Consumerist

harassment

Psycho Debt Collectors Will Not Stop Calling Me About Someone Else's Debt

Reader Rachael wants to know if there’s any way she can get a harassing debt collector to stop calling her 3 times a day — looking for someone else who used to have her number.

cellphones

Dear T-Mobile: Please Stop Sending 5 Text Messages At 5 AM Every Month To Say That My Billing Cycle Has Started

By consumeristcarey 4.11.08

Dustin is angry and tired because T-Mobile sends him five text messages at 5 a.m. on the 11th of every month to let him know that his billing cycle has started. He asked T-Mobile to stop sending the useless message, but they insist that the texts are a “feature” that can’t be disabled. Their solution? “Put [the] phone on silent on the 10th of every month.”

settlements

Exclusive: AOL's Collections Guide Encourages Agents To Lie And Deceive

By Ben Popken 4.5.08

An anonymous tipster sent us AOL’s 153 page internal collections guidebook for prying money out of delinquent account holders. The guide shows that AOL is following some of the debt industry’s most egregious collection tactics by encouraging agents to deceive and lie to customers. After the jump we present AOL’s scare tactics, tricks to negotiating a substantial discount, and the full collections guide.

customer service

Dell Has Called Every Day For The Past Eight Months… And I'm Not A Customer!

By consumeristcarey 3.23.08

Every day for the past eight months, Dell has called Kat to demand payment for a bill she doesn’t owe. Kat unfortunately inherited the phone number of a Dell debtor when she started a new job, something Dell would rather overlook—along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Kat has tried calling, escalating, and having the debtor tell Dell to leave her alone. Dell continually assures her that the problem has been fixed. And then they call again.

airlines

Mini-Skirt Customer Doesn't Accept Southwest's Marketing-Filled Apology

By Meg Marco 9.17.07

Southwest Airlines’ CEO apologized to Kyla Ebbert after a flight attendant tried to kick her off a flight because of her outfit, but she’s having none of it.

debt