My first settlement offer Juniper/ barclays

Hi- Started my journey in late September with 6 cards in 20k debt. Today I received my first settlement offer from Juniper/ Barclays for 50% of balance. I haven't reached the 120 day mark, yet, so I'm going to call them back next week to see if I can get them down to 25%.
Thanks again to everyone on this forum. I'm so relieved that this journey is coming to fruition - I was very worried at first.
DWD

wtg down. I am not personally familiar with Barclays, but you don't look like you are going to need a lot of help getting the best deal. Keep up the good work. dtm

btw, I had one regional bank card that I settled at 50... It was just the best I could do.

Thanks, Dan. This offer was kind of a fluke. Some scam company (No address just a website) sent me a settlement offer stating to be from Juniper. So I called Juniper directly and they said, "Oh, yes, we sent you an offer." Though, the letter I received had a different account number and wrong balance. I guess they were just happy to hear that I'm willing to negotiate. They also stated the offer could go up or down. I hope I can get them down next week. Since this is my first offer and would like to use this as a bargaining tool with other CC's.
Moving Forward
DWD

Greetings "Down withDebt"

Welcome to the forums and btw, great screen name!

You've got a plan and it seems that you are on the attack.

Nothing tastes as good as your first settlement.

Regards,
King "Kash" Jabba Labba

So I called juniper/barclays back to today - at exactly 120 days late. They said they couldn't offer me anything better than the 50%. Said, "These settlement offers are kind of set in stone." How many of you have heard that before?? I really want to get this over. Do you think I can push them down in a couple more weeks or should I jump on it now because it's actually only a small amount. Any negotiating tips would be more than welcome.
Desperate to make my first settlement I took a 65% offer from chase. They were threatening litigation. Gawd, these people are snakes. I know I fell for their bluff but it was another very small balance.
Moving on
DWD

I too received a settlement offer from Barclays for 45% of the original balance of $10,000 which comes out to be around $4500. It turns out that this is part of their "settlement program" and not a "manual settlement offer". I've already paid the first of the first 2 of the 3-installment agreement. The first 2 payments were for $1000 total, and the remaining $3500 is due by 5/2/2011. While I would save a lot of money by fulfilling the obligation, I discovered that they will report to the credit reporting agencies as "settled for less than original amount" and maybe even a statement that the rest will be "charged off". The "settled for less than..." statement on my credit card would be on there for 7 years and would significantly hurt my chances of getting a home loan or car loan in a few years (or at least ensure the interest rate will be ridiculously high if I even get the loan).

Now, I'm drafting a letter for a settlement offer for the same amount of money to them but including the provisions that the account be deleted from my credit report and that no negative report will be made to the credit reporting agency about the account.

We'll see what happens, and needless to say, I hope it works.

Settled for less than the original amount is accurate. They are required to report accurate information, by law. That's generally what you'll see on your report after a settlement. Sometimes you'll see "settled in full." It's the same thing.

We just settled with Barclays for 25%. Balance was just over 21K and settled for 5100.00. I called a few days ago and was still at 50%. Called yesterday (121 days) and that was the offer. We took it and are so thankful to be out from under that. That will be the only card we settle and now to pay off the rest. Good luck to everyone.

Daisy May, that's great! Thanks for sharing! I'm hoping to reach a settlement with Barclays too. Did you use a special phone number? I've seen a lot of numbers posted for different creditors, but none for Barclays.

I am trying to get them to offer a settlement-but they say they don't do that. Which i now know is BS. I owe $6,500 and would love to pay at least half to get them off my back. I entered into a lower interest rate program with them last Dec. But stopped paying them in March and need to know how long before they will consider a payoff offer? Did you initiate the settlement offer or did your account have to go into collections for them to conside a payoff amount? Thank you!