I'm a simple emigrant and I don't like debts

Debt collectors have always seemed to me to be something from the criminal and marginal world. Before I moved, I thought they only dealt with microcredit enthusiasts or participants in gangland feuds. Moreover, in Tyumen my parents paid all adult payments, and I spent only on glitter. To my surprise, in Germany debt collectors are a normal thing. Almost every respectable company that sells services or goods has a contract with a debt collection agency. The first time I encountered this was a few years ago, when I still didn't have a black belt in German. Then I didn't know two things: the favorite business model for selling services in Germany is a subscription, and checking physical mail here — this is a chore. Therefore I bought a year-long discount for train tickets and after a year of use I stopped paying attention to it. One fine day I returned from a trip and found in the mail letters from Deutsche Bank and from the collectors. It turned out my discount automatically renewed for the next year, and I hadn't paid for it. And within a week, while I wasn't at home, my 'debt' of 50 euros had already been handed over to the collectors. Then I wrote them a letter and explained everything and paid only for the discount card itself and a couple of euros for the late payment. They left me alone after that. But I know stories where, because of a bill for a couple of euros or even cents, people receive tens of euros in penalties, and of course the thing isn't even about the money—it's just unnecessary hassle that irritates. It's good that with local debt collectors you can talk and clarify things. Have you ever dealt with collectors? Picture: Tax office: 'Last warning' Me: 'Phew, at last they'll leave me alone' #useful #money