harrassement from a Collect Corp Rep.

Hey everyone.

It feels good to know that I'm not the only one in a bad situation here.

Here's what happenned to me in the past month.

I receive a letter from Collect Corp saying that I needed to call them back...  I didn't get the chance to because they called me the night I received the letter.  The woman, Miss Edwards was really not in a good mood.  She told me I had to pay the whole thing in the next days and if not...she would take me to court.  You see, I've been a single mother, providing for my little girl, all by myself, for the past 3 years and I couldn't pay my student loan before.  Now I can, but she won't let me.  She told me that my priorities weren't at the right place, that my daughter wasn't important, the important thing was that I pay my loan right now.  She also told me that if I didn't do so, she would call my boss and tell him that I wasn't paying my bills...

She then told me to call a bank or a friend....and so on..to find the money... to shut her up, I said I would, and I did, but I need a co-signer to have the money and there is nobody in my familly that can do so.  So I told her, after my confirmation, that it wasn't an option.   I don't know if you notice here, but this lady made 3 big illegal things in a simple little phone call.  That's really bad for them.   She was so cruel, making personal attacks about my way of dealing with thing, my responsibilities, and my daughter that she made me cry.  They can be firm, but they don't have the right to be abusive like she was.

I got another call from a lady, probably working with Miss Edward because I could ear her in the back... she called, in a conference call my representative at the bank, without my approbation and his, and she asked us to discuss about my account there.  Big NO NO... I had to call him back because he didn't know what was going on.  He though he was in trouble.

You see, what these two ladies just did is against the law.  We have rights.  According to HRDC, they are not allowed to pressure us into getting a loan to pay off this one.  It is illegal to ask information about someone's bank account and to talk to their bank representative.  It is also illegal to talk to someone the way they did.  And as for taking me to court, I've been to that agency for only a month and I do want to pay...but I can't pay all at the same time and according to HRDC again, they HAVE to accept payments.  

You know, these people can really get in trouble for doing what they just did.  And to many times people just let it go by and do nothing about it.   Well not me.  I called up my lawyer and asked him for advice.  He told me that I had to right down a complaint and call them up by phone, after that, fax them the letter.  You also have the right to ask that all futur communications be made by mail only.  You have to get that in writting and send that over.  It is also stated by HRDC that you can do so.

So I did, and I also confirmed them again, for the million time how much I was willing to pay each month and asked for a confirmation letter from their part before I send the money orders. 

You know, I just hope I did the right thing.....

Emma0327