4 ms·

Deterrent? Why would collecting one debt discourage other debtors? (whoops, I've taken a wrong turn into Alliteration Central). What I'm getting at is that usi

Deterrent? Why would collecting one debt discourage other debtors? (whoops, I've taken a wrong turn into Alliteration Central). What I'm getting at is that using a debt collection agency is an exceptionally nasty way to recover money. There are other avenues to explore, one of which was suggested by boredguy8 and another by tjic.

tptacek 18y ago
The delinquency letter you send out to deadbeat clients that says you work with XXX debt collection agency to recover fees is likely to get a better response rate than the one that says you'll "pursue all options". Note also: a good corporate collections agency might know tricks you wouldn't think of to spur repayment. For instance, you can ding people's D&B reports with collections issues (who knew?), which can cause problems for some companies with their other B2B transactions. Some unrelated case-in-point: I'll pay parking tickets in jurisdictions where they're handled by collections. I won't bother paying parking tickets elsewhere, even when they have hard-and-fast "3 tickets and then we boot you" rules. The collections agency is just a bigger headache than getting a boot off.
- maryrosecook 18y ago
  I am not disputing the efficacy of debt collection agencies at recovering money, in the same way as I would not dispute the destructive power of a bomb.
  - tptacek 18y ago
    You just disputed the idea that a relationship with a collections agency would deter future debt collectors. I responded to that. I'm not arguing about any other problems you might have with them.
    - maryrosecook 18y ago
      I'm sorry, I thought that was what you were arguing when you said: "The delinquency letter you send out to deadbeat clients that says you work with XXX debt collection agency to recover fees is likely to get a better response rate than the one that says you'll "pursue all options"."

tptacek 18y ago

The delinquency letter you send out to deadbeat clients that says you work with XXX debt collection agency to recover fees is likely to get a better response rate than the one that says you'll "pursue all options". Note also: a good corporate collections agency might know tricks you wouldn't think of to spur repayment. For instance, you can ding people's D&B reports with collections issues (who knew?), which can cause problems for some companies with their other B2B transactions. Some unrelated case-in-point: I'll pay parking tickets in jurisdictions where they're handled by collections. I won't bother paying parking tickets elsewhere, even when they have hard-and-fast "3 tickets and then we boot you" rules. The collections agency is just a bigger headache than getting a boot off.

maryrosecook 18y ago
I am not disputing the efficacy of debt collection agencies at recovering money, in the same way as I would not dispute the destructive power of a bomb.
- tptacek 18y ago
  You just disputed the idea that a relationship with a collections agency would deter future debt collectors. I responded to that. I'm not arguing about any other problems you might have with them.
  - maryrosecook 18y ago
    I'm sorry, I thought that was what you were arguing when you said: "The delinquency letter you send out to deadbeat clients that says you work with XXX debt collection agency to recover fees is likely to get a better response rate than the one that says you'll "pursue all options"."