I just checked back and that picture is gone from the article. It had a crowd of people with 4 or 5 if them holding up signs on what looked like printer paper with messages like “protect our students” but the signs and fonts looked unnaturally crisp, almost like a meme template
I don’t use debt collectors any more, but I have a construction company and a few times a year people just decide not to pay for their work. If someone really truly refuses to pay I could take them to small claims court, and I have, but it’s a ton of work and lawyers won’t bother with anything under 10k. I’ve literally had a judge say “so petty” about me taking someone through small claims for a $1200 they’d been dodging for years So some jerk can stiff me for $1500 and I have basically no recourse. I’m not talking about some impoverished person who I took advantage of, these are people with nice homes who make a habit of not paying bills. I’ll work with people who are short on cash and honest.
Even though debt collectors are 0/3 in the times I’ve used them, it’s at least something to fire off a final ‘fuck you and your credit’