Consumer complaint received 2019-02-15
Company: United Collection Bureau, Inc.
State: WA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Communication tactics
Sub-issue: Used obscene, profane, or other abusive language

Complaint:
I contacted United Collections Bureau Inc. to make the monthly payment I agreed to make today, XX/XX/2019. I have a concern about the type of questions the representative asked me and the information she tried to collect - particularly the way she tried to collect it. Initially, she asked me to verify my identity by requesting name, address etc.- then without informing me that the next questions were not required and were not part of the security questions, she proceeded to piggyback right on the security questions to ask me where I worked and what my husband 's name was. It was only after I asked why she needed this information that she told me these were questions the creditor who hired them requested them to ask. 
She made NO distinction whatsoever between the questions she said she had to ask to verify for security purposes and the questions about who I worked for and my husband 's name. She gave no indication whatsoever, that these questions were not part of the security format. 
What clued me in was when she asked for my husband 's name- not IF i had a husband but who he was- just as if she was verifying information she already had- not clarifying that she was gathering new information. I know this, because I have never provided any such information like that at all- not to UCBI and not to the creditor. I am convinced she was trying to gather information under a duplicitous manner. Once I challenged why she needed this information, THEN she told me giving that information was voluntary and claimed the creditor was the one requesting UCBI gather this information and she stopped asking more questions. I would like to make it clear that asking personal questions in a coercive and duplicitous manner is NOT voluntary. If I am not aware that I have the option to provide or not provide this information, and it is presented as part of a necessary security verification format- then I am not volunteering at all- it is implied that I HAVE to provide this information to complete the transaction I legally need to complete.

UCBI does not offer an option to make payments on line and does not provide bills or billing stubs or addressed envelopes once the debtor makes the decision to pay partial debt.- This pretty much limits my options to calling UCBI and make my debt over the phone. Now I feel my privacy and security is at risk due to this dubious collection of information. 
The second part of my complaint is that multiple times during THIS phone call, I made it clear I was NOT going to pay the entire amount and I would only be paying what I had said I would. She pushed the matter several times and at last said, " What about your tax refund? Do you get one of those? ( or something VERY close to that if that is not the exact wording ). I said, '' I am not interested in paying more than $ XXXX and I am not discussing the matter further. Do not ask again. 
I feel that since I made it clear more than once and right at the very beginning, that I was only going to pay $ XXXX amount and would not be paying the whole amount, that the repeated attempts to dig into my personal information ( ie asking about a tax refund ) was a form of harassment. She stepped way over the line of collecting my offered payment and attempting to further push her way into my financial situation and make judgement calls on whether or not I could pay my debt. I am interested in what I should do the next time I call, to prevent such an audacious, sneaky and obtrusive conversation the next time I attempt to make a payment. If I have to be exposed to this privacy invasive technique and aggressiveness every time I call I may have to go through legal council.

As mentioned before, I have very reasonable concerns that without legal council I may be coerced into giving up personal information without my knowledge that will cause me harm and that I will continue to be pressured and reproved every time I try to pay what I can in installments instead of the paying the bill in full. 

I want to make it clear that I do not now nor ever will allow this company to ask any personal questions beyond what the law requires they ask to confirm for security purposes. I do not agree to have representatives make further attempts to dig into my personal financial life to see what they can find to pressure me into paying more than I can afford. It is not their business to judge what I can afford or not afford and whether or not I am getting a tax refund or any other big pay out. 

For context- this is a medical debt that was sent to this creditor while I was still recovering from treatment and was in repeated contact with my creditor attempting to sort out a payment plan. Due to multiple misinformation on the part of my creditor, I was unaware that the steps I had taken to address this debt were insufficient and not timely ( by a matter of mere days ) before this was sent to the creditor. I was completely caught off guard and that is what makes this situation even more concerning. Harassing a person dealing with a XXXX who did not make the decision to put themselves in this debt and has taken every possible step they know to address it within their financial means makes me feel they are taking advantage of my vulnerable position and I am concerned about what and how they are using the information they are trying to get from me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation