To what collection agency did Blockbuster send my account?

January 14, 2009 8:58 AM

Apparently, I owe a blockbuster debt of $38 to a collection agency. I feel I've been screwed but that is irrelevant. I just want to pay the debt and never do business there again. The problem: The agency called last month when I was traveling, I didn't want to deal with it then, and now I've lost their number. How can I find out what collection agency they sent me account to and pay this debt off? Note: I have asked at the store and the employee told me, "the collection agency will call you back"...
posted by mikeo2 to media & arts (9 comments total)

They will call again, probably a month after the first call. They may also send a letter if they have your address. If I were in that position I would just wait.
posted by cabingirl at 9:04 AM on January 14

I will second the fact that they will call back - you owe them money, they will be calling.

However, for an immediate answer - you will have to elevate this to the manager of the Blockbuster. Call back and request the manager - not the manager on duty (you could get asst. manager or shift managers), but the actual manager of the store. He should be able to find out the answer if he does not know it already.

If this does not work, find out if your local Blockbuster is franchise or corporate. Depending on the answer, elevate it to the appropriate administrative offices.

Or you could just wait - and pay your money later. However, the longer you wait - the more likely it is to show up on your credit report. Sometimes collection agencies will not put it on your credit report until they have had your debt for a certain amount of time.
posted by Brettus at 9:25 AM on January 14

As I understand it, you don't have to deal with any third party, you can pay a local Blockbuster directly. Obviously, keep receipts.And if I'm mistaken I'm sure others will gleefully point that out.
posted by dawson at 9:35 AM on January 14 [1 favorite has favorites]

Check your credit report. If it's been reported to a collection agency, the agency is likely listed.
posted by General Malaise at 9:36 AM on January 14

what I said was meant as a follow-up to Brettus' note about speaking to the manager.
posted by dawson at 9:36 AM on January 14

Yes, dawson, you are mistaken. :)

If the collection agency is really a collection agency, then the OP will -not- be able to settle the debt via Blockbuster. In fact, Blockbuster may not be able to give him any information about the debt, outside of who they turned the debt over to.

There are some services that companies use to send dunning notices/make calls that are not third party collectors -- if the company that called the OP is such a company, then the OP might be able to just pay Blockbuster and have done with it. However, since the OP doesn't know exactly who called, it's hard to say.

Odds are that the collection agency will call again. Depending on how old the debt is, and what kind of third party collector Blockbuster turned it over to, it may or may not be on the OP's credit report.

Full disclosure: I am not a lawyer, nor a Blockbuster employee, nor an employee of a collection agency. I have, however, done corporate in-house collection work in the past, so this is all based on what I know from that prior experience.
posted by dryad at 9:52 AM on January 14 [1 favorite has favorites]

I should clarfiy that my answer to the OP's question is: Wait for the collection agency to call again and/or send a notice in the mail.

If they do call, I would suggest requesting a notice by mail (if they haven't sent one) and making a copy of that notice to send along with payment. Keep good records on this payment in the event that some -other- collection agency buys out debt records so they don't try to double collect on you, as this occasionally happens.
posted by dryad at 9:55 AM on January 14

Call the Blockbuster corporate headquarters, and ask them what collection agency they use.
posted by blue_beetle at 1:29 PM on January 14

Get a free credit report --the Equifax report will list the collection agency. I wouldn't recommend letting it fester as unpaid dept for any longer than it has to on your report. I happened to have a similar thing just happen to me-- the "debt" was $43-- and since it was reported 9 months ago without my knowlwdge, my credit score dropped 100 fracking points. Sooner is better.
posted by Failure31 at 1:51 PM on January 14