My first question is Prepaid Discover Card/Visa card, any good? Looking forward for any answer. Second question.. So I have read a lot on here - some people say absolutely stay off the phone and other say you should use the phone if you feel comfortable..

FYI - I am a head hunter by trade so I have a lot of experience cold calling people - even top executives in major companies. I know how to control a conversation, not get upset and I don't answer stupid "have you stopped stealing from your creditors yet?" question..

This is my intro thread where I explain that I need to get several collection items deleted or showing "paid" to get a particular job..

Http://creditboards....howtopic=422062.

Now - so far:.

1. I paid RJM and it took just over 1 week for their TL to show "Paid".

2. I paid another agency that said they would report on Jan 1st and delete the TL (due to the small amount) - they sent me a letter telling me they were doing this..

3. A utility sent my account to a CA 2 years ago. The balance was long paid, but the CA showed it due..

Last Friday I made some phone calls:.

1. I called the CA mentioned it item #3 above - the guy was really cool and said he would check it out and manually correct it as soon as he confirmed the status. Saturday morning it was marked "paid".

2. This is the biggie:.

I have a TL from a CA claiming I owe over $1000 for a student load from an Online University. I attended for 2 months in 2001 and then lost my job - I went into default right away and made a few payments here and there, but the account is very old and DOLD is probably 8 years..

So I called the CA and said "told them I have not had any student debt in 8+ years and that if the account was mine, it was way beyond SOL and is time barred, etc..

"lets start by updating your information".

I did not call to give you information to help you collect a time barred debt.

"when did you last attend this school?".

I never said I attended it - I just said I have not had any student debt in 8 years and this is a time barred debt, you are violating my rights and you are breaking the law..

[this is where it got crazy].

"I am sorry, I don't understand... how can we help you today?".

Delete the trade line..

"I can't do that but I can take a Discover credit card or online check...".

Do you know what a SOL is?.

"I am not sure what you mean by that - this IS YOUR LOAN, if you did not call to pay, why did you call?".

Is there a supervisor available? someone who understands spoken English?.

"sure".

[that was the short version, he actually went through contortions for a good 5-7 minutes to avoid acknowledging what I was saying].

The super comes on and mirandizes me..

We pretty much repeat the first conversation - again with entering a total comprehension vacuum whenever SOL or time barred comes up..

Then I ask - when was the account opened?.

"this account was opened 3 years ago and you need to pay it!".

When was the debt incurred?.

"sir, this came into our office 3 years ago and you need to pay it!".

Around we go a couple more times..

I told her she was breaking Texas law.

She said "is this a refusal to pay?".

I said "there is nothing to pay!".

Then she hung up..

A day later, they hard pulled my credit (TU)..

Today I am sending them a TFC based DV letter CMRRR..

Now I am interested to hear about the downside of calling a CA - personally, I found it extremely interesting to get a peek into their cognitive dissonance bubble where any easily verifiable fact is transmuted into white noise before entering their ears..

They are clearly re-aging the debt as the drop off date is about 3 years from now and they seemed to be trying to get me to claim the debt or indirectly admit that it was mine - which I did not do and in Texas, you have to promise in writing to re-age a debt properly. The hard pull was not really a surprise, I poked them and they growled. They seem pretty stupid..

What's the worst thing that could happen..