What should I do? Someone named Bonnie gave a collection agency my phone number...

[LostInAnomie]

... and they won't believe that it's the wrong number and that she doesn't live here.

For the past week I've been receiving about three or four calls a day asking for "Bonnie". When I tell them that they have the wrong number they either say "Fine!" and hang up, or get shitty because they think I'm lying.

The last call went like this:

Me: Hello.

Them: Yes, this is the (something) Collection Agency, and we would like to talk to Bonnie.

Me: Uhh... This is like the 12th time I've told you that you have the wrong number. This is the (my name) household and we've never had a Bonnie here.

Them: Well, this is the number that she has written down.

Me: Well, she doesn't live here and has never lived here.

Them: Well, it's not likely that she just made it up.

Me: Really, you work for a collection agency and you've never had anyone lie to you?

Them: Not usually.

Me: Well, she doesn't live here. Don't call me again.

Two hours later, a different person from the same agency called me. I just hung up the phone.

What should I do?

[TOhioLiberal]

1. They don't believe....

...that people give bullshit numbers? I'll bet they believe in the tooth fairy too. :eyes:

Sorry, I don't have any advice for you...

[LostInAnomie]

2. That's what I thought

They must be new or something. :crazy:

[wildhorses]

3. caller id is a wonderful thing ---

also you could inform them that you are going to charge them with harassment. it is a federal offense.

[Critters2]

4. This is true. Tell them to stop calling you.

If they continue to call, they are in violation of the law. They can try to reach this Bonnie in other ways--mail, process server, etc--but they have to stop calling.

So, remind them of this.

[SeattleGirl]

9. Don't just verbally tell them; send them a letter too, if you can find

their address. And send it certified, return receipt.

Good luck with this.

[Critters2]

11. Legally, they're suppsed to stop if you just tell 'em

but yeah, a certified letter will scare them into compliance.

I used to work as a consumer advocate. I learned just how evil collections people are!

[SeattleGirl]

14. That's true, but with a letter, at least you have something in writing

that you could refer to if you needed to.

[LostInAnomie]

6. I almost said that the last time.

It's getting ridiculous.

[wildhorses]

8. say it next time

chances are it will be the last time;)

[pagerbear]

5. I had this problem once.

I wound up changing my number.

[momophile]

7. at ftc.org you can report them

we just had to do this for the exact same reason. very annoying.

[MorningGlow]

10. I'm going through the same thing right now!

We moved into our house a year and a half ago. The previous residents were renters of questionable character (that's an understatement--I met them--I know whereof I speak), and one of them bailed on a student loan or two (at least as far as I can tell, as I don't open her mail--I just send it back). Now, those people didn't have the same phone number we have, but in their desperation, the collection agencies have done reverse lookups of the address and call here. What kind of sense does that make? None at all, but there it is.

So for a friggin' year and a half we have had people mail, call, and come to our door looking for this chick. On at least one occasion, when DH and I were both at work, our neighbor saw one guy walking around our house peering in our windows! No matter HOW OFTEN I say we bought this house a year and a half ago, our phone number was NOT their phone number, nobody by that name lives here anymore, and no I don't know where she went, they continue to mail, call, and visit.

The worst is the auto-dial calls--"Important information for Jane Doe. If you are not Jane Doe, do not respond." WTF? You can't speak, because then the auto-dialler will think you ARE Jane Doe, but if you just hang up, it calls you over and over and over and over.... However, I got so frustrated one day that I called the auto-dial number that showed up on my caller ID, and I actually got a live person. Granted, the guy was in India and we could barely understand one another, but he got the gist of what I was saying and the auto-calls stopped.

I had a lovely conversation last weekend with a member of our local police department (who was looking for the house's previous owner with a grand jury subpoena in his hands--oy vey, what a crew) and he said that if you do talk to a live person on the phone, immediately demand to talk to a supervisor, and don't stop going up the chain of command until you get some satisfaction.

And he also said that if anyone sets foot on our property, we have every right to call 911 immediately. Which I will be happy to do if anyone dares try that again (especially because now I'm not working and I can catch 'em in the act).

I'll be interested to see if anyone else posts advice on your thread, LIA, because I'm up for anything at this point!
:hi:

[LostInAnomie]

12. What's really pissing me off...

... is that I think they are calling me a lot more often than I realize.

I have a dial-up connection and it takes a lot to knock my connection off. You either have to call me repeatedly, or let it ring about 20 times before the connection is lost. I thought about it the other day that around the same time I started getting calls for "Bonnie" I started losing my connection to the internet about 4 or 5 times a day sometimes at 1:00 AM. I just figured it was a shitty server, but it's probably those assholes calling and letting it ring forever thinking she's just not picking up.

Next time they call me I'm going to be on their ass.

[ekelly]

13. Well, there's another violation

They can't call after 9:00 pm in YOUR time zone.

[Omphaloskepsis]

15. Extreme profanity, and sexual harassment.

It is a shitty route to take. But, it should get you taken off the list. /* I worked in a call center for a few days */

People did it to me and we never called back. That was what I was told. I only worked there for a few days.

[Madspirit]

16. Tell Them

Tell them you're lying on the couch naked eating Funyuns.
Lee

[LostInAnomie]

17. It'd probably be the truth.

That would probably keep them from ever snooping around my house too.

[TreasonousBastard]

18. Aside from the usual appeals to authorities and...

requests to keep going up the ladder until you find someone who can stop the calls, some would consider having some fun with them.

"Bonnie's dead."

"BONNNNN EEEEEEEE" (short pause) "Bonnie says to go fuck yourself."

"Bonnie stiffed me out of 5 grand before she skipped town. If you find her, give me her address."

Realizing, of course, that while collection agencies are essentially slimy bottomfish, this one is sort of legitimately trying to get the money that Bonnie has, well, stolen.

Not exactly the same problem, but when I was a little kid my father had the kind of job that got calls at night, so we got a second phone line. Seems that the prior owner of that number was a whorehouse and the phone didn't stop constantly ringing for a couple of months.

[Wcross]

19. AIR HORN!

Next time they call tell them you are tired of their harrasing phone calls. Tell them that next time they call you will treat it as a prank phone call and will blow an air horn into the phone. If they call again do it.

[xchrom]

20. harassing you is illegal.

get a lawyer and send them a ''love letter''.