Billed for services not received.

I live in a county that has passed mandatory garbage pickup service. My street address is in a diferent county. I was receiving bills for garbage pickup to my mail box in the former owners name. As no one was picking up my garbage I just took them nextdoor to the former owners son and he gave the mail to his parents. I was told that I should have been getting service so I went to the provider and explained that I lived in the house and would like garbage service. I explained that the former owner no longer lived there. I was told to start paying the bill and service would start. I gave them a check for $100.00.(6 months service) The next month I got a bill for the amount the previous owner was in default (463.00)plus
They had deducted my $100.00 from thier bill and the bill was now in my name. To top it off I was still not getting service. For the next year I fought it out with various clerks
explaining that my street address was out of the county and I did not get pickup and thier explanation was that I was still required to pay even though I did not get service because I owned property in the county. Finally, I got someone who understood my problem and he came to my home, saw the problem and got my service started. He said there would be an adjustment made to my bill(now over $600 with late fees and penalties. I have continued to make payments since I first went to the office over two years ago but there is still no adjustment made and they do not respond to my letters or e-mail. I was contacted by thier attorney but after she found out I did not own the house,(My boyfriend does ) she said she would take care of the problem but she has never contacted me again. It seems they should not have been billing me at all. I need to send them more money soon as I calculate my bill is due again but if all they do is apply it to the past due bill that is now in my name I am getting nowhere. Can you suggest a plan of action? I live in Georgia. Thank You.

Yes. It sounds as if you need the help of your local governmental representatives -- like a state senator or assemblyperson -- to write a letter on your behalf to the powers that be to adjust it, before someone tacks a lien on the property.

The only thing worse that big government is small government. At least big government has smart people in it, if you get to the right one. Small government has fewer people and thus fewer smart people, each of whom does a different job. Yet they all are trained to say that's "not my job" until someone on top says "take care of it."