year because I refuse to pay the full amount all at once. It was an error made by the person to whom we had the service, but because I had no proof it was paidin full, I decided my best course was to pay the thing again, but I refused to pay anymore than $5 a month! lol Anyway, I pay that 5 bucks religiously, but when Jack had his heart surgery, I paid several months in advance from our savings because we had no income for a few months until he went back to work. I wrote the months the money covered on the check AND sent a letter detailing why I was doing it. I got a letter the following month from one of the attorney’s threatening me because I hadn’t kept to “my promise,” blah, blah, blah. Whooee was I mad. I went online to my bank and got a copy of the check, photocopied the spreadsheet I kept showing every payment, the date and the check number and made a copy of the original letter. I also sent another letter and let loose on them saying they owed me an apology, but because lawyers thought they could do no wrong, I wouldn’t get one. I told them to make sure they knew their facts and they needed to get glasses for their staff. A couple weeks later I got a letter APOLOGIZING to me, but he softened it by saying no one was perfect but the creator. Brother! I wonder what his comment would have been if I had said that to him if I couldn’t pay the bill, no one is perfect but the creator! lol
Anyway, all this was just to let you know that you need to always stand up for yourself no matter what and don’t take guff from people. On the other shoe, when you find a particularly helpful person, let them know you appreciate them and take the time to email the company and tell them how great your customer person was to you.
