They believe the issue may have been the way that the bills were folded into the envelopes. The bill is mailed along with a perforated line above a bar code that identifies the customer, but because a crease created by the folding of the envelope, a second line under the bar code was formed, causing people to pull the bill off without the bar code.

Bills that didn’t have a bar code would cause a bank to not register the payment. The mailing house that Scranton hired to stuff the envelopes was fingered. If the bill was mailed to the bank, it would be the pay stub in their payment that goes straight into a lock box. The stubs are then scanned and the bar code is read. After that the bank sends the town a list of those who had come through based on the bar code readings.

Representatives from the debt collections company who sent out the letters say that they are taking every dispute from people who may have paid very seriously. Company protocol allows consumers to dispute a notice within 30 days of receiving a collections letter. In addition, representatives said that no bill will be collected while they are still sorting out the issue.

The debt collection company plans to look into each claim from people who claimed they had paid the bill and still received the notice. Those that they think have paid will be relieved from their debt and will no longer get collections notices and will not be pursued by the collection company.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a nationwide collection agency. Looking for collection debt? Contact a debt collector.

10 Tips to help you recover money:

PREPARE: Reviewing the paperwork prior to calling is important. If you know the history of the account, the promises kept/broken and payment history you sound better on the phone. Have all records in front of you, ready for reference.

ATTITUDE: Adopt a straight, professional business-like attitude. You have a contract, you delivered the goods, money is owed, and you have a right to expect payment. Never let it become personal. Don’t yell or raise your voice; and NEVER swear. Don’t threaten; legal action is your recourse.

CONTACT: Make sure you’re talking to the right person. Don’t let the individual brush you off with “You’ll have to talk to the bookkeeper.” Identify the person who will pay the bill. If you cant get through after several calls, tell the secretary that you know your calls are being screened. Indicate the purpose of your call and if necessary give deadlines.

CONTROL: Control the conversation. Keep it focused on the debt and on the repayment schedule. Don’t let the customer sidetrack you with personal history, excuses, etc. Remember, the object of your call is to collect money, or get a commitment, not to become buddies with the customer or win arguments.

FLEXIBLE: Be ready to adjust to the situation. Think about the kind of customer you’re dealing with and adapt to meet the circumstances. Be prepared to accept a reasonable payment schedule, and a willingness to deal with a customers circumstances.

NOTES: Try to Keep detailed, accurate notes of every single contact with the debtor. Always probe for additional information on the debtor. Notes of these contacts will help you in later phone calls, and may be invaluable if litigation is needed. Great notes will also help in credit decisions in the future or in cases where skip tracing may be needed.

PRODUCTIVE: Keep contact brief and to the point. This is a business call, not a social one. View your efforts on a ratio of time expended to results achieved. Long conversations probably mean the customer is stalling you, or trapping you in the buddy syndrome.

PRECISE: Never leave a contact open ended, such as “Well talk next week,” or “Ill send what I can.” Every contact should result in a commitment to payment. A specific amount, by a specific date, even the check number the customer is using to pay the debt.

TIME: The longer an account is outstanding, the less likely it is that it will be paid. If payment is not arranged or a payment plan is not established within 90 days, place the claim with a collection agency or start legal proceedings.

PLACEMENT: Try to choose an agency that does not have to pay to get your information. Just type in “Collection Agency” to any search engine and pick a firm that ranks organically.

Mallory Megan works for a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. Also, she composes stories on business and finance, consumer spending and collections agencies.

Visa made an announcement this week that starting this summer it is not going to require signatures for transactions of twenty five dollars or less. It will most certainly bear the results of smoother and faster transactions but it could also chip away at the credit industry’s effort to move toward contactless technology.

The new policy takes effect in July and makes about ninety eight percent of more than eight hundred United States merchant categories in Visa’s system eligible able to accept their cards that are issued by U.S. banks with no signature. This opens the waiver to a ton of additional merchants and extends Visa’s current no signature rule which covers only twenty six merchant categories.

Visa says that the new policy means faster and more convenient and faster payments for people carrying credit cards. According to a survey, sixty nine percent of respondents say either convenience or speed is the main reason why they use a card. Also, the new policy may help issuers get into the cash dependent markets. In actuality, seventy five percent of cash transactions in the United States are less than twenty five dollars!

However, this move towards no signatures may trump the credit industry’s move towards contactless payments, which would speed up card transactions and prep the world for mobile payments.

Contactless technology involves radio waves that are transmitted by a special equipped chip card and eliminate the need for a card swipe while simultaneously speeding up the time it takes to make a sale.

Visa doesn’t see a conflict of interests, saying that it’s no signature rule and it’s contactless technology go hand in hand. It states that these are complementary, with no signatures paving the way for contactless sales. For them, going signature free is just an initial step towards the newer technology.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection company. Also she does articles on business, finance, consumer spending and http://www.linkedin.com/companies/rapid-recovery-solution-inc.?trk=ppro_cprof&lnk=vw_cprofile

categories: credit collection,collection services,business collection agency,collect debt,debt collection lawyer,collection agent,business collection,business debt recovery