I made a mistake, what can I do?

[Anonymous]

I recently called AT&T about a debt that Enhanced Recovery had sent to collections.  I first contacted Enhanced Recovery about a PFD to no avail so I resorted to contacting the Original Creditor directly.  I spoke to this guy that said that I was still able to pay AT&T directly and Enhanced Recovery would no longer be able to collect the debt.  Now after paying in full I asked for some kind of proof either written or automated and the guy said the only thing he can give me is a confirmation/ reference number which I wrote down.  Now I'm wondering how can I obtain proof of payment to AT&T?  I think I made a huge mistake (not paying off the debt because thats a huge load off) by paying in full before receiving some sort of actual proof.  Also, if it does turn out that AT&T counts the debt as paid in full, would I be able to contact Enhanced Recovery (the company that sent it to collections) a goodwill letter asking them to remove the collections as their ownership of my debt is now invalid to them?  I'm not sure if I'm making any sense here but I feel like I really screwed up.

[RobertEG]

How did you pay?  Money order/certified funds, check?

You should have some evidence of payment.

If a debt collector still has collection authority at the time you pay the debt, they are not required to delete their collection.

The OC is required to notifiy them that the debt has been satisfied, which then requires the debt collector to close their collection and update the balance under collection to $0.  You would have achived the same result by simply paying the debt collector.

You would now contact the debt collector and request GW deletion.  Since they declined a PFD, chances of now granting deleltion are probably slim.

[Anonymous]

Payment was made over the phone. Only thing I have is the payment on my card. I will try sending them a GW letter. I got so eager to pay it off that I didn't completely think it through. Thanks for the reply.