What can you do when people don't pay back debts

No one likes to get early morning calls from debt collectors, but debt collectors are a necessary thing in a world where some people just refuse to pay back debts they owe. I know that in many cases it is an inability to pay, choices are made between one debt or the next and people will choose to keep their power on and let the credit card slide, or will buy heating fuel to keep their home warm rather than pay the trash bill. But then there are those who rack up bills and think that just because they don't want to pay them they should not have to pay them.

I'm in a situation like that right now. I loaned a person money last February so they could get their car out of impound, then they started ducking out on talking to me every chance they had, then said they would bring me $50 at a time - never did. Then I asked for $5 at a time if that was all they had. They are now saying they don't owe me the money, that they paid it to someone else who now owes it to me. I'm not accepting that excuse, and am starting to feel like I need to take them to small claims court or hire a debt collection agency to get them to stop refusing to pay me back and give me the $230 I loaned them.

It would not be so bad, except they have had more than enough to pay me back several times and just flat refuse to. And worse, I had loaned them my car when theirs went down. They borrowed it around 8 or so times to get to work, promising to leave me a full tank in it. Then when they refused to pay me back on the money I had loaned them they fessed up to also having drove my car around all over the place running it out of gas intentionally when they brought it back because I had complained when a 2 hour borrow of it had turned into an overnight at some party.

Not sure if I will ever see my money, seriously doubt it, but I do have a much higher respect for those who call to collect debts for people. Sometimes debt collectors are necessary.