I have had some nasty collection calls from Discover card. They call daily, sometimes seven times a day. I speak to them about once every two weeks. Two weeks ago they wanted to set me up on a hardship plan; I told them I can't make a mortgage payment right now, why would I pay a credit card. The hardship plan was 17% interest for one year, keep in mind I have had this account since the late 90's and never have had a late payment with them; this is how they treat people when they are on hard times, no wonder their default rate is so high, it's just totally unreasonable.
This week they wanted to speak to family members to see if they could help pay my minimum payment; they asked to speak to my parents. I'm assuming this is part of the collection process to wear you down. It is very upsetting, but I guess in prospective they are just doing their job. I don't intend to speak with them again until I am over 90 days past due. I have basically told them that making a minimum payment when I have barely an income coming in and am only able to pay for the necessities, would only be a bandaid on a cut that is bleeding all over the place. I further told them that I want this over with and will only settle the account since I am receiving some money and creditors that want to settle will get what I have.
So now the phone is ringing - guess what, it is Discover again, they are relentless and will do this all day even though I spoke to them yesterday. Another little thing they do is the first caller takes sympathy and then says, "Oh, let me transfer this call to someone who can stop the calls from coming" , then you get pressured by another collection agent and then they call you again an hour after you're off the phone with them.
This is why people eventually file bankruptcy, they get tired of the harassment. I told the collection agent I was trying to avoid bankruptcy and he told me go ahead and get my bankruptcy filed and give him the information, he wouldn't settle. So he's willing to get nothing ... or maybe pennies on a dollar over a five year period, if I file Chapter 13 - who is the idiot here.
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I am kind of going through the same thing right now. I lost a job 4 years ago that I had been with for 21 years. It took a year to get another full time job That wiped out my retirement, 401K, savings, etc. Things snowballed and we got deep into credit card debt.
We went to a credit counselor who suggested we see an attorney because they said we could not pay the amounts they could negotiate. We have an attorney, and he is in the process of trying to negotiate settlements with our creditors. Most of the creditors I have talked to have been very supportive and gave me phone numbers or addresses for my attorney to contact. Discover, however, said they refuse to negotiate settlements and won't talk to him. I am waiting to hear from him on that one.
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