Tag Archives: Debt Collection Company

Avoid Debts During X-Mas / New Year Season through Wise spending Habits – Some Tips & Tricks

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Money can matter a lot, especially during festivals and festivities. There are gifts, decorations, food and beverages to buy. For many, travel is impending, to meet up with friends and family. If you want to celebrate, you need money and when you don’t have it, you approach your friends or financial institutions that lend you money. But debt can get you in bigger trouble personally and the thought of it lingers in your mind that fades the happiness of the festivities. So here are some tips and tricks that can save you some serious money and keep you away from a Debt Collection Company this X-Mas and New Year Season:

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  1. Set an Affordable Budget for Spending

It all starts from the budget! Get down to the bare minimum and draw a clear budget that you can afford to spend on the gifts, travel, party and decorations. Chart out the amount you can afford on each of these and stick to it while spending.

  1. Avoid Credit Payments

The easiest way out is to use the credit cards. In that case, you will end up using up a lot of Personal Finance by the time you have to pay up the card bills the next month! So AVOID credit cards and stick to what you can really afford otherwise.

  1. Make a List and Then Shortlist

This is very important. You first need to make a list of all the people you want to invite for the party and for whom you need to buy the gifts. Once you are done with it, sit down further and shortlist the most important people from this list. Try to cut down at least 50% of the first list.

  1. Check out for Coupons and Discount Codes

Festive seasons luckily come with discounts and coupons. Make sure you plan in advance so that you know what coupons and codes to watch out for. Collect discount coupons and codes and use them to the maximum to save the maximum on all your festive purchases.

  1. Get Creative and Make your own Decorations

Decorations can get really expensive, especially the glittering and lighted ones. Instead of buying such expensive decorations, spend some extra time and make your own decorations using cheaper stationary you can get. It will make your decorations personalized and unique. Check if there are any decorative items of the previous year left over in the basement or the attic and reuse them. Use the cheaper versions of LEDs for decorations instead of the flashy and expensive ones.

  1. Watch out for non-perishable discounted items to gift

If you plan in advance, you can buy and stack non-perishable items like wines and perfumes much early when they are sold on discount sale. You can gift them during the X-Mas and New Year season that will help you to stay debt free through the festivities.

  1. Organize Potluck Parties instead of hosting it on your own

If you cannot afford to host a New Year Party, arrange a potluck where everyone brings in a dish that contributes to the party. This is a great way to share and care and also survive during the festive season.

  1. Stick to your budget

The most important point to follow is to stick to your budget. If you are a little careful and plan well in advance, you can make sure that you follow your budget strictly which will keep you away from the debt collection companies.

More than the price of the gifts and the decorations, what really matters is that you spend some quality time with your friends and family. Entertain them and enjoy yourself in whichever way you can to make the Christmas and New Year season the most memorable.

What our clients say about FIRMS.

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At FIRMS we take great pride in our customer satisfaction.  We originally got started in the debt collection industry because we knew that FIRMS would make an impact on the debt collection industry in a very crucial way.  We knew we would work harder and smarter than any one of our competitors.  

Let me ask you a question.  How is your current debt collection company working for you?  Are they available for you when you need them?  Do you they have a high-quality customer website for you to get up to date and real time account information?  Do they notify you when you an account has been paid?  Do they customize their services to fit your company’s needs and wants?  I would imagine most of your answers were no.  That’s because FIRMS has created something unique; a debt collection company that cares.

We hear two simple words time and time again from our customers.  Those two words are “Thank You.”  Our clients constantly contact us to say thank you for all the hard work we do for them.  We hear about how impressed they are at our customer service, our technology that makes their lives easier, and our rate of return.  We have always believed that it is better to attract bee’s with honey and we consider our impeccable customer service and business savvy to be that honey.

So stop worrying about the issues you’re having with your current debt collection company.  Don’t worry about if the accounts will get paid, if your business will be able to afford to stay open, or whether or not your current provider is practicing poor business and collection techniques in your name.  Give FIRMS a call today and let us show you how a debt collection company can really work for your business.

 

FIRMS: A Better Debt Collection Company

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I have always had the type of personality and spirit about em that i want to help people.  I can always remember seeing a product out there or a service offered and almost immediately being able to recognize various ways I could improve on those products and services.  The same is true of the debt collection industry.  I had never given the debt collection industry much thought but once I had started doing some investigating into the industry I quickly realized all the ways I could improve upon the experience and services that were being offered by the industry leaders.

One of the main area’s we researched was finding out the top complaints people had filed against other debt collection companies.  According to a website called ‘Florida Debt Fighters” the top complaints against debt collection companies in the state of Florida are as follows:

  • Falsely represents the character, amount or status of the debt
  • Calls repeatedly or continuously
  • Falsely threatens suit/illegal or unintended act
  • Fails to send written notice of debt
  • Falsely threatens arrest, seizure of property
  • Fails to identify self as a debt collector
  • Calls someone repeatedly to obtain debtor’s location
  • Calls debtor at work knowing debtor can’t take calls
  • Uses obscene, profane or otherwise abusive language

I knew when I started FIRMS that we would make sure to treat our customers and even those we were going to be collecting from in ways that would follow a path opposite of these complaints.  FIRMS makes sure to work with the most integrity and business professionalism as to ensure we will never have such horrible complaints filed against our company.  

When you sign with FIRMS you can be guaranteed that we will collect on those outstanding debts for your business.  We will handle each account with the best customer service and professionalism.  And we will ensure that we handle every situation to the direct guidelines set in place for debt collection companies.

We look forward to earning your business.

  • FIRMS

 

Customer Interview

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As one of the top leading debt collection agencies in the industry, FIRMS makes it a practice to contact a portion of our clients from time to time in order to find out some of the problems they had faced in the past with other debt collection agencies and how FIRMS can perform at a higher level to meet our customers needs and wants.

Recently we contacted a relatively new client to the FIRMS family of clients and called Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky.

Prior to hiring FIRMS as the hospitals premier debt collection company, Rood and Riddle used various debt collections companies in the past and as the director states “It was simply time to make a change.  There had been debt collection companies in place for years that were not performing to our needs as a business.”

FIRMS:  What would you say was the best advancement for you moving to FIRMS?

Rood and Riddle:  The automated service is very important to us.  I get an update every time someone makes a payment on their account.  The transparency is amazing with FIRMS.  Moving to FIRMS has made our accounting department so much simpler because of the system FIRMS has put in place to help us.  And I feel that as our business continues to grow I can be confident that FIRMS will be able to handle the increased workload and grow with us.

FIRMS:  Is there anything you wish FIRMS would do differently?

Rood and Riddle:  Not at all.  When we first started with FIRMS they needed to make some adjustments to the account settings to work better for our business and they made those adjustments.  Working with FIRMS has been amazing!

At FIRMS we pride ourselves in hearing about the success that our clients have had in working with our company and we hope FIRMS can add your business to our list of satisfied customers.  Contact us and let us know how we can help you grow!

  • FIRMS

Top Complaints Of A Debt Collection Agency

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Top Complaints of a Debt Collection Agency

In 2015 there were a number of complaints against various debt collection agencies all around the United States.  Below is a list of some of the top complaints registered.

  •  Taking or threatening to take an illegal action:  2,207 complaints in 2015.
  •  Improper contact or sharing of information.  2,333 complaints in 2015.  
  •  False statements or representation.  2,906 complaints in 2015.
  •  Disclosure verification of debt. There were 5,452 improper disclosures reported in 2015. Of these, 1,346 related to credit card collections and 1,057 had to do with healthcare collections.

FIRMS is a premier debt collection company that specializes in caring for our customers and making sure we always stand above the rest of the companies in the industry.

A basic Google search for the reviews of the top debt collection companies will reveal that of the top 72 national debt collection agencies not one company holds a customer review above 1.5 out of 5 stars.  There are literally thousands of complaints listed against the practices of these companies.  So the question stands, who do you want to handle your company’s business and debt collection?  When you turn your collections over to a debt collection agency you want to be assured that they will continue to represent your business in the best way possible.  You do not want to worry about the collections company practicing illegal or aggressive business to try and collect from your customers.

This is why people choose FIRMS time and time again.  Our customers know that they will be treated properly, that they will have complete access to our client portal 24/7 and with real time updates with every account.  It means that can trust FIRMS to continue their better and proper practices when it comes to customer service.

If you’re having trouble with your current debt collection agency or if you would like to experience how a premier debt collection company can work for you, give FIRMS a call today!

We hope to hear from you soon.

 

  • FIRMS  

Helping People To Get Results.

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Helping People To Get Results.

The world of business and sales has continually developed over the years and successful companies have gone from trying to aggressively sell their products and services to potential customers to realizing and understanding that it is far more important to help their customers find a solution to their problems.  In the world of business we are realizing that it is far more important to help your customer find a solution, to help them through a difficult process in order to earn their business and also earn a customer for life.

FIRMS is a debt collection company that specializes in helping our customer work through difficult situations.  This is our area of expertise in the debt and financial world.  Whether it be helping local companies collect on outstanding debts, helping the customer we call to collect from in assisting them through difficult work related issues such as helping to build their resume or sending it out to assist them in finding new employment, or through this blog in helping you learn about the ins and outs of the financial world and how you can better manage and handle your money.

A lot of people may visit this blog produced by FIRMS and wonder why we write about topics like saving and paying off debt or managing your monthly finances through a budget.  For FIRMS we care about our customers, we care about anyone needing help or advice and education on managing their finances.  We care about local communities, we care about helping more Americans get out of debt and save for their families and their own lives.

FIRMS is a rare breed in the world of debt collection companies for one simple reason; we care about the customers and people we deal with every day.  You will never catch FIRMS focused on the almighty dollar, you will never find FIRMS only interested in collecting from individuals in any way possible.  You will always find FIRMS caring for our customers and helping people find positive solutions.

 

  • FIRMS

Let’s Talk Money Management

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Let’s talk about money management.  A lot of people have heard of a celebrity named Dave Ramsey.  Dave is a financial adviser, radios show host, and acclaimed author.  Dave’s book, “The Total Money Makeover” helps people learn the ins and outs of debt and how to get out of debt and stay out of debt.  In fact, Dave’s number one goal is for people to live debt free.

One of the principles Dave uses in his strategy is to get people to use envelopes to help manage their money.  Envelopes? you ask.  Yes, envelopes.  Dave has a strategy in which you set a monthly budget.  Let’s say your food, rent, gas, utilities, and some extra spending money.  Dave’s strategy says once you have been paid from your employer that you should immediately withdraw the cash you need for expenses.  If you’re rent is $700 a month you would get your paycheck, take out $700 in cash, and place it in an envelope you have tapped to your wall marked “rent”.  Now that the money is set aside for rent you need to do the exact same thing for your food, utilities, phone bill, etc.  The second you get your paycheck, take out the cash and place it in your envelopes and DON’T TOUCH THE MONEY!

When you need to go to the grocery store, go to your food envelope.  When you have to pay rent, go to your rent envelope.  Anything you have left over from your paycheck that didn’t go into your envelopes should go into a savings account or into paying off debt.  Don’t go out and buy the latest video game with the extra money, but PAY OFF DEBT!

This method is effective IF you stay focused.  You have to already have budget in place and have planned out your finances in order for this system to work.  If your food budget is $400 a month and you only take out $200 for your food envelope the process is pointless.

at FIRMS we believe that the first step to paying off debt is setting an honest budget and sticking to it.  Don’t do anything halfway, go all out and get focused on setting your budget and taking back control of your finances.  

As a premiere debt collection agency FIRMS is always here to help you manage your money and pay off your debts through our blogs.  Do you have any specific questions on money management or debt?  Comment below and we will be glad to respond!

 

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The Need For Cash

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There are thousands of blogs, articles, books, and workshops floating around in the world that are all circulated around the same topic; how to get out of debt.

There are differing opinions and views about how to get out of debt, stay out of debt, and better manage your personal finances.  Among the vast majority of those views is the same principle; track your spending.

We live in a world where money is electronic.  today we have credit and debit cards, papal accounts, apple pay, Samsung pay, and Bit Coins.  Money has become numbers on a screen and has lost it’s reality as total value.  Studies show it is easier to spend more money with electronically than it is when you have the cold, hard cash in your hand.

Tracking your spending starts with using cash and leaving your debit card at home.  Let’s say you’re going out to a local electronics store to buy a new television.  You have a budget in mind of $300.  You have done your research at home, you know exactly which model you want to buy and so you go out with the exact amount the television will cost in cash.  You get to the store and begin walking around looking at all of the bigger, brighter, and more defined televisions.  Suddenly the great model you found for $300 seems too small or too dim.  What are you going to do?  If you’re smart, you’ll buy your television for the $300 you planned and you’ll be happy because a $300 television is an upgrade from what you own now.  Maybe you will leave the store without a television and you’ll go home and save for a week or two until you can afford the nicer model.  Now, let’s pretend you are not that smart, which we all know you are.  But let’s say you forgot to leave your credit card at home and guess what?  You have $500 available on that card!  That means you can take your cash and your credit card and buy an $800 television!  Sadly, this is what most of us do on a daily basis.  Maybe we our budget says we have $5 to spend on lunch.  You decide to go to Panera bread for lunch and notice there’s a great lunch special for $10 and it looks delicious.  You have your debit card in hand and decide to double your budget for lunch that day.  Guess what, chances are you’re going to do the same thing 3 days out of the week, spend more money than you budgeted because you decided to leave home with your debit card.

See, this is where tracking your spending and paying with cash will benefit you.  If you track your spending you can see those patterns developing over time and see how much you actually spend over budget each week because of using your credit or debit card instead of sticking to your budget and paying with cash.

FIRMS is an odd debt collection agency.  Why is FIRMS different than most debt collections companies?  Because we don’t want you to go into debt, we want to help you get out of and stay out of debt.

We hope this helps,

 

  • FIRMS

 

When A Debt Collection Company Is Wrong

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When A Debt Collection Company Is Wrong

Today we are going to tell you a little story about John who recently had an interesting and frustrating experience with a debt collection agency.  John’s story may be unique and not every reader will be able to relate, however the principles are true and worthy of giving your attention to.

John Smith got a call one day from a debt collection company stating that John had a past due amount he owed to a local cable provider.  John was confused as to how he could have such a bill.  John had recently moved into his childhood home and had never had any sort of account with the cable company in question.  The debt collection agency didn’t want to hear any excuses from John and called him a liar and stated that he owed them $175.

John hung up the phone with the company and after a couple of days he forgot about the situation.  

Two months later John went online to check his credit report and found that there was a negative claim on his account that shouldn’t be there.  After some investigating John realized it was that mysterious cable company bill.  John called the debt collection company and tried to find out more information.  It turned out that John’s grandfather had opened the account and the final bill was never paid after his grandfather had passed away years ago.  The issue was that John shared the same name of his grandfather and now john was living in his grandfather’s old house, so there was virtually no way to distinguish between John and his grandfather.

John talked to every manager at the debt collection agency he could find but no one was willing to help him. He finally called the cable company and went through their channels to try and find someone that could help.  The cable company wanted John to submit a death certificate for his grandfather proving John was telling the truth!  After more and more digging and talking to more and more managers, John finally asked the manager to check when the account was opened.  They found it had been opened in 1995 when John would have only been 7 years old.  The manager apologized for the mistake and immediately removed everything from their system.  John’s credit still took a minor hit but that will soon recover.

The point of this story is that you should never allow a debt collection agency to push you around or harass you.  If there has been a mistake on your credit report you need to spend some time and dig to find out what the mistake is so you can correct the issue and fix the situation.  Most debt collection agencies will not assist you and most companies will not immediately correct the issue unless they have proof.  You have to work to prove that their reporting is inaccurate.  So don’t get upset if something is wrong on your credit report. Just work a little bit harder and find the mistake and then contact the company with the correct information!

Remember, with FIRMS we are here to help you with any financial or debt related questions you might have!  Don’t hesitate to contact and let us know how FIRMS can help you!

 

  • FIRMS

 

FIRMS – Changing the Debt Collection Industry

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There was a national article written sometime in 2008 that got a lot of attention for the debt collection industry, a lot of negative attention.  In the article you can read the story of a journalist out of Buffalo New York who went undercover at one of the nation’s largest debt collection agencies.  The article details all of the horrid practices that the debt collection industry is known for.  Harassing customers, making up titles for themselves, in the article the story talks about one employee who masked himself as a “fraud investigator” to make the person he was collecting debt from become scared and hopefully make them settle their debts immediately.  Whatever the practices, the fact remains the industry has some bad eggs out there hurting the people they are collecting from and the businesses they are trying to help grow.

This is one of the main reasons we started FIRMS in the first place.  We wanted to help businesses grow and collect on those outstanding debts but we also wanted to help those average Americans who’d gotten a little behind on their bills or lost their job, we wanted to make sure we were holding true to the best business practices possible.

I cannot begin to tell you how many customers we have that tell us how easy the process is when they are receiving calls from FIRMS.  We make sure that our call specialists are trained to be polite and friendly when contacting individuals who have fallen behind on their bills. We ensure our customers, the local veterinarians or the local optometrist that are working hard to keep their doors open, that we will help them collect on debt and maintain a positive image for their company.

At the end of the day, FIRMS is not just collecting debt from ordinary people, we are making a difference in local communities.  FIRMS is helping solidify the good customer service practices of local businesses we are helping to collect on those outstanding debts.

Contact FIRMS today and let us show you how we can help your business collect and how we can do so with the best practices around!