Working in the Collections field for the last six years I have learned a lot about dealing with people and money. One of those things is that when you are dealing with someone to whom money is owed(or a representative of that person.), a little respect can go a long way(i would say that this concept works in reverse as well; however, as my intent is not to train debt collectors, and the majority of my audience will undoubtedly not be in the collections field i will address the debtor). Something that any debtor, and most of us are endebted to one or more creditors, should realize is that most creditors are willing to help out with special programs if it enables you to pay them back. After all, they are in business to make money, not to amuse themselves with bankrupcy and default payment rates.
Whenever you speak to a creditor on the phone, you can be guarunteed that whoever you spoke to will tell everyone in the company about your bad behavior. no, they dont know everyone, and they may or may not share the story at the water-cooler. much worse that water-cooler gossip that will be forgotten within the hour, your attitude will be documented on your account for the next person who sees your account to read; and the next person, and the next, and the next. i can not tell you how many times i have spied documentation indicating that the person on the other end of the phone has a history of abusive, nasty behavior and my attitude changes immediately from one of wanting to find a common solution to that of wanting to make sure this person pays their bill and goes away.
I understand that there are many obstacles to paying proper respect to "the man" on the other end of the phone. I hope to address these and offer viable solutions to help make it easier to relate to the person you are talking to and hopefully open doors for a mutually beneficial cooperation between yourself and the person/company to whom you owe money.
1. The phone is ringing off the hook: This is a difficult one to work around, especially if you have multiple creditors calling you. it can be stressfull to try to juggle who you are going to speak to, when you can pay, who you are talking to, etc. etc. etc. My advice for this is simple:
A: If you aren't prepared to speak to the caller, hit the ignore button. That is to say, simply don't answer the phone.
B: Answer the phone. By law, unless you give them permission, collectors may only contact you once per day. If you(as I do) use your cell phone for such contacts, take the time after the call to add the phone number to your contact book. This may seem odd(and if the ID comes up simply as "UNKNOWN" instead of a number can not be done), however it will allow you to quicky identify the source of the call in the future. This is particularly handy when you have multiple creditors as it helps you to keep straight who you are dealing with that day.
2. The previous representative was rude: I'm not going to lie, this happens. Some times it's just an ordinarily amiable person who is having a bad day, perhaps they just got off the phone with a particularly nasty "customer", or perhaps you just spoke to someone who is genuinely and consistantly discourtious. Whatever the case, remember; that does not mean that the next person you speak to warrants your wrath. Each person is different, and it is possible that even if the person you are talking to now is being rude, that your attitude can cause a change in theirs. I can not say that this will happen, only that it may.
3. The company is ripping me off: This may or may not be the case. whatever the case, the person you are talking to is not the one responsible for your misfortunes. The collector is in a very unique position. They are often the bottom of the totem-pole, so to speak of the company; however, while they may lack total power, they do have a certain amount of authority over your situation. You see, the person on the other end of the phone may not be able to call the credit bureaus and initiate a report, it is in their power to not help you. Often, special programs that are offered by creditors are given to collectors as tools to negotiate payments. These programs may or may not be something that are generaly available. While at some times, a company may push to offer settlements to everyone who can take one, that same company may at another time limit the number of settlements they are willing to offer. Since you dont have the inside information on how your particular creditor is handling special offers at any given time, it is in your best interest to be in the good graces of your point of contact, who may well need to plead your case to someone higher(generally a manager) in order to get you in to one of these programs. That's not to say you need to bend over and pucker up, but do bear in mind that if you are rude or offputting, they will not be as likely to act on your behalf, especially if it requires they justify such action to their superiors.
All in all the message I want to impress upon the reader with my first post here is that on the other end of the phone is a person; a human being with a family, friends, and bills just like yours. They are not, as some companies would(for their own profit) have you believe, the orcish spawn of some tolkienian slime pit. If you treat them with respect then you will get much better results, even if they are not ideal, and let's face it, if things were ideal you wouldn't be in debt in the first place.
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