Last week I started receiving phone calls from the BCR collection agency.
I was in Atlanta with weak reception last week, so I missed the deluge as it began last week, but now that I’m back in Austin I’ve been receiving the messages. They call asking for a girl ( whose name I recognize from the initial weeks when I got this number, about a year ago ). I say she isn’t at this number, she will never be at this number, etc.
The next day, I receive an automated call from BCR.
The next day, I receive a call from BCR.
Saturday I went ape on the poor girl and demanded my number be removed from the list. Sure enough, Sunday morning at 9am, the phone rings, an automated call from the same area code and prefix as BCR saying “please call us back.”
Today I have called them back and demanded my removal. For anyone else googling this, try their main line at (202) 607-2749.
I asked who they wanted and verified that I was not that person.
And for a non Internerd here the story would end.
….but then I put this girl’s name into Google and found her MySpace page.
Should I mail her ( “Hey sweetie, stop dodging your creditors, they’re driving me nuts” ). Or should I ask “How deep are you in”, maybe make a Payday loan at Payday interest rate prices? Or….what to do?
I would not get involved.
BCR, which is Bureau of Collections Recovery Inc.,did the same thing to us, and I am sure we are not the only ones being harassed by them. We received three months of daily calls even though we told them wrong number, etc. The only way to stop the calls is a written notice to them; however, they make it almost impossible to find their address. Here is BCR’s address, fax number and website for officers’ info and email addresses. Bureau Of Collections Recovery Inc. 7575 Corporate Way, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344; fax # 952-259-1191; website bureauofcollection.com or universalsystems.com (same company and same officers). Once they have written notice, they must stop calling or be in violation of 15 US Code section 1692. I hope you post another blog entry that prominently includes this info to help others out there who are trying to find BCR and get your website in their search results like I did.
Send a written notice to stop calling your phone number to BCR—Bureau of Collections Recovery Inc. at 7575 Corporate Way, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 or fax notice to #952-259-1191. Also check out their website at bureauofcollection.com for names and email addresses of BCR officers.
Affiliate company website is universalsystems.net. Sorry.
I’m getting the same calls.. this morning was the first time they have ever left a message though.. Their machine calls me 3 times a day for 3 months now.. I usually just let my machine get it.. and they hang up…
I get about five calls a day. The person they ask for does not live here. I told them this about forty times. But they call and ask for this person. They are about to drive me nuts.The attorney generals office told me to get in touch with the Federal Trade Commission.
pkg is right-united states code-title 15-section 1692 delta-harrassment or abuse; to wit: CAUSING A TELEPHONE TO RING OR ENGAGING ANY PERSON IN TELEPHONE CALLS REPEATLY OR CONTINUOUSLY WITH INTENT TO ANNOY, ABUSE, OR HARASS ANY PERSON AT THE CALLED NUMBER- $1000.00 fine. contact federal trade commission and your attorney generals office
This exact thing is happening to me with BCR! I can’t believe these people, they call 3 + times a day! I have been trying to tell these people for months that this person does not live here. We got this phone number that must have been listed with a person that went to collections.
Thank you for providing this information—I am also trying to get them to stop harrassing me looking for someone else.
Same problem (mistaken for someone else). So far I haven’t heard from them in a week. I only had to ask twice. Let’s see if it lasts…
i actually had one of there people not only harass with the phone calls but straight treat me in a very harassing manner. I contacted a lawyer and had him call and now my bill has been completely wiped clean and the company is calling kissing my but soo i wont take this further
The fax number listed above did not work. But I did write them asking them to cease and desist calling our home phone. Unfortunately they actually read to me my wife’s social security number, so I am trying to figure out what to do with that information. Any suggestions? Thanks, Austin, Tx
Oh my god they’re crazy! Thank you for the info - I have been demanding addresses from the phone reps and they’re supervisor and I get hung up on or transferred to voice mail. They’ve been harrassing me, calling my cell phone almost daily while I’m at work for my sister’s issues. My poor boss and co-workers thought I had a crazy ex-boyfriend and everyone had to listen to me yell at them. This will give me a little more fighting power. Again, thank you for the info!
It is against the law for these idiots to call you more then once a day. If they do so you can take legal again in small claims for harassment.
I think the law states you are entitled to &1,250.00.
code-title 15-section 1692 delta-harrassment or abuse; to wit: CAUSING A TELEPHONE TO RING OR ENGAGING ANY PERSON IN TELEPHONE CALLS REPEATLY OR CONTINUOUSLY WITH INTENT TO ANNOY, ABUSE, OR HARASS ANY PERSON AT THE CALLED NUMBER- $1000.00 fine. contact federal trade commission and your attorney generals office.
Also if you really want to screw with them is to flood their emails with so much spam crap as well as set up bogus ads on the internet having people call their local 202 area code number as well as their toll free number. put ads on the net like free bed, free pool etc. or ads like a classic convertible camaro for only $2,500.00. Once people give them a taste of what they dish out, I will really hit them hard. Also read up on the laws under the DCPA and tell them you mean business here. There are so many ways now to screw with scum bag losers like this. So lets all have some fun here and pay them back. Everytime you pass by a pay phone call their toll free number at 800-831-7311 and leave the phone off the hook. This will jam their lines.
I’m tell you people, all we have to do here is start calling their 800 # from a pay phone and leave it off the hook. Not only will this ring up their 800 #, but it will jam up their phone lines and they wont be able to call out. Start call 800-831-7311. Also call from public pay phones and tell them something like, Hey, just thought I would call you like you call me 10 times a day and bug the hell out of you or what ever you want to say. If we get enough people to do this we can put them out of business. Come on people here, lets work as a team and pay these low life scum bags back
THEY SENT ME A LETTER ABOUT T-MOBILE ACCOUNT WHICH WAS CANCEL TWO YEARS AGO BY T-MOBILE NOT BY ME NOW THIS ABOVE COMPANY HAS PUT NEG COMMENTS ON ALL OF MY CREDIT REPORTS AND HAS SHOW MY ACCOUNT IN IN COLLECTIONS YOU KNOW WHAT THAT DO TO YOUR YOUR CREDIT SCORES I HAVE FAX THEM A LETTER AND WILL GO TO CIVIL COURT IN HAMPTON VA TO FILE A CLAIM OR JUDGEMENT ON THIS PISS POOR COMPANY
What a way to wakeup. My daughter wakes me after working all night saying that this lady ( and i use that term loosly ) is getting after her and belittling her. I end up getting into it with her where she Threatens to call every day for the rest of my natural born life, her words, if i don’t get the person she wants on the phone. I called back to the number you provided and this guy tells me that all the calls are recorded and reviewed and they will take appropriate actions and he removed my number from the list or so he says. Well, we will see if he did it or if i will get another call tommorrow. I will be contacting my congress person and find out what can be done to stop them.
I have been experiencing the same annoying calls up to five times/day for months now. Needless to say, the people calling did not take my number off their list after my verbal request. The FTC took my complaint, and gave me a reference number, but then I couldn’t navigate their web site to find it again to see if there had been any action.
I’m grateful for the address and phone number PKG provided! I looked up the website and called the 800 number - the associate said he’d taken my number off the list by the end of our conversation. We’ll see if that happens.
Thanks again! Knowledge IS power!
I too have had issues with TMobile and BRC. A free demo on TMobile service has turned out to be a 2 year butt ache with BRC!!! I will go to the grave with a battle over $179.10! I will never pay something I don’t owe.
they are a crook company. they over charge thing already been pay. if you guy recieve call from them report them to tv company let them investigage.
i am so sick of these people over a bill from tmobile. tmobile incorrectly sent bills to another address. i asked 3 times for an address change so i could send in payments. now i am getting ridiculous calls from these people at bcr. they are rude and quite frankly, out of their minds!!! i think that if they were face to face with some of the people that they talk this crazy to, they wouldn’t. they are a bunch of cowards. i will try and contact the FTC. there has to be a way to put them out of business.
I just got done calling the 800 number given on this site. I’m from Minnesota, and informed them I had contacted the BBB of Mn. and the Attorney generals office! They are looking for my Daughter, and I have refused to give them a phone number where she can be contacted! All I said is she is in the military and can not receive calls! At that point he said to me, your number has been removed from the list, so now I’ll see if it has been!
I have had my number “removed” from the list several times. You yell at them, tell them you have contacted the Federal Trade Commission (which, BTW, you can file a complaint on this company online - I MUST ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO DO THIS. Go to http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/cmplanding.shtm.) and they do not care. You must contact them in writing - I am faxing my letter over to them now. Mine is from an old Cingular Bill - I got an EVDO card for my computer, never could get it to pull up more than one page in a row, which makes it useless. Paid Congular $80/mo for unlimited internet while their tech support “tried” to fix it. Finally cancelled the contract and Cingular charges me a $180 cancellation fee!!! Needless to say I refused to pay it - I was on automatic draft so had to take it off my AMEX about 4 times before I called and they let me take my AMEX card off their system. This is the second agency that has tried to collect this “debt”. I feel sorry for all those new iPhone owners - Cingular’s internet service is the WORST. Hopefully they bought the phone for a reason other than internet and customer service. Cingular is the WORST in these areas. I am happily with Verizon now. Good internet and good customer service, and a Blackberry 8830.
Don’t forget!!! Complain to the FTC on these guys - they are subject to fines if they harass you. That is the best retaliation. Lawyers are expensive to have to fight fines from the government!
BCR has been calling me a bout a washignton mutual card. i know i am behind and it is not right, but the way these people from bcr behave is ridiculous. you are right they would be cowards face to face. i think they get a sick thrill out of belittling people they don’t know.
I set up payment arrangements for July 31. i even said numerous times that they could not take anything out until then, she said that they will not and that they call the bank to make sure it is in there in advance. well guess what? a payment was already taken out of my account. they overdrew my account.
I tried calling the number the lady gave me and it was invalid so i called wamu and they gave me the correct one, got on the phone with the lady and she says oh that was a good faith payment, i said i never agreed to this whatsoever and she hung up. i repeatedly called back and kept hanging up without saying hello. called and talked to some others they told me to call today, i did and guess what? they called me a liar, said i authorized it, i told them to listen to the recorded calls and they won’t. they are threatening legal action once again.
she said she was not going to waste time on me and that i could not get my money back, that wamu has it, well i called wamu and they told me to call bcr, still haven’t got my money, nor are they paying the overdraft fees. i emailed all 5 of the top officials there with no response, even though on their site it says immediate response and action. also the first call they made to me (was a tues or wed i believe) they told me that i needed to go get my checkbook NOW and kept demeanding it and I said i dont have it, so he said well you better have it by this Friday at noon or the sherriff will be coming over. i called wamu and they said that bcr could not do that because they dont own the account.
What should I do about the moneyt hey took? i know i owe them, but nmow they ruined my bank account because there will be several checks coming back because of the overdraft.
[Edited for clarity, SGH]
oops sorry about the bad typing i was in a hurry.
We are joining the harrassed by BCR. They started out by calling my father-in-law several times a day for months and the other day he told them he forwarded their message to us and to please stop calling them. Brad at BCR said he would not stop calling until he got this matter taken care of. My husband called them last night and as they did with all of you they started intimidating my husband telling how much he was going to pay them each month and demanding payment monthly. I was in the background telling my husband that they can not force us to pay that much and that they had to take what we could afford to pay them each month.
Brad proceeded to tell my husband that if we pay that much for our vehicles then we can afford to pay them that much also and how does that idiot figure that because if we are paying that out to have transportation to work and back then of course we are not going to be able to make a payment that is as much as our car payment.
Brad then started bringing up stuff on our credit report and said that we just run bills up and just skip. First off that is none of his business what we have in our past credit and second if he must know we got in a situation because of medical reasons. Brad kept demanding to have my husbands work number and he told him he worked on job sites and that he didn’t have any other number to give him but his cell phone which he already had.
I told my husband to give me the phone and when I got on the phone all he kept saying was I am not talking to you put your husband back on the phone and I proceeded to drive him crazy by repeatedly telling him NO. He then told me to stop acting like I was “Gheto Fabulous” and then the fight was on. I proceeded to say “look here MF you don’t know me and you have no right to talk to me that way”. Then he said “you are stupid and you can’t even complete a full sentence”. I then told him if he was not willing to work with us and let us pay what we could afford then sue me and he hung up. But before the night was over he called and said he never wanted to speak to my husband’s wife again.
Why is that poor Brad because a woman intimidated you like you were trying to intimidate my husband.
[ **Edits for spacing, spelling —sgh ** ]
It is against the law for these idiots to call you more then once a day. If they do so you can take legal again in small claims for harassment.
I think the law states you are entitled to &1,250.00.
code-title 15-section 1692 delta-harrassment or abuse; to wit: CAUSING A TELEPHONE TO RING OR ENGAGING ANY PERSON IN TELEPHONE CALLS REPEATLY OR CONTINUOUSLY WITH INTENT TO ANNOY, ABUSE, OR HARASS ANY PERSON AT THE CALLED NUMBER- $1000.00 fine. contact federal trade commission and your attorney generals office.
Also if you really want to screw with them is to flood their emails with so much spam crap as well as set up bogus ads on the internet having people call their local 202 area code number as well as their toll free number. put ads on the net like free bed, free pool etc. or ads like a classic convertible camaro for only $2,500.00. Once people give them a taste of what they dish out, I will really hit them hard. Also read up on the laws under the DCPA and tell them you mean business here. There are so many ways now to screw with scum bag losers like this. So lets all have some fun here and pay them back. Everytime you pass by a pay phone call their toll free number at 800-831-7311 and leave the phone off the hook. This will jam their lines.
I’m telling you people, all we have to do here is start calling their 800 # from a pay phone and leave it off the hook. Not only will this ring up their 800 #, but it will jam up their phone lines and they wont be able to call out. Start call 800-831-7311. Also call from public pay phones and tell them something like, Hey, just thought I would call you like you call me 10 times a day and bug the hell out of you or what ever you want to say. If we get enough people to do this we can put them out of business. Come on people here, lets work as a team and pay these low life scum bags back
Thanks for this information. A woman called me from BCR today and, after I told her that the account was disputed, she began screaming at me. I couldn’t believe it! I filed complaints today.
Its a fraud. On the phone with a person named Erica Rivera. Never gave a name and they assumed I was some guy, and gave me all of his information including birthdate, address, all but social security number. Which they tried to get out of me.
Told me that I had an outstanding balance with TMobile for $469.33 and could ‘erase my debt from my credit report’ if I would pay a one-time over-the phone payment of $235.
I’m going to be calling them again. See what other info I can get out of them.
I have been harassed by BCR for 2 years because someone told my identity, opened a t-mobile and, of course, never paid it. I even had the police department call BCR and T-Mobile and they both refused to help the police. They even had the name of the person that opened the fraudulent account. They just keep calling me saying it must be my account because they have it on record that I called with my name to ask questions about my account. The police even hate these guys. All I want is for them to go away!
viva la revolution! my mother has become another of bcr’s harrassed ranks, over an account my grandfather has. he lives a few counties away, and we’re not even sure how they got ma’s cell phone number. after telling whichever operator that happens to call that a) he does not live with us, b) she is not his wife, but his daughter and c) his wife is dead and cannot come to the phone without divine intervention, they berate her and threaten her over a bill for an account she didn’t know existed, let alone open. the poor woman spends at least a half hour after each call trying to calm down. our family lawyer is drafting a cease and desist letter to mail in. thanks so much for whoever found their address, it was starting to prove more elusive than the holy grail.
those without lawyers can draft their own letter, citing the statute, sign it in front of a notary public, and have it notorized. be sure to send it certified mail, providing you with a signed reciept from them signifying they recieved the letter. hold on to that reciept. invest in a recording system to tape the calls on your end, but make them aware that you are doing so (some states have laws against secretly taping phone conversations, make sure you stay within the confines of the law at all times). keep a calendar of each time they call you, get their name and operator id#, as well as the name and operator id# of anyone else you talk to within the company. keep every record you can think to keep in case you end up having to take this to court. stay calm and rational! no matter how tempted, don’t curse at them. not only can they use foul/intimidating language against you, they can in some cases use it to have your phone cut off.
taking action won’t stop the calls completely, they are still legally allowed to contact you but only when a SPECIFIC action is being taken on the debt. but it should stop the sheer volume and menacing nature of the calls.
This is relieving. I was falsely charged by Cingular, who has since wiped out the charge. But these BCR people have started to call obsessively, no matter how many times or in how many different ways I’ve tried to explain this to them. Now cingular agrees to write them, but said they can’t release the letter for another month. BCR calls me twice a day. I feel harrassed and anxious, I haven’t done anything wrong!! Where the heck did this place come from? All the stories I read on this site are exactly what I’ve experienced. They started calling my father months ago looking for me, when I haven’t lived there in 15 years. I finally gave them my phone #, trying to be nice to them and stop the harrassment on my poor fathers phone, BIG MISTAKE. I have to deal with this for another month until cingular releases the letter that I owe no money to them. This is ridiculous.
like all the above thank God for who ever started this website…. i have been tearing my hair out trying to get these people from calling my home. they say i am removed today 3/14/08 we’ll see if this works…. thanks for the above info phone number and advice. i did write a letter to the attorney general….
I just got off the phone with BCR. I’ve been telling them not to call me for over a month, and they still call every day. Today I made it clear to them that I was sending them a letter demanding them to stop calling. I got them to give me their address finally. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, once a collection agency is notified by mail not to call someone, they cannot call again or they will be in violation of the law. I have never dealt with such rude, unreasonable people in my life. Send them a letter and they MUST stop calling.
I work at an auto auction in Fairburn, Georgia and the BCR keeps asking for a Delisha Smith on a daily basis. I told them our company just obtained the phone number in March 2008 and they wont stop calling. I am glad to have this information so I can file a complaint with FTC and have corporate send a letter to cease calls.
This company has started calling our home as well. They are looking for my husband’s ex-wife…they get beligerent when you tell them not to call. I am sick and tired of being woke up at 8:10 every AM. I have reported to the FTC so we will see what happens.
Thanks for all of the information on this site for the contact info.
Everyone when you call these agencies back,your calling them back to their
1-800 number. they then have your real name and number, because of ANI,
Automatic Number Identification. All 800 services have the ability to read the persons true number and name. Sort of like caller I D, but I believe you cant block your number from them, so they no who you are when you call. I had a collection agency call me, I told her the person you are looking for does not live
here and I am not that person, and I do not no this person. Actually she was very nice, she said she would take me off the list, so will see.
i’ve been having the same issue with BCR. they call several times a day with different numbers and i’ve answered a few times and told them i’m not who they’re looking for, but sure enough they keep calling. today i’m calling every number i can to stop them. but i know how you feel, it’s irritating!
I have gotten harrassing phone calls from them at my mom’s number. I live witih my parents but work all the time and my brither has said that they call for me every day every hour on the hour. So I called them back and all I get is an answering machine or they hang up. So the one time that I did get a hold of someone before I finished saying what I wanted to say they put me on hold and I hung up. So thanks for the number and all the information!
Called the 207-607-2749 number and got a representative. Began to explain that I was receiving repeated calls from this number and she hung up on me. Called back and got Therese at BCR collections agency and explained to her that I have been receiving calls daily, from their service for months now regarding my SON, (gave his name); that I have repeatedly explained he is a minor, my son, and asked how I can help them and they always end up hanging up. (This has been going on since sometime in June) She did a search on my phone number, my son’s name, she asked if his birthdate was on a certain date to which I replied that it was not. She asked if his last 4 digits of his SS# were **** and I replied that they were not. She asked if we lived on Orchard Rd (or something similar), and I replied that we did not. She said they must have the wrong (my son’s name) and that she was removing our number manually from their call list and that it would take up to 72 hours for it to process, so we may still receive some calls until then.
I have to say she was not the nicest person and acted more like I was the one harassing HER even though I tried to explain to her that she had to understand my frustration over this and I never once cursed at her. I would think she hates her job and is always ready to be blasted by callers upset over these matters. If the calls don’t stop after a week, I will contact them by mail and then contact the FTC.
I use to work for bcr, you need to send them a letter in writting, document it! They have 30 days to stop, if they call you after the 30 days they are in violation of the FDCPA and everytime you call them they are violating that law and each infraction is 1000.00 sue them! They were horrible to work for and they treat their employee’s like crap!
I have been getting calls from 202 and 404 area codes, all BCR reps. Called 877 number and demanded them to stop harassing me. Calling my number and leaving no message 6 + times a day. The BCR rep stated it was not harassement and that they did not have an Atlanta office. I have filled a complaint with FTC. I think a class action law suit might get BCR’s attention. This situation stems from an outstanding balance from a cell phone carrier that I was not even aware of.
I dont mind setting my debt, but I do not care for people treating my like a dead beat when they dont know all the facts!
A credit grantor may choose an agency to work on accounts that are in the early stage of debt, perhaps 30-60 days old. There are two usual approaches, the first, where an agency represents themselves as being the credit grantor are known as first party programs, the second, where the agency represents themselves as being an agency authorized to collect on a debt, are known as third party programs. The Bureau of Collection Recovery is well versed in providing first and third party Early Out programs. In these programs, connect and right party rates tend to be high, and while it is always important to set and provide high customer standards whatever the situation, service-to-value analysis tell us that the majority of the customers contacted within a Early Out program will become paying customers again.By utilizing superior dialing technology, the productivity goals of high penetration and low nuisance calls can be met together with the highly desirable effectiveness goal of the increased favorable outcomes.
By their own words on their own wesite “services and products” the claim they make nuisance calls. DAMN!
I have filed a complaint and included their own words to the FTC.
Great post Steven! Dealing with collection agencies can be a stressful thing, especially when they don’t play by the rules. It’s a good idea to understand what your rights are I found Business collection agencies a great resource when I was doing research on agencies.