Warning: I Am Ranting!
I got a bill in the mail this weekend. At first I told my husband to shred it. It looked like one of those fake bills from some company that is just trying to sucker you out of some money. So, the bill was in the shred pile and I got to thinking maybe I should take a better look at it. What I found was a bill for $64 for a U.S. Cellular account we used to have.
Oh, I am so ticked!!! The bill I got was from a collection agency. We haven’t had that account in years . . . 4 1/2 to be exact! They certainly haven’t sent me a bill for the money owed or I would have paid it.
I called the collection agency. So far, the bill hasn’t gone against my credit. One of the people from the agency advised me to pay the $64. Errrr! I am so mad! I have a way awesome credit score and I don’t want to ruin it. I asked for proof that I owed the money.
The agency even said that the last payment that U.S. Cellular received from me was in June 2002. Then they said that U.S. Cellular tried to send me a bill, but we had moved. We didn’t move for over a year after June 2002. I asked why I am just now receiving a bill from a collection agency when I didn’t even know I owed any money. They said they are receiving a lot of calls from other people about this same issue. Errrr! I’m so mad!
I guess I have 2 options: 1) pay the $64 whether I owe it or not or 2) dispute the amount owed.
You may say just pay the $64 and be done with it. But why should I pay $64 of my hard earned money if I don’t know if I owe it? Should I just pay money to every company that sends me a bill for $64 because I am scared that my wonderful credit score will be tarnished?
Where is Clark Howard when I need him? I wish I had his number on speed dial.
So what do YOU think I should do? Impatiently waiting for a response . . .
Tags: bills, clark-howard, collection-agency, credit, debtRelated Stories
POSTED IN: financial matters
6 opinions for Warning: I Am Ranting!
kellys
Jan 17, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Don’t pay the bill!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fight it all the way. As long as you have records stating that you are working with the company, you should keep it off the credit report. Even if it goes against you, you should be able to get it taken off later when you are found in the right.
Karen
Jan 17, 2007 at 8:23 pm
I’ll have to look and see if I can find my records. I may owe the money, but I didn’t know about it. And if I do owe the money I just don’t understand why they didn’t let me know earlier . . . like YEARS earlier.
Michelle
Jan 18, 2007 at 1:10 am
Well, not to sound like a boy scout or anything, but if they really are your charges, no matter how old they are, they should be paid. If the charges are false, then toss the bill and forget about it. There’s no way a measly $64 would hurt your credit rating–assuming that’s all that bad on it. There have been one or two times when I’ve had things like that happen where they’ve claimed I owe money I know I don’t and my attitude has been “do your worst.” If you pay your bills one error shouldn’t hurt you.
And btw, I just signed up for StumbleUpon and came upon your blog that way–how fun. It’s a cool tool, I’ve found some great sites tonight.
Karen
Jan 18, 2007 at 6:21 am
Michelle, I totally agree. If I owe the money, then I should pay it. But I do want some proof that I owe. According to Clark Howard, these collection agencies go in and buy old debt for pennies on the dollar. They could have bought $100,000 worth of debt from U.S. Cellular for $1,000. They might luck out and collect $65,000 of it. I am pretty annoyed that this debt is 4 1/2 years old and I didn’t know about it. I don’t understand that part and if I did owe it, then it should have showed up on my credit report as delinquent, and it hasn’t.
Glad you came across our site. I’ve visited your site several times.
Kate
Jan 18, 2007 at 6:42 am
Once, I had a bill for an old cell phone sent to a collection agency over money they owed me. I accidentally paid a bill twice and, at the end of the contract, they wrote me a cheque for $71. Months later, I got a letter from a collection agency for not paying a bill that was $-71. No one bothered to read the bill.
Karen
Jan 18, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Gee whiz Kate. I’d really be ticked about that one!
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