I have recently tried to do a little bit of debt settlement on my own. I must admit, while I feel capable of doing it, dealing with collection agencies is a stressful experience. If you thought avoiding calls from these creditors was bad, just wait until you try actually talking to them.

While I have been able to talk some creditors down on what I owed, I was recently told by a collection agency that they will not negotiate when it comes to a medical bill. Is this a common practice? Or was I simply lied to by a collection agency (again)?