topic Re: When to call? in Rebuilding Your Credit

When to call?

aquatic1 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:54:39 GMT

Hello all,
My sister says that I always have to over analyze everything! But here goes anyway....When is the best time to call a Creditor to talk about your account that is almost in collections. They (Target and JCPenney)appear to be still with them and I would like either set up a payment plan or PFD. They are not near SOL and the last time I made a payment was summer 07. I am sure I would be asking to much if I could pay these off and they re-open the accounts. Any help would be appreciated.

FYI I did receive a settlement offer for Target but the company that sent the letter is not reporting on any of my credit reports

Re: When to call?

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:28:30 GMT

How long ago did they offer you the settlement?

Re: When to call?

fused — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:35:40 GMT

aquatic1 wrote:
Hello all,
My sister says that I always have to over analyze everything! But here goes anyway....When is the best time to call a Creditor to talk about your account that is almost in collections. They (Target and JCPenney)appear to be still with them and I would like either set up a payment plan or PFD. They are not near SOL and the last time I made a payment was summer 07. I am sure I would be asking to much if I could pay these off and they re-open the accounts. Any help would be appreciated.

FYI I did receive a settlement offer for Target but the company that sent the letter is not reporting on any of my credit reports

Have you pulled your free credit reports from annualcreditreport.com? If not, I suggest you do. It appears your Target account charged-off and has probably been sold to a CA. What is the company name on the letter that was sent to you? So, no, you are NOT over analyzing anything. Let us know what you find, we are here to help you.

Re: When to call?

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:36:41 GMT

During normal business hours. Sorry, couldn't resist.

aquatic1 wrote:

When is the best time to call a Creditor to talk about your account that is almost in collections.

Ok, on a serious side.......are the OCs reporting a balance?

If so, they likely still own the accounts.

IMO, the best time to call is when you can offer to PIF over the phone right then. I think you'll have better luck getting them to remove it from a CA(if it is with a CA).

What kind of history do you have on these accounts?

If you had these accounts for years and was always in good standing and then had a rough period, you might point that out to them, explain how long you were a loyal, good standing customer and how you regret your inability to pay, you are now in a better position, blah, blah,blah........ and ask if there is someone you might be able to speak with to see about getting the account reopened. I would then(if you aren't going to be app'ing for a mortgage or anything soon) get about 6 months or so of good payments behind you and then GW the negatives.

Re: When to call?

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:42:49 GMT

sidewinder wrote:
During normal business hours. Sorry, couldn't resist.

I was sooooooooo going to say the same thing, but I don't have your expertise in Credit 101 and I'd have come across looking like an butthead. lol -- you pulled it off MUCH better since you offered real advice. =P

Re: When to call?

aquatic1 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:07:29 GMT

I received the letter in the mail a few days ago from the CA NARS (National Asset Recovery Service) Call Center Solutions. Both Target and JCPenney are showing balances. I wanted to call Target directly to see if I could work something out with them.

I know to call during business hours....lol but I am not 100% sure what to say. I don't want to make things worse.

My credit history is not very long at all. 2004 is the oldest items showing up other than two paid cars and my student loans. When I moved to NYC and realized the TRUE cost of living here all credit bills went by the way side so that I could actually eat and pay to get to work. Literally all payments stopped as of July or June 2007.

Before that payments were fine but balances were near top.

Re: When to call?

aquatic1 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:09:50 GMT

I pulled TU on 8/23, EQ today and EX last 8/18 and none of them are showing NARS but all are showing a balance for JCPenney and Target.

Re: When to call?

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:15:36 GMT

By history......I was specifically referring to the history on these accounts. How long you had them, what kind of pay history you had, etc.

If they are both showing a balance, I would do the following.

I would call up the OC and say, "Yes, I have an account that went delinquent about a year ago with your company. I was unable to pay my debt at the time, but things have improved and I'd like to do what is right and take care of this account."

Go from there........once it has been established that they still own the accounts and will accept PIF or payment arrangements........

Explain your situation and ask what their policy is on reopening accounts. Tell them how much you love their store and how you'd love to PIF and get the accounts reopened.

They will either say yes or no.......only one way to know.

aquatic1 wrote:
I received the letter in the mail a few days ago from the CA NARS (National Asset Recovery Service) Call Center Solutions. Both Target and JCPenney are showing balances. I wanted to call Target directly to see if I could work something out with them.

I know to call during business hours....lol but I am not 100% sure what to say. I don't want to make things worse.

My credit history is not very long at all. 2004 is the oldest items showing up other than two paid cars and my student loans. When I moved to NYC and realized the TRUE cost of living here all credit bills went by the way side so that I could actually eat and pay to get to work. Literally all payments stopped as of July or June 2007.

Before that payments were fine but balances were near top.

Re: When to call?

aquatic1 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:27:51 GMT

I opened both of these cards in 2004 and was pretty good with them until summer of last year. I will call Target first since they are the one offering the settlement. Should I remind them of the offer or not considering the settlement offer came from the CA?

When I asked about when to call I was actually asking about time of day. Should I try in the mornings where I may be able to talk to someone who hasn't yet gotten in the grove of trying to make a clients life miserable. Or should I wait until later in the day?

Re: When to call?

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:20:24 GMT

IMO, when you're calling the OC, rather than mentioning the settlement offer from the CA, simply ask them to pull it back from the CA so you can pay them off directly. You might be surprised ~ the amount they give you for a payoff could well be less than the settlement offered by the CA, as the CA wants to not only get the amount due the client but their fees, as well.

As far as when to call ~ my personal preference is to call fairly early in the day, simply because it's one thing I can "check off" my to-do list early in the day, rather than spending the day dreading the phone call AND it often goes better than I expected, which sets a pretty good tone for the day.

Remember, you're calling an OC, not a CA, so they're less likely to be the evil trolls you're expecting on the other end of the phone.

Re: When to call?

aquatic1 — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:07:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
IMO, when you're calling the OC, rather than mentioning the settlement offer from the CA, simply ask them to pull it back from the CA so you can pay them off directly. You might be surprised ~ the amount they give you for a payoff could well be less than the settlement offered by the CA, as the CA wants to not only get the amount due the client but their fees, as well.
As far as when to call ~ my personal preference is to call fairly early in the day, simply because it's one thing I can "check off" my to-do list early in the day, rather than spending the day dreading the phone call AND it often goes better than I expected, which sets a pretty good tone for the day.
Remember, you're calling an OC, not a CA, so they're less likely to be the evil trolls you're expecting on the other end of the phone.

Thank you for the suggestions. I will call them tomorrow morning. Better get it over with. Again they can say YES or NO. But at least I am trying to get it paid off. I hate owing people money let alone creditors.

Re: When to call?

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:30:51 GMT

We're here for ya ~ let us know how it goes.