Cell Phone Bill

[akwaitress]

What is the name of your state? Alaska

This is really for a friend I know you here this all the time but it is true so if I don't have all the needed info I apolagize in advance.

She had a cell phone that was lost/stolen last spring while she was away at boot camp. She called the company (Cellular One) and let them know. The gentleman at the company said "okay I'll take care of it" and suspended the service. They have recently contacted her and informed her that she owes them $1,107.00 b/c it was a "seasonal" suspension that was only for 6 months and that they reinstated the service and whoever had the phone went wild and made a lot of phone calls.

They say there is no note in the computer that it was stolen.

This whole time she has had service with them for a different phone. They are calling her repeatedly (including at work) and telling her she needs to pay the entire amount by March 8th or she will be sent to collections. She does not have the money and will in fact be off doing her National Guard Training at that date.

I Told her to ask for the acct. # and an adress today. They wanted to know "why she wanted the adress" and said that they "couldn't give her the acct. #".

Is she responsible to pay the bill?

Can she send a debt validation letter being as this is the original creditor collection agency?

Does anyone have any advice on how she should procede?

Can she request that they quit calling her and contact her by mail only?

 

[ecmst12]

Does she have a police report from when she reported the phone as stolen?

 

[moburkes]

Why wouldn't see be responsible? She should have received monthly billing notices. She should have called back to say that she still hasn't come up with the phone, and ask what she should do about it? If she has another phone with the same company, unless she asked for separate billing (which wouldn't have made sense, in the case), she received a bill for both phones as soon as the other phone started being used. And, even if they don't have notes that she called, they do have some type of proof that the service was suspended temporarily. Did she ask about cancelling the phone #, and if she would need to pay a termination fee since the phone was stolen? At that point, they could have asked for a police report, or some type of proof, and made a determination about a cancellation fee.

 

[akwaitress]

She did not make a police report as she was at boot camp when the phone went missing.

She was not receiving any bills associated with this number until they informed her that she owed the $1,107.00. She was only receiving and paying the bills associated with her present number.

 

[moburkes]

She did not make a police report as she was at boot camp when the phone went missing.

She was not receiving any bills associated with this number until they informed her that she owed the $1,107.00. She was only receiving and paying the bills associated with her present number.

Why didn't she follow up on it, then? How/why did she have 2 separate billing accounts? That still doesn't make sense to me.

 

[akwaitress]

They suspended the service when she originally informed them. They are saying it was a seasonal suspension and turned the phone back on after 6 months. The bill was from when after they reinstated service without informing her. They won't give her the acct# for this phone #. I was standing next to her yesterday when she asked and was told they couldn't tell her.

 

[moburkes]

They suspended the service when she originally informed them. They are saying it was a seasonal suspension and turned the phone back on after 6 months. The bill was from when after they reinstated service without informing her. They won't give her the acct# for this phone #. I was standing next to her yesterday when she asked and was told they couldn't tell her.

I still don't buy it. Suspension is not termination. When my service was suspended, I asked MANY questions. MANY. I didn't assume that it was a termination. Heck, even with a suspension OR termination I would have owed some amount for the minutes used before the suspension. I would be looking for that bill. I would have called asking if my account was settled, if I owed a small amount, or if there was a refund due to me. What is the cancellation penalty when this happens, etc.

Has she asked for copies of billing statements?

 

[akwaitress]

I understand your point however she is a young lady (20) and what you or I might have done is not what she did. She was told it was taken care of when she made the original call so she thought it was taken care of. She has had an account in good standing in the meanwhile just with a different #. She was not receiving any bills associated with the old #. When the phone was reactivated the bill was ran up in a short time obviously whoever had the phone was aware that the phone would be turned off again.

I will ask her if she has received a billing statement as far as I know she has just received the phone calls.

I'm just trying to help her as they had her extremely upset which is how I became aware of the situation.

 

[moburkes]

I understand your point however she is a young lady (20) and what you or I might have done is not what she did. She was told it was taken care of when she made the original call so she thought it was taken care of. She has had an account in good standing in the meanwhile just with a different #. She was not receiving any bills associated with the old #. When the phone was reactivated the bill was ran up in a short time obviously whoever had the phone was aware that the phone would be turned off again.

I will ask her if she has received a billing statement as far as I know she has just received the phone calls.

I'm just trying to help her as they had her extremely upset which is how I became aware of the situation.

Oh, okay. Then tell her to provide the cell phone company with the name, ID #, and date that she spoke with the person who suspended her account, and the expectation that the person gave her in regards to the termination of the account with no additional money due, since she happened to have lost her phone on the exact date that the billing period ended, and since cell phone companies bill in advance, and she didn't owe any money, and there were no taxes associated with her account. They'll gladly remove the bill.

 

[akwaitress]

She doesn't have this information as she did't expect any problems. I'm assuming that there was a final bill associated with the old # though I will have to check with her to make sure.

I advised her to keep track of who she speaks with and the date from now on. I will advise her to also get an ID # also.

Yesterday at work she was speaking to one person and when she was done the phone rang 2 minutes later and it was another person calling about the same bill. Can she request that they not call her at work or to contact her by mail only?

 

[moburkes]

Yes, to both. Make her send those requests in writing. They will likely go straight to filing a lawsuit.

 

[akwaitress]

I don't want to give her advice that will make a bad situation worse that is why I'm her trying to find out the best way to proceed. She is willing to pay the bill if it is her responsibility but has no way to pay the bill before March 8th and they told her yesterday that they wouldn't make a payment plan with her.

I appreciate you taking the time to respond and hope you will answer one more question for me. Can she send a debt validation letter even though it is the original creditor? Hopefully this would give her a little more time to raise the money and to return from her guard training.

 

[moburkes]

I made a mistake. The cell phone company probably won't excalate it beyond sending it to the collections company (more than likley). So, she's probably already taken the hits on her credit report, and unless she can convince someone at the cell phone company that she didn't realize that the phone ever got turned back on, and if they would settle for the termination fee, she will be able to pay by 03/08. Remember, they are in the money business. The less they need to do to get that money (lawsuit isn't cheap), the better they like it.

 

[akwaitress]

Thank you. I will suggest that she try that. Should she make the request in writing?

 

[TigerD]

Thank you. I will suggest that she try that. Should she make the request in writing?

IF IT ISN'T IN WRITING IT NEVER HAPPENED!