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Unsure of claim category and case building against cable company

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russell-la

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Louisiana

Hi all,

This is my first post. I have started to build a packet of evidence against a local cable television company. The story is a long, so ill try to keep it brief with 2 questions at the end.

+ My wife had cable in Baton rouge, she moved out of the property and returned the cable box with instructions to disconnect.

+2 years later she subscribed to cable at our new apartment, and we were furnished with a bill from Baton Rouge for cable, after her visit to return the box and have the service stopped. The bill included 4 months of cable service and 20 months of non-payment charges and late fees. The total comes to around $650 so far, non-payment fees are still bieng added and the amount changes up or down each time we call the company.

+ Despite numerous requests for our customer records/itemised billing etc, we have recieved nothing, the last phone call the service agent was verbally abusive to my wife so all contact via telephone is to end. Here is where small claims comes in. I wrote an email to the VP of the cable company for one last attempt to have our customer records/itemised billing sent to us, but im not holding my breath.

Q1) If i decide to go ahead and start down the path of small claims, for what am i claiming ? They dont owe us money, yet if this phantom bill is sent to collections it affects our credit rating negatively.

Q2) Can my claim simply be for damages ? To the amount shown on the phantom bill, plus the cost of telephone calls made to them, plus the day off of work to attend court.

Q3) How can i get the company to send me information i need to build my case, if telephone calls and an email to the VP does not work ? The last telephone call i made, the agent told me they cannot release my information to me without a subpoena. How do i build my case if i cannot see what information they have about our account ?

Im sorry if this seems convoluted, i am stuck and lost as to how to fix this, so i am gratefull for anybody who has any advice that may help us.

Thankyou in advance

Chloe + Russell Abbott
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
Q1) If i decide to go ahead and start down the path of small claims, for what am i claiming ? They dont owe us money, yet if this phantom bill is sent to collections it affects our credit rating negatively.

A: If you do not have actual and direct dollar damages, then you do not have a case.


Q2) Can my claim simply be for damages ? To the amount shown on the phantom bill, plus the cost of telephone calls made to them, plus the day off of work to attend court.

A: No.


Q3) How can i get the company to send me information i need to build my case, if telephone calls and an email to the VP does not work ? The last telephone call i made, the agent told me they cannot release my information to me without a subpoena. How do i build my case if i cannot see what information they have about our account ?

A: What case?
 

russell-la

Junior Member
Thankyou for your quick reply.

So it seems i was barking up the wrong tree, what do i do now then ?

I simply let the cable company transfer this bill to my credit report and suck up having a negative strike on my credit report ?

Or, once transfered onto my credit report do i instigate a report of fraud on my credit ?

Which tree do i need to be barking up ?

Thanks again

Russ
 

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