Unfortunately as with any industry there are people who are paid to make a quick buck at the expense of others, or take advantage of someone else's fears; these sort of people can be found in any conceivable industry, with the exchange of money for services takes place.
Perhaps at times it is amplified when the consumer realizes that they could have in fact conducted self credit repair, without having to pay exorbitant fees.
Not that it's right to charge high fees for such a service, if one is engaging in a service and incurring overheads, then the service provider also has expenses to pay and this should also be kept in mind.
If people take the time to investigate their current situation, and realize that it can be done by themselves, by setting their ignorance or laziness aside, they too will realize that it takes time and effort to conduct self credit repair and therefore these agencies that do assist in the process, and are above board have every right to charge a nominal fee for their services.
This does not mean that one cannot conduct self credit repair, if you know where to go, what to do, and more importantly have the time to do it.
Unfortunately what you will realize when you start with the self credit repair process is that you will require a lot of time, patience and tenacity in dealing with the credit bureaus, and in sorting your situation out.
This due to the fact that you will be dealing with a large corporation, represented by the bureaucratic red tape, as well as a more than likely overworked employee that is at the verge of cracking under the pressure, due to their large work load.
It definitely will not help you to become irritated and rude with these individuals, because they are more than likely dealing with hundreds of people with similar situations like you every single day.
Once you have completed the forms necessary for self credit repair, make sure that you have sufficient copies of all your documentation before parting with any of it, preferably retaining the originals for your own records.
Also make notes of all telephone conversations, faxes and other communications you have with the credit bureaus, as well as any creditors involved.
This will just help you in the event that any of the correspondence goes missing.
The process may take a while, and hence patience will be required, but do not leave it to sort itself out, rather follow up on a regular basis until any problems have been resolved.
Self credit repair may at times not be possible, especially in the event that you have over extended yourself and created credit related problems that need to be sorted out financially.
Either way investigate whether or not you are in a position to conduct self credit repair or not.