I have been receiving calls from this company for the past three weeks. Usually I get a message on my machine, no company name, no reason for call, just a phone number to return. I would never return such a call. Next, I began getting calls during dinner - there would be no answer when we would say "hello" so we would wait and then hang up. Sometimes you could hear people in the background laughing or talking, but no answer to our "hello".
Yesterday I received the same message on my machine. I decided to call and put an end to whatever this was - always the same number on the caller ID. I talked to a girl named Marie - although the message said Miss Rice each time - and she was extremely rude to me. She put me on hold for about 3 minutes. She returned and asked if this was Debra Milazzo - I said yes then she proceeded to tell me that I had hung up on her several times and had an outstanding bill with Sprint. I told her I was a Verizon customer and that before that I had been an MCI customer, but never a Sprint customer. She said I was lying and said we have spoken to you several times. I said she was mistaken and she asked if I had ever lived at Ridgeway - I am not sure if that is a town or a street - I told her no. I then said whatever you need - you are not talking to the right person. I then said I consider this conversation continuing to be harrassment and said that it should be ended here. She stated the last 4 numbers of what she thought was my social security. I again told her that was not me - she then proceeded to get angry with me and hung up. I called back and spoke with a manager. He apologized, but I told him I think that Marie needs to call back and apologize to me herself.
What I found was so disturbing about these calls was the unprofessional callousness of Marie and the sneaky tactics that this company employs. I have done collections for lawyers for years and first and foremost you identify yourself, your company and the reason for the call. Should the call become heated or upsetting, you call a supervisor, you do not argue with the person - especially in cases where you don't even have the right person. That is harrassment. Secondly, how did they come up with my name and number? I really want an answer to this one. After speaking with the manager, he stated that Ridgeway was in Florida. The number they called was Maine. I live in Maine. Do you just pick out every Debra * on a YAHOO search and then run with it and harrass each one in turn?
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