'Oopsie, hung up on ya': Guy gets back at relentless debt collectors, infuriates them until they stop calling

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    "[U] pretended to accidentally hang up every single time"
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    r/pettyrevenge Posted by u/jeffriestubesteak 12 hours ago Won't stop calling me to collect someone else's debt? How would you like their new phone # and address? Oopsie, hung up on ya.
  • 03
    A tale as old as time. You get a new phone, and it blows up with calls from debt collectors. Most people can just send unknown callers to voicemail. I, unfortunately, worked tech support for a large company at the time, so I had to answer every call.
  • 04
    I'll spare you the details of how annoying those folks are. "Very" should suffice. And I got tired of pretty darn quick. I put up with it as long as I could, but then something broke. I needed to with these inasmuch as it was possible and legal to do so.
  • 05
    Mostly, I just wasted as much of their time as I could. But for the really annoying ones, I had a routine that I developed over the course of about a year. This is my petty revenge, in the form of a dialogue:
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    Dunner: Is this Joe Debtor? Me: Is this about the unpaid phone bill from 2010? Dunner: Yes. Mr. Debtor, are you going to pay- Me: Hang on a sec. I never said I was your dude. I work with him, though. He sold me this phone a couple of weeks ago and told me I might be getting a few of these calls. Listen, could you please just call him directly? I can give you his new address and phone number, and the phone for our HR department if you want that too. Dunner: That would be wonderful. Thank you! Me:
  • 07
    Invariably, they'd call back thinking I had just accidentally disconnected. I'd say something like "Sorry. Cell coverage around here. I apologize. Do you still want me to [click]." You'd be surprised how many times they'd try again. I answered- and pretended to accidentally hang up- every single time.
  • 08
    They all eventually figured it out. Not before getting REALLY ANGRY though.
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    Jayhawker_Pilot 19 hr. ago I have a dead beat sister. Like I don't think she has ever paid a single bill ever. When the bill collectors would call, my response was "IF YOU FIND HER, CALL ME BACK WITH HER PHONE NUMBER AND ADDRESS SHE OWES ME MONEY". And I said it at 100+db sounding . I never got a call back ever. 1.3k Reply Share
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    blondeheartedgoddess. 17 hr. ago Dude, I'll use this next time one calls me looking fir my ex- husband. We divorced over 20 years ago and I still get calls. He does owe me alimony... about $20. It was a token amount just in case he won the lottery, the door would be open. Not that he'd ever tell me though. LOL 429 Reply Share
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    mjcjb5 19 hr. ago Well done. I get a phone call from home prospector thinking I own a house they want to buy in a town I lived in more than 10+ years ago. It must be a dilapidated house in a sought after area.
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    After a while, I would just negotiate with them. Seek out their offer, act interested, tell them to put it in writing and text it to me in a PDF. That usually causes them issues. I offer to take less. I basically get them to waste time.
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    I have flipped houses before so I know what phrases get them excited. It's turned into a game. Eventually, I tell them I am not the owner but would like to buy the actual house in question. The get upset. 435 Reply Share
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    Conscious-Practice 79. 20 hr. ago LOL! Sometimes the denseness of people astounds me. It's nice to hear a story about getting them back. 300 Reply Share
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    M1lud 15 hr. ago If there are multiple debt agents, record their phone numbers. Then when one calls, give them another's number! 205 Reply Share
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    jeffriestubesteak OP. 12 hr. ago You, Sir or Ma'am, are evil. I admire that. 113 Reply Share
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    OutlawJoseyMeow. 20 hr. ago "The old debtor can't come to the phone right now. Why? Because they're dead" 188 Reply Share
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    No1Especial 19 hr. ago I've given the non- emergency number to the police. I usually tell them, "He answers unknown numbers like he's somebody important. Just be persistent." 168 Reply Share
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    _Cyber_Mage 18 hr. ago I just answer unknown numbers in German. Scammers and telemarketers just hang up on me, or never get connected because the automated systems don't recognize "Guten Tag, wie getz?" as a valid indication of a live person. The rare legitimate caller just tends to be confused until I switch to English. 110 Reply Share
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    BeautifulPhantom1. 20 hr. ago I aspire to be this devious. Thank you for the script. I'll have to remember it the next time my ex's debtors decide to get a hold of me 20 years after the divorce. 92 Reply Share

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