Problems with collection agency for cell phone carrier

[Mateo1041]

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

Hi,

My wife and I had a two year agreement with a major cell phone company. Beginning this past December of 2004 they begin misbilling us. We called them every month as our statement was wrong and they continuously apologized for the error and reassurred us that it would not happen again. After four months of this lemon service with no resolution and a waste of our time, we told them we were through and wrote them a letter in March. They terminated our service, yet continued billing us into June of 2005. We first signed up for their service beginning in July of 2004 (before they were sold to a larger company).

Despite numerous letters from March until June, we never heard a response from them with an itemized statement explaining exactly why we were still being charged and for what we were being charged. We were even billed for a couple calls we did not make! We've also found extra minutes tacked on to our bills to make us go over our limit. They have also failed to explain why our billing was continuously messed up month after month with no resolution on their end.

In June a collection agency contacted us by mail and we responded in kind with our reasons for not paying. We also included past correspondence with this cell phone company (3+ unanswered letters). We have not heard back from them since we wrote them a response in June.

Now in October we received another letter from a difference collection agency with a different name that stated we never responded to their initial letter and threatened to "escalate" the matter if they did not hear from us. This is the first communication we've heard from this new collection agency!

I've still never once received an itemized list of exactly what we owe along with dates and why we owe it. They just give us a number in the $600's. The amount "owed" is the same for both collection agencies we've heard from. We are positive we don't owe anything else because the cell phone company's misbilling is what originally got us into this in the first place. We even sent them a payment in good faith in March along with a letter to ensure we did not owe anything else.

My questions are as follows:

1) Does the cell phone company have a right to hire collection agency after collection agency to attempt collections? They appear to be two different agencies. Perhaps the first one determined we are not at fault (who contacted us in June and we haven't heard back from since), so they hired another?

2) What can we do about this? We don't want this to go around and around again with new collection agencies contacting us every few months.

I do plan to send a letter today with documentation from all previous correspondence. I might as well just have a template ready as this is getting ridiculous.

Thanks so much for any help that can be offered.

- Matt.

[Mateo1041]

Should I explain more or does my post sound confusing in any way? I noticed no one has commented. Sorry if I am unclear.

Thanks again,
- Matt.

[Motherto6]

matteo1041 ~ Just wanted you to know that someone is reading your post, but I don't have the answers for you. I am not an attorney, just a fellow poster.
I do know that Collection Agencies buy the debts from each other, so probably the first one after not getting money from you, sold to another agency. Or they might have changed their name to avoid troubles they may have had, but still have your account. I would send them a letter again to verify the debt and have it sent RRR. Keep track Of ALL items in the mail and also tell them that you only want them to contact you by mail. You know paper trail and all that... Hopefully someone else will have better info for you.

[Mateo1041]

Thanks for the kind reply. I know I tend to overexplain, but I'd rather do that than not explain enough.

The second credit agency that sent me a letter in October did mention in bold to call them right away. I'm guessing this is a bad idea as there is no paper trail, correct? I did send them a return letter a day after their letter arrived. In it I included past letters explaining our position and why we feel we don't owe the money. But I refuse to go on like this forever if our "debt" keeps getting passed around from company to company.

What I hate about credit collection agencies is their only goal is to get your money by any means possible. They have no clue about the originating "debt" and they don't care how false or fraudulent the amount is.

[Motherto6]

Yes ~ It would be a bad idea to call them as stated before. I know it doesn't seem fair, but Collection Agencies can sell to whoever they want. If you think this is bad though look at the thread posted by DTUPAC "Anyone know Merchants Credit Guide Co." It started in January of this year and is still going. There are also some great links showing different form letters to send. Ladynred answered these questions and gave the info. You really need to read it. I am not as computer savy as I would like to be so I can't paste the link here, but go to new posts page 3 and look.

[Motherto6]

I just realized you were in Wisconsin ~ Howdy neighbor!I'm in Iowa.

[Mateo1041]

Yes, I did read that thread out of curiosity. I've actually been to that one website before and they had some good advice.

Yes, looks like you are right next door!

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by Mateo1041

...we told them we were through and wrote them a letter in March. They terminated our service, yet continued billing us into June of 2005. We first signed up for their service beginning in July of 2004...

So you were probably under contract -- contract cancellation fees have to be paid.

Originally Posted by Mateo1041

In June a collection agency contacted us by mail and we responded in kind with our reasons for not paying. We also included past correspondence with this cell phone company (3+ unanswered letters). We have not heard back from them since we wrote them a response in June.

The CA doesn't care about your reason for not paying. And they don't have to respond to you. If you request validation within 30 days of first contact they have to cease collections until they go back to the original creditor for verification of the debt. But they don't have to tell you anything unless they get verification and pursue it. They you get a letter saying you owe this that and the other thing.

Originally Posted by Mateo1041

Now in October we received another letter from a difference collection agency with a different name that stated we never responded to their initial letter and threatened to "escalate" the matter if they did not hear from us. This is the first communication we've heard from this new collection agency!

They may have sent a letter that you didn't receive for one reason or another. And of course, they are going to escalate their collections against you -- you haven't paid the bill.

Originally Posted by Mateo1041

I've still never once received an itemized list of exactly what we owe along with dates and why we owe it. They just give us a number in the $600's.

And you won't. They don't have to meet your criteria. The only chance you have at getting everything you want is if they sue you and you ask for it in discovery.

Originally Posted by Mateo1041

We are positive we don't owe anything else because the cell phone company's misbilling is what originally got us into this in the first place. We even sent them a payment in good faith in March along with a letter to ensure we did not owe anything else.

Apparently you are wrong.

Originally Posted by Mateo1041

1) Does the cell phone company have a right to hire collection agency after collection agency to attempt collections?

Yup they sure do.

Originally Posted by Mateo1041

They appear to be two different agencies. Perhaps the first one determined we are not at fault (who contacted us in June and we haven't heard back from since), so they hired another?

Very unlikely. As I said previously, the CA doesn't care if you think you aren't at fault. Frankly they don't care if the debt is completely wrong as long as they get the right person.

Originally Posted by Mateo1041

2) What can we do about this? We don't want this to go around and around again with new collection agencies contacting us every few months.

You can go round and round with CAs. You can file a complaint against the cell company with the PSC in your state and go round and round while you wait to see what happens. You can pay it.

Originally Posted by Mateo1041

I do plan to send a letter today with documentation from all previous correspondence. I might as well just have a template ready as this is getting ridiculous.

It will get glanced at and filed. Save your money on copies -- no one at the CA cares about previous correspondance with anyone but them.

A side note: I collected on cell phones for a while. Nobody ever reads their contract. While working as a collector, I got a new cell plan and didn't read the contract before buying it ---- and I knew better!

You need to get out your copy of the contract -- you still have it right? -- and read every clause at least twice.

DC

[Mateo1041]

Thanks for your response. It is depressing, but you speak from experience.

Apparently you are wrong.

What would you suggest I do if the cell phone company misbilled us? They even have a call listed I didn't make after they terminated our service. This is what we want to dispute. The reason we told them we were leaving is because we had 3-4 statements in a row where they tacked on extra minutes to make us go over our limit. For example, intead of billing for minutes used from November 1 to November 30, they'd bill based on minutes used from November 1 to December 8. Based on this they could always make us go over by simply adjusting the time frame.

We did call the cell phone company numerous times and they always mentioned they were in the wrong and adjusted our charges accordingly. One time they even admitted their system was incorrect and they didn't know why.

It bothers me I have to pay for this. Apparently I'm supposed to call them every month for the full 2 year contract and correct my bill every time, wasting a few hours every billing cycle. Apparently large companies and monopolies are always in the right.

[Mateo1041]

We just checked the contract that was signed and it is only one page. It says the terms and conditions are located on their website, which is no more after they were bought out by another company. We did not have the terms and conditions present when we signed.

We did not have any problems until the cell phone company was bought out.

[debtcollector`]

You have many options. It just depends on how many thousands of dollars of your time you want to invest in fighting a $600 bill.

It is a business decision that you are making. I guess I would look at which path will cost you less in the long run.

DC

[Mateo1041]

See, that is the kind of thing they want me to think. They want me to think the $600 bill is the cheaper route and just pay it, even if it is way more than we should owe. I don't know about other people, but I hate being taken advantage of...and that is exactly what many debt collectors do.

For now I'll have them validate it and we can see exactly how they came up with their charges...if they can even get that far. We wouldn't be fighting it this much if we truly knew we owed the amount.

Thanks for your help.