"Secret" credit card companies don't want you to know?

[NoMoreE46]

So I see these commercials that  tout if you owe $10,000 or more to a credit card company then there's a "secret"  that they don't want you to know....

I am looking forward to be enlightened here.

Thanks

[GApeachy]

Yeah and it looked like a big ol' bucket of BS.

[coldfusion]

The "secret that credit card companies don't want you to know" is that if the account goes to collections they will often accept less-than-full payment to settle the account. 

The pitch is that for a fee they'll tell you what to do and when to do it (in a nutshell they tell you to stop making all payments against the balances) and when the accounts are in arrears they will negotiate in your behalf for a reduced settlement.   The part they don't emphasize is that the end result shreds your credit profile and leaves it in tatters,

[GApeachy]

---

@coldfusion wrote:

The part they don't emphasize is that the end result shreds your credit profile and leaves it in tatters,

---

.......and that's no "secret".

[tricie17]

@GApeachy   Everytime that I read your salutation at the bottom of your notes, I get a big ol laugh and it truely tickles my funny bones.  I guess I think about payday and laugh.

[GApeachy]

---

@tricie17 wrote:

@GApeachy   Everytime that I read your salutation at the bottom of your notes, I get a big ol laugh and it truely tickles my funny bones.  I guess I think about payday and laugh.

---

Lol! Sad but true........it's never enough

[M_Smart007]

---

@coldfusion wrote:

The "secret that credit card companies don't want you to know" is that if the account goes to collections they will often accept less-than-full payment to settle the account. 

The pitch is that for a fee they'll tell you what to do and when to do it (in a nutshell they tell you to stop making all payments against the balances) and when the accounts are in arrears they will negotiate in your behalf for a reduced settlement.   The part they don't emphasize is that the end result shreds your credit profile and leaves it in tatters,

---

This post by @coldfusion , Is dead on The Money!!!

[Anonymous]

I would think that if one owes $10K and is having an issue with paying, their credit is already in shambles!

[pt91978]

---

@coldfusion wrote:

The "secret that credit card companies don't want you to know" is that if the account goes to collections they will often accept less-than-full payment to settle the account. 

The pitch is that for a fee they'll tell you what to do and when to do it (in a nutshell they tell you to stop making all payments against the balances) and when the accounts are in arrears they will negotiate in your behalf for a reduced settlement.   The part they don't emphasize is that the end result shreds your credit profile and leaves it in tatters,

---

@coldfusion  You hit the nail in the head.  I made this stupid mistake back in 2018 when I maxed out all my cards, mainly 2 CapitalOne CC, and 1 Discover.  I couldn't keep up w/ the monthly min payments and I turned to one of these settlement companies.  They offered  for one easy affordable monthly payment, and settle for half of what I owed.  And yes, they told me to stop making all payments immediately so they could negotiate on my behalf.  Anyways, when the dust has settled, and I was done w/ them.  The fees and interest that I ended up paying this company is 60-65% of the total amount I owed the CC companies, so I didn't save that much, per se.  However, I ended up having a grand total of 35 charge offs, and a whole bunches of 120 - 150 day lates on my report.  So you're right @coldfusion , my CR is trash.  I have to learn this the hard way, and I hope no one else have to be the prey to these predator companies like I once did.  Run like Usain Bolt fast and far away from them as fast as you can.

[coldfusion]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I would think that if one owes $10K and is having an issue with paying, their credit is already in shambles!

---

Not necessarily; if one had (only) been making mininum payments one risks being balance chased but the accounts would still be reported as current.   You'd still be vulnerable to being exploited If you didn't see a way of getting out from under or you saw the well drying up such that at some point you couldn't even sustain making mininum payments.