Fight Back Against Unfair Debt Collection Practices: Know Your Rights and Protect Yourself from Threats, Lies, and Intimidation

10. The Golden Rule: Money Today

It’s a simple maxim—money today—but the people who live by it are well rewarded. This lesson is impressed on my fellow trainees and me during bonus assembly, a monthly event where bonus checks are handed out to the most successful collectors. We are herded out of our training area to an open space by the elevators where we can see the collection floor. In the room’s main aisle, a manager with a cordless microphone and a voice like a game-show host hands out the top 20 checks in reverse order, working his way up to the month’s biggest hitter. The highest total was $12,600. A woman in an untucked flannel shirt and blue jeans walked up to get her handshake and envelope, to our applause. A disproportionate share ...