How to Face the Abusive Debtor

How to walk the Fine Line and Win

It is still a tough time out there for many.  The message sent by our government a few years back is that they would bail us all out of our troubles.  It turns out they were only concerned with big business, while small business was left out in the cold struggling to survive. Many small businesses established during boom times in the 90's never had to cut back, had to deal with layoffs or struggled just to survive.  Today, the reality of a much tougher economy has taken it's toll on many.  They are, for good reason, unhappy with the state of their business, and have gotten angry.  This anger,misguided as it may be, is usually directed to your A/R staff and debt collectors in general. 

So how do we deal with these situations and still accomplish our goals of collecting?  Here are some tactics for abusive debtors:

1. Simply make the debtor aware that their behavior is unacceptable and ask them to calm down so the item can be discussed.
2. If they are still combative, let the call go and give them some space for a few hours, or days. 
3. When you call back, ask if they are willing to discuss a resolution and hope that enough time has passed that they can be reasonable.
4. Pass the case to another collector, sometimes a new voice will generate a different response.
5. Create a custom letter discussing particulars of the debt, and ask for a written response within a given timeline.  If they break the timeline, get back on the phone.
6. Sometimes there is no winning, get the case to your agency and hope that the next level of resolution can get their attention.

The FDCPA protects consumers, but as of now there is no protection for agency/company employees being threatened by debtors.  It's a growing problem, and your best plan of action is simply having a plan and following through.  These types of altercations can be very difficult on your staff, don't be afraid to reach out and see how your people are handling it.  Please also see this article from the New York Times which discusses this topic in more detail.

Early Roots of Independence Day

We all know on the 4th of July we are celebrating our independence from Great Britain.  Independence day was not officially recognized by the U.S. Government until 1871 when it was given status as a Federal Holiday.  Just because the government had not given it official status doesn't mean that it wasn't celebrated.  How did early Americans celebrate?  In a time when there were no gas grills or fireworks, there was still a party going on, but what was it like?

The early Americans celebrated by reading the Declaration aloud, having large bonfires, firing muskets, and cannons.  They also would hold mock funerals for King George III, a symbol of the end of the rulers hold on the colonists, and the end of tyranny for the people of this country.  In 1778 George Washington provided his troops a double ration of Rum to commemorate the anniversary.  The first State to mark the date officially was Massachusetts in 1781.  This was just months before the key victory at Yorktown. 

In 1941 the Federal Government granted all federal employees a paid vacation day to celebrate.  Regardless of how you celebrate, the important part of the holiday is to remember the sacrifices that were made by many to gain our freedom.  It's a holiday in modern times mostly symbolized by fireworks and a day off work, but it took brave men and great leaders to step up against the most powerful government in the world and win. 

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