Debt Collection Agencys Are They Immoral?

trevored

paul10mm wrote:

The problem i had was i had a fantastic credit history when i wrote to them they just could not belive what i was saying i had never missed a payment never gone overdrawn yet how could i need to go bankrupt?? Simple i ran out of my own money i still had 25k i could spend on my cards i could have robbed peter to pay paul i just felt the right think to do was stop i spent all the savings from my house sale £40,000 paying them back but i still owed £100,000 hard to belive as i only earn £23,000
there is something wrong when you can have more money in credit than you can for a mortgage??

Sorry paul10mm I must be missing the point, are you suggesting that your debt is the credit card companies' fault for allowing you the credit or your own fault for using it?

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

to go bankrupt in my opinion is the last resort...my gripe is with the dca who harrass people who could pay there debts off in a slow but positive way.. in to going bankrupt just to get them of there back i just dont understand it

slash40

i hope one day those self righteous people find themselves in a position (possibly through no fault of their own) similar to the posters in this thread. its all very well to say "i dont have debt" or "you should pay what you owe", but no-one knows whats around the corner, or what life is going to throw at you. im not talking about people who deliberately run up debts and dont pay them back.

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

i agree i up to the age of 37 paid my bills on time with out fail and yes whinged about people who didnt pay there way and people who went bankrupt little did i know i would be in a sinking ship the situation i have found myself in will not happen again as i will not do credit again,no one knows whats around the corner i deal with people who are in the main ill some from the lifestyle they led but people should have compasion and understanding in a lot of things ,as for holy than thow people i think what goes around comes around and the proof of that is me ,

mrwibble

I think the problem is there are two sorts of debt collectors just like the debtors - the reasonable ones and the unreasonable ones.

Reasonable collectors and reasonable debtors who can come to an agreement no-one has a problem with - you have a debt (assuming its correct) because you spent - circumstances may have changed unexpectedly and you took a calculated risk but at the end of the day its your name on the agreement unless you are suggesting someone else spent the money ? You are responsible for your own actions unless you are mentally incompetent.

Unreasonable collectors and reasonable debtors is where I have a problem - usually these collectors are either the sort of person who likes pulling the wings off flies - I think we all have met one or two of them in our lives - there are not too many torturer openings now so debt collector or bouncer is all that is left. Alternatively their targets are high and they have been trained to be complete b****ts - "they are lying to you - push them !" - incidentally this is exactly the same attitude drilled into tax inspectors !

Finally, reasonable collectors and unreasonable debtors - this is a big area usually clouded by emotion. You have a debt so pay up or make arrangements with the collector - they may sympathise with your divorce / idiot other half / other problems but why should this be a reason to dodge your legitimate debt ? Sorry but life is a risk and sometimes you have to take two steps back - sticking heads in sand and complaining when reality bites is not the right attitude - making arrangements and pushing back where appropriate is the right attitude. If you ran a business and ran into problems you would try and evade for as long as possible but in the end you would accept it was legitimate for the creditor to close you down via the courts - why can't people accept this in the personal sphere ?

mrwibble

slash40 wrote:

i hope one day those self righteous people find themselves in a position (possibly through no fault of their own) similar to the posters in this thread. its all very well to say "i dont have debt" or "you should pay what you owe", but no-one knows whats around the corner, or what life is going to throw at you. im not talking about people who deliberately run up debts and dont pay them back.

Yes - I don't know what life is going to throw at me but if I get dealt a sh***y hand then I have to make the most of it - We have huge debts which are going to grow until SWMBO is back at work - do I whine that "life is unfair" ? No I just try and minimise debt - we spent it and we will pay it back - it doesn't mean I won't try and dodge it but I accept who spent it and don't look to the state to pull me out of a temporary bad situation

kaznelson

I've been a member of this site and a visitor of this board for a long time. I also work as a Debt Collector. This is how I earn my money to pay for my debts, my bills etc. Immoral?? Is it immoral to work for a Credit Card Company charging its customer 30% interest? Is it immoral to work for a Bank that is illegally charging £25 for sending a letter? Is it immoral to work for a shop that charges over priced goods?

I dont get any bonus for reaching targets, but if I dont reach my targets I could be heading down the jobcentre next week. The worse culprits for such bonsus are the Sales departments for all the major credit/finance/services organisations.

My company is always willing to offer an alternative payment plan to customer who cant (for whatever reason) make payments in full. If a customer makes us aware that they may be late with their payment etc its no problem. The problem starts when a customer ignore all attempts of contact or make false promises. This starts alarm bells ringing for the Creditor. Has the customer moved? Has the customer more serious problems? Thats when the some DCs can start heavy tactics.

The amount of abuse that I tolerate on a daily basis is unbelievable, I've had men threaten to physically harm me after I've finished work.

We are only human as well

in_debt_again_but_dealing_with_it

I had an awful experience with a certain cc company (not one of the big banks) who after we reached a settlement figure and we paid the said figure phoned and left the following msg on my answerphone "I know you're there, don't try to hide 'cause I know you're there. Just pick up the f*****g phone. Right well you better ring this number" I was out at the time at the hospital my husband having just suffered a heart attack and panicked I immediately rang the company and replayed the message to the "senior" (?) member of staff available and they were just as bad to the point that the rep was right to do and say what he did. Excuse me but the account was settled at least a month prior to that so where do these people get off, I'm sorry but nobody deserves bullying tactics and as always it looks like its the vunerable honest people that suffer. I have never avoided paying my debts, kept in touch and always been up front this was the only company that behaved this way I'm sure I can't say who they were but they begin with !!!!!!, that was in 2000, I'd like to think things have changed but perhaps not. Incidently every debt I've ever owned has been repaid plus much interest and charges that actually keep these people employed. I know they have a job to do and not an easy job but surely firm but fair works just as well. I, as I'm sure most of the people in debt on this site have never run and never hidden I've always been on the electoral register etc. I hold my hand up and say yes I got into debt and yes Im struggling but my god I'll pay it back. Those of you who sancitmoneously (sp!) spout how you pay your own way good for you but please instead of critiscing let us know how you did it! sorry for waffling

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

yes i think there are some dca who are sailing close to the wind i think they can be counted on one hand ,there behavior is unacceptable, i pay my debts but just becouse there are good and bad in everything does not mean they should get away with it they should be bought to book via relevant agencys and even after my debts are clear i will assist people via the cab etc to deal with these dca

slash40

[/QUOTE]Yes - I don't know what life is going to throw at me but if I get dealt a sh***y hand then I have to make the most of it - We have huge debts which are going to grow until SWMBO is back at work - do I whine that "life is unfair" ? No I just try and minimise debt - we spent it and we will pay it back - it doesn't mean I won't try and dodge it but I accept who spent it and don't look to the state to pull me out of a temporary bad situation

for the record i have never whined that life is unfair. i got in debt through a series of events that was nothing to do with overspending, recklessness etc. i paid my debts for years, cut back until i could do no further - no luxuries, no holidays, no haircuts,no clothes sometimes no heat or much in the way of food.
had no intention of going bankrupt, but things came to crisis point when a bailiff "conned"his way into my house and literally intimidated and bullied me out of most of the food money for the month - no negotiation, no understanding. came to assess the value of our goods but could clearly see we had nothing to take. faced with not being able to feed my kids or keep them warm i went bankrupt, i would hope that if you were in the same situation you would do the same.
i dont call 10 years of debt temporary, do you? i did everything in my power to "minimise" my debt and never once dodged paying. apart from 1 household bill i always paid everything on time, amount asked.
i paid in full for my bankruptcy. if you want to read up on the implications of it, you will see there are many, making it not an easy /soft option.
finally i would ask you to consider those who have committed suicide because of their debt and the relentless pressure put on by some collectors for amounts that the debtor cannot pay at that time. i would say that if they had looked to the state or collectors had been more reasonable then these people may not be dead. 6 feet under versus bankrupt?