I owe money to Key Bank because of some high fees that I was charged. I set up a payment for $50.00 and said I could possibly pay the balance off in 2 weeks. The woman I spoke with said just to call back before the payment date if I needed to change it. I called back two days before that date because I realized there was no way I could pay $345.00. I called just to change it to $5o - not to cancel it entirely. The short story is she told me no I couldn't do that - told me to call back and talk to a supervisor and hung up on me. I called back and asked for a supervisor and got a 'lead' - she was very mean - told me no and that I had to pay it - tried to make me feel bad for not paying it all - I told her specifically I could give her $5.00 if that was all I could afford and that I learned that in my debt management meetings - she told me to "debt manage this". I told her it was illegal to harass me. She then told me to hold on and transferred me where someone who was a little nicer who changed my payment amount.

Everyone needs to be aware of their rights. They can not force you to pay more than you can pay. If they threaten to put it on your credit report - if it is in collections - it is already on your credit report. Yelling at you and harassing you is illegal. My friend used to work for a collection agency - she said it is very common for them to use fake names and to just transfer you around the office if you ask for a supervisor. You should call your current bank manager and explain the situation and have them do a conference call. Make sure you do this before the scheduled payment date!!!!!

Being in debt is hard enough - a good company will work with you - not make you feel even worse.