Many people can get into trouble with financial accounts, car loans, and credit cards. Sometimes when you get behind, the best reaction is to contact the lender and see if they have options to help you. If you do call, be nice. If you scream and cuss, the person on the phone is not going to want to help you. But even if they cannot help you, the person on the phone doesn’t deserve your anger anyway. They just work there. They do not own the company or make the policies. And they are trying to keep their job.

You should also consider that maybe that representative cannot help you, but their supervisor can. Ask them if you may speak with a supervisor. And if you get the supervisor on the line, be just as friendly. You should also be prepared to tell the supervisor what you appreciated about the Customer Service Representative–if there is anything to say. Remember the adage that “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” So if the CSR was calm or friendly or professional or kind, make sure you report that. But if the CSR was rude or cruel or impolite, forget that. You are trying to fix a problem you have, not the company. The supervisor will be more helpful to you if you remain calm, professional, and kind.

Another consequence of reporting rudeness, or being rude yourself, is that your comments are likely to be recorded in their file notes. So if you are rude today, then the next time you call, the new CSR will have an expectation of how you will treat them, and they will be less likely to help you as well. So don’t create problems for your future self.

And one final consideration is that some of the CSRs may be your neighbors, spouses of co-workers, or members of the same church. There are several companies that have call centers in Mesa, Arizona, in Tempe, Arizona, in Chandler, Arizona, and in Phoenix and Scottsdale. CSRs talk about problem customers. You don’t want them to talk about you.

But if you do not feel that you will get anywhere, or it stresses you out too much to handle it yourself, you should consider speaking with an attorney about helping you with the problem. Whether you use Cesta Legal, PLLC, or another firm, an attorney is likely to get better results handling debt issues. This is in part because the attorneys have every reason to be professional–ethically, and because it benefits the client. And this is also because having an attorney working on the issue causes companies to take the concerns more seriously. And having an attorney that is also a bankruptcy attorney makes credit card companies and other financial lenders wonder if you will file bankruptcy if they do not help you.