Real Life MMD: Should I help debt agency find colleague?

vax2002

Divert the call to the bosses office.

Lucky1983

JoannaS wrote: »

Why would they be chasing her if she didn't spend the money?

Sometimes debt collectors have your name down on a 'debt' as you lived at an address. Sometimes that debt might actually belong to a past owner/tenant.

Trust me I know all about it - going through it at the moment where I am being chased for a debt that is my ex's responsibility. I wasn't living at the address for the time period that the debt involves, but they are chasing me as he has kindly told them that its my debt not his. :mad: I have sent them proof of my addresses but its taking ages to sort out. Believe me, sometimes the debt collection companies have it wrong!

Having said that if it isn't her debt, then she should talk to them and prove it, but I don't feel that it is the OPs responsibility to tell them where she is.

mlrobinson

JoannaS wrote: »

I haven't ever been in a situation where I've been chased by a debt collector and hopefully I won't be.....they only chase when given reason to.....pay your debts...no debt collectors!! Simple!!

I hope that you never end up in a situation where you're chased by debt collectors. Some of us end up there for reasons outside of our control. The simplest thing is not to end up in debt in the first place.

But if you're unfortunate enough to have a partner with no financial sense, who then ends up out of work, then it's not always as simple as just keep paying your debts. When you have a choice of paying your credit cards or paying your mortgage and keeping food on the table, you do what you have to do.

The MMD isn't asking us to judge why the colleague is being chased by debt collectors, just on whether this person should pass her details on. And for the record, I don't think they should. Let them go through the switchboard or call her personal numbers.

Nick_C

I was chased by debt collection agencies over a disputed credit card balance. I bought goods which turned out to be faulty. I returned the goods and the shop refused to give me a refund. I wrote to my CC company and told them the goods were no longer in my possession, I was not paying for them, and I reminded them of their S75 responsibilities. The CC company refused to re-credit my account, and eventually passed the disputed debt to a collection agency. They kept threatening to take me to court, I kept asking them to prove the debt but they never replied to my letters - just standard letters repeating that I owed them money (which I did not) and phone calls (which I didn't answer). Eventually, they just sold the "debt" on and the same problems started over again. I think I was hassled by three different agencies before it stopped. Because someone is being chased by a debt collection agency, it does not necessarily mean they are in debt!!! My experience of these companies is that they are unprofessional. I wouldn't do a thing to help them.

Julia4J

I agree with the majority of people and the answer is "NO"! I would also ask is it not possible for you to arrange for your extension number to be changed - obviously you have to answer the phone so you are unable to use any telephone screening devices such as TrueCall (brilliant invention BTW), therefore, it would make sense to change your number if at all possible. I feel really sorry for both you and your colleague, after all the debt might not actually exist as the debt collection agency sounds totally incompetent. There has got to come a time when these 'companies' are banned.

seat17

You are not your colleague's secretary, nor are you responsible for screening who gets to speak to her. I bet if anyone else rang your number accidentally while trying to reach her (the National Lottery for instance) you'd give them the new number to reach her on?
You know nothing about the situation so you are not in a position to judge who is at fault either way. A company has simply rung up trying to reach your colleague, so give them her number and let them do just that. It's not as if you're giving away her home phone number!

drussii

JoannaS, you are obviously not aware that these parasites often phish for people with the same name as someone who has a debt and has moved home, emigrated or just died!. Engage brain before opening mouth and if you have been lucky enough to cruise through life with no problems then great for you but understand that there are many people out there who have lost their jobs, homes and self respect just because greedy banks and greedy politicians have messed up the economy and someone else always has to pay the price. Count yourself as fortunate that you are not one and stop judging people and situations that you have no knowledge of.

pinkystan

As someone who's just engaged a debt collection agency to try and get progress (and money back that's owed) that the courts have simply failed to do, I would hope you'd pass on the new number. It's not your problem to deal with it - it's your colleague's. You're not her secretary nor is it up to you to protect her from facing up to responsibilities. Regardless of whether your colleague is in debt or not, it's down to her to actually address the fact that a collection agency is trying to contact her. If she doesn't owe money she can start to resolve the error, and if she does, she can start to deal with it properly.

I wouldn't ask her if she's sorted it out or not, just pass on the number and let her handle it herself.

EccentricRavenJewellery

Like the vast majority of people on here, I'd say don't pass on her contact details.
a) They should know by now that it's the wrong number, so they should have stopped calling you.
b) They shouldn't be contacting her at work, as it can get her into trouble.
c) You have no way to make sure they are who they say they are, or that she really does have those debts.
d) It would be horrible to have to deal with the implications for your team if you were the person who dropped her in it.

Look after yourself by stopping them harassing you, getting on with your work once free of their intrusions, and not being the bad person in the office. (That includes gossip!!!)

Besides, debt collectors are morally bankrupt- worse than ambulance chasers.

hellywobs

seat17 wrote: »

You are not your colleague's secretary, nor are you responsible for screening who gets to speak to her. I bet if anyone else rang your number accidentally while trying to reach her (the National Lottery for instance) you'd give them the new number to reach her on?
You know nothing about the situation so you are not in a position to judge who is at fault either way. A company has simply rung up trying to reach your colleague, so give them her number and let them do just that. It's not as if you're giving away her home phone number!

Please don't. It's inappropriate for debt collection agencies to contact people at work and why on earth have they told you what it concerns anyway? That's a breach of the Data Protection Act in itself. Next time they call, tell them in no uncertain terms that you are not your colleague and that you will not take any more calls from them. And don't. Put the phone down.