If you never had an account in a debt collection firm, chances are great that you will still have negative opinions of bill collectors. Now if you have had one or more accounts in collections, you may have had bad experiences that only enhanced your opinions of debt collectors.

So why are the majority of bill collectors looked upon as people that are rude, don’t care about people and willfully break the law? Part of the answer lies in the fact that people are uneasy when someone asks them to repay a debt. When they get on the defense and the bill collector does the same, all kinds of negative stuff can come about. Another factor that needs to be considered is that the vast majority of bill collectors only get into the business for two reasons. 

1. To make money to help them finish their education.

2, To make money until a real job of their choice comes  up.

With this attitute, it is no wonder why the majority of bill collectors take the stance of Rhett Butler in “Gone With The Wind” when he said, “Frankly my dear I don’t give a ….”. Since most of them look upon this job as a temporary one, they don’t give it the proper respect. So what happens is a conflict of interest raises its ugly head. People don’t want bill collectors calling them about their debts and many of the bill collectors are tired of asking people to pay.   

With over two decades of experience in the collection industry, I can understand why there is so much conflict between debtors and bill collectors.  I wrote and promoted training materials that increased the probability of conflict. In Part II, I will cover other reasons why bill collectors don’t get much respect. I would like to hear what you think about what I have said. This is Charles, your trusted voice in helping people fix their collection & credit problems signing off.