Any one who has ever received a call from a bill collector, whether for a bill that was legitimately owed or not needs to read this book. While working as a journalist Williams had heard of a horrifying story of a young man who had been victimized by unscrupulous bill collectors who had hounded him over a bill that he didn't even owe. When Williams discovered that this was not a particularly unusual occurrence he decided to investigate the bill collection business from the inside.



The first portion of the book describes Williams' short career as a bill collector, going through the training which focused as much on evading the laws governing the industry as following them and through his probationary period. The second, shorter portion gives advice on how a consumer can cope with collection calls, calls that may very well be errors in amounts, grossly inflated by outrageous fees and interest rates or simply owed by some one else.



Williams began his project fully on the side of the consumer, convinced that the bill collectors were all heartless thugs just out to torment innocent people. After a few days of working with his fellow trainees Williams began to see the voices on the phone as distinct personalities with problems of their own. He found himself siding more with his colleagues as he was abused and scammed by people who simply did not want to pay their bills. The end result is an interesting and balanced examination of the bill collection industry.



The information included is invaluable for anyone who has ever had to deal with a collections call for any reason.