It should come as no surprise that collection agencies have stepped up their activities in the pursuit of monies owed by consumers. However, with the increase of collection actions there has also been an increase of unsavory collection practices, many of which are unacceptable or even illegal. USA Today published an article that exposes just the tip of the questionable debt collection practices iceberg. That article gives a glimpse of what consumers who are delinquent in payment are facing, and what they can do about improper collections practices.

According to USA Today, "Complaints against debt collectors, after plunging in 2005, are rising again, the Council of Better Business Bureaus says. Complaints surged 20% in 2006 and 26% in 2007, according to the BBB's preliminary figures. And the Federal Trade Commission, which receives more complaints about debt collectors than about any other industry, says it's seen a steady rise in complaints against debt collectors." Debtors need to be made aware that they have specific protections that are provided by law. I'll tell you where to get started.

MSN Money has released its MSN Money-Zogby poll of the "Customer Service Hall of Shame," which ranks the top 10 companies with bad customer service. Here are how the results came in, with the name of the company and the percentage of respondents who rated the service as "poor:"

1. Sprint 40%
2. Bank of America 30%
3. Comcast 30%
4. Time Warner Cable 29%
5. AT&T 26%
6. CitiBank 24%
7. Wal-Mart 23%
8. Verizon 22%
9. Wells Fargo 21%
10. DirecTV 20%

As I saw the results, I was also reading a wonderful new book called The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received. Dr. Bob Froehlich of Deutsche Asset Management recounted this quote from James Walton, the son of Wal-Mart (which is, ironically, number 7 for poor customer service) founder Sam Walton, talking about the importance of customer service:

"You know what people don't get? They don't understand the fundamental relation between a profitable company and a company with great service. Most investors don't look at this correlation, even though it's the leading indicator of a profitable company. Instead, they are too busy looking at price/earnings ratios and balance sheets, but at the end of the day if you can find those companies and industries that are really focusing on service, you watch what happens five or six years later. Good service is the best indicator. It is a qualitative way to look at companies and investment opportunities unlike anything else you tend to see.

I think that James Walton's words may be a bit of an exaggeration -- some companies, possibly including Wal-Mart, are so strong in other areas, or so entrenched, that customer service may no longer be so important for them. But if Walton was right (I suspect in many cases he is), investors may want to avoid the Hall of Shame.