Thanks for all your responses. I think when our taxes come back I'll call the co. and see if I can get the bal. reduced since we'll be paying it in full. I'll be glad to see this card gone! FYI: we are current w/ them.

It will ruin your credit score!!! Believe me they are a rip off!! DH and I tried this one time and it was a huge mistake. We had it set up to pay $600 a month to this company and they would contact our cc. Well after 2 months they didn't contact our cc and we were in default. Then we had back payments and increased interest plus late fees. It was a MESS!! Plus when we cancelled and told them to take a hike, it was in the contract that they kept the $1200 we had paid them for the 2 months. Let's just say that was 6 years ago and we still have some of the effects of it. Plus, DH talked to a CC reprenstive and they said that not all cc companies accept cc consoldation (sp) and it goes against your credit score for up to 7 years like bankruptsy.

they won't settle unless you are really behind, and they feel that they won't get paid otherwise. but you let it "go" for months in order to pay less, that will mess up your credit.
I would just pay as much as you can monthly until it's paid off.
plus, you did spend the money, so, MORALLY, YOU OWE THE MONEY IN FULL.
really, you don't owe that much.

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Thanks,
Bestmommysaver!

Good point and I agree! I personally wouldn't ask my credit card company to accept less as I did use their money to purchase what I wanted, but I have and will continue to ask medical providers to accept less. They take less when insurance pays so why not when I'm paying out of pocket, even if it's only my share/deductible?

I bought a computer through Dell a 6 yrs ago. I financed it through them for an outrageous interest rate - it seemed like a good idea at the time and I thought I would get it paid off in 6 months before the interest kicked in - not!

The interest charges and late fees piled up and within a year I owed just as much as I did when I bought it. 2 yrs later I was still making payments - on time but i still owed more than I paid for it and paid more than it cost.

They accepted a settlement - $600 less than what I owed. I paid it. For a year I was contacted by collectors and hounded for that $600, I had to fax them a notarized copy of the agreement to get them to stop calling and reporting me delinquent.... 6 different collectors!

I now have a bunch of nasty entries on my credit report AND the settlement was used against me. Never again

As others have suggested, I would contact the credit card company directly. They may do it on their own. I have done this, and saved about $400. I had to make two large payments two pay off the rest of the bill, as the condition for the settlement. As for the moral issue, many times credit cards rack up fees far in excess of the actual purchases + interest, raising the balance exorbitantly. So for me, I wouldn't think twice about asking to settle in a situation like that.