When you are buried under a mounting pile of consumer debt and you are having trouble paying your bills each month, seeking out the assistance of an expensive professional service provider is likely to be the furthest thing from your mind. However, many consumers who have undertaken the debt settlement process have found that debt settlement attorneys offer a level of personalized advice and assistance that other types of service providers cannot compete with. Recent surveys of customers who had initiated a service contract with a debt settlement company not affiliated with a law firm found very high rates of customer dissatisfaction. In fact, fewer than two percent of the customers that began the debt settlement process in this way completed their program and paid off their debts. On the other hand, more than half of the consumers who worked with a debt settlement attorney reported being satisfied with their experience.