The collection agency explicitly told me that if I paid on time and paid the monthly amount they wanted that I could avoid having a negative mark put onto my credit report. 

After paying them on time, and paying the amounts they requested, they then reported the collection AFTER I had finished paying them off. To be clear - They held off on reporting the collections debt until I had finished paying them off in full WITH interest as well! 

In addition to that, the last written email contact I had with them when requesting an exact amount to pay off had them reply back with " about {$110.00} ''. They did not give an exact amount. On my last payment I paid {$120.00}, just to be safe. I never received any confirmation that the debt was paid off nor have I received any money owed back ( if we stick with the assumption that I owed {$110.00} and some change, then they owe me at least {$4.00} and some change )! 

The only way that I know the debt was paid off was by the collection remark on my credit report showing a {$0.00} balance on the collection amount and it being marked as paid.