Yellowknife (Mar 23/05) - The Mounties always get their man and bill collectors always gets paid -- well, at least most of the time they do.

Jim Wilson, president of Aurora Collections Services Ltd., knows the ins and outs of tracking down overdue accounts, knowledge gleaned from years on the job.

Jim Wilson, president of Aurora Collection Services Ltd., will host a seminar teaching business people how to recover on bad debts. - Stephan Burnett/NNSL photo

It's a job that's not likely to win you any popularity contests, but is not without excitement.

While working in Edmonton, Wilson and his collection cohorts were tracking down a bad debt on a telephone bill. After calling the numbers listed on an old bill, the debtor was contacted and promptly told the agency someone would get back to them.

"About an hour and a half later we got a call from a Staff Sergeant with the RCMP demanding to know how we got the name and phone number of this person," he said.

Wilson explained the person was in the witness protection program and the RCMP officer wanted to know how the collection agency had breached their system.

Aurora Collection Services will be holding a seminar on April 26, to teach business people how to collect on their bad debts.

Guest speaker Tim Paulsen is the author of Paid In Full.

Wild stories

He said he's heard a few wild excuses for not paying bills ranging from "I couldn't because I was bitten by a rattlesnake," to "A goat ate a wallet."

The best one was the lady who threatened the collection agency with a paternity suit.

The woman said the persistent phone calls -- combined with the new birth control bills she was taking -- were upsetting her metabolism.

She said she would stop taking the pill and sue the collection agency if the calls didn't stop.