I worked there for over 5 years in the 60-days collections department. As a former employee, I was always "under the gun" from the department managers for collecting an incredible amount of cash. Granted, there are some real deadbeats out there that think they shouldn't pay their bills, but a significant majority of the customers are just going through a bad month because of a sick child, a cut in hours at work, divorce, or just short on cash. THat really doesn't matter to Sterling. They will call customers repeatedly until they pay over the phone (check by phone, with a $10 processing fee of course). There is a department manager there named Myron Olijar. This guy is a real crook. Everything he does is sleazy. What is worse, he gets people to do all of his dirty work for him. What I mean is that there is the "FDCPA." Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. This piece of law regulates how you can collect on a delinquent account. You cannot share personal information with strangers, harass or humiliate deliquent customers, repeatedly call customers, etc. Myron Olijar "barely" follows these rules. I was trained to force customers to do "post dated checks over the phone" in order to "stop the collection calls." Myron would have us do this, even though he knew perfectly well that the customers dont have the cash in their checking accounts. So when they check bounces, Sterling is able to charge another $20 or $30 dollars. But many desperate customers are willing to do this to stop the calls. I would hear Myron on the floor laughing saying sometimes, "We'll harrass them into paying, I mean, collect on the accounts" in a joking voice. For example, the FCPA does allow a creditor to leave messages with those that are "familiar" with the deliquent account. But that is a very grey area, and Myron knows that. We, based out of Akron Ohio have no idea who is "familiar" with one of our customers in Oregon or Idaho. So what Myron would do is he would go on the internet and find neighbors, friends, relatives, and co-workers using skiptracing search engines (peoplefinders.com). He'd leave messages with anyone and everyone willing to take one. Again, this is "barely" legal because who are we to know who is "familiar" with the customer. Myron Olijar infact was fired from Sterling in the early 1990s because of his abusive behavior. But they brought him back several years back and in fact promoted him. I'm writing this report for both customers dealing with Sterling and for the people working there right now. I quit my job because Myron Kept on pressuring me to do these illegal things. Despite Myron asking me to do these things, he would never back me if I got caught. There is this sort of "gentleman's agreement" at Sterling when it comes to working in their collections department. "Do whatever you want when collecting on an account, just don't get caught. And if you do, don't expect us to help you." Many of my good friends have gotten fired doing exactly what Myron forces his collectors to do. I got tired of dealing with their department and left. The last straw was when a huge account ($4000) was in collections. I finally got the customer on the phone, and after telling me she couldnt pay, she hung up on me.By law (FDCPA), I am not allowed to call her until the next business day. If I call her again, I am breaking the law. Myron was huvering over me, and told me, "Call her back." Just tell her, "Oh, we got disconnected." Again, this is a grey area. At the end of the day, I put in my two week notice. Shame on you MYRON OLIJAR and SHame on Sterling Jewelers!
Steringemployee
Fairlawn, Ohio
U.S.A.
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