Me and A Debt Collector (long)

Great opener! I have been in that boat...could say been there, done that, however, I am still there! I lost my job as a newspaper editor in 2001. I had a car half way paid off, three credit cards (low amounts, less than $500 total), and a personal loan. I was living a modest lifestyle. Then the newspaper was sold along with 5 others. The six papers were restructured, instead of six editors, there would be two!. I suffered unemployment for 15 months and finally obtained a temporary position that led to permanent employment with a mortgage company. That job lasted 9 months before I was restructured out of it. Boom! Unemployed again. Another seven months pass before I find a job making less than half of what I earned in 2001! I was in retail and I absolutely hated it. I only lasted five months in retail land. I found myself not giving a darn about anyone or anything. I decided then that I wasn't going to take whatever I could find, I was determined to find a job where I might obtain stability. So I looked into cashiering for a local car dealership. I worked there first as a temp, completed the assignment, had no work for three months, then the dealership called me out of the blue asking if i was looking for work and offered me the job that I had filled temporarily. I took it, excited, thinking of how I was finally going to get out of the bad debt crunch I was in. I made payment arrangements with everyone! I wanted to try to pay my debt down. No payments since 2002, the credit card accounts had been closed because I was unable to make the minimum monthly payment and they were in no way understanding of helpful. Then the rug was jerked out from under me when the car dealership was sold to a competitor. There I am, no job again! All of my payment arrangements were met for exactly three months! Not enough to knock a dent into them. Now the accounts have been sold to yet another collector. For the four of the past six years, I was very afraid to answer my phone for the fear that I would get yet another aggressive collector. I had four different collector on me at one time and they will call every day! I can't really afford it, but I signed up for caller id for better call screening. Now I know when I can safely answer the phone. If I don't know the number, the phone isn't answered! As for my car loan which should have been paid off three years ago, I used my personal loan account to pay the car loan off, so now I am paying over $3000 (a combination of the personal loan I already had and the car loan amount) for a car that is worth less than a $1000 and is currently in need of a transmission. The credit collectors still call and each one will leave a message on my answering machine everyday except Sunday! I figure that until I acquire a job that pays me as much as I made in 2001, that the credit cards will simply have to wait. So again I commend you on a good discussion, wish you the best of luck, and say "Been there, still there!"

What country are you in? I suggest that you either write a letter to the Head of Collection of that company or you set up a meeting and meet with them personally to explain your side. You can also let the company know how the people who call you up treat you. For all we know, these are only call center agents. That way they can do the proper sanction to these people.