Debt Collectors Take Advantage of Intimidated Consumers

Where do you think all the bullies from High School went after graduation. The mean ones are in prison and the really mean ones are bill and debt collectors.

Somehow our society has made a disappointed turn to “how to beat a debt” in comparison to “how to not be abused by debt collectors”. It is very disconcerting to me the “free” advice that has been plastered on these comments on the internet as a whole. There seems to not be a deliberate assessment of whether one owes the bill or not, merely how to avoid the debt. Debt collection has become a cat and mouse game, which should have never been the objective. As a 15 year veteran of the collection industry, allow me to make some comments.
First, I am a successful, educated, happy person much to the dismay of many of you, I did not pick this career path to “get out my aggressions”. I chose this path because I believe debt collection is a valuable service to our community. Many individuals will never fully comprehend the financial impact that the industry has had on consumers. It has become a necessary part of our culture. One of the reasons consumers pay more for everyday needs are due to the fact that there are those out there not paying at all. Not because they “can’t” because they “choose” not to. There are citizens of our country that truly need help…. their debts should be waived when possible. It is our duty to help those less privileged. It is NOT our duty to help those who choose to pay on luxuries only. Despite your opinions there are several manipulative people in the world in some circumstances. Abuses of any debtor are inconceivable. However, in many cases debtors have become to believe that the mere request to pay a bill is a violation of their rights.
Secondly, never in my 15 years have I heard conversations like the ones in this show. I am not discounting them, some are absolutely awful and those collectors should pick another line of work. However, I know many, many good collectors who work with people and help them budget money to avoid pitfalls. At my office we allow individuals to pay $5.00 a month if that is all their budget will allow, as long as it is consistent. That is all we ask. It is not the cruel world tactics I have read about in these comments. I have had debtors who have become clients over the years. I have had people “bless” me for helping them. I have also had them “damn” me to hell for asking them to take responsibility. I think extreme caution should be taken when you use God to defend accountability. Lastly, in 15 years I can count on my hand the number of truly innocent debtors, true accounting mistakes or client error. Maybe I have good clients, maybe we are cautious in whom we purse……all I know is that the portrayal of innocence that I have read today is somewhat hard to imagine. Just remember, there are a lot of inmates whom claim they are innocent. There are always two sides which is why all conversations should be taped, to weed out the good and bad on BOTH sides. I do want to conclude with stating that it is easy to stop communicating with a collector as many of you have so graciously shared to your fellow consumer.

bush and the ftc wont enforce the law against these clowns. they allow the companies to act irresponsible in the pushing of credit pay day loans etc then make it impossible for these people to get out by changing the bankruptcy laws. business has a responsibility to not extend credit to unworthy customers so the rest of us end up paying.

I would reward anyone with a self-awarded pat- on-the back for giving those GREEDY,BULLY natured companies/Individuals a dose of their own PIG-HEADED ways of demanding money from “clients” of illegal money collecting practices.
Fingerhut/RIPOFFS actually took me for $100.00 in “late fees” over a balance dispute of 90-some dollar balance.Problem? New Management/took charge over the old contract and decided to collect money that was unethically claimed in their practice. You can sue over unfair/illegal business practices,but prepare for a BIG money lawyer to File unheard of claims against the uneducated victims. BY MY experience..TERRY

AFSA- I used to have a student loan from them until I was told that I could refinance through the federal government…when trying to make payment arrangements I had AFSA threaten, challenge and ask for my retirement, my parents retirement, they put me in tears…my mother has cancer, has no insurance and no retirement…how dare them!!!

Thank you for this story.
I just recieved a harrasment call from a debt collector which I knew they where in the wrong for. I have been trying to pull from memory of 6 years ago what I could do to fight them back. I aprieciate your link to F.T.C. for my rights.

What Mr. Montoya said is correct! You should request verification of what you are being told is owed? Who money is owed to? When? How much? and yes you can tell collection agencies to “buzz off!” But what people fail to understand is that the ABC report only showed two sides of the whole Rubik’s Cube. Yes those calls presented were abusive and illegal. Yes, some of those calls were to people that at the end didn’t even owe money. Yes, once a collection agency is told not to call a certain phone number or a job site, they are required to honor that request and do as they are told! What the story failed to present was the side of the collection Industry that actually does the job correctly and not only gets results in the forms of payments and debts being resolved, but also maintains good repor and relationship with their clients. Oh and by the way, a person who owes money is called a debtor. A debtor is not a Client!!!!! Get it straight! The “Client” is the company that that has hired the agency to do the collect and retain the balance that is owed. You, as a debtor and me, as a collector, its not my job or responsibility to inform you of your rights. IT IS my responsibility to know what your rights as a consumer/debtor are and what my boundaries are and how not to break them or abuse them. One more thing, if you owe the bill and you know you owe the bill pay them darn thing, and that friend of a friend that told you that certain bills that are placed on your credit bureau report won’t hurt your credit rating is an idiot! Don’t listen to them and ALL negative marks on your credit report hurt you one way or another. Just a little FYI!

long story, sorta short. i recieved a letter from a collection agency from the state of IL. that i owed over $6,400.00 to my X in back child support, i called them and was told i also owed another women over $29,000.00 in back support. first i said i dont know the $29,000.00+ women and i am not behind in support to my X. they said they wanted proof, i said how do i prove i dont know somebody? then they said well what about the other, i told them to do the leg work as i am not behind. i was told that till i sent proof to them it would be on my record(remember im not behind). so my X mailed all the papers. she called a part of the “system” and they varified i was over(paid more) on my support but the fax # she was given was wrong(now how can they have all the info but nobody else?). they gave her the right number to send it to. so i get a call this morning from the collection people…rude and ready for battle, but admit they talked to my X about the whole problem, and still said till they get the info they will keep calling and acting this way. so i call the state of IL., after 30 min. on hold i get a man that really works with me. he has no case of me even oweing my X anything. so after time he figures it out…they have my wrong S.S.# with my name( i have never changed it). he tells me to write a letter and copy my S.S.# card and mail it in to get it straight(like i should prove who i am). then he says i should call back the collection agency (that they hired to come after me) for proof of the women that i owe $29,000.00+ to. when i call them back i am told that it was a mistake and has been fixed(but they could not call me with good news). my point is when i asked the state of IL. to stop the collection harrassment i was told it had to run the course…might be a month or better till it is stopped…so even tho i was treated like i was guilty from the first call…with the proof open, even the state of IL. cant stop them.

This is not new! In 1985 my sister called me in tears because a bill collector called her regarding an outstanding student loan. He was very abuse on the phone and told her that she better get a job or start “hooking”. She now has 2 wonderful well behaved boys, is graduating with her degree after a long time of working and going to school in between marriage and work. She also has a specialty license in health care management requiring a certified case management license and has worked as a psyche nurse, a triage nurse, a public health nurse. I still to this day remember her tears at hearing her describe this loser bill collector encouraging someone to engage in illegal activity (ie sexual favors for money) in order to become a legitimate citizen! Kudos to her for being shocked, but at the same time, 23 years ago didn’t know how to handle this kind of bullying and dispicable behavior!

The best thing for anyone to do is educate yourself. A debtors’s ignorance is the collector’s best weapon.

I don’t get it. If consumers don’t have debts and are called by collection agencies BY MISTAKE, then explain it, document it, etc. But find out WHY your credit history was misattributed to the debt. DO NOT blame the agency hired by a vendor whom the consumer thinks has wrong information. Don’t Kill The Messenger; solve your problem without blaming the wrong person! And, keep breathing; stress kills!

I am a bill collector. However the company I work for goes above & beyond the FDCPA. I do not agree with abuse tatics, it doesn’t work and it’s just down right mean. In my office abuse towards debtors is not tolerated, collectors will be fired & every call is recorded. The abuse that you hear on these reports are just a few out of several thousand collectors nationwide. About 4 million dollars in unpaid debts are sent to my office each month. Just my office alone! I can’t speak for every agency when I say this but we do not purchase these debts, our clients don’t get paid until the debtor pays the bill, and all we collect is the money owed to our client, no added fees. Our clients are losing money when they are forced to use a collection agency.
Ok, I guess our clients are not losing money they just increase charges for the consumers that do pay their bills. For anyone that disputes a bill, put it in writing and prove your case! I’m sure you’ll ask, why should you do the work if it’s not even your bill? Because we use your social security number to find you, & if we have your social tied with a bill that’s not yours then more than likely it’s identity theft. Why wouldn’t you want to protect yourself & report this crime?? If you claim to have paid it, computer errors do occur so please show me proof you paid. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s why consumers are given reciepts or use your checking account so you have proof of payment. There are several open accounts that can all be zeroed out if the debtor just got the needed paperwork.
But I guess it is easier to just yell into the phone. If you honestly can’t pay the bill, then set up payments! Most collectors will want to work with you on payments verses no money at all. We may ask you several questions that you don’t want to answer, maybe because your worried about being sued..if the specific account allows, we can do that anyway without your answers, it just shows us if you have intent on paying the bill or not. It also shows us if you do have means to pay the balance, this is because a lot of consumers choose to blow their money instead of paying bills. If you honestly need payments, you will get them! Anytime a report airs of this nature, it makes my job more difficult for several weeks. Debtors now believe they are invincible and don’t have to pay their bills.

I remember after i filed bkrupcy they still tried to contact me about the debt. I just discovered they had me down as twice on the credit report so i will have to get them to fix it. It was only one but it makes me out to be bad

my personal experience comes from a vindictive and manipulative ex-wife, who after running up thousands in credit card debits 5 years after we divorced had the debt collectors contacting me for payment, not believing that we were no longer together. this was not one agency but 3, each time insinuating that I was a dead beat and that I was lying to avoid “our” debt. Again these credit card debts were in her name only and was created well after our divorce was finalized. Only after sending these idiots a copy of the divorce papers did they tone down the threats and accusations and tried to find the actual debtor, my ex.
Fortunately I can say I don’t both know or care where she is now, but I do wish them luck in finding her.

One thing you learn by growing up in the middle east is that debts are bad! Yes, every body please repeat after me! Debts are bad! Debts are bad! Debts are bad!
You don’t buy what you cannot afford, and if you are so poor that you cannot afford to provide for the necessities of life, what you do is NOT to load your credit cards.
You join the peace corp, you travel the world for free, and you help other people all over the world who are far worst than you. During the time you do that, food and shelter will be provided for you, and you do this until your mind begins to understand why you should live your life WITHIN your means.

I’ve been in the Debt Collection business for 15 years – never, at any of the 5 companies I have worked for, is this type of behavior tolerated. That being said, people need to step up and take responsibility for what they do….I have people who say, “I can’t pay that because I’m on disability….” However, THEY WERE ON DISABILITY WHEN THEY OPENED AND RAN UP THE ACCOUNT TO BBEGIN WITH……we live in a society were excuses are supposed to take the place of responsibility. It’s sad – and now that this story has ran, we, a company that does things right -will have thousands of people who are trying to DODGE their obligations use this story as yet another excuse.

We have a few collectors calling our house for the people that used to live here years ago, though we’ve had our phone number for ten years. We get automated messages that say we are not allowed to listen to them if we are not the person they are calling for, even though they’ve been told they don’t live here.
When my husband lost his job due to layoff 9 years ago, we fell behind. I had a collector all but come right out and say I should abort my unborn child “Maybe you should go ‘take care of that’” since we couldn’t pay a $500. debt. A debt we agreed to pay in full when we recieved our tax return and offered to pay on monthly until then – which wasn’t good enough, she wanted it all NOW or ELSE. Nice huh. I still remember her name and voice to this day.

I have just recently made a career change to become a collector. Throughout the course of my training, we were educated constantly on the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act). I am honestly in SHOCK that some collectors choose not to follow this, and that their employers turn a blind eye. There are serious monetary fines for both the company and the collector for breaking the laws of the FDCPA. Consumers need to know that they have rights… and that there is legal action to be taken. True, if you have a debt, you have to take responsibility for it, but you should not be made to feel inferior because you have hit hard times or tried to live beyond your means. Most of us have been there – I know I certainly have been, and I have dodged calls from collectors in the past myself. I suppose what I am trying to say to the average person out there is that the majority of collectors play by the rules. Educate yourself on the laws governing fair collecting, and know how to protect yourself from abuse. On the other hand, if you know that you have an outstanding debt, don’t avoid the calls. Like I said, most of us are truly nice people with years of customer service experience who want to offer a solution, not create another problem.

All these collectors seem to be under the impression that they can violate the consumer’s rights just because they BELIEVE the consumer owes money. Here’s a news flash for you all. If you can’t prove it, you don’t collect. Simple as that. Try going to court against a savy consumer and show up with a printout from your computer saying I owe you money. It won’t fly. The ONLY time you can win a suit is when you serve the consumer at a known old address and get a default judgment.

After seeing the show, looking over the online article, and reading the previous posts, I realize there are some very strong feelings on all sides of this issue. There are so many people (debtors AND collectors) with very negative remarks, and I have no doubt many of the stories are factual and reliable. But when we read these posts maybe we should consider many of them represent the extremes. People who’ve not had serious problems with these issues seldom take the time to post replies, so we are missing a vast number of stories about good collectors and good debtors. There are good people and there are bad people in all types of jobs and situations. There are collectors who break the laws and abuse those they call; and there are debtors who misuse credit with no intention of paying the bills they owe. Has this country gotten so bad, though, that we can not truly believe the majority of people are not out to hurt, cheat and abuse? Not all collectors are trying to emotionally and mentally abuse you with threats, innuendos and repulsive actions. There are plenty who are just doing their job, offering those behind in their bills a way to resolve an issue that helps all concerned, and providing a valuable service in the business world. Just as not all debtors are deadbeats who are trying to get by without paying. Emergencies and unexpected events happen all the time and can throw honest, hard-working people into a temporary, but none-the-less difficult, situation where they are not able to meet their bills in full. With the changes in our economy and the further division of our classes, debt in our society is becoming more and more of a concern. It doesn’t take much nowadays for a family who has always been fiscally responsible to find themselves suddenly in a financial disaster.
It is not my intention to sound like I’m “above” all this because I’m not. I’ve had my previous experiences with bad and good collectors; and the fear, anger, and uncertainty of dealing with all that. Some of the collection attempts were not valid, but others were. Currently I’m in the process of building up a good credit record after having my previous credit report ruined for many years. This came about for two reasons. One reason was a rough divorce from years ago and an ex that did not pay the portion of bills he agreed, and court ordered, to pay. The other reason is because I did not pay all of the bills I had agreed, and court, ordered to pay. After the divorce, I went through the proverbial financial problems. A single mom of three children, child support not being paid, the loss of a second income (the hubby) and low wages were some of the challenges I had to face. But I used those as an excuse for not paying my debts when the real truth is I continued using some of the money I made to pay for the lifestyle I’d gotten used to when having credit and a husband’s income besides mine. Don’t get me wrong. My kids were always well cared for but any “extra” money I had was spent on “stuff” instead of paying my debts. That was immature and irresponsible on my part and as a result my credit was completely destroyed. It has taken years to gradually repair the damage done, going without and working hard so I could pay the debts I owed. My mistakes also affected my kids because they spent years being teased and ridiculed for being “poor.” They always had food to eat, clothes to wear and medical needs met, but “extras” and frivolous things were seldom an option because we made sure the bills got paid first. Now that my kids are grown I’ve discovered this was a blessing in disguise because they understand and appreciate money and understand how credit can be a double-edged sword. I also learned some tough lessons during that time. First, many people are spoiled and feel they are entitled to have everything they want “right now” so they go into debt to have those things. That was how I used to feel. Now I know there are NEEDS and there are WANTS and we need to learn to distinguish between the two. I also learned credit is a very important and worthwhile thing. A previous post stated, “Besides medical bills…every situation can be avoided.” Well I guess on paper that might be true but in a real world that is hogwash. After all, most Americans would not be able to own a home, auto, or business without using credit. But credit needs to be used wisely and responsibly.
I will climb down off my soapbox now, but please let me finish by saying…
If we spent as much time trying to come up with workable and honorable solutions to our problems as we do finding faults and badmouthing others, maybe some of the animosity and anger could be avoided.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I wish the best to all of you.

Bill B.-
Not every creditor is willing to work with you. This was the one that was just not interested. They wanted the money now, all of it and the collection agency they used represented that well. She was the only one we had such a problem with.
“Pay your bills on time.” Now why didn’t I think of that? If only it were so easy. That was the year we went from making 26,000 one year to supporting a family of four, with two children under two, on 11,000 the next. We did not join the welfare rolls nor file for bancrupcy, we struggled everyday. Do you know how hard it is to get hired when you’re seven months pregnant? Hah! Sometimes getting out of the finicial hole you’re in means aquiring more education, which takes time.When you’re barely bringing in enough money to feed yourself and keep a roof over your head working 16 hours a day then what do you do?
We now have our own home and a clean credit record and earned it and there’s an education to fall back on. Circumstances can put anyone in a world of fiscal pain. Look at what Katrina did. Millions of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, even the very well paid ones.

this is the continuation of above
I would stress to every one I spoke with to get a copy of the FDCPA (of course my boss’s didn’t like that but hey I needed my job and was a top collector). If people would just educate them selves a little bit the industry would have to change. Also the collectors on this site saying that the majority in their field are law abiding are lying to them selves, it’s more like 20% follow the law and 80% do what they want to. Ask yourself this question if you have an unpublished number and they get it, or they call you on your cell phone how are they getting it.
Ill let you in on a secret of how, if you have cable TV / Satellite, they call the provider pretending they are you and say I was left several massages from your company. Then when the cable company says what number are you calling from the collector will ask them what number do you have. 9 out of 10 times they just give you the number. This also works with electric companies, water co, gas etc.
They will call neighbors looking for your number stating they are an international operator with an urgent call, when the neighbor says leave me the message they say unfortunately because of the nature of the call I can only leave it for them, well your neighbor some nice old woman gives out your number. As you can see they will do anything to get your number. Please make sure to call people who have your number not to give it out no matter what, this is for companies, work, friends and family.

Boring show. Calls were probably faked by actors.

Since this report came out one of my creditors actitud changed I was late on my car payment for 10 days I was reciving 5 to 7 calls daily and usually kind of rude. No one investigated creditors actitud before some times any one can be late on payments for many reasons – Creditors just do your job PROFESSIONAL and monitor all the calls get rid of all unethical personnel try to find some solutions I am sure you will get more people to pay-
it works!

My experience with debt collectors is rather mixed. We had 5-credit cards that we could not continue paying on (thanks to newborn and medical/ auto expenditures within the same year). We opted to try to continue to pay on those cards but a smaller amount and went with a third party Credit Negotiator (youve seen the adds) who stated they could cut the amounts in half if not more.
One of the things they keep quiet about is that they only negotiate with bill collectors not the Card companies themselves so they request that you don’t make any payments till the collectors call. We were told once they started that it could get ugly -which it did at times. We were also informed to jot down and keep track of what time, where they called (work/home), and any statements made. After a While we had a notebook full.
Needless to say, we were told repeatedly by the collectors that they did not deal with 3rd. party or Negotiating firm and they only dealt with us. The calls continued, got nastier and the frustration grew.

Fred, my what big assumptions you have with your blanket statements. If you’re looking for calculated thievery, look to your government.

You know, sometimes extinuating circumstances come along and throw you a curve ball…
From personal experience – I had perfect credit. I had paid off over 80,000.00 in unsecured credit and was continuing to do so when something unexpected happened… my sister in law lost her son to the state and I stepped in to take guardianship over him.
He was troubled and special-needs, so I shortly had to quit my job to take care of him. I continued to pay, although struggling, and soon after – had a 3rd back surgery – making me permanently disabled.
I had credit protection on ALL of my cards… an insurance that was to pay the bills should I be unable to. I enacted these “insurance services” and one of the companies conveniently uses an outside agency to handle it. THEY NEVER PAID IT! Now, 5 YEARS LATER, they CONTINUE to call and harrass me relentlessly. I have NO ss payments, NO welfare and my husband – a Police Officer – stuggles to pay for a family of 4 to survive.
So… sometimes, it isn’t that we are “low-lives” or “worthless” or “living beyond our means” ad leaving our bills to be paid by you… Sometimes, life throws you a curve ball and unscrupulous credit card companies take money for protection they don’t intend to extend to you.
They need to be stopped.

I have been getting harassing phone calls from a company asking for a girl named Stephanie. I keep telling them they have the wrong number and they keep calling 3-4 times a day from 8 am to 9 pm at night! I have never purchased anything from them and they just wont stop calling. its always a different person I talk to, dont they keep notes on this stuff in their computers??? Is there anything I can do to stop this with out having to change my telephone number?

Get a hold of the District Attorney in your state.. Let them know what is going on with the debt collector is doing. Then the BBB. You have the right to complain bout the way they work. I have been through it so many times that I know how to work them back. even though they try to threatn me with jail time. lmao I love to see them try that one. These debt collector what you to think you know nothing bout the law. I am sooo dang glad that this was on.. Its nice to know that I am not the only one out there.

What about companies that are in multiple illegal situations? In my case, I’m dealing with a private company who is not associated with the BBB and has their own collections dept. My situation is one bill–I’m not what most people would call “in debt”. I simply refused to pay said bill due to the fact that their equipment failed and then I discovered that I was dealing with a company that scams people with fraudulent contracts with illegal terms.
But that doesn’t stop them from calling me up to 20 times a day. When I specifically asked them to stop, I was told (in these exact words), “No. We will not stop calling you. You will have to get a new number in order for that to happen–but even then, we’ll find you. We’ll get your new number and keep calling you.” This was said after numerous times of representatives hanging up on me (simply because I asked them to stop interrupting me while I explained why I wasn’t paying), they have inadvertently threatened me claiming legal action (but they do nothing but call because they know they have no leg to stand on legally w/ their “case”). I have reported this company to the BBB (they will mediate with companies that are not associated with them), the FCC for their behavior and their “abandoned calls” (automated dialing that hangs up on the consumer), and New York’s Attorney General–because it turns out that HUNDREDS of people in this country are suffering the same abuse from this same company in both the fraudulent contract and their abusive calls. And other states’ attorney generals are filing class action suits.
I have told them that their behavior is harassment to which they snicker and raise their voice a few notches for the rest of their conversation. What is my resolution when I find out this company isn’t covered under the FDCPA’s regulations? They certainly don’t seem to care about anything other than harassing me. Much less their jobs. The company is altogether sketchy. There doesn’t appear to be a manager or supervisor of any kind that works there, because I’m never able to talk to him/her. And by the way, as far as the advice about your state attorney general–their office told me there must be many more complaints from other state residents about a certain company before they’d investigate it. I found the others’ complaints online; and it was there I was told to contact the company’s state’s Att. Gen. I hope to those out there that are being harassed that this editorial has educated you to your rights, and to the collectors that choose to follow the rules and are upset at ABC’s show–just know an ounce of negative news interests a lot more than a ton of positive–so it wasn’t personal. And to those collectors who don’t follow the rules, good luck on the lawsuits that may be coming your way.

Funny how most of the people who are collectors that are posting a message here are trying to be just as intimidating and arrogant as they would be if they were calling your homes and jobs and cell phones, etc… I really feel sorry for people who do this as a JOB. Get a life.

Not all debt is from being an irresponsible person. To say these debtors deserve the harassment is sick!
I have no credit card bills, no car payments, etc….in other words no extravagant living above my means debt.
I have medical bill debts from having no insurance or welfare to help pay for it. I can’t make payments to each collector, I would have no money for food left.
They call 12 times a day, 7 days a week. I suppose I just have to learn to ignore it until I can pay.

As a former legal debt collector for a large collection agency, I can not stress enough that the company I worked for tried very hard to abide by the law and ensure collectors were not violating laws. Were all employees perfect all the time? No but most were day in and day out because they had to. Collection agencies do not want to get sued for violations or have a suit dismissed for improper conduct – trust me.
I encourage citizens to understand not only their rights but debt collectors rights as well because otherwise what you “think you know” may be wrong. I can not count the number of times debtors would accuse me of harassment simply for calling them to inform them of their debt and that we were suing them and that I could help them work out a settlement and have the suit dismissed. Obviously that is not harassment but in their mind it was and instead of telling me not to contact them anymore, which I would abide by, they would say I was harassing and hang up. That did the debtor no good because then it was permittable to continue to contact them.
Bottom line is try to take responsibility for your debt and don’t get mad at a debt collector who is doing their job and trying to get the debt paid off. If you honestly can not or chose not to pay and you request to have communication ceased then the agency must do so; however understand the debt will not go away and you may suffer legal ramifications, poor credit rating, etc.
It’s a very difficult economy right now and most collection agencies understand this and will try to work with debtors who legitimately and consistently make efforts to pay off their debt so keep that in mind. Doing something is better than nothing.

I had previously ordered some Oreck XL products, but what I ran in2 $$$ trouble, I had 2 try 2 reduce my debts by returning Oreck’s products. this was the right thing, because I was getting in over my head. needless 2 say, HSBC Retail Services keeps sending me a bill 4 the costs/L8 fees of the products I no longer have, & I have PROOF that I DID indeed return the stuff. I no longer owe this company, & surely there must B some 1 out there who can help in this situation, as I’m on fixt income.