Do I have to pay this fee?

[prgrbasa]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Nebraska

We used to use a certain garbage collection service. We found out that our neighbors were paying less for a different service, so we switched. Because we'd already paid a little bit ahead, the amount left was prorated. There was about $13 left over.

The other week I got a letter from the old company saying we had a past due amount of 12 bucks. I called, and was told there was a $25 cancellation fee for stopping the service - which is why we never saw our $13. We never signed any kind of contract, and when I asked the woman to produce a contract that we'd signed agreeing there was a $25 fee, she said "it was a verbal contract". We were never told about any kind of cancellation fee. She says they tell everyone about this fee, but all one has to do is an internet search of this company to find pages and pages of pissed off people who were never told about the charge. Why would we agree to pay a fine for cancellation when we had many other services from which to chose?

So, here we are. I don't want my credit tainted because of this, but what they are doing is not right. I feel like my $13 was wrongfully withheld and I want it back. I also want this other $12 to be removed from my account.

Do I have any legal recourse? My plan was to send a certified letter disputing the charge and requesting my $13 back. I also plan to file a BBB complaint. Upon doing research, I found this company has an F rating with the BBB for the very reason I listed above.

Advice on what (if anything) I should do is greatly appreciated!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[swalsh411]

It's improbable by several orders of magnitude that they will report this on your credit and even if they did it would be inconsequential.

How much time and effort to you plan on spending to recover $13? Or is this one of those "it's the principle!" kind of things. A certified letter alone will run you about $4.

 

[racer72]

I would be willing to bet when you originally signed up for this service, you received something along the lines of terms and condition for using their service. Some of these items are likely also included on the monthly bill you paid. And by paying the bill, you agreed to these terms and conditions whick included a $25 cancellation fee. Find everything the company has sent you and read it, bet you find the fee somewhere in the small print you never read.

 

[prgrbasa]

Yeah, it is sort of a principle issue. It's just so dirty! I feel silly being so annoyed over 25 bucks, but you know they have to make a ton of money just because it's a small enough amount that people won't fight. Do you think they'd turn me over to collections over 13 bucks? Would it be worth it for them to do so? I assume doing this could cost them more than $13? I don't know much about collections.

Find everything the company has sent you and read it, bet you find the fee somewhere in the small print you never read.

The only thing they ever sent us was a brochure detailing their fabulous services. There's no mention of anything regarding prices or fees. When I asked them to send me something in writing about the fee they told me they don't have it in writing, that it's all verbal. So they can't even send me something now that I should have gotten in the past.