Listen folks.... I work for a physician's office and use collection agencies to take care of bad debts. There are a couple things to consider especially in reference to the the outstanding debts you are being asked about.
a) Once you are sent to a collection agency, the company that sent you to collections does not make attempts to collect your debt any longer. In the event, you pay your bill after you've been sent, it is the company's (who you paid) responsibility to contact the collection agency to remove your name from their call list. If you are still being called, I guarantee you the company has not communicated your payment. Call the MEDICAL OFFICE and get this taken care of. This debt is affecting your credit for their incompetence.
b) A Collection agency is not going to call you just for the heck of it. If they show you owe a debt, they are calling you for that debt. They only garner a small percentage of the total money owed. They have thousands of accounts to work - calling you and collecting on a debt already paid will equate to NO MONEY for them as you will need to be refunded.
c) Surburan Credit Co are not crooks - they are a business. I've worked with them in the past. They are simply taking over bad debt collections from the company who you owed money too. They work thousands of thousands of accounts. They specialize in Rapid Recovery - unforutantely if they gave every person with a debt the benefit of doubt, there would be no recovery in debt. At the end of the day, a collection agency is a business. They don't get paid until they collect your money.
I get several messages a week for a person that does not live at my address and i have repeatetly ask the caller to stop calling me. I am "fed up" and ready to explode!
Good information! thank you - This helps me... I felt like I was personally being attacked on a weekly basis. I will keep this in mind if they call again.
Bottom line is this.... if your original creditor, (hospital or whatever) refers you to a collection agency they have sold your debt to the collection agency for about .25 on the dollar owed. The debt collection company then tries to collect from you for the full amount you owed the hospital and that other 75% of your bill is their profit. Even if the hospital were to take your payment in full once it's been turned over to collections, (and they won't), the derogatory mark on your credit report will not be removed for 7 years at the minimum and possibly 14 years or more. It MIGHT eventually show as PAID, but it will always be there and be held against you. Dealing with a debt collection agency and paying them money (legit or not) only keeps the industry of debt collection profitable. If people would stop dealing with debt collectors, they would go away and hospitals (or original creditors) would HAVE to make a greater effort to offer you a payment plan you can afford before turning you over to collections. Usually, $20 per month will keep your account from going to collections, but not always. Regardless, once it has gone to collections, your credit report will reflect this and any money you send to a collector goes into their profit, (NONE OF IT goes to the hospital) and every dime you send to a collection agency assures they will be around for years to come, harrassing people.
YOU SHOULD NEVER SEND MONEY TO A DEBT COLLECTOR. DEAL WITH THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR, (THE PERSON YOU HAD A BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH) AND TRY TO RESOLVE IT WITH THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR. IF YOU CAN'T, THEN IT'S A DONE DEAL. BY PAYING COLLECTION AGENCIES, YOU ARE ONLY PROPAGATING THIS CORRUPT, ABUSIVE INDUSTRY.