Hi all,
I received a letter from a collection agency out of the blue at the end of November. Apparently it was from an alarm contract that went to collections after a few months of non-payment in 2019-2020. Long story short, my ex-husband in another state died of a heart attack in 2018. Since he died without a will and nobody in his family was able to continue the alarm contract while things were sorted out, I said I would take it over (we had a really good relationship even though we'd been divorced since the early '90s). They transferred the account to me and I signed a one-year contract. Auto-pay with e-bills since obviously there was no reason to have paper bills.
At the end of that year, the estate was still in probate (and seriously was just finalized a few weeks ago), I contacted the company to initiate cancellation. After FOUR phone calls, I was told it was cancelled and I wouldn't need to do anything else. All I had was the initial email saying "sorry you want to cancel, here's what's going to happen next". Which of course didn't. I monitored the account for another month or so, and didn't see any more charges or ebills, so I figured I was good.
Last month, I got the letter from the collection agency. I still had my login info, so checked the account. Somehow, TWO months later, the billing restarted, with paper bills and a different rate. The alarm company refuses to speak to me, and the collection agency will only accept a letter that says my account was closed with a zero balance, which I'm obviously not going to get. They charged it off and sold the account.
Last Tuesday, the collection hit my EX report and dropped it from 769 to 675. It showed up on EQ yesterday. All this while I was still trying to get info and fix this. The CA received my validation request and sent me the same account history that I already had, along with an invoice. I disputed with EX and it came back verified two days later. When I contacted the CA, their first response was "no, we didn't report anything", so obviously I don't know what I'm looking at (sigh).
I'm just sick about this. I can't believe they can just come out of nowhere with this and report it after only three weeks, while we're still talking about it! I've had zero communication from them since 2019, even via email, which is still active. I guess my "assumption" that the CA would realize this is a mistake and work with me is where I went wrong. They don't care, they just want the money. I spent hours on BBB and PissedConsumer reading horror stories about this company, and apparently nobody ever wins these disputes.
FINE, I'll pay (it's only around $300), but they didn't even give me a chance! My biggest concern is how this is going to affect my existing accounts. I don't care about NEW credit, but don't want CLDs or account closures over something like this. I've worked really hard to rebuild my credit after my 2013 Ch13, and this is going to kill it. I only hope they'll delete it and nobody sees it in the meantime.
Thanks for letting me vent.
I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this, @justjac2. All things considered, this shouldn't have happened.
Of course the decision is yours, but if *I* had this faux bill, I wouldn't pay it. I don't care if it's three hundred dollars or three hundred grains of sand, if I don't owe it, I don't pay it.
The bill has already gone to collections, so it looks like your only hope of getting it straightened out is through the CA, but it still may be possible to communicate with the alarm company directly. It's unclear from what you wrote whether you retained the initial e-mail confirming cancellation--did you? If you still have that, at least you have SOMETHING to work with. Did you keep track of the phone calls you made? Dates, times, the names of the CSRs you spoke to, etc.? All of these calls are recorded, so dates and times can be very important in a situation like this.
I think I would contact the alarm company, tell them I have the cancellation e-mail (and I would, because I keep *everything*), ask for a supervisor, and ask that the recordings of my phone calls be reviewed. Although I haven't had the exact same problem you're facing, I can tell you that in my experience, just asking for the phone calls to be reviewed has always ultimately led to the problem being resolved. I think they figure the tapes will indeed prove I'm right, so just go ahead and fix it already!
If you pay it, you're probably kissing your money goodbye, because even though the charges are erroneous, once the money is out of your hands, it's about 99.99% certain you'll never get it back. I'd try every other possible angle before paying a debt I don't legitimately owe.
@SoCalGardener Thanks for your response. I was able to find my notes that documented my cancellation attempts, and their email from 2019. When I called them last week, I spoke to three other people, none of whom wanted to help (dates and names/positions captured there as well). The last person told me I'd have to email their customer service people, which I did, and detailed the timeline there as well, including the names and dates. I forwarded both emails to the CA. The problem is that I was supposed to receive a Docusign which I never did, hence all the calls, and THEN send a cancellation letter (I didn't get that far). Because of that, they say I didn't cancel properly so still owe the money.
I don't see how this is my fault, but I'm not alone in that apparently they can keep billing you without sending you ANYTHING. It's like nobody wants to listen to reason or logic. Why would I have paper bills sent to a deceased person's house??
File a complaint with the CFPB and upload a copy of the cancellation letter. Hopefully there's a confirmation code on it. Along with the letter from the CA. Pretty low on their part. If that doesnt work. FRCA lawyer. Canceled is canceled. That should have ended it all. Login again and see if theres a PDF final statement showing closed and $0 balance. Good luck and keep us updated.
I came back to update this post. As much as I hated to do it, I paid the collection agency to get this off my reports. EX was done within a day or so, but I had to a file a dispute with Equifax to get it off, but it was gone maybe a week later. I did get it in writing first that it would be deleted if paid (not sure if that means anything), but afterwards, got an email stating it was paid and wouldn't reappear.
Radio silence from the alarm company until today, when I got an email response that confirms what I'd been saying all along. They DID cancel the account on 8/23/19, but allowed my former BIL, who had the code word, to reactivate the service a week later (not get his OWN ACCOUNT), then paid exactly $0 for 8 months until they sent it to collections. They also deleted my contact info, which is why I didn't know about it. They apparently contacted the CA to let them know, but I'm sure I won't be getting my money back. I guess it might have been fixed if I'd just waited it out (maybe not), but I wanted to protect my credit.
What I don't understand is why the account was sold with my info instead of his. I'm still angry about this, but I'm done with it. It certainly doesn't help my mental state to think about it.
Thanks.
Congrats on the deletions. Look at this way. I'd pay $300 for 90+ points in a NY Minute. 
Its out of your life. Chapter closed. Dont let $300 affect your life. Bigger things to worry about. Sorry about your loss @justjac2
@FireMedic1 Thanks, and I agree. I've paid the money and it's over. I'm just glad it was "only " $300. It was a stressful 6 weeks or so but at least it had a good outcome (deletions). Moving on...
@justjac2 wrote:Radio silence from the alarm company until today, when I got an email response that confirms what I'd been saying all along. They DID cancel the account on 8/23/19, but allowed my former BIL, who had the code word, to reactivate the service a week later (not get his OWN ACCOUNT), then paid exactly $0 for 8 months until they sent it to collections. They also deleted my contact info, which is why I didn't know about it. They apparently contacted the CA to let them know, but I'm sure I won't be getting my money back. I guess it might have been fixed if I'd just waited it out (maybe not), but I wanted to protect my credit.
Your ex-BIL owes you $300 at least. But if he didn't pay them, he probably won't pay you either. Glad it's all behind you.
EQ8 780, TU8 748, EX8 771 as of January 5