When it comes to debt-collection agencies, a lot of things come to mind - and none of them very pleasant.
But a woman in the United States has achieved what many would consider impossible: taking on an abusive debt-collection company - and winning.
Diana Mey, from Wheeling, West Virginia, has turned the tables and is, ironically, trying to collect money from a collection agency after a court awarded a judgement in her favour to the tune of US$10 million (Dh36.7m).
The company in question is Reliant Financial Associates (RFA), which two years ago embarked on a frightening, aggressive campaign to collect a non-existent debt from her.
Mrs Mey has not yet received the money from RFA (no surprise there) and ABC News Nightline, which broke the story, has been unable to speak to the owners of the company.
"I don't know that I'll ever collect a dime, but if I can get their operation shut down, that would make me very happy," Mrs Mey said.
According to Nightline, two years ago, a debt collector from RFA left a message implying that her house was in jeopardy if she didn't pay a debt.
It is illegal for debt collectors to make empty threats about serving people with a lawsuit or seizing their home, Nightline said.
"They threatened to take legal action against our property and it wasn't even our debt," Mrs Mey told the news show.
It took more than a year for Mrs Mey to find a lawyer willing to take on the case but, in the end, her patience paid off.
"I hope that it sends a message to other debt collectors out there that you have to follow the law. Because if you don't, there are going to be people out there that are going to stand up against you."
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Just because the United Kingdom has slipped back into a recession, it doesn't mean Mervyn King, the Bank of England governor, has taken his eye off the little things in life. Such as ensuring that Britons have better access to the humble £5 (Dh29) note.
People in the UK are using 10 times more "fivers" than they were two years ago thanks to Mr King, who was concerned about the deteriorating condition of old notes in circulation, Reuters has reported.
He was also bothered by the fact that cash machines didn't stock the £5 note "because it was cheaper to stock them with £10 and £20 notes".
Two years ago, the central bank told lenders to ensure that by this year, 1.2 per cent of the cash dispensed from their machines was in £5 notes, Reuters added.
"This initiative has made significant progress in dealing with [my] concerns, which were also shared by the public," Mr King said last week.
"A key objective for the bank is to maintain public confidence in the currency by, meeting demand with good-quality genuine bank notes that the public can use with confidence."
Let's hope Mr King's next project will be to drum up some confidence in the country's economy.
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South Korean couples wanting to tie the knot are being forced to fork out up to US$200,000 (Dh734,640) for the ceremony - or more than four times their average annual income.
According to Reuters, the sky-high costs stem from a combination of cultural traditions that mandate expensive pre-wedding gifts between families, such as mink coats and diamond rings, along with a decades-old custom that the groom must pay for a home.
The average cost for a wedding last year was about 270 per cent up on 1999, while inflation during the same period rose 45.5 per cent, Reuters said. According to government data, total costs for a wedding - which could include up to 600 guests, many of whom the couple don't know - far outstrip the average annual household income of about $42,400,
To finance their weddings, couples are being forced to borrow from parents or take out loans. And because it is a cultural taboo to discuss money openly in South Korea, many couples are reluctant to speak about the exorbitant cost of getting married.
"Korean society is very tightly knit and people here are very concerned about how others view them," Harris Kim, a sociology assistant professor at Ewha Womans University, told Reuters.
Who said money can't buy love?
