|
>>People Bullying for bucks >>
Bill collector wants you to cough up, now. Right now.
by CHRIS BARRY Photo by Jason Felker
Age: 29
Occupation:
Bill collector
Salary: Approximately
20k plus commissions.
Bio: This
burly downtown resident had worked in a laser tag arena and as a pizza
maker before finding employment in the spiritually rewarding field of
debt collection only two years ago. A trooper in the army reserve, he
recently came back from a week of training at Fort Knox and claims not
to own a car because he’s prone to road rage.
Is yelling very
loudly at debtors encouraged at his place of employment? No. “When
people are prepared to pay we are always very polite. Of course, some
people are just like children and won’t respond to you unless you
raise your voice or address them in a condescending fashion.”
Is it possible
to negotiate your debt down? “It’s a very grey area. But
sometimes if you have a legitimate dispute, arrangements can be made.”
Something that
annoys him: When people say that they will pay him once they get
the money. “What kind of answer is that? What do you mean, ‘When
you get the money?’ I want to know when you’re getting paid
and how much of that is going to be going towards your debt. I mean,
please, this isn’t Grade 6 anymore.”
How often he
gets death threats: Every day. “But it doesn’t scare me.
For one, I’m in the army reserve, I’m 6 foot 1, 220 pounds
and I studied kung fu. If somebody came bounding into the office with
a gun maybe I’d be scared—more for the safety of others than
myself. But death threats are just so old because you hear them so often.”
What he tells
people after they inform him they are planning to stop by the office
sometime so they can kill him: “Do you realize that everything
you are saying is being recorded and that you are in serious trouble—unless
you pay up right away?”
Are people really
being recorded? No.
Percentage of
people who flat out lie to him every day: About 25 per cent.
Two popular
lies: The cheque is in the mail. Or I’ll pay you tomorrow.
“But don’t lie and piss off a bill collector because it’s
the wrong person to piss off. When people lie to me, it gets personal.
Whatever people think of bill collectors, we’re still people.”
How much legal
power he has to get money out of you: None.
Can hounding
people all day, every day, get emotionally draining? Sometimes.
“But it’s a job and you have to distance yourself from these
people’s problems. Because if you feel compassion for every single
one of them you’ll never collect a goddamn dime.”
Hobbies:
Paintball and surfing the ’Net looking for photos of human oddities.
“You know, people with elephantitis, pinheads, guys with testicles
swollen to the size of footballs, deformities, or victims of incredible
accidents.”
Last book read:
Dracula, by Bram Stoker.
Favourite recent
film: Black Hawk Down.
Television preferences:
Family Guy, The Simpsons.
Favourite magazines:
FHM and Maxim.
Musical tastes:
Ska, rap. “Henry Rollins is my god.”
Words of wisdom:
“Wherever you go, there you are.”
Current ambition:
To settle down with the woman he loves. :
Comments? dimwit@openface.ca
|
Name:
Mr. Baldwin