My Noogee

Posts Tagged ‘collection company’

This morning American Express phoned me to collect my past due payment. The amount of money that was past due that American Express woke me up to collect was inconsequential. A whopping $200 was what it cost to have a morning service call from a huge credit card company. Why do credit card companies feel that it is necessary to collect money that is past due the following day? I thought that there was some sort of policy or waiting period in order to collect past due money? As for the call in the morning, why am I being called so early in the morning anyway!

I understand if a company needs to get the past due funds from me. Irecognize that their job is to collect what is owed to them. What I don’t understand is why I am being called at 8 am in order to collect that past due amount. If there is any occasion to call and collect money that is past due is the afternoon. At least at that time the caller isn’t waking up anyone or disturbing someone’s breakfast. The morning is a tough time of the day. The morning is the time of day to collect your thoughts and then perform the necessary ritual to begin your day. Past due credit card bills do not fit in the beginning of the day.

There is a particular schedule I have when getting myself ready in the morning. I wake up at a certain time and get showered, dressed ad ready to kick some ass. This morning I had a tough time waking up due to the previous night’s late night. I was not expecting a call this morning concerning the past due amount on my Amex and neither was I wanting to deal with their need to collect money from me. I pay my bills on time and square away my debts. I do not need some credit card phone representative hassling me to collect money that is past due, especially not at 8 am.

The afternoon or even early evening is the optimum time to get a hold of me. I am available to speak to. I am wide awake and alert. I do not think that a sensible answer was going to be received from me regarding my past due amount early in the morning. I don’t think it is very fair to be phoned and hassled by a credit card company either way. If you want to collect money from me, call me in the afternoon or don’t call me that day. If you call me too late that is even worse. If I just get to sleep and you are calling to collect money from a past due discrepancy, I am going to hang up on you. I don’t have to talk to you. The internet exists for automatic payments and emails. Take my money when I plan for it and email me if there is a problem when you try to collect my past due amount.

I loathe credit card companies to be honest with you. I feel that they take advantage of their customers and harass them any chance they can get when it comes to collect money. Past due used to mean that if I owed you money, I could get it to you whenever I had it. There is too much urgency when trying to collect money. There is always going to be someone reaching their hand out to snatch money from you. Whether you pay on time or your bill is past due these damn vultures will do whatever it takes to collect. I hope that one day the world realizes that credit cards are a vice and stop using them but how else am I going to buy that fancy gadget or movie title when I have no funds right now?

Searching for experienced collection lawyers? Contact Rapid Recovery Solution today for more information on commercial debt collection!. Unique version for reprint here: Good Morning, I would like to Collect a Past Due Payment from You. Why Credit Card Companies Should Call In The Afternoon.

A debt collection agency founded in California started a scheme to motivate and educate employees to live healthier lifestyles in early January. There are twenty eight employees at the agency; more than half are currently participating in the implementation.

All of the parties involved have made a goal to lose ten percent of their total body weight by the end of June. Every Monday morning the workers have weigh-ins and employees have an opportunity to win two cash prizes for losing five percent of their body weight by the end of March, and then another five percent by the end of June.

The Agency’s executive said that he had been thinking about the initiative for quite some time. He declares it perfect for the stereotypical office setting that is fraught with unhealthy eating, and employees taking breaks to get fast food. He made note of the fact that attempting to make employees lose weight was more cost efficient than actually getting health insurance for his workers.

In a scheme to get employees to have healthier lifestyles, the agency hosts sporadic lunches and “education track meetings” every week. The meetings are designed to assist employees target and plan for their weight loss goal. So far the program has been successful. The collection company has collectively lost 72 pounds to date. That’s the size of a small child.

The program tries to establish a better all around worker. It logically follows that a less stressed worker will be more efficient and motivated. Even though a very relaxed debt collector might not seem like they would be the most efficient worker, it all seems like a good idea. As the government tries to sort out the health care system, perhaps it is time that more companies like this take this route. If employees cannot get health insurance, health initiatives and goals at work could be the next best solution.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection agency. Also she composes articles on business and finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. This article, Debt Collection Agency Gets Healthy is released under a creative commons attribution licence.

Research recently collected by RealtyTrac Year-End 2009 Foreclosure Market Report indicates that 3,957,643 foreclosure filings were reported on 2,824,674 United States properties in 2009. Included in this research was scheduled foreclosure auctions, default notices and bank repossessions.

All told, that is a twenty one percent increase in properties from numbers in the information collected in 2008, and a one hundred and twenty percent increase in total properties from 2007. The report additionally showed us that one in forty five housing units, 2.21 percent, had at least one foreclosure filing during 2009, up from 2008′s 1.48 percent and 2007′s 1.03 percent.

In the month of just December, foreclosure filings measured out to 349,519 properties in December. This marks a fourteen percent jump from the last month of November and a fifteen percent increase from 2008. However, even though there was an increase in December, foreclosure activity in the fourth quarter of 2008 has decreased by seven percent.

Of all of the Amercian states, Nevada has the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate; more than ten percent of housing units obtained at least one foreclosure filing in 2009. This marks Nevada’s third consecutive year at the top of the foreclosure list. Nevada’s foreclosure activity in December has grown twenty seven percent from the previous month, but still was down by twenty two percent from December of 08.

Arizona claimed the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate in 2009 with more than six percent of properties receiving at least one foreclosure filing during 2009, and Florida claimed the nation’s third highest foreclosure rate at 5.93 percent of its properties getting at least one foreclosure during the filing year.

This raises things to think about in the debt collection industry. Trends that have recently been noted that debtors are maxing out their credit debt and low balling their assets to receive lower payment plans. The fact that they are maxing out their credit cards to receive lower payment plans does not look promising.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection company. Also she composes stories on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. This article, Foreclosures On The Increase is released under a creative commons attribution licence.

When scouting for a Business Collection agency, it is critical for businesses to find a collection agency that services their specific needs. Some corporation’s may rely on collection agencies more than others. For example, a freelance graphic designer may only need to use a Collection agency’s services once during his or her entire career. However, a larger company, such as a credit card company, may require the services of a Collection agency more repeatedly.

There are a few things that companies should look for when making a choice for the right Business Collection agency. These include:

Price. Not all Collection companies will charge the same rate or the same way. Almost all Collection agencies do, however, set their rates based on a percentage of the total amount of the monies to be collected. For example, a collection agency may charge ten percent of the total collection amount to the business that hires it. Some collection agencies also charge only once funds have been collected, while other collection agencies charge an upfront fee for their services.

Reliability. Not all Collection agencies are alike when it comes to reliability and effectiveness. One of the most excellent ways to determine how reliable a Collection agency is likely to be is to run a simple background check on the agency through an search thought the Internet or search with the Better Business Bureau. Also, many Collection agencies will offer references or have a list of clients that they have provided services for that new clients may check before hiring the agency.

Contracts. Some Collection companies offer contract work or retainers for their clients. In such a case, the agency may work a fixed number of hours each month for a set fee. Companies need to be sure that they require a Collection agency’s services before they sign a long-term contract or retainer contract so that they can be sure that they get what they pay for.

Methods. It is important to ensure that a Collection agency is able to use a variety of methods when contacting non-payees. For example, Collection agencies should not only be able to approach a non-payee diplomatically through letter writing and phone calls, but the Collection agency should also be able to use legal courses of action, if necessary. May Collection agencies are part of law firms, which enables them to file legal cases easily and quickly, if necessary.

Mallory McGuinness works for a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. Also, she writes articles on business, finance, consumer spending and collections agencies.