Who Called Us

These forums exist so folks can report or read about phone calls and report what they know about the caller. People who have been harassed are going to report that as well.
It is not true that robo/auto dialers just work this way and nothing can be done about it. Those systems are highly programmable. It is true that auto-dialers can be set up to do over-queuing. This is because agent time is expensive, so they call up extra people and ensure that there is always a call ready when the agent has completed their previous call. The extra calls get dumped which results in a hang-up call. The aggressiveness of over-queuing is also very programmable. It has to be programmable because some companies are calling highly valued contacts they don't wish to upset.
Its no accident that folks get 2 weeks of hang-up calls first then an agent is almost always available to speak to them.
It is no surprise that they fib about this as collection agencies have been successfully sued for harassment. Also, hang-up calls done with purpose (as these are) violate various State Federal and local laws.

Its not correct that anybody is not having a life or not moving on with life by posting here. Please, it literally takes seconds to Google a phone number or look up a link to an old post. It only takes a minute to post. But somebody who works for these guys telling others to get on with life? That's just precious.

Folks can Google and read about VanRu, they have already been sanctioned by the government and successfully sued for their activities. It is important to know that much of this is planned and scripted. For example the initial hang-up calls are designed to motivate you to work with them so the calls will stop. They will use Mutt&Jeff techniques where the Mutt character will play hard-ball and then you get to talk to the kind and understanding Jeff. The list goes on, all very manipulative and designed for their profit without respect to your person.

Folks need to know exactly who and what they are dealing with. NEVER make the mistake of helping VanRu track anybody down.

Perchance a few of their employees may be stuck there now because of bad economic times ... but obviously some of these people have really found a home.

@ Jake. Most collection agencies like Van RU, use an automatic dialer that takes 24hrs to update. Also, if there isn't a collector available at the time of the call, unfortunately the dialer drops the call. All dialers do it and unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about it. Your number probably previously belonged to the person that Van Ru is looking for. Also, the person could have used your number to avoid such calls. There are a lot of professional debtors out there who like to run away from their obligations. Also, you're number could've been in multiple windows that I'm sad to say, people fail to look at. However, these people DO get yelled at. Especially by me. Instead of bitching and complaining. Move on with your life. Don't you have anything better to do than complain on this website? I have no idea how old you are or what you do for a living, but you need to watch your tone. We walk among you. We are your next door neighbor. We are laid-off individuals, doing what we can to survive in this ailing economy. I'd like to see you try to do our job.

Ah, the saga continues ... after telling them they have the wrong number they continue to call. Apparently their double-digit IQ employees are too lazy or not capable of putting corrective information back into the system. So I guess my new approach will be to hang back up on them every time they call (just like they did to me at first).

Anybody who tries to initiate contact with a harassing series of hang-up calls is a bad sort of character and not somebody you want to deal with. Perhaps if we all refuse to respond to them their business will suffer and that might put some pressure on them to employ a more honorable way of contacting people.

Also, never help them find friends or family. Give the family member a heads-up but you won't be doing anybody a favor by helping VanRu contact them. A web search reveals that they have already been sanctioned for these types of activities, but yet they remain in business.

First of all, collection agencies are retained by the original company the debt is owed to or they have purchased the debt themselves. I can understand why people would be hostile and upset because their bill is in collections. I would be as well and I would do whatever I have to do to get the issue resolved. I know a lot of people assume the debt has already been reported on their credit, HOWEVER, that is not always the case. Most collection agencies, especially Van Ru, don't report to credit bureaus unless the client requires us too. IT COSTS US MONEY TO REPORT A COLLECTION ACCOUNT. We were retained to HELP you. If you'd rather correspondence be sent to you by mail, verify with us that we have the correct address. 6 times out of 10, our client has given us the wrong address and is out of our control until we do a skip search to find a more recent one. My advise is to treat a collector the way you want to be treated. If you're going to call yelling and cursing, you're going to get hung up on. IF A COLLECTOR DOES CURSE AT YOU, TALK TO A SUP IMMEDIATELY AND KEEP ON TRYING IF SOMEONE HANGS UP ON YOU!! All calls BY LAW, have to be recorded. Remember, If you pay your bills and manage your finances wisely, you won't end up in collections. If you end up in collections whatever the case may be, hardship, unemployment, hospitalization, etc. WE'VE BEEN IN YOUR SHOES AND WE WERE RETAINED TO HELP YOU GET YOUR DEBT RESOLVED. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Here is the problem with these people. After getting quite a few annoying hang-up calls I finally talk to somebody only to find out they have the wrong number, asked for somebody I had never heard of. So OK ... everybody makes mistakes, but why not talk to me the first time I answer or leave a message on the machine with the first call? I would have been happy to let you know so you can go on with your efforts and that would have helped your productivity. Also, I am in the white pages and have had this number for many years, ever since the prefix was first made active, nobody else has ever had my phone number! Why not just do a quick check before you start this harassment?

Obviously this end-justifies-the-means approach comes from the greedy little jerks who own and manage the company, but it's also obvious that their low-level employees aren't the best or the brightest. Only a dead-beat would take a job like that so I guess the intention is to have dead-beats calling up dead-beats.

The only way to stop this is to NEVER deal with the phone jerks. If somebody does owe a debt always respond by mail, but ignore the phone guys and refuse to deal with them.

ppl skip out on student loans. Lender hires us. We hire companies to find contact info. Autodialer calls within federally mandated hours. Messages can only be left if certain criteria are met. 1 msg per # ea day is allowed, unmessaged callbacks are unlimited. The autodialer will keep dialing until a msg is left, especially aging accounts. The human element is sorely missing. Some debtors fall on hard times, owing little, but some are successful and shirk their promissary resposibility. Federal student loans accrue interest DAILY and can be garnished from wages, tax returns, disability and social security. We offer repayment programs and deferrment such as the William Ford Consolidation. Search 'federal aid locator' to review loan status. I researched the company before I took the job, complaints are out of ignorance. The job sucks and pays low, and it angers me how many foreign names break established contact on 100,000 loans while locals have no jobs to pay off 1,000. Call us back and ask us who you were looking for. Ask if it's in regards to an educational matter. If you are a parent, have your child give us permission to provide info to you. If you are a spouse, have the last 4 ssn #'s. You may be a relative or neighbor we were hoping to get a current # from. You may have the same name or the old ph # of a debtor. Pick up when we call and we'll stop calling. Educate yourself on rights and responsibilities and ramifications. And warn the 20-something in yoir life that their loan is growing every month. The federal government does not give up, their methods just suck.

I never answer these calls, but I'm gonna start....then I'm gonna blow a whistle in their ear!!!

They are a collection company. They called my office and my cell phone, left no message on either. I called the number back, got a young lady who said that she answers the phone for several companies and asked for the number they called. I gave it to her and then she transferred me. The automated attendant said thank you for calling First Equity.

These people call my boss' cell phone three to five times a day. They leave no message. They don't say hello or even say anything when my boss does answer, AND, funny thing, while I was reading this page to find out what this 727-539-6688 number was from, our company land line phone got a call from VAN RU CREDIT C!!!! Weird and a little bit frightening.

calls once a day usually around noon NEVER leaves a message or call back info.

Have no earthly idea who/what this number or name is...I do NOT answer the phone at any time for any reason for anyone I do NOT know. This really stumped me. I read all the entries, even the one taken to court. This sounds like a real winner. I will report them to the AG's office in NC if they call again. Our AG loves this kind of stuff-especially if it's prerecorded-against the law in our state.

I have a couple comments, and people probably aren't gonna like me for it.

I've been working with a collection agency for a couple months now (I hate the job, but atleast it's a job), so I've learned a few things.

First off, Van Ru sucks! They screwed me over big time on one of my personal debts and I am currently in the process of suing them. Second, people need to understand that things like Macys, Home Depot, Sears, etc are all backed by CitiBank. So if you ever had an account like that, then you DO owe CitiBank. Also, people talking about answering calls and nobody's there...that's probably a dialer. There's a delay between when you answer the call and when the collector gets the call, so yeah there's a moment of dead air, though collectors do hang up a lot as well. But none-the-less. Another thing is people who are angry that companies are calling them for folks they don't know. All I have to say (after being yelled at by lots of people like this) is that if you never tell anybody it's a wrong number, then how are collectors sposed to know??? Call the company!!

I hate my job, but it's helping me pay my own debts until I find something I like. And I do like knowing all the ins and outs of collections and FDCPA and state laws.

I finally called them after "umpteen" caller id displays. They were looking for someone unknown to me--said they would remove my number from their list.

a man got abusive cussed used the f ing word whn i toldhim wife was moved out in divorce. he lost it blah blah f ing you dumb ass LOL crazy anger

Called and said they represented CitiFinancial. That I had a debt with them (I've never had a debt with Citifinancial!) and then asked me for my social security number to verify that they were calling the correct person when I said that I didn't owe Citifinancial anything.

I refused, and rightfully so, to give my personal information like that!

I highly doubt that this number belongs to a reputable company.

My advise, NEVER give out personal information such as your social security number, bank or credit card account numbers or anything of the sort to someone asking for it! Only give that sort of information when you initiate the need to do so, and verify with all information available that the company you seek to do business with is a real business.

they call me at least once a week. leave me an automated voicemail saying 'this message is intended for -- *then list a name i can't quite understand w/ the 'robotic' voice, but seems to have my last name* --. if you are not *__*, then please hang up. if this is a taped recording, please hang up now. otherwise you are admitting you are *__*.
and thats when i hang up.
this really has me freaked out, as i use to live in the city they're calling from.

They keep calling, but don't leave a message. If they want to talk to you, why can't they leave a name. Twice I have gotten a message signal on my caller ID, but they hang on long enough for my message to play, but they hang up.

Calles Daily- never leaves a message

They are rude collection agency calling a wrong number, I got a new number and started getting calls. I googled their corporate office and called, the person was very helpful in resolving the issue and removing my number from their list.

WE are not who they are looking for. They call twice or more a week. Someone has to do something to put this company out of business.

filing a complaint with the AG office.

thanks

I have been called several times per day solidly for the last week or so. It's annoying but not annoying enough to turn my phone on. I figure if they're going to be that irritating then the least I can do is ignore them. They never leave a message.

this is a collections agency. here is the web address: vanru.com

DEBT COLLECTOR, here is their info to send a cease and desist letter to the illegal little boogers

8550 Ulmerton Rd Ste 225
Largo, FL , 33771-5351
Phone: 727-539-6688
FAX: 727-530-5937

THIS NUMBER CALLS EVERY DAY AS EARLY AS 8AM. NEVER SAYS A WORD. SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON???????

they called mid afternoon, I answered only to hear silence and then a busy signal

As a widowed/senior I resent being called by this agency. My credit is excellent. If they continue to call I will file a complaint with the FCC.

They called my momma's cell phone. Scoundrel's

Calls almost daily and HANGS UP when I answer. Never leaves a message. I've been getting calls from this number for 2 weeks now, and still have no clue what this is about.

This number is used by Van Ru as a harassment line. Whereas the main 877 number is recorded, this one is not and is often used for the purpose of threats and abuse.

I got call from this number quite a lot recently; no sound and no message recorded. It's very annonying

Call my cell constantly. Automated music and message play. "This message is for 'Godard Overden.' If you are not 'Godard Overden,'please hang up no. ...or if this msg has been recorded, please hang up now." *click*

Very annoying. I have no relation to this person in name or anything and the annoying random phone calls are very annoying. Been getting calls for a few months now.

they call every 20-25 minutes. never leave a message. Start at 8AM and call until 8:30 PM

They've started calling my cell phone 4/23/07. Since then, they have called once(usually afternoons) everyday and leave no messages.

These guys have called my house 3 business days in a row looking for someone with my same last name. I don't know the person they're calling for. They leave a message on my voicemail stating that if I am not the person they are calling for to please erase the message now because they are calling about something confidential. They have the nerve to leave a voicemail on my service and tell me what to do. Right! I don't think so. I've called and left messages twice on their voicemail and they still call me back. Frickin annoying!

They call about 5 times a week on my CELL phone.

Van Ru says it currently is working on finding those in default on student loans and helping the government set up payment plans through Sallie Mae, once the "penalties" are paid.

Called, left mssge about "collection" I have ZERO debt...when i returned call at 877.891.5199 they wanted my full SS #..quoted me incorrect last 4 digits

The leave a message on my machine an 877 # with a digit missing. When I call back number on caller ID it rings busy. I have perfect credit and know I have no outstanding debt so I am very suspicious

called and hung up for the past couple of weeks two times a day. I have perfect credit and don't understant why they call if they are a collection agency. Comes from Florida area code

has called before. i have never answered.

Called my house & cell. Called back, & they wanted personal information before they would tell me what the call was about or what the company does. I told them that if they wanted me that bad, they would eventually call back, then I hung up.

No one there when I answer. left a messgae for someone who I have no idea who it is. Called twice within 4 hours. I have no idea who these people are except I believe they are a credit & collection service

Please remove our number from your list. 301-670-7370. All you are doing is harrassing our phone lines. You call and then just hang up. The next time that we see the number on our caller ID a lawyer will be notifed. Thank you.

Beware...see court proceedings involving Van Ru at edcombs.com

collection agency, their dialing system doesnt work well

THEY ASKED FOR ME AND THEN SAID HOLD FOR SECOND, WAS DISCONNECTED AT THAT POINT.

Called and asked for my name and last four digits of my ss#. Said calls would continue if i did not supply number or correct person. I hung up.

They are a debt collection agengency

Corporate Number for Van Ru is 1-800-468-2678. Michael Martin, x6115, handles complaints, and he's very nice. My 12-year-old received a call on her cell phone from their Florida number, and we suspect they were trying to reach whoever had her number before.

They were looking for someone else, it was a wrong number

calls my CELL phone several times a day, doesn't leave message, sometimes hang up when i answer. i call back and get busy signal for HOURS. finally got through, they put me on hold and it rang for five minutes, no one ever picked up.

They call many times a day, I'm not sure what they want, usually looking for someone else that has had the number before.

Called on 01/13/07 @8:50 a.m. 2 rings - hang up.

These guys call our house about 2x a day, for the past 2 months. Usually very early morning (7 a.m.) and about 10 p.m., with the occasional call in the middle of the workday. Caller ID says VAN RU CREDIT C. We are on the DNC list, and I've never answered the phone, but I'm thinking the best thing is calling the TX State Attorney General's Office. They love things like this.

they call daily at least twice and never leave a message. Caller ID says Clearwater and the number 7275296688

This number calls atleast once every other a day and they just hang-up on the machine.Don't recognize the number,when I try to call it back it rings busy every time

THEY CALL ME DAILY AND i HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S ABOUT

called the number back multiple times and it rang busy

Called on 11/07 @651pm and again 11/08 @443pm. Are out of Largo, Florida.

This number calls several times a week. It seems to be scam. Beware

Called left no message..from FL probably a telemarketer...??

Calls almost daily, never leaves a message or the company name, they have called as late as 9pm central time, and they are rude.

Calls daily, sometimes several times daily starting around 8am pacific. Never leaves a message.