ram8007 Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 I just wanted to post about my experience with a CCCS for anyone that is interested. I signed up November '06 before I had found this website. At that time I had about $30,000 in cc debt and most of my interest rates if not all were in the 20's. I was making the minimum payments but there was just no way to make any progress on any of the balances. I did try negotiate lower interest rates with the credit card companies, but was referred to CCCS. So I decided to go that route because I want to get out of debt! 9 out of 14 credit cards received interest rates of 10% or lower once I joined the program. My minimum payments remained the same for the most part, which was fine with me. I just wanted to see my balances start going down. So as of now...my cc debt has decreased by almost $5,000. So to me that is progress! Some of the balances are getting low enough I should be able to make an extra payment and pay the card off completely. Maybe I should have persevered with the credit card companies and did my own negotiation, but I really didn't know any other option at the time. Now the downside of CCCS...1.) When I signed up I ended missing some payments, because I was having financial problems at the time, and I misunderstood that late payments would be taken away. I thought they would clear the history so it would all be good, but that meant I would no longer be charged late payments from that point on. Stupid me! I have gotten 2 cc to delete late payments by using goodwill letters. I plan to keep trying with the others to see if I can get a few more deleted. 2.) Credit bureaus show that I am in credit counseling. This is noted as derogatory with some of the bureaus. I think Transunion in particular. Can't remember about the other two but I'm thinking they don't classify it as a negative account, it's just noted that it's being management by CCCS. 3.) Dell will not participate in the program, so I had some late fees on that I kept having to get taken care of, but we finally go that straightened out. 4.) Some CC will close your account when you enter the program so that is also another negative on your credit report. So far that has been the only negatives. I just wanted to share my experiences because it seems to always be cast in very negative light, but I think it may be an okay option for some people. It just depends on what your overall goal is. Mine was to pay off my debt as quickly as possible and I had to have lower interest rates to do so. My credit scores have been steadily increasing also since I took all the hits from the late fees. I think there is light at the end of the tunnel!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbella Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Thank you for posting this. I know many people on this board don't agree with CCCS, but I felt it was the best option for us, and I'm glad to hear it's working for you. It gives me hope!What did you say in your goodwill letter to get them to delete the late payments? Any hints on that would be so appreciated.Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTigggers Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Well I'm glad to hear that CCCS is working for you but that was not the case for me.I went with Cambridge and had nothing but problems.Their monthly payment was ridiculous they didn't do that great of a job with the Interest and the creditors still kept calling me.Needless to say I wasn't with them for long.I started my own repayment a year later and did much better on my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cc_debt Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 I have around 20 k debt and is now with collections. I have a job now and would like to go through CCCS. [link removed] Some one please suggest how good and reliable is their service for debt Management?If some one enroll for Debt Management prog, will it affect their credit score?Please advice and Thanks much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerikaner83 Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 First of all, this thread is almost a year old. Secondly, there is a lot of info on CCCs here on the boards, as are the answers to the questions you asked. The main feeling here on the boards is that IF you MUST go through a company, CCCS is the lesser of the evils. But as always, YMMV.I'm going to go ahead and lock this one up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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