I inherited the phone number of a guy named Paul who doesn't pay his bills.

[lightningandsnow]

Kill me, please.

[AwakeAtLast]

1. Aren't those phone calls a blast?

They never believe you when you tell them it's not their phone number anymore - I used to resort to a loud sound playing directly into the phone.

[madeline_con]

2. There oughtta be a law, those numbers have a "cooling off" period

before reassignment, for that very reason. Is it too late to change your new number and tell everyone you know and/or associate with?

[Ikonoklast]

3. Meh. I inherited the phone number of a drug dealer called 'T'.

I was threatened with murder, rape of my loved ones, killing my pets, burning down my house with everyone in it, you name it. Oh, and begging for credit, and sexual favors for supplying drugs to the callers.

I used to love getting the callers enraged when I told them that I had their money and they could kiss my ass if they thought they were getting any drugs.

I wonder if 'T' was in prison or dead already; I didn't care.

After two weeks, I got another number.

[Taitertots]

7. I got a text once asking for a quarter brick

I'm no drug dealer, but I'm fairly certain that is a lot of coke, like thousands of dollars worth.

[SocratesInSpirit]

4. I feel your pain...

My husband and I were assigned the number of a woman named Susan who didn't pay her bills. For the entire four years we had that number, we got collection calls (a lot at first, but they soon tapered off to only about once a month or so). Now we no longer have a landline... ah, bliss!

[hunter]

5. No, just tell them Paul is dead.

:P

[Taitertots]

8. Then start wailing fake crying

My baby, my baby is dead, oh god

[Amerigo Vespucci]

6. That happened to me several years ago when I moved to San Jose

Got the robo-calls, did some Googling, found out they were coming from a call center in the Philippines, told them that I moved in, inherited the number, didn't know the guy, and that they were breaking the law by serially harassing a guy who had nothing to do with the other guy's debt, and that I would file a complaint with the FTC if it didn't stop immediately.

At that point, it stopped immediately.

When I tried to reason with them and be polite and tell them that they had the wrong number, I still got daily calls.

When I threatened legal action, it stopped. Obviously, I couldn't touch the company in the Philippines. But the FTC could track the company that hired them to make the calls and that would have been one SWEET (and justified) lawsuit.

[LostInAnomie]

9. I had something similar happen a couple of years ago.

I guess some dead beat randomly wrote down my number when he wrote down his contact number. Next thing I know I have debt collectors calling my place at all different times of the day (and very early morning) threatening me about having the police come to my house. I just told them to fuck off and how I would sue the dog-shit out of them if they or the cops showed up at my place.

[av8rdave]

10. I went through that when I first moved to Texas

I got Mel's number, and he owed a lot of people money and a lot of people were pi$$ed at him. I finally managed to find Mel's new number, and gladly gave it to all the creditors who called me.

Big mistake. Mel had no sense of humor and apparently no compunction about using physical violence. I got some of the scariest, most threatening calls of my life.

[MorningGlow]

11. Ouch.

Mr. MG had a slightly different type of agony--his number used to belong to a teenager.

"Huhhhhh Matt? Is Matt there? Who're you?" "Matt? Can you work for me tonight?" Etc. Repeatedly. All day, all night. Even got a fun one: "Matt. This is your FATHER..." Guess Matt wasn't very communicative about changes to his technology.

Thank goodness he finally swapped this phone for another one because a VP at work wanted the type he had. I wonder if the VP is still getting calls for Matt.

[Ptah]

12. Hey, this is Paul. Any messages for me?

:hide:

[TreasonousBastard]

13. Once got the phone number of a whorehouse, but...

only the johns called, never the whores.

[Recovered Repug]

14. You think you have problems.

I share the same name and address (apartment complex) with a dead beat. Try convincing a collection call that, even though I have the name and address of the person they're looking for, it's not me. In fairness, I'd have a hard time buying that one, too.

[davsand]

15. Cite the Fair Credit Collections Act and demand they stop calling you.

Make sure you tell them that you WILL file a lawsuit if they contact you again, and then make sure you keep track of the calling number. The calls should start to slow down after a short time.

Debt collectors are not allowed to talk to anyone except the debtor, and they are not allowed to call you again if you have told them to stop.

I was a Kelly temp at a collection agency for a while, and you would be amazed at what all I learned in that job.


Laura

[Skittles]

16. you want I should kick some dead-beat Paul ass, lightningandsnow?

it may take a while for me to find him though :7

[Arkansas Granny]

17. Don't you just love it when they seem to not believe that you aren't the person they're looking for?

I keep getting collection calls for a guy named Ray who hasn't had this number for at least 2 years.

[graywarrior]

18. Jeeze, whatever you do, don't read Chasing the Dime

http://www.michaelconnelly.com/Book_Collection/ChasingTheDime/chasingthedime.html