November 22, 2006
Caller ID - Use It
I had a phone call last night that kinda pissed me off. I debated on whether to share it or not, cause it's something I normally wouldn't blog about, but then I thought - if it happened to me, it could happen to anyone. Plus - like I said, it really pissed me off.
I'm made no secret that the last year and half have been tough. Hell - since the '04 hurricane season money hasn't flowed like it used to. So...I got a bit of debt.
I'm trying to pay it off. I have a saying, the only way to eat a bear is a bite at a time, and that's what I'm doing. One bill at a time, one debt paid before moving on to the next.
Anyway, I screwed up last night and answered a call. It was a bill collector. Damn Seems there is a bill out there from when I was in college. WTF??? I thought those had all been paid. Holy crap. And thanks to fees, fines and interest it ain't tiny. I was having a difficult time grasping that I actually owed this money.
Now, understand something. I was never rude to this person. Never cursed AT him, never raised my voice. Just asked questions.
He was the most gloom and doom person ever in life. At one point he actually said to me "If Bush weren't President you wouldn't have to worry about paying this back."
Yes, you read that right. He actually said it.
At that point I told him I wanted to do a little research before I made any arrangments for payments. I didn't want to set myself up where I can't do what I promise to.
He got even gloomier and doomier. He offered to help set up a budget. I told him that I was not going to repeat myself. I will call HIM on Monday and tell HIM what I can pay. When he got nasty and said they were "gonna get me" I stopped him by asking what they would have done if I hadn't answered the phone? Huh. They'd have to wait. Well, now they have the satisfaction of knowing I know and they will still have to wait. Just not as long.
Meanwhile I have to go dig through the storage facility to find my box of old old old files, cause somethin' just doesn't feel right about this......
Always at the holidays. I swear to pete......
Posted by Tammi at November 22, 2006 07:17 AM | TrackBackyep, something doesn't sound right!
Posted by: michele at November 22, 2006 08:45 AMDoesn't right either ... you might want to check your credit report because if it's a loan of some sort than it should be on there with the amount owing.
I would also call the school and see what it is, they would be the ones that turned it over to a collection agency.
And lastly I would have asked to speak to his supervisor about all the remarks he said.
Asshole
Posted by: Machelle at November 22, 2006 09:44 AMWow. So Bush ran up some bills in your name, too? Is there anything this man can't do?
Posted by: Ogre at November 22, 2006 10:06 AMBe careful...creditors are now going after people who don't actually owe money. I read about this somewhere not too long ago. They call you saying you owe money from a previous debt when in fact, the real debt came from someone else who didn't pay. So they are going after Peter to pay Paul's debt.
If I find that story I'll post link here or on my site.
Posted by: Dazd at November 22, 2006 10:27 AMThat's exactly what ran through my mind Dazd and why I stalled for time. It just doesn't feel right. AND it's the ONLY reason I posted it. My financial issues are not fodder for blogging most times, but if this is happening to me it could happen to anyone so I figured I should put it out there.......
Posted by: Tammi at November 22, 2006 11:52 AMGoing through the same troubles here. Some are nice and want to help others are just assholes! 1 even called my Aunt & Uncle after I ignored their calls. When things get straight and I need a card for emergencies I will remember who was good to me and who was an asshole!
Posted by: Chuck at November 22, 2006 11:16 PMyea, As everyone else has stated, something ain't right here. Before paying anything, get a copy of the paper work. They should have it on file.
Posted by: Contagion at November 22, 2006 11:39 PMTake care about such creditors. Should they have evidences of your debt - I mean legal ones, like your written note of receipt etc. - they can sell this debt to a third party, which specializes on tapping the debtor for money. Probably you need to thoroughly search for the documents to prove that you have paid this or that debt.
Posted by: Marina at November 23, 2006 03:02 AM