Cell Phone chargeoff-Pay them direct or pay collection agency?

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to rebuild my credit, as it went from being spotless, to having a handful of blemishes. One of those blemishes is my old AT&T/Cingular wireless contract. I had fallen behind on payments and decided to just let them charge me the early termination fee for opting out of my contract. They billed me for the early termination fee, plus the total back amount due. That was about a year ago, and I haven't paid anything. I've received letters from a third party collection agency, but I refuse to pay the total balance to them. Should I mail the money I owe AT&T directly to them, or should I send it to the collection agency? I thought for sure that the collection agency would not stop bugging me, but it's actually been about six months since I've heard anything about the money I still owe AT&T. I wonder what happened? Thanks for any advice.

[guiness56]

It is always better to deal with the OC rather than the CA.  However, if AT&T has sold the account to the CA they may not work with you.

You should call AT&T and find out if they own the account and will accept payment.

[Anonymous]

California Ruling against termination fees 

my situation is similar to JerseyJeff.  I didn't pay my termination fee with Sprint since I moved out of their area and couldn't believe the 600 dollar fees.

Sprint sent it to a CA and this has ended up on my credit report.

the only thing is, in California the Superior Court ruled in July 2008 that termination fees were illegal.

So, can I get this off my credit history?  How?

[RobertEG]

If you want to fight it on legal grounds, you need an attorney, or need to file legal action on your own.

The issue of the legitimacy of termiantion fees still does not address the unpaid balance that remained upon termination.

They are "bugging" you for what they consider as legitimate, unpaid debt. 

If you can settle with the OC, that will terminate the CA, and is the best course.