Are credit collectors paid to harass people?

I called a agency which just recently went into collections. It's all over a cell phone from Verizon and I only owed $180. I was on a payment plan with them and told them my last bill would be paid in full. Well turned out it wasn't soon enough so they put my account through an agency. I call them back and I have a person telling me they would need my account information to run the check through for the end of the month. I tell her that I am just going to call back to make sure I'll have funds available or I'll call that day. She goes off on a rampage and asks if I'm refusing to pay. I tell her No. She then raises her voice at me and says she is going to write down refusal to pay and she will proceed with action. I'm there hearing here and think why is she yelling at me and harassing me. I hang up on here. I call back only to find that it is the same women and I have no choice but to give my account info and after it's complete I hang up without thanking her for her rude behavior.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and how was it handled? how would one handle this situation? I'm just curious because that is the first time someone who claims to be "professional" yells at the customer.

They are under federal regulation. The high-pressure tactics are illegal.

Do some web research and find the agency you need to report them to.

First off, you're not a customer anymore, you're a debtor, or an ex-customer if they've dropped you by now. So in my opinion, you don't deserve friendly customer service anymore.

That being said, there are restrictions on what they can do. They can't repeatedly call you all day, they can't call you nasty names or swear or anything really blatant like that. But they don't need to be nice to you, either. Their jobs depend on performance, and that means doing what's necessary to coax people to pay. A lot of people are not inclined to do much of anything unless someone yells at them to do it, so in a way their job depends on it. And on a personal level, I'm sure most people working for a collection agency get sick of seeing how many people don't pay their bills and hearing the same sorry sob stories all day, and they probably get yelled at a lot more than they ever yell at ex-customers. Everybody's out on disability with a broken leg and six kids with MS and a dying mother and their car is in flames as we speak out in the parking lot, etc etc... we all have bad stuff that happens to us, but some of us still dig in and find a way to pay our bills regardless. So look at it from their perspective.

To answer your question, they're paid to get your money... and if that means being a bit tough on you, then so be it.

"only" owe $180?? No reason for that. Do what you need to do to pay the debts that you incur. If you pay your debts on time, you will never hear form any of these people and thus solving your issue.

most collection agencies get half of whatever they collect so I guess thats their pay