Thar Shaddin

Yick. We do outbound, but it's unbelievable how friendly most of the people we contact are. Unbelievable in the sense of holy shit why? Then again, when we call people, a lot of times we have the ability to make their payments go away without penalty - that probably helps.

Now a huge thing we get a lot of are parents unwittingly admitting to fraud. Filling out your kid's paperwork for them is FRAUD, Mrs. Smith. Please don't bring that up again.

99% of the time this is irrelevant - if they mention it, we pretend we didn't hear it and move on. But every now and then you'll get the parent who incessantly makes this point, wanting you to understand why you HAVE TO GIVE ME THIS INFORMATION RIGHT NOW. I FILLED OUT HIS FORMS AND I PAY THE BILLS. That's when you bring out the big guns.

Today's call is a perfect example. Mrs. Smith (generic) was calling in on Bobby Smith's account, her son. She was an endorser on 2 alternative loans, so she can do anything she wants on those. The federal loans, however, still require an information release form, which she didn't have. So no go.

At first it was smooth - I told her about the alt loans and thought hey, maybe I'm getting out of this one with a clean slate! Yeah, I'm dumb.

She tells me she filled out the consolidation application online for her son and would like to know the status. I say I can't tell her, Bobby's gotta call in and grant her permission. She says she needs to know. I tell her I can't say. She says she filled out the forms. I say he needs to call in to grant her authorization.

Now she's mad. She says she handles everything, I say I understand but I can't tell you anything about his federal loans. She says THIS IS RIDICULOUS. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS. Again she says SHE'S the one who filled out the application! I say I can't give her anything, Bobby needs to call in.

Finally she says YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, IT WAS ALL ME. I PERSONALLY FILLED OUT THE CONSOLIDATION APPLICATION ONLINE.

I'm tired of arguing, and just say Ma'am, you've just admitted to fraud and I now have the ability to cancel that consolidation application. Did you want to continue this conversation?

*click*

Ahhhh, sweet justice.

Yeah, be glad you're allowed to tell the racist assholes to piss off. I know people who work phones for XM radio. They live up here but they handle calls from the states, and they're not allowed to do anything no matter what the caller says. I've heard stories of "you better not be no damn nigger" used with a southern drawl, and not even an "excuse me?!" was appropriate as a response.

Also: Taco, burrito, senorita, arriba arriba andale! Jalapeno sombrero pendejita aye!

WEPA! WEPA!

Yup, I've had those some fun people who call in with the.."I did the application on the computer for my ..spouse...son....xboyfriend(give me a break!) so why can't I see the information?

Ohhh...the best was asking if we would give this one guy a loan to get a vehicle...you see he admitted to me the motor was illegal in the state he lived in.

Now we wouldn't have known that had smart guy not bothered to tell me on the phone...
uhhh....no? we don't want to help you get an illegal product?

Kam... cold calling is different to debt collection. Make no bones. You don't live on commission, right?

Actually, yes we did. We did get paid a little, barely enough to live on, but if you wanted to actually get anywhere, you had to make commission.

That being said, it was easier to collect from people because they actually -owe- something, as opposed to trying to sell them something.

I could never live on commission. I suck at selling people things or collecting money. You guys amaze me.

I feel like that at my job, except it's retail. If we sell our insurance plan on stuff we get some money for it, and they pressure us to do so all the time. But I can't sell it worth crap, when this new girl sells like 3 in a day (a lot for us ( >_>) ). It sucks (T_T)

In six months, I made commission 4 times, the last time I made over $1000 on top of my regular pay. I quit cause I hated the job, and was going back to school. I felt school was more important because I'll actually be doing what I enjoy, rather than making quite a bit of money and hating every minute of it.

Hear hear. I did the same Kam. I hit the glass ceiling, could not earn more then I already was in any other unskilled job and was not getting promoted quickly enough. I decided to get myself in serious debt and get educated. Best decision I ever made was going back to college. I was always the academic and good at learning, I want to be rewarded for that. I.e, get a high paying job when I finish.

6 months, and that's my diploma. Then I'm back out in the real world, making better money, and trying to convince future employers to invest in my future by paying for my degree and eventually my designation.

I have one year of A2, then three years of my Bsc, then either one to two years of Masters, or a three year phd. Yay me!

Luckily I do actually love to study. Seriously.

I failed to make commission seventeen times in four weeks of working. Which is seventeen days without pay. Which makes it a DAMN good job i stockpiled food when I got paid.

Kam, sorry, I realised how my earlier comment sounded. I apologise for it. I'm stressed out at the moment, and depressed, so I'll put it down to that.

And here *hands a cloth for the custard*

That's smart. I probably wouldn't be that smart...but then, I'd never ever work commission. EVER.

No funny calls to report from Friday, sadly enough. It was a slow day.

Then that's smart enough.