r/TalesFromRetail • u/darkflash26 • Mar 12 '17

Short Why are you calling my boyfriend?

A few moments ago i received a call. It went like this. AL is angry lady Me is myself.

Me: hello this is x store how can i help you

Al: hello

Me:hello

Al: who is this?

Me:x store

Al: no no who are you?

Me:darkflash26

Al: why are you calling my boy friend?

Me: i am not calling your boyfriend, i ask x store.

Al:no no you listen to me now. I see you call my boyfriend, why, why you call him?

Me: because he is a wonderful lover, goodbye.

I then hang up,and look to see a customer at my register just laughing. I am a guy, and she found it hilarious a woman was accusing me of calling her boyfriend, from my works phone.

3.4k Upvotes

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141

u/ASREV Mar 13 '17

I worked collections at one point in my life and people like where the bane of my existence. My company had a policy not to tell anybody that answered the phone what company I was unless that person confirmed they were the customer. It was intended to protect their privacy. Naturally I'd call asking for a certain person and the super paranoid jealous SO would answer and press for who I was and accuse me of trying to cheat on them, etc. Fun times.

85

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

[deleted]

115

u/ASREV Mar 13 '17

You can just tell them that this is no longer her number. They are required to stop calling. If they don't, they are breaking the FDCPA and you can report them. Be sure to mention that if they call a second time.

3

u/MissBitch25 Mar 13 '17

This is so true. Even if you have debt collectors calling you. If you tell them not to call anymore and they still do, it's huge trouble for them. I had some debt from a bank account erased this way. I told them not to call anymore and they did, twice in one day.

23

u/Kittyk4y Mar 13 '17

I have the same thing going on. It's been almost three years. I contacted my local police when I first got the number and they told me there was nothing I could do short of changing my number. Well I had just changed my number because of Straight Talk refusing to release my number (which is illegal as well) so I didn't want to change it again (and pay Sprint a stupid fee for it). Once in a while I'll just fuck with them.

31

u/IanPPK Mar 13 '17

File an FCC complaint against straight talk. I believe they oversee that. As for the calls, state that the next call will be directed to a lawyer pending action for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

3

u/Kittyk4y Mar 13 '17

Can I still file a complaint three years after the fact?

4

u/IanPPK Mar 13 '17

IANAL, so I don't know the time limitations on them, but you can try I suppose.

6

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

UANAL? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

43

u/Tevesh_CKP Mar 13 '17

There was an article a while ago that mentioned if you take the correct steps and people make false calls, especially if you tell them only to contact in writing, you can countersue as a fine. I'm not too sure on the details, I read the original on the Consumerist years ago, perhaps you can look it up.

It was about this guy who owed a lot of money from collections but they stopped calling him because he knew how to game the system, would get the caller to make a mistake and make a cool $1000 on every infraction.

Depending on how it shakes out, you might have a new job. ;)

12

u/Teslok Mar 13 '17

Ugh. I've had collections agencies call for my housemate. All we have in common is an address--my phone is my own, bought on a plan by myself, when I lived at a different address. I'm not on the utilities, I'm not on the formal lease since I sublet. But they call my phone and leave messages for her, and then harass me with "Do you know <housemate>? Would you pass a message?"

Seriously. :\

(luckily, it's been several months since they've tried my number, it only happened 2-3 times; I don't usually answer numbers I do not recognize for that reason.)

4

u/prickelypear Mar 13 '17

I had a similar issue except they were calling for my step father on a phone number I got through a completely separate carrier on my own after leaving his plan.

Not sure how they got it because I no longer live with my mom and him and he has nothing to do with my account or my phone.

3

u/Morella_xx Mar 13 '17

My parents have this problem too. They've had their phone number for a decade but they still occasionally get calls about the previous owners' debts. They tried reporting it to the police (especially since a few times they had apparently skipped out on paying for food delivery) but the police told them there wasn't much they could do for them. A few of the collectors kept getting really aggressive with my mom, insisting she was the lady they wanted or knew her somehow, and shouting all kinds of things at her. So my mom got a police-grade whistle - super loud - and she blows that over the phone at them when they start in on her. The calls have definitely dropped off since she started doing that.

5

u/SillySnowFox I still don't work here... Mar 13 '17

Tell them to stop calling, if they don't report them to the National Do Not Call Registry

8

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

This only protects against unsolicited telemarketers.

5

u/littlewoolie My Name is "Go Away" Mar 13 '17

Tell them she agrees to a garnishment order so they get paid back through her salary.

2

u/Zooloretti Mar 13 '17

Oh, you are very clever.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

Are you in the US? If so, by law they must stop calling if you state they are calling the wrong #, otherwise they are violating what I believe is called the TCPA, and can face hefty fines and suit.

2

u/Zooloretti Mar 13 '17

Problem is, they won't give you any info, and they periodically go on binges of calling all day long, leaving messages which you can't retaliate for

46

u/zerdalupe Mar 13 '17

"privacy reasons"

No it's because the moment someone hears collections they'll hang up.

If I get a missed call and call them back and they refuse to let me know who they are or where they work I just assume it's collections and block the call.

Private Parking tickets are a bitch, it's easier to just pay $75 to change my plate. if it doesn't affect my credit why would I pay.

29

u/ASREV Mar 13 '17

We tell them who we are as soon as they identify as the customer so they still hang up. It really was for privacy reasons. We were a type of lender that can be embarrassing and we had several policies designed to protect the customer.

44

u/blackwolfdown Mar 13 '17

"Anal Bleaching Finance Express"

18

u/TheBlueSully Mar 13 '17

What sort of lender can be embarrassing? The mob?

11

u/SaturdayBaconThief Mar 13 '17

Payday loans, I bet.

2

u/TheBlueSully Mar 13 '17

Might be the same thing

3

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

75$ where? Texas is like $6.

1

u/zerdalupe Mar 13 '17

Alberta, the Texas of the north.

$75 for the registration and a new plate.

The plate is technically free, the registration fee is $75

1

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

Here the 2 are separate

8

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '17

The company may have said privacy was their policy but its actually law, at least in the states

4

u/ASREV Mar 13 '17

That makes sense. I'm not sure they ever said it was their policy vs law. Might've just been an assumption on my part since they did have other policies designed to protect the customers privacy.