I've always relied on credit cards to get by when my money gets low but some of the card companies got me this time too. So far I'm managing but I did get overwhelmed and missed some payments by a day or two. I was immediately surprised how quick they are to jack up your rates. Cit_b_k is the worst. Anyway my rule is never give your creditors your work number or cell number. As a matter of fact none of the card companies have my home phone number either.

Most customer service reps at this point are from collections. I worked customer service in soft collections (less than 30 day lates) before I went back to school. We got incentives and bonuses for successful collection calls. No help is generally offered until you are more than 90 days late. Point is they don't care about your situation they just want to collect.

Accepting calls from collections is depressing and degrading, that the point! They want to bully you into paying. Nothing you can do by phone that you can't do by mail. Change your number or better get a second number. You can always call if you need information just don't update your number. Use one line for family, friends, etc. Do not list that number on checks or any applications unless its a job.

Don't let them psych you out