10 losers

In my experience of settling my own debts i met a few good bill collectors that never once were rude and were professional. I was told by them its no use yelling at people if they don't have the money to pay us and would move on to the next file.

I believe what you learned in the collection industry in the ten years has taught you things that you use in your business today when your trying to help your clients deal with collection agecnies and save them money.President Obama is president is because he told everyone what they wanted to hear which is pipedreams, which for one I didn't believe a word he was saying.In my opinion i believe he was elected because he was black because the american public was fed up with almost every white president screwing up.

AJ,

Collections is that bad. Where my company is today has nothing to do with being in collections for 10 years. I can't say I learned anything of any real value in that industry aside from how to better read people.

If I did business the collection agency way, (all I knew when I left) this company would be a total flop and our BBB rating would be a "F". I had to seek out new systems and adopt top business practices to get Total Debt Freedom to where it is today.

Not to slam you or anything AJ, you are a good guy, but I kind of take offence to that statement, its like saying Obama is President because he is black.

R.

Richard,

The business couldn't of been that bad to you;look where you are today because of the collection industry.

Cheers

Works now.

Pretty sad actually, its a very tough role to play, and as some people pointed out collectors get threatened fairly often too.

Glad I'm not in that business any more, reading that brought back a lot of bad memories.

Richard,

Try these ones.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/news/1007/gallery.debt_collectors/index.html

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/news/1007/gallery.debt_collectors/10.html

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/news/1007/gallery.debt_collectors/4.html

Good find OC - can you check your link? I got a 404 error when I clicked it.

It's a dirty job but someone has to do it.

This article floated in today and I feel it's worth sharing:

These people share their experiences in the collections industry -- and why they left.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/news/1007/gallery.debt_collectors/index.html

(1st of 10 stories)

Mel Harsh

I was absolutely ruthless when I first started out as a debt collector. I had a black heart.

If someone told me they only had $150 to their name this month and needed to feed their entire family of five, I would say, "I don't care, this is your fault and you owe the money. Pay it." I would even use blind threats like, "I know where you work" to intimidate them.

It was survival of the fittest, and I thought being aggressive was the only way to succeed. And then it became an addiction -- being authoritative and abrasive was like a high.

But after a while, I realized that if someone owes one person money, they owe a lot more people money and they really aren't deserving of such harsh treatment. So I changed my style and started being nicer... but I still sue people. It's part of the job.

I have one more week here and I can't wait to get out of this line of work. I'm sick of all the agony I put people through. The money was great, and I've been able to support my two daughters because of how much I bring in. But when they say to me, "Dad, I want to do what you do when I grow up," I just tell them, "No, you really don't."