My LVNV story and questions

My boyfriend got a collection letter for a debt he had from 1995 from "Vital Recovery Services" who works for "LVNV Funding." He called to find out what it was regarding, and they said it was an old utility bill. At first I was wary of it as a scam, but I called his old utility company and found out that he actually did owe him $, so I said "well, we might as well pay it." They were offering what I thought was a good offer of %50 off the original balance.

When I called, the guy rushed me into paying through a credit card, rather than via check, and I thought it seemed a bit fishy, but I stupidly did it anyway. My boyfriend had not so good credit for a long time, and I guess we were just eager to keep it on track.

Anyway, after that, I felt weird about it, so I did some research. Turns out, we were WAY past the statute of limitations on the loan, there was no record of it on his credit, and this company is actually a "junk debt" buyer and is innumerable lawsuits and apparently everybody hates them. Seems most people know to stay away from their scams, as well. I'm usually more savvy than that, so I was very pissed at myself for falling for this. I also learned that making a payment essentially "re-opens" the old loan, meaning that now it could very well show up on his credit.

Anyway, I called them back and told them to forget it - I didn't want to pay on this and I wanted my moeny back. After 20 minutes of the guy hemming and hawing about how it had already gone through, he put his manager on at my request. The manager was a complete a**hole, swore at me, and called my boyfriend dishonest repeatedly for not wanting to pay on a loan that was his responsibility (but which had been long forgotten by the debtor). He even said to me "he's so dishonest, he hasn't even married you yet!" He was so enraged during the conversation that I could literally hear his spit flying. He also hung up in my ear.

I tried to go from the other end and have my credit card company block it, but they said it had essentially gone through already, even though it's still technically "pending." They did recommend switching my card number to prevent future activity from them, which I did. They also said I can try disputing it after it goes through.

To make matters worse, the original worker from "Vital Recovery Services" called me from his _personal_ phone and begged me not to dispute it because it could get him fired. I tired to brush him off, but he was persistent and repetitive. I was just creeped out that he had taken down my number and called me unsolicited like that. Definitely a shady operation from start to finish.

If you've read this far, good for you. :) My question is, should I just suck it up and hope that they're out of my life forever? It was $280, which is not a ton of money, but we're not rich by any stretch of the imagination and that hurts us financially. I really want to dispute it because it was so obviously a scam and because they were so creepy, but I fear for my boyfriend's credit being screwed up in some way. I've heard that they can pretty ruthlessly attack people's credit with no real basis. Another question - did they even have a right to take a payment from me, since it was not legitimately my account? If not, maybe I can pursue the dispute from that angle?

Thank you for any and all advice!

-Pea