<Ring>

"Hello?"

"Yes, is Mike Smith in please?"

"This is him."

"Mike, this is Gord from Gamer's Edge.  I'm phoning in regards to the status of your account.  Specifically your son Justin who ran up over $200 in late charges that have never been paid."

"WHAT?!  How did that happen?!?"

"Well, he kept out a PlayStation and three games for more than two months.  I talked to both you and Justin a few times and I was told by both of you that it would be paid for in full when it was returned.  I gave you guys the monthly rate."

"I don't have an account there!  My son owes for his own bills, and you should have known better than to rent to him!"

"Actually, you do have an account here.   It's your account.  You signed it up so he could rent machines."

"No I don't.  You're just saying that so I'll pay his bill.  I'm never paying it!"

"Seriously, it's your account.  I have your drivers license and SIN # on file.  If it goes to collections it's a guaranteed hit on your credit file.  There is no mistake here."

"I'm not paying for my son's bills."

"Actually, they are your bills.  You agreed to pay any charges he incurs.  We talked about this when you set your account up.  It was your account, and Justin could use it."

"I don't have an account there.  I've never been to your store!"

"We covered that already.  Mike, look, just come down and make an offer on this.  I can understand you're pissed at what your son did.  Hell, if I charged you the full rate of $7 a day for the games and system, it would be over $400.  I'm not being a Nazi here, just come down and set up to pay maybe $150 and we'll call it done."

"I'm never paying!" and then he hung up.  Tsk.

So it was Gord's fault here, apparently.  Anyway, this was forwarded to collections and the collection company got a few phone calls from a couple banks regarding it.  Don't know if Mike ever got his loans he was trying to get, but given that there was more than one call, it would suggest he didn't.  :)