Illegal Practices of Debt Collectors

[MTL_4runner]

I've been getting calls at home from this outfit up in Canada called CBCL (Canadian Bonded Credits Limited....I'm sure it stands for other things too :laugh: ) and it appears as though they are making up debts owed to them now because we had an account with a cell phone company which was closed almost 4 years ago with no money owing. We called the phone company to verify this and they confirmed it. I told CBCL the account was closed and the phone company said there were no debts owed, but these bastards like to keep calling and harassing you for fun (the autodialer at all hours of the day is my personal favorite). Any of you guys ever dealt with these A-holes and effectively forced them to stop calling you? I mean it's one thing to have a legit old debt get collected on, but to just make up an amount you owe and then harass you at home for it is a totally new one to me. Clearly this is completely illegal in some way shape or form.

Seems like I'm not the only one either:
http://www.angryman.ca/blog/2005/11/another-angry-man-jim-stanford-vs.html
http://www.canadian-money-advisor.ca/company/2797.html

[Texas Jim]

Get their address and have an attorney or barrester as they are called up north write them a threating letter if they do not stop calling with some sort of civil action.

Find out what they say you owe then and then send them it in Canadian Tire Money. TJ

[BruceTS]

I just string them along on the phone as long as possible, when they finally realize they ain't gettin a dime, they hang up and usually never call again, but if they did, I put them on hold. I had a dispute with T-mobile and cancelled service when they didn't fulfill their end of the contract obligation, they tried to nail me with early termination fees, I told them to shove it. Needless to say they never collected anything.....

[MTL_4runner]

These guys (CBCL) are a 3rd party trying to collect on behalf of the cell phone company. The irony of the entire thing is that the debt is clearly fraudulent since all calls to the cell phone companies collections dept show us having closed the account in good standing and a zero balance. It sounds indeed like I will need to have our lawyer fire off a few "Cease and Desist or face a harassment lawsuit" nastygrams to them to finally kiss this issue goodbye. Nothing seems to get a company's attention like letterhead from a major lawfirm. Heck if they keep it up I might even make some money out of this entire fiasco. :P

If there are any debts owed, they will not be settled with any 3rd parties that's for sure.
CBCL is going to get nothing from me, but a big fat :flipoff:

I'll keep posting as I get more responses from these pleasant folk. If any of you have any more clever ways of dealing with these types of companies, by all means post up!

[blknblu]

When they call ask them to hold on while you move to another phone/quieter room etc. then set the phone down and go back to what you were doing.

[CJM]

Get the persons name, then use it as you tell them in a very, very nice manner that you owe no money and if they continue to call you you will have to seek legal action against them.


OR

Tell them to go shove it and if they keep calling you your gonna go there and find the jackass who called you and make sure they have thier debt paid by your two fists.

I like option 2 the best, I did it myself and it worked.

[Lee]

i got 3 very threatening phone calls over an unpaid FIVE DOLLAR balance at BLOCKBUSTER.

the first was an impolite message left on my voicemail. the second occured not even 2 hrs later which i picked up and the guy was a complete a-hole, i told him i was at work, and would love to pay the $5 but i couldnt talk at that moment as i was about to enter a meeting.

they called me again at 8pm that night (instead of the next morning like i asked) and the guy got into a screaming match with me even though i told him i wanted to pay by CC over the phone :confused:

i hung up on him, paid through the website and never heard back again.

[Texas Jim]

go and set the place on fire!!! TJ

[Marc P]

How funny this thread was started already. On Sat I got a letter from a company called AFNI stating I owed Verizon of California $270.00. I called Verizon and I am up to date and the phone # that was referred to in the letter does not exist with them. My wife did some checking around today, and found there are lots of these companies now that buy old debt records from big companies and try to collect on them. It is a new fad, and apparently lots of people are getting letters like mine...

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/supposed-verizon-bill-from-1996-c10168.html

Anyone else getting these??

[Seanz0rz]

i entered a "free" giveaway, and they called twice a day, every day, the second call usually coming during dinner. we ignored it for several months, finally i answered the phone, and when they asked for me, i started sobbing and told them that i had died, and how could you do that you insensitive bastard. just silence on the phone, it was great.

other than that, you can ask to speak to a manager and be removed from their list, if that doesnt work, you can block phone numbers through your phone company. other than that, BBB maybe?

[PirateFins]

Don't know if it works but, I read that when the autodialer calls if you hit "########" (pound sign) a bunch of times. It will confuse the system which will hang up and it removes your number from the system as a bad phone number. Worth a try.

[MTL_4runner]

Don't know if it works but, I read that when the autodialer calls if you hit "########" (pound sign) a bunch of times. It will confuse the system which will hang up and it removes your number from the system as a bad phone number. Worth a try.


I'll have to try that one.