# This particular collection agency can KISS my black ass **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 10, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876 "2003-06-10T15:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vivian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3e96dc/32.png) [@vivian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/1 "2003-06-10T15:08:21Z")
Ok…So I owe this particular agency, like $250 from an old account that I had that I no longer use. I haven’t gotten around to paying it BECAUSE I haven’t got the extra $$. Single woman living in expensive ass Toronto…its hard. With student loans, rent…i’m barely making it. They’ve left me messages at home, which is fine. I’ve called them back and let them know that I have all intentions of paying this debt, but cannot do so at this present time. So somehow, they get my work number. I pick up the phone, but I don’t say my company name. Dude starts launching into this whole ranting and raving thing. I ask him where he’s calling from and he refuses to say where. I ask him for his name, he refuses to tell me. Instead he launches into how much I owe and why don’t i pay it blah blah blah. I continue to play dumb and ask him again, who are you calling for. He starts to get all stank with “C’mon ma’am, you know who I’m calling for”. I tell him that he is calling a place of business and should treat it as such. He proceeds to get even ruder and I tell him that if he doesn’t tell me where he’s calling from then I’ll have to hang up. He goes on and on. I hang up. He keeps calling back. I keep picking it up, stating the company name, he goes on, I hang up. This happens maybe 10 times in a row. I finally give up and and let it go to voice mail where he goes on some more about how i should pay the money, like I took it from his kids or dying mother or something. He REALLY REALLY pissed me off. So pissed that I called back the number he was calling from and reported him for being so rude, especially when calling a place of business. Its one thing to call my house. Knock yourself out. But how do you expect people to pay you when you call up their jobs like that??? You could get them fired and then what??? So to all the fucking asshole collection agents who have no common decency for people at their work places, a big FUCK YOU. You can bet that when I do pay the bill, its not going to be to your lowlife credit…assholes. To those of you whom I have dealt with, thank you. Its because of their understanding and little bit of decency that I’ve been able to pay off debts with my dignity still intact. Whew! that felt better…thank you all for your attention. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/2 "2003-06-10T15:31:18Z")
If I remember correctly, it is considered harrassment for a collection agency to call you at work. Look into that, and then let him know. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/3 "2003-06-10T15:42:52Z")
There are Black people in Canada? What you weren’t thinking it? I hope things work out for you. Yes, I know there are Black people in Canada. I’m just being a jackass. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/4 "2003-06-10T15:56:30Z")
I don’t know about Canadian law, but in the US it is illegal for a collection agent to call you more than once per day. I would guess Canada has a similar law. ---
**Author:** ![vivian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3e96dc/32.png) [@vivian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/5 "2003-06-10T15:56:49Z")
hahahhaha…you all always make me feel better for being irresponsible… ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/6 "2003-06-10T16:58:45Z")
I don’t know about Canadian law, but based on what I know of U.S. collection laws, if you send them _anything_ in the way of payment, they aren’t allowed to call you AT ALL – ever. So if you send them $5.00 per month towards that debt, you’ll (possibly) never hear from them again. Then, when you can afford a bigger chunk all at once, send a larger amount. But at least send _something_ to show a good faith intent to paying down that debt. I know you’re a poor student, but I’m _certain_ you can find $5.00 per month – especially since you acknowledge that you do, in fact, owe it. ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/7 "2003-06-10T17:04:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wolfian \* > \*\*There are Black people in Canada? \*\* Well, let’s not jump to conclusions. She said her _ass_ was black. I’m sure there are plenty of legitimate medical causes that we could look in to before we go off the deep end and just assume that there could be an entire black person in Canada. I mean, that’s just silly. LC ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/8 "2003-06-10T17:35:35Z")
As i suspected, the type of harrassment that you describe in the OP is illegal. According to the Ontario Government’s [Consumer and Business Services Website](http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/mcbs/english/264a_3ea.htm), the _Collections Agencies Act_ established rules and responsibilities governing the collection of debt. These include: > [@](#): > > 1. You must be notified in writing at your last known address when a company gives your overdue account to an agency for collection. The collection agency may not take over a debt from a creditor without first advising the debtor. > > 2. Before a collector demands payment, you must be given the name of the company owed the money, the name of the collection agency and the amount owed. This gives you the opportunity to make sure the account information is correct. > > 3. **Agencies may not make telephone calls of such a nature or frequency that they constitute harassment of you or your family, including repeated calls to you while you’re at work. If you believe a collection agency is harassing you, keep a record of the time, date and frequency of the calls. If you decide to make a formal complaint against the collection agency you will require this information.** > > 4. Collection calls may not be made on a Sunday, statutory holiday or on any day before 7 am or after 9 pm. > > 5. Agencies may not contact your friends, relatives, neighbours or employer for any information other than your address or telephone number, with limited exceptions. These involve special cases, when, for example, someone has cosigned for a good or service you have purchased. Also, check out [this page](http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/mcbs/english/2692_3ea.htm), which is an online version of the Ontario Government’s _Consumer’s Guide to Collection Agencies_. It has advice about what to do, and gives you the number to call if you want to make a complaint. If you are going to make a complaint, make a log of every time the collection agency contacts you at work, and it would also be good if you could keep a copy of the guy’s answering-machine diatribe to use as evidence. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/9 "2003-06-10T20:09:50Z")
I wish I had a black ass just so I could say that. It sounds so much better than the standard “lily white ass” that you hear so often. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/10 "2003-06-10T20:16:17Z")
Of COURSE, there are black people in Canada. Runaway slaves often ended up there to escape the clutches of the Fugitive slave Act that was enforced in the Northern US. Moreover, there has been a significant influx of West Indian immigrants to Canada–Toronto has an annual summer festival celebrating Caribbean culture, if I’m not mistaken. To the OP: Fight the power! ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/11 "2003-06-10T20:38:52Z")
We get several hundred calls a day from collection agencies all over the country at the library where I work, mostly because we’ll crisscross a number or address anywhere over the phone for free. Unlike a lot of public libraries, which is why I get a call from Phoenix at my desk in Cincinnati about every five minutes. You’d think they’d get their own damn net access and a subscription to ReferenceUSA. Some of them are complete bastards. If a number isn’t listed in a phone book somewhere, theres no way we can find it, but those fuckers get belligerent when we tell them so. They often want me to look of the numbers of debtor’s _neighbors_, so they harass them, too.\* I try to hedge on that one. That’s just fucking obnoxious. I can understand how collection agency call center work can be the only decent paying job in a particular area, much like telemarketing, so I try to cut the people a little slack. It takes a special kind of fucking scum to manage or own one of those places, though, or be an independant agent. Fuck _those_ people with a razor. \*It’s happened to me. A girl in my building had her debt sold to an independant, and the cunt fucking called _me_ a half-dozen times trying to get me to go knock on her door. No fucking way, biatch. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/12 "2003-06-10T20:43:38Z")
Just a tangent to what **gobear** said, there’s an excellent cyberpunk/magical realist novel called _Brown Girl in the Ring_, by Nalo Hopkinson. It’s set in a Toronto thats inhabited chiefly by Carribean immigrants and their descendents after the city was abandoned by the collapsing Canadian government and all of the more affleunt citizens moved into the country. Interesting fusion of two seemingly disparate genres. Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Triss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Triss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triss)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/13 "2003-06-10T20:51:25Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by gobear_ > Toronto has an annual summer festival celebrating Caribbean culture, if I’m not mistaken. Yup, we do. It’s called [Caribana](http://www.caribana.com/) ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/14 "2003-06-11T01:34:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalhoun \* > \*\*I wish I had a black ass just so I could say that. It sounds so much better than the standard “lily white ass” that you hear so often. \*\* There are many good alternatives. “Pasty white ass” and “hairy ass” immediately spring to mind. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/15 "2003-06-11T02:16:50Z")
Me, I have a ‘rosy red’ ass. Even though it’s really lily white. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/16 "2003-06-11T02:37:03Z")
I hear white people referring to their asses as “black” all the time. I think they got it from South Park. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/17 "2003-06-11T02:39:09Z")
How about “vampiric white” ass? 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/18 "2003-06-11T02:45:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monstro \* > \*\*I hear white people referring to their asses as “black” all the time. I think they got it from South Park. \*\* Either that or they don’t wipe. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/19 "2003-06-11T02:59:01Z")
“my gay ass” works pretty well too, I’ve found. Note the quotation marks. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876/20 "2003-06-11T03:44:02Z")
I prefer “My pretty little ass.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-particular-collection-agency-can-kiss-my-black-ass/180876.md?page=2)