Here's my dilemma:
About a year ago Chase called me and said that my credit card may have been stolen, turns out it was in fact taken and there were a bunch of fraudulent charges. Chase kindly removed all the charges, closed the account, and sent me a new card. During this someone signed me up for local water service delivery where they drop the cooler and multiple giant bottles of water off on a monthly basis (think office water cooler). Chase cancelled the card and I spent several months trying to get my account cancelled with the water company Crystal Springs. The water company kept saying to leave the equipment on the porch and a driver would pick it up and as soon as they received their stuff they would close the account. No one ever came and I ended up having to drive all of the unwanted water down to their warehouse. I dropped it off with the only guy working there (a forklift operator) and I got a hand written receipt and thought that hopefully that was the end of it. Fast forward 6 months and I am trying to refinance my house and my credit reports state that I got sent to collections for the water and equipment. I sent the collection agency a written letter stating what happened and included the return receipt. Now every time I call them they treat me like garbage and say that I'm lying and that they haven't received that letter or receipt, now I realize it sounds like an unbelievable story or even a stupid joke but it's true and that can't even produce a contract. They say that I don't need a contract since I admit to living at the address where the service was started. I even said that I would pay them the $300 if they sent me a fax stating that upon payment they would remove the delinquency from my credit report. Each time they were rude and said they couldn't promise anything. One exceptionally terrible manager even called me a liar and hung up on me after I asked her to provide the contact showing I signed up for the service.
Is there anything I can do about this? I just want it off my credit report. Is there anyone I can file a complaint with? Should I just take it like a man and pay it and deal with the collection on my report for the next 7 years? I can get evidence from Chase stating that the account was closed due to fraudulent activity. But other than that I'm out of ideas. Any advice would be much appreciated!
