At one point in my career I worked as a debt collector for a business.
Being polite and working with people resulted in nearly 98% of past due amounts being paid up. And I telephoned only betwee the hours of 10am and 4pm.
So, not all debt collectors are ‘bottom feeders’.
There are always exceptions.
... but, commercial debt collectors, generally speaking, are in the business of extorting money out of people by irritating or scaring them to death. Granted, in most cases, the money is actually owed. But, they threaten people to the extent that they will prioritize a credit card bill over food or utilities. They’re typically judged on their collection rate, not their people skills, and they’ll use any tactic they think will get you to pay.
Dave Ramsey tells a story of his wife being on the phone with American Express (who was trying to collect a legitimate debt when Ramsey was broke) and AE asked his wife why she would stay married to a man that doesn’t pay his debts.
That’s the kind of people that generally populate debt collection agencies ... and, while good people do occasionally get jobs as collectors, they’re often driven out of the industry for lack of production.
SnakeDoc