Expecting Money Back Is Morally Bankrupt

I work for a law firm that specializes mainly in bankruptcy. Recently, we sent out several letters to companies that a debtor made payments to; under bankruptcy laws, the company we represent is able to reclaim some of the payment amount back.

One day, I get a phone call.

Me: “Good afternoon, [Law Offices].”

Caller: “Hi. My company just received a letter from you guys, and I’ve never seen a letter formatted like this before, so I wasn’t sure if it was fraud or not.”

Me: “Do you want to tell me what the letter is in reference to, so I can verify if we sent it out or not?”

Caller: “No, because then I can’t be sure if you’re still a legitimate company.”

Me: “If you want, you can look at our website to see that we are a legitimate law office. By any chance is this related to [Company] and [bankruptcy number]? We sent out several letters not too long ago.”

Caller: “I’m still not saying. I’m going to talk to my boss to see how to proceed.”

Me: “Okay, but as I said, if this is related to that bankruptcy, this letter is legitimate.”

He ends up calling back later and, realizing that we are a real law office, he can verify what the letter is about.

Caller: “So, you’re going to give us back some money that we paid?”

Me: “No. If you actually read the letter, it’s pretty clear that we’re asking for money from you. I’m going to transfer you to the lawyer handling the case now.”

Sadly, he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t read the letter and thought we were going to be giving them money instead of the other way around.