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This report is on a COWARD named John Hanson. I had been having problems with him for roughly 2 months. I promised him payment upon receipt of a confirmation saying that if I paid the amount, the settlement would be over. He was very hesitant. I began to get angry and he laughed saying that I should have been responsible for my actions and that now I will pay the price. As if someone died and made him God to decide what MY price is.
He continued to call me numerous times during the day at all of my listed phone numbers. He even was calling me at work. The funny thing was that I sent in $2000 the week prior, which left $1000 on the balance, but that wasn't enough for him to leave me alone for a bit, he continued to harass me saying "That amount Ma'am just isn't good enough" EXCUSE ME! That amount seems mighty fair to me. I asked him nicely to not call me at my work saying that I know it is my right to have calls stopped when it is an inconvenient time and place. He continued to laugh telling me he has the right to call me as many times as he wants a day at whatever phone numbers he has listed. This is true until I tell him it’s an inconvenient location, and I didn't ask him to stop calling me all together but to stop calling my work. This guy did everything in his power to make me feel inferior.
I went on to tell this weak insecure person just what I thought of someone who has to hide behind a telephone and try to strong arm people into paying more than they can. As I said above I had already given an obscene amount of money yet that wasn't good enough for him.
I found out that these people are getting paid on commission. When I mentioned that he asked if I thought it was that important to him to collect a measly amount of money off of me. Honestly John Hanson...it must be, otherwise you wouldn't be so rude and obnoxious about it. One reason he was upset is because instead of letting him take my money I contacted Capital One directly and did a balance transfer to pay the $2000. Therefore he didn't get any commission on the account. He asked me if I thought I was smart and had outwitted him. No I didn't think that but obviously he did. I opted to pay the rest of the amount again through Capital One. He was extremely upset. I now have the balance paid and yet again just recently...I received 2 calls at home, 2 on my cell, and 2 at work. That to me is a little bit too much, especially since the balance is $0.
The messages entailed a very rude voice on the other end of the line saying... "This is John Hanson and it is VERY important that I get a return call from you regarding a past due account (it is not his place to say anything about the account VIA phone)" Another thing, if he was actually doing his job he would know that the account is paid for. Its even been chanced to "Paid" on my credit report...HELLOOO! Just another example of Viking Corp trying to weasel money out of people. Great job guys...how do you sleep at night and are you really able to look at yourself in the mirror knowing you are weaseling, harassing, weak, and insecure ### with nothing better to do than try to over power people?
The part of the story that I would like to include is that I was in a severe car accident where I ended up having surgery. I was out of work for 3 weeks and obviously that means no paycheck. John Hanson felt it necessary to tell me how to run my life and tell me that Credit Card debt is more of a priority than taking care of my body in any way necessary. His suggestion...paying my debt before I opted for surgery. I should live with the pain because that payment is more important than my health. I give a big F U to John Hanson and any other debt collector who thinks that my priority would be a credit card over my immediate health. It would be different if it was something I had been dealing with for awhile, but instead it was because of a car accident. Its not as if I asked for that to happen.
He threatened to call my parents, my fiancé', and told me if I avoided his calls at work he would contact my boss and have him make me take the call (remember the balance is already paid). I feel as though this is against the law and also my rights as a US citizen. I am a 25-year-old woman. I have lived on my own for 8 years and had a mishap with a credit card. I worked my butt off to get it paid and the appreciation I get is harassing phone calls when the balance is $0. What a way to run a business!
A note to all who are offered a settlement through Viking...do not give out info, do not accept harassing phone calls, pay the debt through the original company by doing balance transfers. Keep any information and confirmation numbers in case a lawsuit arises. I can't believe that there are people out there who are basically looking for blood. I hope you all can avoid what I had to go through.
My rant is over, sorry its so long and drawn out. I had a lot to say I guess.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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Mr. Olaf identified himself as a VP with Viking Collections and called to say "they weren't playing around anymore..." As he attempted to rapidly heat-up our exchange, I informed him we were in discussions with the bank -- and would no longer respond to his calls. I invited him to send any future communications via mail -- and hung up.
Easy, peasy...
FOLKS, remember: This is the USofA and WE HAVE RIGHTS! Don't be fooled by these aggressive, unyielding punks. They have turned your rage into an artform. Google these issues of "solutions to collection company harassment" in your home state. You will soon discover YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER ANY HARASSMENT whatsoever from Viking or any other collectors.
As to Mr. Olaf and his crew, I travel to Phoenix often enough. The day will come when I may just pop in for a little visit...
I just went through it, too. I was transferred from a reasonable human being at Viking to her Gestapo "V.P.". This guy was ruthless and relentless. I won't make excuses about my debt, but he kept throwing it up in my face and trying to pursuade me to do unethical and illegal things. They had information that I am able to charge on my company credit card and he kept telling me charge that account to settle my debt. I told him I would lose my job and possibly be charged with a felony on top of settling one debt with another. He would not take no for an answer. It felt like an old Nazi movie. He refused to let up until I gave him information on people I know so he could harrass them for my debt. We ended up in a screaming match before we could reach an agreement. I'm a 6'2" 320lb. man and I was trembling with rage after I got off the phone. This guy is evil.
I am sorry to hear that this has happened to all of you. I worked in the collections industry a few years ago and in fact worked for Viking and this is not the average. You clearly got a couple of reps who had things to prove. In the first place, I do not recall competing with the "tier 1" collections team (that would be the collections dept. at the place of business where the debt originated) for our "commissions." We recvd bonuses and commissions but if a customer called the original business and was able to work out a deal, it was not a competition. Also, we recvd extensive training - 4 weeks' worth - and part of that training was legal training (Fair Debt Collections Practices Act) and we were given training on handling calls, which DID NOT include threats or laughing at debtors. This is a serious business and we know people can fall behind and the ones who are serious about paying their debt, we are supposed to negotiate with them and treat them respectfully. In fact, even the so-called "deadbeats" should be treated with respect. The reps you all talked to were disrespectful and full of anger. They took out their anger inappropriately and I doubt that the higher-ups at Viking would approve. In training, we actually listened to a couple of these calls to let us know that this is NOT okay to do. Next time a rep calls you up from ANY collection agency and acts like that, please do the restof us a favor and talk to their manager.
Just leeting you all know i had to deal with this John Hanson. I actually took him to court settled for a hefty paycheck from Viking collections, and our friend John Hanson is now looking for a job!
I didn't have an issue with this same collector; but I did try a similar tactic. Years back I had a line of credit debt. The guy called upwards of 10x a day. Eventually I got a better job, got back on my feet and got a small loan from my bank to cover the full amount. It was forwarded directly to the company, not through the collector, so he lost his commission. He called me some 24x after he realized what I had done, absolutely freaking out, leaving nasty messages. Finally I actually answered him, and he went ballistic about how it was 'his case' and that I 'can't do that.' I said I can and did, and "I'm so sorry all of your hard work went for nothing. Better luck next time. And in the future, if you don't act like such an a-hole maybe you'll get better results." I also told him I was forwarding his collected abusive messages to my lawyer. Mind you, the only lawyer I knew was the one who did my will, but oddly enough he stopped as of that day.
My attitude towards the complaint was right on the money we just went through the call from hell with them. The call came on 2/13/08 at 12 pm just got home from work and walked in and my wife was in tears asking me to take the call.It seems for the last 30 minutes or so she was being yelled at and bullied by some jerk that didn't care that she was sick and a type 2 diabetic. At she gave me the phone his tone changed when he figured out he was dealing with her husband at that point if these people have nothing better to do than to bully and harass people i have no problem taking them to court for harassing communications and strong arm tactics against a female. If anybody decides to take them to court i would like to know so i can get my pound of flesh and meet the *ss that bullied my wife...