Internet Bill Cramming - Illinois

[genacc]

This is occurring in Illinois. I received a bill from my previous internet service provider (ISP) that I had recently canceled service with. The bill specifically mentioned that I only owed money for internet services provided for the previous month and nothing else. I have not been renting equipment and there are not supposed to be any cancellation fees with this ISP. I have been consistently paying my bill one month in advance with my previous ISP and I canceled my service at the beginning of the month before the next billing cycle would begin. I had paid for the services I had received up to that point at the beginning of the previous month since I always pay one month in advance. I verified this by checking my banking statements to make sure I made the payment and I also received a confirmation email from my ISP stating that I had made the payment. I also checked all of my billing statements going all the way back to when I started service with that ISP and I verified that I had been consistently paying one month in advance for internet services I had been receiving up to that point. I had never had a payment past due and I paid every single month from the moment I began services to the moment I canceled them with that ISP. By paying one month in advance I mean paying for services before they begin starting at the beginning of the month and lasting until the beginning of the next month.

I tried to explain this in an online chat session with a representative from the ISP, but they seemed to refuse to believe me and insisted that I still owe them money. I did my best to prove my claims to them, but it did not work. I asked them what would happen if I did not pay this last unwarranted bill and they told me it would be a write-off and they would report this to credit agencies resulting in my credit score being lowered. The payment for this bill will be due soon so I am considering what I should do. So far I think my options are to report this to the FCC, consider dealing with this in court, ignoring this bill, paying the bill, or some combination of those.

What would my options be when it comes to dealing with this bill that I think is unwarranted? Should I try explaining the situation to the ISP again? It is kind of frustrating dealing with them and I do not think they care much. Will the ISP report this to the credit agencies if I ignore the bill most likely and if that happens how much would it typically lower a credit score? What is my recourse when it comes to this issue if there even is any? To be more specific, is there anything I can do to prevent my previous ISP from reporting this to credit agencies if I do not pay or would I have to deal with credit agencies directly? If I ever have to do business with this ISP again, could they ban me from doing business with them if I had an unpaid bill with them? Or should I just pay this bill and give in to the scam of my previous ISP?

Thank you for the help.

 

[Zigner]

How much money are you talking about?

 

[adjusterjack]

I have been consistently paying my bill one month in advance

What do you mean by one month in advance?

My latest internet bill was for $46.99 for the period July 10 to Aug 9 and was due by Aug 4.

Are you saying you would have paid that amount some time in June before the new billing period started?

If that's the case then they have no record of you paying for the last period because whatever money they received in Jun, for example, was applied to the Jun billing period.

You're not going to get anywhere with some clerk on a chat.

You'll have to talk to somebody higher up the food chain who can review your documentation and make the appropriate adjustment. Nobody is going to care what you "say."

What would my options be when it comes to dealing with this bill that I think is unwarranted? Should I try explaining the situation to the ISP again?

Yes. But higher up the food chain and be prepared to furnish documents.

It is kind of frustrating dealing with them and I do not think they care much.

You're right. The level you're chatting with doesn't care. All they know is that they didn't receive a payment for THAT month.

Will the ISP report this to the credit agencies if I ignore the bill most likely

They said they would. Wouldn't surprise me if they sent it to a collection agency as wel.

What is my recourse when it comes to this issue if there even is any? To be more specific, is there anything I can do to prevent my previous ISP from reporting this to credit agencies if I do not pay

The way to prevent it is to pay or get it adjusted.

would I have to deal with credit agencies directly?

They won't care either. You can file a dispute. They will ask the ISP about it. The ISP will say you owe it and nothing will change.

A delinquent item on your credit report does you damage for 7 years.

If I ever have to do business with this ISP again, could they ban me from doing business with them if I had an unpaid bill with them?

No way to predict but it's certainly possible.

Or should I just pay this bill and give in to the scam of my previous ISP?

It's no scam. They have no record of a payment for that month. If you have time between now and the due date find somebody higher up, maybe at the corporate level to whom you can send your documentation.

Or you can pay it to clear the account and still contact corporate and see if you can get a refund.

 

[genacc]

How much money are you talking about?

About $37 to $39 depending on if I have to pay a fee in making a payment to them online if I choose to pay this most likely.

 

[Zigner]

Really?
Pay the bill. There is no world in which it will be cheaper or easier than simply doing that.

 

[adjusterjack]

Agree.

Pay it.

It's not the hill you want to die on or the sword you want to fall on or some other lose-lose metaphor.

 

[genacc]

Thank you for the help everyone.

I will probably choose the payment route when it comes to this. That being said I think it is still a scam on the part of the ISP rather than an honest mistake since I did my due diligence in trying to prove it to them in chat. I am just glad I will not have to be doing business with this company much longer.

What do you mean by one month in advance?

My latest internet bill was for $46.99 for the period July 10 to Aug 9 and was due by Aug 4.

Are you saying you would have paid that amount some time in June before the new billing period started?

By one month in advance I mean something like the following. If a bill comes in saying a payment is due by June 10 money would be deducted from my account through auto payment on June 6 and this payment would go towards the billing cycle from June 11 to July 11 for instance.

I verified this by looking at my very first bill with the ISP. I began business with them a few years ago sometime in the middle of March and they prorated me for the amount from March to April plus added into my first bill one full month from the beginning of April to the beginning of May. I paid this amount sometime in the beginning of April. This means that I paid for the prorated period after I received that service, but I was also paying for one full month of service before it began from the start of doing business with this ISP. This payment can be confirmed with an email from my ISP confirming the payment and my bank statement from this period. From that moment on I always paid my monthly bills in full at the beginning of each month and I never had an outstanding payment with my ISP. My first bill was larger than all subsequent bills for the next few months because it was the combined amount of the prorated period plus one month of billing. As you can logically see if I continued paying like this over the years until I finally canceled service then I would always be paying one month in advance as I described. I did not keep my old billing statements from years in the past, but I have bank statements and all of the emails from my ISP confirming payments and when they were made. I canceled internet service at the beginning of July before the next billing cycle would begin, but I made a payment in full at the beginning of June so based off of what I have been saying so far that should have covered the last month of service I received between June and July.