This Job May Require Telepathy, Part 10

Bosses/Owners/Managers, Debt Collection, Impossible Demands, Tennessee, USA | Working | April 13, 2023

Several years ago, I worked very briefly for a collection agency. I did not make phone calls; I printed out letters to send to the debtors. All of their information was stored in the computer, such as their names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.

I printed out labels from the computers that had the clients’ names and addresses stored in them. I put the labels on the envelopes, and I put the letters we were sending them in the envelope, as well.

One day, my boss came to me in a panic.

Boss: “This letter was returned by the post office, and it’s marked, ‘Moved, left no forwarding address’.”

Me: “Oh, no.”

Boss: “Why did you send this to this address?”

Me: “That was the address we had on file for that person.”

Boss: “Do you know what could have happened? We could’ve gotten sued. You should have known that that person moved and had his correct address.”

Me: “I went by the address in the computer that we had for him. I had no way of knowing if he had moved.”

Boss: “Well, you should’ve known. You need to only go by what the address is in the computer. If we get any more of these returned from the post office, I will have to write you up.”

Me: “That was the only address in the computer for that person. If he did not call us and let us know that he moved, we would not know.”

Boss: “If you had sent it to the right address to begin with, it would not have been returned.”

At this point, I gave up. I don’t have a crystal ball.

The person most likely moved at some point after we placed his address in his file. We took his address from paperwork he completed for the original creditor. I also couldn’t do any research to see if he had moved.

I suppose the boss must think that debtors live at one address and never move. And if they do move, we should use a crystal ball to locate them since she won’t let us research public records for them. The only ones who can do that are in another department, and they are not allowed to help us.

I worked there for two months and quit! The company was a revolving door anyway.