Vulgar voicemails force debt collector to pay $1.5 million

[Middleman]

Now he can pay off all his debts, and then some! After the appeals are over, at least...

DALLAS — The harassing and threatening voicemail messages left on Allen Jones' mobile phone are nothing short of vulgar.
"This shouldn't be tolerated," he said. "Nobody should have to experience what I had to experience."
Debt collectors from Advanced Call Center Technologies, LLC left eight messages for Jones in August 2007 trying to collect what it said he owed on a credit card.
Most messages were laced with profanity and spewed racial slurs:
"This is your mother******* wake-up call you little lazy a** b****," a collector said on one. "Get your mother******* n****r ass up and go pick some mother******* cotton fields."
Jones is African-American.
"If we did not have tapes, no one would ever believe that this happened," Mark Frenkel, one of Jones' attorneys said.
The recordings are so offensive News 8 decided against publishing transcripts of the others.
"This is absolutely, without a doubt, the most egregious collection case I've ever seen," Dean Malone, Jones' other attorney, added.
Jones sued Advanced Call Center Technologies over the harassing calls.
Friday afternoon, a Dallas County jury awarded him one of the biggest verdicts of its kind.
He won $50,000 in mental anguish and $1.5 million in punitive damages.

http://www.khou.com/home/Vulgar-voicemails-force-debt-collector-to-pay-15-million-95186194.html

 

[California Girl]

$50,000 for mental anguish? Over some messages on a machine? Hmmmm.

$1.5m in punitive damages? Hmmmmm.

While I totally agree with the actual verdict, the sums are just ludicrous.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Debt collectors violate the law and journey into hate speech, they pay.

 

[California Girl]

Debt collectors violate the law and journey into hate speech, they pay.

If he'd paid his debts, it wouldn't have happened. Again, while the verdict is reasonable - the sums are just laughable. And Americans wonder why the CEO of BP is suspicious of the claims they'll be getting.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Debt collectors violate the law and journey into hate speech, they pay.

If he'd paid his debts, it wouldn't have happened. Again, while the verdict is reasonable - the sums are just laughable. And Americans wonder why the CEO of BP is suspicious of the claims they'll be getting.

Let the guy pay off his debt with his punitive damages. Works for me. The debt collectors earned their punishment. Maybe their staff will reconsider their 'ends justify the means' strategy.

 

[SpidermanTuba]

$50,000 for mental anguish? Over some messages on a machine? Hmmmm.

$1.5m in punitive damages? Hmmmmm.

While I totally agree with the actual verdict, the sums are just ludicrous.

We know you can't comprehend the idea of punishing a corporation for wrongdoing.

 

[Middleman]

$1.5 million IS quite a jackpot. I should only be so lucky as to have someone spew hate on my voicemail!!!!

 

[Sky Dancer]

$1.5 million IS quite a jackpot. I should only be so lucky as to have someone spew hate on my voicemail!!!!

Really? You'd have someone spew hate in your voice mail if the price was right? I wouldn't.

 

[Middleman]

$1.5 million IS quite a jackpot. I should only be so lucky as to have someone spew hate on my voicemail!!!!

Really? You'd have someone spew hate in your voice mail if the price was right? I wouldn't.

Sure. I would definitely endure a few minutes of hateful ranting for 1.5 million dollars!

 

[xsited1]

Now he can pay off all his debts, and then some! After the appeals are over, at least...

DALLAS — The harassing and threatening voicemail messages left on Allen Jones' mobile phone are nothing short of vulgar.
"This shouldn't be tolerated," he said. "Nobody should have to experience what I had to experience."
Debt collectors from Advanced Call Center Technologies, LLC left eight messages for Jones in August 2007 trying to collect what it said he owed on a credit card.
Most messages were laced with profanity and spewed racial slurs:
"This is your mother******* wake-up call you little lazy a** b****," a collector said on one. "Get your mother******* n****r ass up and go pick some mother******* cotton fields."
Jones is African-American.
"If we did not have tapes, no one would ever believe that this happened," Mark Frenkel, one of Jones' attorneys said.
The recordings are so offensive News 8 decided against publishing transcripts of the others.
"This is absolutely, without a doubt, the most egregious collection case I've ever seen," Dean Malone, Jones' other attorney, added.
Jones sued Advanced Call Center Technologies over the harassing calls.
Friday afternoon, a Dallas County jury awarded him one of the biggest verdicts of its kind.
He won $50,000 in mental anguish and $1.5 million in punitive damages.

Damn! I wish I were black and didn't pay my bills.

 

[Sky Dancer]

$1.5 million IS quite a jackpot. I should only be so lucky as to have someone spew hate on my voicemail!!!!

Really? You'd have someone spew hate in your voice mail if the price was right? I wouldn't.

Sure. I would definitely endure a few minutes of hateful ranting for 1.5 million dollars!

This wasn't a few minutes of ranting. This was a campaign of abuse. I value my privacy and peace more than 1.5 million dollars.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Now he can pay off all his debts, and then some! After the appeals are over, at least...

DALLAS — The harassing and threatening voicemail messages left on Allen Jones' mobile phone are nothing short of vulgar.
"This shouldn't be tolerated," he said. "Nobody should have to experience what I had to experience."
Debt collectors from Advanced Call Center Technologies, LLC left eight messages for Jones in August 2007 trying to collect what it said he owed on a credit card.
Most messages were laced with profanity and spewed racial slurs:
"This is your mother******* wake-up call you little lazy a** b****," a collector said on one. "Get your mother******* n****r ass up and go pick some mother******* cotton fields."
Jones is African-American.
"If we did not have tapes, no one would ever believe that this happened," Mark Frenkel, one of Jones' attorneys said.
The recordings are so offensive News 8 decided against publishing transcripts of the others.
"This is absolutely, without a doubt, the most egregious collection case I've ever seen," Dean Malone, Jones' other attorney, added.
Jones sued Advanced Call Center Technologies over the harassing calls.
Friday afternoon, a Dallas County jury awarded him one of the biggest verdicts of its kind.
He won $50,000 in mental anguish and $1.5 million in punitive damages.

Damn! I wish I were black and didn't pay my bills.

Interesting that you picked up on that one factoid. Maybe you ought to apply for a job as a debt collector.

 

[Middleman]

OK, well I'm sure his hourly wage on that was quite high.

I hope he learned his lesson on money management and doesn't blow it all.

 

[xsited1]

Now he can pay off all his debts, and then some! After the appeals are over, at least...

Damn! I wish I were black and didn't pay my bills.

Interesting that you picked up on that one factoid. Maybe you ought to apply for a job as a debt collector.

Don't sound so innocent. That was the reason he got the big payoff. Being a member of a protected class has its advantages.

 

[California Girl]

Really? You'd have someone spew hate in your voice mail if the price was right? I wouldn't.

Sure. I would definitely endure a few minutes of hateful ranting for 1.5 million dollars!

This wasn't a few minutes of ranting. This was a campaign of abuse. I value my privacy and peace more than 1.5 million dollars.

Eight calls. Yea, that must have been hell for him. What I find impressive is that anyone thinks this is reasonable.

 

[xotoxi]

"This is your mother******* wake-up call you little lazy a** b****," a collector said on one. "Get your mother******* n****r ass up and go pick some mother******* cotton fields."

I don't see any vulgar words in the above quote.

Just a lot of asterisks.

 

[Middleman]

I think punitive damages can be unreasonable. They are designed to punish the offender and have to be of a sum that will hurt them.

 

[SpidermanTuba]

"This is your mother******* wake-up call you little lazy a** b****," a collector said on one. "Get your mother******* n****r ass up and go pick some mother******* cotton fields."

I don't see any vulgar words in the above quote.

Just a lot of asterisks.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Damn! I wish I were black and didn't pay my bills.

Interesting that you picked up on that one factoid. Maybe you ought to apply for a job as a debt collector.

Don't sound so innocent. That was the reason he got the big payoff. Being a member of a protected class has its advantages.

Of course the rants involved hate speech. He was called a ******. Do you approve of that?

 

[Sky Dancer]

Sure. I would definitely endure a few minutes of hateful ranting for 1.5 million dollars!

This wasn't a few minutes of ranting. This was a campaign of abuse. I value my privacy and peace more than 1.5 million dollars.

Eight calls. Yea, that must have been hell for him. What I find impressive is that anyone thinks this is reasonable.

You agree with the court's decision as fair and reasonable. You don't like the amount. Why?

You don't have to pay it, this corporation does and they ought to know better. They deserve to pay through the nose. The voice mails were not only vulgar, but racist and harassing.