i was a sc...maybe or just really pissed

[chainedbarista]

not too long ago (about a year or so), i purchased a ring through a local jewelry store; since i lacked the cash on hand to purchase it outright, i ended up having to use a store credit, run by an independant company. *the store employees are always nice and very helpful, which is why i still do business with them, their credit line company, however...

this is where the kuhschiesse hits the fan, but not for a bit.
i fill out the required applications, and everything goes through.

i make payments, with being a bit later than it should have been, but made just the same; thinking the account is settled, i am on my merry way-no bills stating otherwise.

the monthly statements had been showing up at our house for the time period where i was owing, but...

suddenly, no bills are arriving. no notices that i'm in arrears; this should mean the matter is settled, and if its not, some notice would be given, right?

wrong; one month goes by...nothing. two, nothing; three, four and five, nothing. not realising that the company would allow this matter to fester for ONE WHOLE YEAR, i would receive a call that would test the limits of my temper.

the comany called, stating that i owed for interest compounded on late fees that i knew nothing about (partially my fault; i should have checked but didn't due to my paying off what would equal the balance due on the purchase).

the amount accrued: nearly $250.00. i was livid; why was there no notice mailed sooner than one year after the fact? they gave me some lame story about how the address wasn't correct; i'm wondering how it could be wrong after they were sending bills for the first four months, then were'nt able to any time after that, and why wasn't any attempt made to contact me for correct information? am i psychic, can i figure out 'oh, x company needs verification, maybe i should call?'

i try to remain civil during the phone call; they announce at this point that their information needs an update (i'm thinking there haven't been any changes, why is an update necessary); after about ten or so minutes of arguing (still keeping my temper in check, which is getting harder to do with each passing second), they agree (somewhat) that they share some of the fault by not informing me about the issue, but i still need to pay some of the balance.

i agree to (with some resevations) just to get this matter taken care of, with me stating i wanted the account CLOSED (due to my not wanting to deal with a company that can't keep track of their end of things); payment is sent, and all should be right...and yet, after a few statements, i find that i STILL owe, after the supervisor told me that the payment i sent would cover the amount owed, after late charges were waived.

i'll be calling to see just what in the *BLEEP* is going on; is this owed or not-only time will tell.

[infavorofnaturalselection]

i'll be calling to see just what in the *BLEEP* is going on; is this owed or not-only time will tell.

You may want to do some research namely see what assistance you could get from the agencies responsible for overseeing credit issues namely the federal ones. Some credit card/debit companies have done and will do some very deceitfull things to get people to think an account has been paid off when it really hasn't allowing the interest as well as late fees to pile up. It's illegal as hell but as long as the company thinks they can get away with it they will.

[air914]

So you thought the bill had been completely paid right?? 'cause I hated working at a gym where people would give me the excuse "well you didn't send me a bill, so I get to use the gym for free".... um no. You were here. If you didn't receive a bill, yet continued to use the gym, then you could've looked into the matter - or at least don't be pissed at me when you check in and I tell you that you have a past due balance.

However, I understand your side too. I just did a post about a magazine company losing my information - I received 3-4 magazines (after a lengthy period of waiting for the subscription to even start - their fulfillment company was having issues) and then all of a sudden - no magazines. So I e-mailed the company and they've completely lost my info - no address, no name, no record of me paying - do I have record of me paying?? Um no. my mother purchased it for a Christmas gift and while she kept her cc statement until I started receiving the magazines, having received said magazines, she figured she didn't need to hold on to the cc statement anymore. So now I get to have a fun weekend of trying to see if we can find "proof of payment". The real problem isn't the magazine company, but their "fulfillment" company they use - so similar situation.

I do give kudos to the magazine company though b/c they are going to send me at least two issues while they try to find my info and I try to find proof of payment.

[Sliceanddice]

Somethign simular to airs happened to me. Around the begining of the year bought a 75 issue subscribition to Nick magizine and wrote on the paper work that it was a donation to the local childrens ward. and i wrote down their address on the ship spot. Guess what i get every month.

[chainedbarista]

the part that bothered me about the contact info is that i had received four bills with no trouble prior to that, then i hear nothing from them until now. hmm, there was an issue with contact info, yet you were able to call me; why does this 2 + 2 not add up to 4?

the whole issue comes off as smelly as week old tuna left in the sun, but the tuna smells MUCH fresher...

add that to the year wait to let me know of the 'late fees and additional charges' and i'm steaming; if it were so hard to contact me then, why was it so easy to call me a year later?

this inquiring mind wants to know...

[IlovemyGeek]

Oh something similar happened to my husband with a credit card (the company with the viking comercial) he paid off and cancelled his card. Never got anything in the mail, figured it was done with. 2 years later he got a past due notice. Turns out they invited him to a "credit monitoring" program that he got no info and and thus they automatically signed him up. Never got a bill until it was 3 months late. They claim they didn't have his new address (but somehow they magicallly got it to send the late charges) He contested it b/c he never bought the credit monitoring program. Got the program taken off and still has the late charges now on his credit report. Farking C 1.!

[Andara Bledin]

Bank of America has tried to do that to me with the "protection" plan that you have to opt out of.

Capital One has some of the worst record-keeping that I have ever encountered. I had a card, long ago, and it went to collections. (my ex was constitutionally incapable of not spending money) I made arrangements with C1 to pay off half the balance and close out the account.

Nearly a year later I get a call from a different collection agency. I tell them that is was paid off a year ago and they are not to ever contact me again. They whine at me but I am firm. About a year after that I get another call from a different collection agency about it. I tell them the same thing. When I tried to call the number the first place gave me to talk to C1 about it, they told me I had to provide proof. They were supposed to call me back, but never did.

I'm fairly certain I had a mark from C1 on my record from that until it hit the time limit and had to be removed. My boss makes a point of tearing up anything C1 sends him. I've never gotten the story from him, but he uses some extremely colorful language when speaking of them, and he's the type of person who is never late with his bill payments.

^-.-^

[powerboy]

I also have problems with Capital 1. I had been paying my bill for the first 2 months. They stopped sending me the bill. I called them and let them know that I had not received it for that month. And also that I was unemployed for that month, but I will be able to make that payment. I have not received a bill from them after that. I have been playing phone tag with them after that. I am worried about my credit being worse then what it is now, because of them.

[Andara Bledin]

If you're having trouble receiving your bill, you should seriously look into what it would take to no longer be liable. Especially if you can't get a balance due out of them. Even without a bill, you should be able to get information on how much you owe, what the minimum payment is for this month, and the address to which it should be sent.

They should be unable to charge you late fees or interest on a bill that you have made a good faith attempt to pay.

^-.-^

[Horsetuna]

I have had a similar problem with Telus recently... They said they had to do something to make my account a 'static' account when I moved, since I didnt need it anymore - I would pay 10 dollars a month till the end of my contract.

I kept putting money into my old account. Why? Because they never TOLD me that they had to make a new account. tHey never told me it was a new account, nor did they give me any information so I /could/ send payments to the new account!

So I got hit with a 'cancellation fee'... I wanted to talk to a supervisor, never got a call back. tHey said they were sending me electronic bills to my email. I never got them. Cause they were sending them to the email they GAVE me... one I had never even thought about opening, and that sat there for a year.

Needless to say I wasn't happy... My phone kept kicking out (Both the cell AND one of the house phones died mid call), and they kept bringing up my OTHER account, NOT the new one that I owed on. I refused to pay the Canellatoin fee - they hadn't informed me of the new account information, nor asked me for my informatoin so they could send me bills.

Last I heard, they had cancelled the fee and moved my cash from the old account to the new one to pay it off. They had done that MONTHS before my last phone call where the phone kept dropping.

But I'm still worried, as because I was so upset and crying and stuff, I hadnt' asked for the new account info.

[Tria]

I'm fairly certain I had a mark from C1 on my record from that until it hit the time limit and had to be removed.

Wait, after a certain time bad marks on your credit go away without bankruptcy? What's the time limit?

[Ms. Pounce]

7 years.

Unfortunately, some credit places keep the mark alive by selling the old credit to a new collection agencies. I read an article on MSN about some companies selling *REALLY* old debts for ridiculously low prices (Think 1 cent) to dishonest collection agencies.... Those agencies proceed to do their d*mndest to track down people and hound them to pay off the credit. Offering what appears to be a fantastic deal ($300 to pay off a $2000 debt for instance). If the person makes the deal it's back on your credit report for another 7 years.

As far as I know, it's borderline illegal. >_<

[TheSnakeLady]

However, I understand your side too. I just did a post about a magazine company losing my information - I received 3-4 magazines (after a lengthy period of waiting for the subscription to even start - their fulfillment company was having issues) and then all of a sudden - no magazines. So I e-mailed the company and they've completely lost my info - no address, no name, no record of me paying - do I have record of me paying?? Um no. my mother purchased it for a Christmas gift and while she kept her cc statement until I started receiving the magazines, having received said magazines, she figured she didn't need to hold on to the cc statement anymore. So now I get to have a fun weekend of trying to see if we can find "proof of payment". The real problem isn't the magazine company, but their "fulfillment" company they use - so similar situation.

I had something similarly weird happen with a magazine subscription. The magazine was a weekly magazine, and for the first few months, it came to my house just fine. Then, all of a sudden, it stopped. I kept having to call the publisher and they would hand mail me the issues that were missed, but for some reason their normal distribution system couldn't manage to get them to my house. The magazine was great... but it wasn't worth the hassle, so I didn't renew.

(edit) D'oh.. .I feel stupid. Forgot I was reading the archives. Sorry about the thread necromancy. -TSL

[bainsidhe]

I had something similarly weird happen with a magazine subscription. The magazine was a weekly magazine, and for the first few months, it came to my house just fine. Then, all of a sudden, it stopped. I kept having to call the publisher and they would hand mail me the issues that were missed, but for some reason their normal distribution system couldn't manage to get them to my house. The magazine was great... but it wasn't worth the hassle, so I didn't renew.

(edit) D'oh.. .I feel stupid. Forgot I was reading the archives. Sorry about the thread necromancy. -TSL

While in college, I ordered Time and EW. Suddenly I started receiving Newsweek and a duplicate Time. My sister lived in the same dorm, but different floor and room and I was receiving her magazines. The company labeled them with my name and address. The Newsweek was from my Mom who lived in another city, also somehow sent to me under my name, even thought the ordering information was under my Mom's name and address.

Now I have an unusual last name an there are only a handful of us here in the US. So if they can't keep three people straight, how do they handle all the Sara Jones's out there?

[Gerrinson]

I had a similar issue with a student loan company.

I went to college right after high school, first time living away from home, responsible for only myself, so things didn't go so well for me grade wise...oops, lesson learned.

I take a semester off, get a job, and start paying down the student loan from the first semester immediately. When I went back to school the following September, I called them to defer payments, which was fine as long as I was a full time student. I fill out the forms and mail them with a copy of my schedule and proof that I was enrolled. Okay, fine, and the bills immediately stop coming, so I assume everything is deferred until I'm done with school again.

6 months later, out of the blue, I get a letter stating I'm in default and the loan has been sent to collections? WTF???

I call them up, explain the situation and ask what I can do.

Their response: Did you send the forms by certified mail?

Me: No.

Them: Then we never received them and you're in default. We've been sending notices every month to <my address>, if you ignored them that is your responsibility.

Me: I never received anything or I'd have called about it.

Them: Not our problem.

Needless to say, I was not happy, and my credit was screwed for seven years due to this incident.

A bit off the topic, and hopefully I'm not thread jacking, but this reminds me of another one:

In the late 90's long after my student loan was paid off, I got a call from a collections company about a student loan being overdue and demanding immediate payment. It was from a university in Texas (I've only been to Texas once because I had a connecting flight and never left the airport) and the loan was from 1989. I graduated high school a year early in 1994. Hmmm...see the problem there?

I tried to explain this to the person on the phone, who called me a 'lying deadbeat a**hole.' Way to get on my good side.

I demanded a copy of all the paperwork involved and the number for their legal department. All of which they sent to me, much to my surprise. I pull out the paperwork, and it's all for some guy with the same first and last name, but different Social Security number, address, etc.

I call their lawyer and inform her of the details and that I'll be seeking legal advice if collections calls continue and if it shows up on my credit report. To her credit, she was very apologetic and conferenced me in on the call when she reamed the moron who I spoke to in the first call for not checking the information such as verifying the Social Security numbers matched. She then promised me I'd never hear from them or have any problems with this on my credit. And she was right.