Debt Collectors Wouldn’t Stop Calling Him – So He Started Calling Their CEO at Home

Wrong-number debt collection calls are more common than most people think. In fact, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), about one-third of Americans have been contacted by a debt collector, and a huge portion of those people say the collector had the wrong person.

This story shows how frustrating it can be and how far someone might go when a company refuses to stop. After months of nonstop harassment, one person decided the only solution was to call the company’s CEO and CFO at their homes. But was that going too far?

Here’s The Original Post:

The Harassment That Wouldn’t Stop

The writer was staying in a temporary corporate apartment for work. Almost immediately, they began receiving collection calls for the previous tenant.

They tried everything. They politely explained the debt wasn’t theirs. They got firmer. They begged. They asked for supervisors. But the employees on the phone refused to help or even give their names.

Under U.S. law today, this behavior would likely violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits repeated harassing calls and requires collectors to stop when they have the wrong number.

But this happened in the early 2000s, when fewer people knew their rights and enforcement was weaker.

According to the CFPB, 40% of consumers say debt collectors call too often, and 15% say they receive calls meant for someone else entirely. It’s a widespread problem, and at that time, the writer had no easy way to stop it.

The Breaking Point

One particularly rude call pushed them over the edge. Exhausted, angry, and desperate for quiet, they searched online (or the early-internet equivalent) for the company’s leadership.

They found that the CEO and CFO had unusual names and publicly listed home phone numbers. It was a different era; people didn’t always hide their personal information.

At 8 p.m. on a Sunday, they left each executive a calm message:
Since your company keeps calling me, I will call you every time they call me.

That was all.

Less than ten minutes later, an IT employee called, asking for the details so they could fix the issue immediately. The harassment stopped permanently.

Why This Worked

This action sounds dramatic, but there’s a practical explanation. Corporate officers protect company reputation.

A consumer repeatedly calling their home is a crisis they want to shut down fast. Today, executives often change phone numbers or use assistants, but in the early 2000s, many still had publicly listed home phones.

The FDCPA also states that collectors must stop calling when they learn they have the wrong person.

A message reaching top executives almost certainly led to an internal investigation and someone realizing the company could be legally liable.

Was It an Overreaction?

Looking at the facts, probably not.

• Repeated wrong-number calls are a known issue that companies are legally responsible for fixing.

• Calls outside legal hours (before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.) are now illegal, and the writer’s calls often happened during kids’ naps, bedtime, and weekends.

• Failure to verify identity is also a violation; collectors must confirm they’re calling the right person.

• The psychological toll can be serious. Research shows that aggressive collection calls increase stress, anxiety, and sleep disruption.

The writer took the only step that finally got results.

Take a look at the comments from fellow users:

Before reading how others reacted, it’s important to remember how personal, and emotional, debt collection stories can be. 

Many people have dealt with wrong-number calls, aggressive collectors, or billing mistakes. 

So it’s no surprise that commenters shared their own stories of frustration, legal advice, and creative revenge.

In the end, the writer didn’t scream, threaten, or behave abusively, they simply gave the company’s leaders a taste of their own tactics.

It worked instantly. While calling executives at home might seem extreme, the constant harassment left them with no reasonable options.

And sometimes, the only way to make a big company listen is to speak directly to the top.