Credit Management Jan:Feb 2018

OPINION
AUTHOR – Sean Feast
ABUSIVE CALLERS
On average Jon handles nine or ten RPC (right
party contact) calls every hour, and does so
every day. The calls vary in length, though
the quality has to be consistent. Occasionally
a caller can become aggressive or abusive,
and Jon has to take the rough with the
smooth. On one occasion, a caller threatened
to take their own life, and Jon says these are
always difficult to handle, the customer
will be signposted to the Samaritans while
also confirming their location. A call will
then be made to ARC’s sensitive case team
who will assess if the authorities need to be
called. Agents follow the accepted ‘TEXAS’
principle, devised to gain explicit consent
to share sensitive data, ascertaining whether
the customer’s circumstances impact their
ability to pay, and whether they need a
third party to assist in managing their
finances.
“Some days can be stressful if you have
a few difficult calls in a row,” Jon concedes,
“but it’s all about your mind-set. You have to
stay positive, and that helps you through.”
The most sensitive cases, Jon says,
are automatically referred to a dedicated
customer support team. “Some people we
speak to have mental health issues, and it is
wholly appropriate that these cases are dealt
with by specialists.”
Other challenges involve dealing with
those customers for who English may not be
their first language: “In these cases we often
arrange for them to call back with someone
who can translate, so we know we are being
understood.”
Jon is managing all manner of debts owed
to payday loan companies, building societies,
banks, and insurance companies. Some of
the more unusual debts are those owed for
gym memberships: “Most of these appear to
stem from a misunderstanding of the original
terms and conditions,” Jon says, “and our role
is not only to collect what’s outstanding, but
to do so in such a way that the customer may
still want to remain a member of the gym.
Being discretionary spend, the calls are often
very different from those, for example, who
owe money to a payday lender.”
“Most of these appear
to stem from a
misunderstanding of
the original terms and
conditions,” Jon says,
“and our role is not
only to collect what’s
outstanding, but to do
so in such a way that the
customer may still want
to remain a member of
the gym.
For every call, Jon enters code on the
notes to determine what has been discussed
or agreed: an arrangement; answer machine;
general account enquiries; referral; refuse to
pay. If there is a pattern to behaviour, such
as a series of missed payments, remedial
action can be taken: “In such cases we’d
probably want to go through another Income
and Expenditure (I&E) form to ensure the
repayments were still affordable. A customer
must never be pressured into setting up an
agreement they cannot afford, but sometimes
they feel they have to or want to, and it’s our
role to make sure it is affordable.”
I leave Jon to his work, and wonder
whether more journalists should spend a day
in the life of a debt collector, to see what really
goes on in this constantly misunderstood
industry.
The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / January-February 2018 / PAGE 34