Telephone harrassment

tote_alley_stressed

Please help - rang creditors to let them know the situation last week and to let them know I was going with CCCs. Had nothing but phone calls from 1 credit card - automated (3x's a day) and they are ringing work (4x's). Rang them 3x's yesterday asking them to stop but have met with so much nastiness and sarcasm from them. Scare tactics are awful - what can I do?

thefoolonthehill

i would try writing to them and adv that you will not deal with any phone calls and will correspond by post only.

If they dont accept this i think you can report them to fsa.

sorry i dont know more hopefully someone will come on and advise you more

CLAPTON

firstly write to them and say

a. you only want them to deal in writing with you
b. you take your debts seriously and are trying to sort things out with CCCS...do you have a reference number.

c. say you consider their phone call threatening and constitute harassment which is illegal and if they continue you will report them to the OFT and the local trading standards offers.

you may wish to use this format should a complaint be necessary.
http://www.oft.gov.uk/nr/rdonlyres/b3999175-a9bc-469d-ad5b-ba284de36e01/0/complaint.doc


keep a acccurate record of all calls
keep a copy of your letter to them (send it by recorded delivery)
repeat the content of your letter if they phone again.

gerturdeanna

This is classed as harrasement. If they call again after you have asked them not to, inform them you will be informing the Trading Standards of their harrasement. It is your right to be contacted by letter. They shouldn't ring you at work either. Check out the CAB website. I'm sure there is some bumf of there.

Megatimbo

Hello Tote alley stressed, it can be very stressful receiving nuisance calls,i bought a caller ID display so that i know who the caller is, and should work with most phone companies although there may be a charge for this service,also do you have the 1571 service where they can leave a message,and you can get back to them,these are just ways to give you back some control.

Also you can get annonymous callers barred from calling you if they withhold their number,contact BT or your phone provider for help,reason i know is that years ago i used to work shifts and wife got these alot when i went out,they were not abusive just silence on the other end bit unnerving
Not nice at all,and this worked,any geniune caller will leave a message of course.
Drastic i know but change your number,should do this for free if you are Harassed a lot.

Hope this helps Regards M

tote_alley_stressed

Thanks everybody. Yesterday was almost my last. I dread the phone, even my sons take the phone off. You almost end up pleading with them - I've been asked to ask family and friends for money. Not long lost my mum and when it was mentioned that I ask her - felt like the end of the world. This site has been so supportive.

CLAPTON

get writing that letter to them

prepare a summary/statement and keep it by the phone, simply read the statement to them, do NOT have any conversations with them atall, simply repeat (read from your script) your statement(..with CCCS, only deal by letter, consider this to be harassment, will make formal complaint) , dont deviate from your script and dont enter into conversation.

black-saturn

Any more than 3 calls with the same info from the same person can count as harrassment. You can contact the police to ask them to stop contacting you.

jillie1974

I had the same problem with GE capital with an ASDA card. they would ring nearly every day or ring and not leave a message even on sundays..and all because they hadnt acknowledged the info CCCS sent them through, i flipped last sunday and told the guy on the phone that i had requested the infor to be sent o them again, it'm not responsible for how royal mail work and deliver and that if they rang me again within a week i was calling the police and doing them for harassment... strangely enough not heard from them since...though prob just jinxed that now!! lol

skylight

All great advice. I resorted to changing my phone number and its fantastic! Try it!

Write to them as described above and if they still continue then you MUST report them. As I found, writing and complaining did nothing and a complaint eventually did.

More importantly, to deal with this NOW - DO NOT get into any converstaion with them. They DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU!!!!! in anyway shape or form. Its just a job to them and they do not care if you are loaded or about to jump under a bridge. Therefore do not enter into any correspondence with them.

All you will say from now on is "I have complained about your harrassment and I am dealing with CCCS. Contact them instead" AND HANG UP! You will have to repeat this several times - perhaps straight away as my creditors continued to call back straight after I hung up! NO conversation, NO niceness NOTHING! It will make you feel better to take control again.

And I suggest you complain to the FSA immediately about the person and company who reccommended you ask family/friends for money. They are not allowed to.

Check out the National Debtline website above (Link above) as its gives you a lot of information about what creditors can and cannot do and the places to complain to.

Remember - its just money. Being in debt is not a crime and don't you dare let them make you feel that way. You hold your head high and stuff em.

madduck

The advice provided by everyone here is great - I only wish I had known about this site a couple of years ago when I started my DMP. My personal hates were Northern Rock who were nasty as hell and GE Capital. I had 2 seperate accounts with them so I got 8am wake up calls on a Saturday for one of them and a Sunday for the other.

It does eventually calm down - honest - I can now exist without fear of who was going to phone and what they were going to bully me about this time. I can collect the mail in the morning without worrying what is in it.

You've done the right thing and taken control of the situation - keep strong.