Agreed. About few years ago my credit score (which I checked semi-regularly) took a ~150 point dive, because a collection showed up on it from a $120 medical bi

Agreed. About few years ago my credit score (which I checked semi-regularly) took a ~150 point dive, because a collection showed up on it from a $120 medical bill I had four years before. I had had an internship in another state, went to a clinic with a case of strep throat, they took my information, made a copy of my insurance card, I paid a co-pay, and I thought that was it. Unfortunately, the clinic lost (according to them) the copy of my insurance card, the address they had was entered incorrectly, and no one bothered to call me... Anyway, I called up the collections agency listed on my credit report, the guy seemed reasonable, I got his name and employee number, paid the bill on the spot, and it completely disappeared from my report the next week. It took just a few minutes on the phone -- poof! I would be careful about making sure you really owe the money in the first place. In my case, this really should have been paid by insurance four years ago, and a call to the clinic confirmed my suspicions that it was staffed by apathetic morons. The collections agency, on the other hand -- a pleasure to deal with! Much easier to just pay it and move on with my life. And, yes, there's always the "chargeback" option, although, technically, I'm not sure that would be allowed under your credit card contract. You need to pay the debt because you owe it, and showing that you can take the money back if it doesn't disappear from your report might be tricky, if push came to shove. In hindsight, I probably should have gotten something in writing, but collections agencies don't really have a motivation to be assholes for no reason -- if you pay them, they probably don't want trouble later on.