Current Newsletter
Collection & Credit Insights
June 2003
Volume 11.6
Thank You?
Once in a blue moon, we get a thank you letter from a person that was
pleased with the
way they were treated. All too often our clients hear from the people
who have a distinctly
different perspective but that is simply the nature of the collection
business.
(The personal note came from an elderly woman that was in our billing
service program.)
"I would like to thank you and your company for working with me on
my account. Your
employees are so nice on the phone. Again, thank you. Katherine J.
In a time when common courtesy is uncommon and foul language is unfortunately
becoming the expected form of communication, it makes me smile to get
a kind hand written personal message.
R. J. (Bob) Barden, President
Family Support?
Recently a client asked me for assistance with a unique collection task.
She had provided services to family members and she needed a "gentle"
way to entice them to pay for services rendered. I suggested a letter
format that was strong, yet not offensive, because let's face it, your
family ties will never disappear. Below is a copy of the letter that I
thought other companies might find useful.
Dear Joe,
As you know, two of the important things in my life are my family and
my career. When you are trying to juggle both items there are times that
they become mixed. With my career also comes the management of my office
and it's overhead. It is important that my office continues to be profitable
so that I am able to continue to provide services to my clients and especially
my family.
So you can see my dilemma when I review my accounting and discover that
there are past due accounts that must be resolved. I am sure that you
realize your account is part of the past dues and you would like to help
me settle the account, therefore you might be interested in the offer
below.
If the account is resolved within the next 30 days, I am willing to reduce
the balance by 20%. I hope this entices you to call my office and inform
us of your plans to reconcile the account. As a family member and your
dentist our relationship is important on both levels, although it is vital
that the rules of both relationships are upheld and kept separate.
Yours Truly,
Tina S. Walther / Client Consultant
Our Offices Adrian Credit Bureau
(517) 265-8161
Ann Arbor Credit Bureau
(734) 665-6173
(800) 710-4821
Jackson Credit Bureau
(517) 787-5333
(877) 787-6273
Upcoming Events
Towing Rodeo
August 7-9, 2003
Recovery Skills
Fall Seminar
Welcome to Our New Clients
- Riverview Dental, P.C.
- ABC OB/GYN
- Freddy's Flicks
- Van Havel Rentals
- Dr. J. David Denzin
- Dr. Joanne Dawley
- St. Clair Shore Housing
- Brian Villard
- Oral & Facial Surgeons of Michigan-Brighton
- Apple Electric
Credit Professionals Of Ann Arbor
Credit Professionals will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 10, 2003
at Weber's Inn. Featured speaker will be Kathleen Barden-Perlberg, the
2003 Chairman of the Board for the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce. Topic
of discussion will be "The Economic Outlook for Ann Arbor."
Meeting fee is $10.00. Contact Rebecca Burk at (734) 994-6928.
And the Winner Is . . . .
As you may or may not know, a few of our staff members recently attended
the Michigan Dental Association Convention. It was held at the Amway Grand
Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids this year May 15-17. We would like to thank
all our clients that stopped by our booth to say hello. It was nice to
see your smiling faces!
We also want to announce the winners of our drawing for the week-end
get away to the Soaring Eagle Resort. The winner is:
Jennifer Bowers from Dr. Jimmie Lassic's office in Grand Rapids
Congratulations to our lucky winner! Hope to see you all next year.
Debbie Hundersmarck/Client Consultant
High Payment of the Month
Kori, a collector in our Adrian
office collected $7,404.20 for an area
hospital. Congrats to Kori, keep it up!
Correction: Last month it was reported that you could get a copy
of your consumer credit file from Experian if you visited our website.
It should have stated Equifax, instead of Experian. Please visit our site
at a2cb.com to order your credit file from our Equifax link.
Certification Achieved
Our international trade association, ACA International offers a collector
certification program based on collection skills and knowledge of the
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The test consists of 100 very tough
questions that take a great deal of study to pass.
Kori, in our Adrian office, achieved a score of 99 out of 100 possible
points! Congratulations to Kori, we are proud of you!
Have you visited Urban Legend.com?
It seems there is a new form of torment on the internet, as though we
didn't have enough. It is called an urban myth. While myths used to be
fun stories that usually originated from a true story, an urban myth is
another way to distribute misinformation to the masses for various reasons.
Some to cause havoc, others to trick you into providing information for
devious purposes. To check if an email is erroneous please visit the website,
www.urbanlegend.com to verify.
The email below (or a version similar to it) has been making rounds on
the internet for over a year spreading misinformation about credit reporting
laws. This email has recently resurfaced as the anniversary of the Gramm-Leach-Blily
Act (GLB) enactment approached. The claim in this email that consumer
credit data will now be released to "anyone who requests it"
is totally false and has nothing to do with the GLB other than the effective
date of the law.
The phone number provided is a real number used by the credit reporting
industry to allow consumers to "opt out" or be removed from
the mailing lists sold by the major credit bureaus for pre-approved offers
of credit. By providing your personal information to this number (1-888-567-8688
or 1-888-5OPTOUT) you are not going to become a victim of identity theft
and you will not limit the use of your credit report as claimed by the
erroneous email. The standard requirements for permissible purpose by
a legitimate business for access to your credit have not changed and do
not allow "anyone who requests it" access to your information.
If you get the below email please do not pass it along or include it in
your company's newsletter and continue to spread false information.
THE SAMPLE ERRONEOUS EMAIL
Subject: IMPORTANT: Personal Information goes public
Starting July 1st, 2002, the 4 major credit bureaus in the U.S. will be
allowed to release credit info, mailing addresses, phone number, etc.
to anyone who requests it. If you do not want to be included in this release
of your personal information, you can call 1-888-567-8688. Once the message
starts you will want option #2 (even though option #1 refers to this email,
push #2) and then option #3. Be sure to listen closely, the first option
is only for a two-year period. Make sure you wait until the prompt for
the third option, which opts you out FOREVER. You should receive their
paperwork in the mail confirming the "opting out" in less than
one week after making the call.
Please remember, the above EMAIL IS AN URBAN MYTH and contains numerous
FALSE claims. Please do not help the spread of this inaccurate information.
Source: The National Credit Reporting Association, Inc. Tina S. Walther
/ Client Consultant
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