I imagine there is a special section in hell reserved for those individuals employed as debt collectors. No, I'm not referring to the friendly lady calling to remind you that your account is a week past due. I'm talking about those obnoxious people calling to inform that you are some kind of lower life species . Because you haven't paid your bills.
When, for whatever reason, someones ability to make timely and regular payments towards creditors is compromised, you are likely to receive telephone calls from debt collectors. The best solution to a problem is to not have the problem in the first place. If only one could travel back in time and fix our credit problem. Being a reasonably intelligent person I will admit that until time travel is made available to each of us this idea won't work in resolving the problem of debt collectors.
Within the debt collection industry there exists a clear ranking of, for lack of a better description, "status". There is the first level collector, usually from "accounts receivable", a friendly and agreeable person inquiring if you are aware your account is currently in arrears. This person makes conversation with you asking a number of questions designed to get as much information about your financial circumstances as possible. Not your friend in spite of what your are told and led to believe. As individuals find themselves falling further and further behind in meeting financial obligations, the people assigned to the collection file become progressively nastier and abusive.
Every province and state have differing statutes and regulations regarding the granting of credit, as well as the collection techniques which are permissible in coercing debtors in arrears to paying up. The debt collection industry invests millions of dollars researching the most "effective" techniques to use against people.
Collection agents and agencies will never inform you of your rights except when they are required by law to do. Even when required, debt collectors "forget" to comply with legal requirements. They are very reluctant to inform people of anything likely to lower their already abysmal success ratio. Most jurisdictions do not have such requirements. Many jurisdictions have disclosure requirements, such as providing address and contact information. Usually however the requirement for the debt collector to provide information applies only after it is requested. Requiring collectors to inform debtors of their rights is not something the debt collection desires. There is an entire industry where financial companies and credit granters lobby governments to keep disclosure requirements as weak as possible.
Yet, with all the time and money invested in finding the most effective techniques, the best they have is increasingly abusive and degrading techniques. That old saying "You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar" comes to mind. In the real world you can catch more flies if you use feces. I digress. The debt collection industry primary concern is not collecting the most money possible. The intended effect is to maintain an insidious form of control over their "customers".
Why? You would think they know treating people with respect will be more effective in getting people to pay up. Well, they do know this. They also know that there comes a point where being nice is not effective. People can't pay their bills when there isn't enough money to do so. This is when the nasty debt collectors are sent to attack the hapless debtor. A tidbit of information you may not realize. When a creditor sends a debtors account to a third party collection company, it's over. This means they have already decided to write off that account. Financial institutions and credit companies do not
Financial institutions and credit granters design their collection activities and techniques to send a powerful message. That message is "If you don't pay your bills as we demand we will make your life nothing short of pure hell!" And they do. The intended effect is that the vast majority of people will struggle to do anything they can to avoid being the victim of abusive bill collectors. This works because the majority of people are not aware of what their rights and obligations are. Debt collectors are quick to remind a person of their legal obligations. Yet, they are not so quick or cooperative to inform people that they also have rights.
Everything financial and credit companies do is carefully researched, planned and methodically implemented. It's nothing but a numbers game. Our intent is to change those numbers, shifting cost/benefit calculations. Laws are in place to protect people from the kind of abusive degrading behaviour
