Ok, I have been home sick the last 2 days. Of these last two days we have received yet again more phone calls for "jane doe" looking for her to call back at this 1-800 number. Finally after finding the second message on our machine tonight I called the agency back and asked for the extension left and told the lady that this person has not had this phone # for over 8 years. It is OUR phone #. They were polite and said they would take off our phone # info so they will not keep calling our home.

This has been going on for the last 8 years when we first got our phone number. Apparently "jane doe" got married b/c they were asking for a different last name this time. Hubby and I looked up on the internet and compared that info with the phone book and I found out the current info on this person including phone # and address.

Would you call the collection place back with the info or just let it ride until we get yet another phone call from another collection agency. Just curious what others might do in this situation.

Thanks.

edit to add - We do not know this person nor would we have given a reference for them in the past.

Personally, I would stay out of it. I do feel your pain. I had to change a phone number because of constant calls from the collection agency and even the school asking them to pick up a sick child. What pushed me over the edge, were the collect calls from prison that were charged to the number before we had it, but were a nightmare to unravel. Of course, we had had the number only a short time before all of this became apparent.

I wouldn't help out an agency who'd been rude enough to call me repeatedly, and not do their own research, but maybe that's just me. It doesn't benefit you in any way I can see, it doesn't benefit the person who owes, and the agency's probably not going to benefit, since she's evidently determined not to pay.

The exact same thing has been happening to me for 4 years now.. I have NO plans on helping them! These people think I know the lady or I might be her

The first collection agency was the worst!! They were always calling me and telling me to have her call them back. This caused a great deal of stress in my life.I did NOT want to change my number ( it took me nearly a year to learn it) nor did I think I should pay to have it change because they lack the skills of tracking someone down

I have info that this lady can SUE over. They broke the fair debt collection act .. Let me just say a very well known long distance phone company REVEALED her debt to me. in the XX amount of dollars. The company also told me they had turn the debt over to a collection agency and that is why I'm getting these phone calls...They told me they are credting her account & the calls should stop soon ..Boy were they wrong!!

After the calls continue I decided to do some research of my own. The first thing I did was search my number, address & dh name with major search engines....all of them turn up with the correct info.. Then I did a search on her & that is when I got really MAD. To connect my number with her address it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. All the phone number search engines revealed her address & both of her brand new phone numbers...I copied all the info & was prepared to give it to the collection agency when they called..Then I started thinking why should I DO his job for him. It took me less than 30 minutes to find this . This guy knew he was waking me up in the morning and he could cared less!!!

I know debt collection agency are human beings but when I sit there & tell these people DO NOT call me, I don't t know her and they continue to call me ....I consider that phone hassassment!! As far as I'm concern they can waste their money trying to collect all her debts...

The law really needs to change on this. It is not right for these people to continue to call innocent bystanders, family members, friends or neighbors..8 years or 4 years is a long time to be dealing with this..There really should be some type of statue of limitations here.

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PS..Since you have the agency phone number I would try to locate a address & write a Cease and Desist letter explain who you are & demand for them to halt all calls to you. The collection agency who calls me uses caller id spoofing so I have no way of tracking them down!

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Angels may not come when you call them, but they'll always be there when you need them.

If you can find the info that quickly..so can the collection agency..GOSH it's irritating!

We still get calls asking for my parents...( not collection calls....sales calls, even though we are on the DO NOT CALL registry)...interesting reaction when I say to a caller when they ask for Dad...I say "he's been dead over 20 years..I imagine that would be a Long Distance Call " )
Same when they ask for Mom..she's been dead 15 years !

Viv, just a Grannie in Michigan

This is exactly what the OP needs to do. I'd suggest going to clarkhoward.com

Type in 'drop dead letter' in the search engine on his site and you should get several good links.

Good luck to you!

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Exactly my thoughts. ~Lisa

I rank collection peopole right up there with telemarketers!!

About 8 years ago. My then boyfriend borrowed money from a loan company ..those loan companies they have all dotted around town. He didn't tell me he did it though. He also put my name and number down and a contact without telling me or asking me.

Of course he wouldn't pay the loan bill or wouldn't pay every week like he should... guess who got called? ME!!! We weren't living together at the time either.
The collection man was a real charmer too. He told me my boyfriend said I would pay! I knew that was a lie! He would ask me why was I with someone who wouldn't even pay his bills on time.
He and I got into some really awful arguments. He would call me once a week just to argue.. it was like he enjoyed it! I was all upset though. I would beg my boyfriend to please pay him and he said he did.. but the man would still call and want to talk/argue with me about my choice in men!

One day the loan man suggested he come to MY home to get payment. I said you better not show up here. He didn't take me seriously, He came the next day... I ran him off and filed a complaint with the BBB!
He never called again!

File a complaint with the BBB if you have to! It helps!

-Susan

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The benefit would be that the debt collector would start harassing the right person and stop calling the OP. After 8 years, I would definitely consider it.

Rebecca

I answered the phone yesterday to a debt collection agency who was calling for the person that used to own our house, years ago! We bought the house as a foreclosure and get lots of notices and summons for them in the mail, but now they are calling OUR phone number!? I talked to the operator and told her to take the number off the list, so we'll see if it works.

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They probably hear all kinds of lies from the people they DO reach so I wouldn't doubt they'll keep calling. I wouldn't do their research for them. But you can send them a letter if you get their address. I don't know how that would work if your name isn't who they are looking for, only the phone number. I wouldn't want to use my name name and address on it, in case they'd twist things around?

don't give the info. and don't say anything about your info. I once had the same problem and when I said no longer at this number they said liar or come on get real or even better they used to just laugh in my face and they would say just go get the person and we will stop calling you.

The reason I suggested a Cease and Desist letter it is a legal action , that I beleive it can be followed by a lawsuit if they break your demand.

The Fair Debt Collection Act --Does not protect the non-debtor If the collection agency has reason to Believe you know this person or your'e the person in debt.... they have every LEGAL right to call you. The person in debt MUST send a notarized Cease and Desist letter demanding all calls be halted to them, their family, friends, neighbors & etc. The agency only course of action now is to draw suit against the debtor.

If I had the agency address I would start taking the steps that I need too.. I believe I can prove the agency failed to investigate my phone number, I have tape recordings of me screaming at them that I'm not the person I don't know her & to stop calling me! I have reason to believe the 1 st agency went online and place my Dh name with her address to cause undo stress to me & my family. ( I corrected that immediately when I found it!) They have left repeatly messages on my answer machine posing as friends of hers wanting to get together and catch up on old times.....They have used called id spoofing using a local pharmacy number & leaving a message that your prescription is now ready for pick up

From my understanding these collection agencies BUY these debts & try to collect the money. When they FAIL to collect the money.... they than sell the info to another collection agency. The cycle starts all over again.. In my opinion, once I send the Cease and Desist letter they must now update their records& cease all calls from their agency to my number.

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Angels may not come when you call them, but they'll always be there when you need them.

I would not give them the information unless you are totally sure that this is the person they are looking for. Why should a possibly innocent person be harrassed by these vultures. There often several people with the same name in a given area and who is to say that this is not the case here. It's bad enough that you are being hounded.

I once had calls from them about a bill they said my daughter owed for what started out as a oversight on a credit card bill of 54 cents. She paid the bill to close the account out but it arrived a day late and they tacked on a fee of 54 cents. She was in the process of moving out of state so the bills with the extra charge never got to her. They called here night and day for months upon end. I have never run into such hateful people. They would call me names, taunt me, call repeatedly for 15 or 20 minutes. I would have to take the phone off the hook at times. They wouldn't tell me what it was about and I wouldn't tell strangers how to find her. I repeatedly told them she did not live here and that I would not give out information about her or her location. Now we have a very unusual last name and there were only five of us in the country at that time. My husband, our daughter, our son and my MIL and of course moi. We are generally not hard to locate. I doubt if they even tried. It was more fun to call here and disrupt our lives. For me it got to be a game. I was not going to give in to them and their tactics, no matter how annoying the became.

My husband finally wrote a letter, with carbon copies, to the credit card company, (good old AT&T), and the FCC. That finally put a stop to it. By the time we were done, about 2 years had gone by and the bill had increased from 54 cents to about 28 dollars if I remember right. This information does not really help you but I can sympathize.

I don't know if it would help, but keeping a log of who is calling, the company they are working for, the date and time might be helpful at some point. Be sure and let them know you are writing down this info and make it very clear that you do not wish to be called again.

Thanks for everyone's responses. I wish it was just one collection agency that was calling, but it is different ones. It is like we finally get off the list of one place and after awhile another one calls. I remember when we very first got our phone #, Orkin would NOT stop calling. I remember yelling at them over the phone that this person didn't have this phone #, why can't they get it right, lol. Looking back, it is somewhat funny to me, but I remember I was mad at the time.

I will look into the cease and desist letter. Thankfully the calls are not as often as they used to be.

Thanks again everyone !!

I our last house (we lived there 5 1/2 years), we got calls all the time for a man who must have had the phone # before and never paid his bills. We kept getting calls, even 5 1/2 years later). I would just tell them he no longer had that number, blah, blah, blah, or screen my calls.

At our current house (lived here for almost 2 years), our phone number used to belong to a video production service. We get calls all the time for people wanting video production. I just tell them they have the wrong number -- they have reached a private residence, not a business.

Sarah.........

If you want them to stop calling the easiest way in the world is to say..*Hold on, do I have your permission to tape this conversation*..They will drop that phone like a hot cake if they are the shady ones who want to holler and yell at you..and will not call you back..IF they are legit and don't mind, get the addy and send a drop dead letter explaining your situation, in which case a honet legit place will act accordingly.
Another favorite of mine is to act like I can not hear them and wait until they turn their ear pieces up etc. and then I blow a marine whistle.
Yep..I get calls for someone who never even lived here..

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I get collection calls all the time for the guy who used to live here and I've owned my house for 8 years and it was vacant for a year before that.
I have let many collection agencies know that I have NO idea who this Ted ****** fellow is but if I did I would GLADLY give them his number because I hate him at this point for not paying his bills and causing me to get these calls. The reaction from the person on the line when I give this little tirade is usually quite funny and then they never call back.

On a tiny drift: Once in a while I get messages on my machine that make no sense to me-things like changes in scheduling messags and whatnot. I came to find out a few weeks ago that my number is one number off from a local church-oops!

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I have my dd's ex boyfriend using our address and number when he signs or anything. Of course he never pays and we get all the harrassing calls. Is there anyway to stop him from doing this? I don't know where he lives but I bet I could find out.

Personally if it were me, I would find out where he lived for sure and then fill out a change of address form for him. Not sure if it would help though.

That same thing happened to me, I finally got fed up with it-- found out her current phone number and verified it, then gave it out every time a collector called. Within about 6 months, the phone stopped ringing for her

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A funny story about a gollection agency - a couple of years ago, we fell behind on a credit card payment, and a collection agency called my cell phone and told me they had meft messages at the home of XXX trying to get in touch with me, since they 'knew we were related'. The XXX whose home they left messages at was my husband's ex-wife!! She and his mom share the same first name, so I guess somehow they thought they were calling a blood relative!!

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