Am I liable for a 4 year old invoice?

[Vending Guy]

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

I purchased six vending machines in 2010 and put three of them in service in July of that year, which had credit card readers already installed on them at the time of purchase. I contacted the company who made and installed the readers on the machines to process the payments from my customers, pay me, and take out their service charges, which they did until June of 2012. It was at that time that I determined that the readers were not generating enough money to pay for the charges and I cancelled their services. They recently contacted me and said I owed them $677.00 for unpaid fees.... from 4 years ago. The invoice they sent me included a spreadsheet showing that only some of the card readers (3) were in use, but I was also being charged for the 3 readers that were not in use. Can they force me to pay an invoice from 4 years ago that isn't even accurate? I have had no contact from them from June of 2012 (the date I cancelled service) until May 20th of this year. At first I thought they were a scammer who had gotten hold of some of my information and were trying to bully me into paying fees that I didn't owe. Since their initial contact on 5/20 I have tried to figure out if they are legit and if I owe them some of the money they are demanding. Isn't it a pretty poor business practice to go after someone out of the blue after four years? If I owed them money when I cancelled in 2012 wasn't it their responsibility to tell me at that time?

 

[LdiJ]

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

I purchased six vending machines in 2010 and put three of them in service in July of that year, which had credit card readers already installed on them at the time of purchase. I contacted the company who made and installed the readers on the machines to process the payments from my customers, pay me, and take out their service charges, which they did until June of 2012. It was at that time that I determined that the readers were not generating enough money to pay for the charges and I cancelled their services. They recently contacted me and said I owed them $677.00 for unpaid fees.... from 4 years ago. The invoice they sent me included a spreadsheet showing that only some of the card readers (3) were in use, but I was also being charged for the 3 readers that were not in use. Can they force me to pay an invoice from 4 years ago that isn't even accurate? I have had no contact from them from June of 2012 (the date I cancelled service) until May 20th of this year. At first I thought they were a scammer who had gotten hold of some of my information and were trying to bully me into paying fees that I didn't owe. Since their initial contact on 5/20 I have tried to figure out if they are legit and if I owe them some of the money they are demanding. Isn't it a pretty poor business practice to go after someone out of the blue after four years? If I owed them money when I cancelled in 2012 wasn't it their responsibility to tell me at that time?

The statute of limitations for debt collection in MI is 6 years. However, should you be sued you can certainly argue that they gave you no indication in June of 2012 that you owed them any additional monies and therefore you do not believe that the debt is valid.

 

[latigo]

Fine, now let me ask you:

If you had received the invoice showing a service balance of $677 due for "unpaid fees" shortly following the cancellation, how would you have reacted at that time? Differently and if so, how differently?

Would you have had any evidence to successfully dispute the amount claimed due?

My guess is that you didn't have it then, nor do you have it now. (Principally because you haven't mentioned it.)

On the other hand the "company" has six (6) years to commence an action for the collection of the amount claimed due. (See: Michigan Compiled Laws Section 600.5813)

And unless at the time in question you possessed evidence to dispute the claim, but because of the passage of time it is no longer available, I don't see that the equitable principle of laches would serve you in defense of the claim.

 

[Vending Guy]

I understand, but I'm still being charged for machines that were not yet in service.

Fine, now let me ask you:
If you had received the invoice showing a service balance of $677 due for "unpaid fees" shortly following the cancellation, how would you have reacted at that time? Differently and if so, how differently?

Would you have had any evidence to successfully dispute the amount claimed due?

My guess is that you didn't have it then, nor do you have it now. (Principally because you haven't mentioned it.)

On the other hand the "company" has six (6) years to commence an action for the collection of the amount claimed due. (See: Michigan Compiled Laws Section 600.5813)

And unless at the time in question you possessed evidence to dispute the claim, but because of the passage of time it is no longer available, I don't see that the equitable principle of laches would serve you in defense of the claim.

Thank you for your reply, but I still have a question regarding my liability: Half of the machines for which I am being billed were not even in service at the time. The invoice they provided me states that their locations were TBD (to be determined). How can I be liable or even charged for something that didn't yet take place? There were no transactions against which to charge me. I am willing to pay for the machines that were incurring fees, but not the others. Also, if they were able to take 4 years to invoice me for the costs, am I able to take 4 years to repay them, a small amount each month for 4 years?

 

[Zigner]

What does your contract say about these matters?

 

[LdiJ]

Thank you for your reply, but I still have a question regarding my liability: Half of the machines for which I am being billed were not even in service at the time. The invoice they provided me states that their locations were TBD (to be determined). How can I be liable or even charged for something that didn't yet take place?

Again, that is a point that you can certainly argue. I cannot predict whether or not the argument will end up having teeth.

There were no transactions against which to charge me. I am willing to pay for the machines that were incurring fees, but not the others. Also, if they were able to take 4 years to invoice me for the costs, am I able to take 4 years to repay them, a small amount each month for 4 years?

That would probably not be the best move...you will likely end up paying twice as much as you owe now, with interest and fees added. Again though, that assumes that the debt is valid. You do have the right to defend yourself in court if you feel strongly about the matter.

 

[Vending Guy]

Of course I would have acted differently.

Fine, now let me ask you:

If you had received the invoice showing a service balance of $677 due for "unpaid fees" shortly following the cancellation, how would you have reacted at that time? Differently and if so, how differently?

Would you have had any evidence to successfully dispute the amount claimed due?

My guess is that you didn't have it then, nor do you have it now. (Principally because you haven't mentioned it.)

On the other hand the "company" has six (6) years to commence an action for the collection of the amount claimed due. (See: Michigan Compiled Laws Section 600.5813)

And unless at the time in question you possessed evidence to dispute the claim, but because of the passage of time it is no longer available, I don't see that the equitable principle of laches would serve you in defense of the claim.

Yes, I would have acted differently. I would at that time have disputed the "To-Be-Determined" charges for the machines which had not yet been placed. Since they were not placed, they could not be used by customers to incur charges against me. I was not informed when I cancelled that there were any unpaid fees. I was not sent any invoice from the date I cancelled (June of 2012) until just a week or so ago. I would be willing to pay the amount shown on the invoice for the machines that were in use, but not for ones that weren't in use. That makes no sense. Never at anytime from July of 2010 to June of 2012 did I receive any invoice of any kind. Nothing. Shouldn't I have been notified and invoiced at the time of cancellation?

 

[Dave1952]

Where's your confusion? You bought 6 vending machines with credit card readers. You signed a contract with a company to "activate" some or all of the readers. Read your contract to see how many were activated. Also look in the contract for any mentions of lawyer fees, interest, court costs, et c.. The reader company may have no idea if the readers are in service so your argument that not all of them were in service doesn't excite me. Look in the contract to see how many card readers you are paying for.