i remember a particularly obnoxious debt collector trying to collect on a debt I was disputing (and ultimately settled for pennies on the dollar while in litigation, because there was a truly good defense) who kept intoning gravely, “you made a promise to pay that money, you gave your word…” And I kept laughing at him. but he kept saying it, over and over as if it were the only line he could remember from debt collector training school. Part of the settlement was also that it couldn’t be reported to the credit agencies. I can still hear the words of that debt collector ringing in my head, like the ghost of christmas visa bills past — YOU MADE A PROMISE! it sort of had a tiny effect on me, very tiny. Probably works on some people. I made a promise, i guess, but the nature of the promise was open to interpretation…
