getting hassled for $200
 

A couple of years ago I carried a pager. To make the long story short, the service was so bad I tried to cancel the balance of the contract.

Some sh&thead debt collector called last night trying to collect the $200.

Question, what's the worst thing that can happen if I never pay them (out of principle)? I suspect they will continue to call. Is there anything I can do to stop it? Will they really take me to court for $200? Wouldn't the court filing fees and lawyer fees exceed that?

I know the credit rating score thing will be less than perfect now but come on! for $200!

I want your opinions

They'll drag you to court for $2.00 never mind $200. Call a consumer protection agency and see what your rights are.

I'd tell them to send it to you in writing.....if they got your phone number then they know where to send it....

Then check up on it...could be a scam...but I'm with you ...a few years later? I wouldn't pay on principle...But start a log in a notebook...keep record of when they called , duration of the call, what they said etc as there are laws to follow..and if they break them.....

Anything in the service contract regarding quality of service or customer satisfaction or complaint reconciliation? There is usually a lot of fine print, there might be something in there.

I had a collection agency on the run for about a year, they had a small list of numbers then a total but they did the math wrong. Every time they called I pointed it out and they didn't call for a couple of months

Send them a certified letter stating that you will only deal with the principals of the debt (the pager company). Keep your reciept from the Post Office - if they contact you again you can use this like a sword.

I have no advice. I just like to post on Jentay's threads.:eek: :P :D

I sincerely doubt that they will spend the money to drag you into court. If they do, then show up and tell the story to the judge.

Normally, they continue to hassle you and try to get a settlement out of you. If they can get 1/2 the balance, then they consider this a success.

The worst thing is the damage to your credit rating, if you need credit. Yes, the credit rating is affected by any delinquency, without regard to the amount. Since most agencies simply go by the raw credit score, the robots that work for them probably won't even look at the report to determine the actual situation.

will I get banned if I write that this is Bush's fault?

No, you'd be correct, as usual.;)

credit report
 

Get a copy of your credit report... if it's been two years, and they haven't contacted you directly before selling it to a collection agency... wouldn't it be on your report by now, probably as a 'past due 90+ days' ? If it's not on there, then I'd be leery of any third party action.

Its Bushes fault that Slick willy had a thing for big boobed interns...didn't they tell you that...The Bush Dynasty put monica up to it...

I had a somewhat similar incident about 6 years ago. I owed X company $50 and refused to pay due to the horrendously crappy service I had to endure. They sent it to a collection agency who wrote me a few letters and eventually gave up. I hadn't heard anything after the first year or so and I it doesn't seem to have affected my credit at this point. I wouldn't say that completely ignoring them is good advice, but it worked for me at the time.

It's because I fashioned a thinking cap for myself!


http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...lr%3D%26sa%3DG

What is your credit score worth to you? Chances are good that you are already being reported as delinquent in this case, which hurts your score. They don't have to sue you to be reported as a "collection account" on your credit history.

Re-read your pager contract.

If I were you, I'd check my credit history today. If there is no evidence of any detrimental report, pay the $200 and make this go away. If you owe the money, I recommend prompt settlement and chalk this up as a learning experience.

You are only hurting yourself in the long run by avoiding the issue.

Best of luck to you.

for the record, an isolated derrogatory mark on an otherwise stellar report amounts to dog squeeze on the sidewalk. Anyone who is seriously scrutinizing your reports will see that it is an anomaly and at most will ask about it.

I agree that (1) most loan officers/credit grantors would not "scrutinze" and (2) that most would not ask.

Many simply rely on the FICO number. The cost difference on a mortgage note between a 725 score and 710 score could be much more over the long run than the $200 they are seeking.

That's a good looking hat.

Better lay off the booze however. Eyes look a little bloodshot.:D

In my example in my previous thread (post #16), I guessed that a collection account may be detrimental to the tune of about 15 FICO points.

According to this estimator, it could be upwards of 50 FICO points!

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/fico/calc.asp

I stayed up late frightening the little crumbcrunchers who dared darken the threshold with thier hands out and faces painted.......:D

Every state has a statue of limitations on debt collection. Find out what your states is and then how much time until you are outside of it. Chances are you are close thats why they are calling you.

If it isn't on your credit report I'd ignore them and they will go away. For $2k I'd worry about being taken to court but for $200 they are not going to.

What he said, and his other post as well it could affect you even worse if you have a short credit file.

if the $200 is a problem you may be able to cut a deal or borrow it from el prez.

or perhaps a pay-per-view in the pretty girls thread.

The one of credit companies put a lean on my g/f's credit when we were disputing fraud with Uhaul when her purse and my WRX was stolen. Even now her credit is still screwed up even though we provided them with the police reports because they said we were delinquent paying them $1000 for charges that were accumulated by the robbers!! :mad:

UHAUL sucks BTW :rifle:

:dj:

How many of us have seen fortunes squandered "for the principle of the thing?" :cool:

Just a few months ago I had the state of MD after me. They said I owed over $2500 in back taxes. I had my tax guy send them a copy of my tax return from the year in question. A few weeks later they sent me a letter informing me that as far as they were concerned, the matter was closed.

I asked him why they would do this in the first place. He said some states routinely send out letters like that to people saying they owe money. Fact is, some people get so scared, they roll over and simply pay money they don't owe!

I'm not a big fan of MD.... (And yes, I grew up there.)

I lived there from 1981 thru 1987........no I am no fan of MD either.

Ask the collection agency if they would be willing to settle the debt for 20 bucks, since that's all the service was worth. You never know, they might go for it or make a counter offer.

Don't pay anything until you check on the statute of limitations. If you are past the time of the statute and then pay any amount on the debt you start the clock again and open yourself up to more collection with interest. Seems worth some research at this point.

interpret this legalese for me please. 3 years?
 

North Carolina Statute of Limitation

Express or implied contract, not under seal: 3 years.

Contract and sale of personal property under seal: 10 years.

Open account: 3 years, NOTE: Each payment renews the SoL on all items purchased within the 3 years prior that payment. If no payment is made, the SoL runs from date of each individual charge. Contracts: From date of breach or default, unless waived or performance under the contract is continued.

Judgments: 10 years

i'm convinced that maturity (or immaturity) is a function of gender and not age so no harm no foul.

:cool:

My wild guess would be "notorized = under seal" But thats a non-lawyer speaking. You do need to be sure about that however.

JenTay PAY IT.

I've seen way too many deals fall flat because someone didn't pay a stupid little bill because of principle or get pounded by interest rates. If the item is already on your credit report don't pay unless they take it off. It may seem odd but if you pay the bill that is already on your credit report it will renew the account and the 7 year clock starts ticking again.

If the creditor is bugging you you can fax them a stop call letter and they have to stop.

I had a phone bill on my CR from school daze and once I found that is was there I paid it and my credit score dropped, so lesson learned.

Browse this site:


http://www.creditwrench.com/

What I mean is part of your credit score is based on how long you have had credit, so the older you are the better the age score they can't discriminate based on age but they can discriminate based on how long you have had credit.

Me and her have the same birthday....!

I bet she's hot.

:dj:

I've been haggling with a collection agency for 4 months now. Seems like at some point someone fraudulently opened an account with T-Mobile and I had a charge -off and subsequent entry from a collection agency which dropped my score from 675 to 598. I guess the 2 negatives at the same time hurt a lot more.

Anyway, after calling several times and writing 2 letters, T-Mobile acknowledged that the account was not mine and all negative entries were removed. My score jumped up 60 points in 3 weeks.

I would definitely send a letter or 2, demanding that they show documentation that there was a contract. I don't remember pager companies having contracts anyway.

Additionally, not all collection companies report to credit bureaus. If I am not mistaken, there is a fee with being able to do so. So if it's a rinky dink collection agency, they may not report it.

I suggest getting a copy of your 3 in 1 report and seeing for yourself.

:rifle: the collection agency.

My wife just got a call from a collection agency regarding some 59.00 balance that is 10 years old, prior to us getting married. I told the broad about it being so old and not being on her report anymore. She told me that they will put it on if she doesn't pay.

I asked her, if she ever heard of the fair credit reporting act and she hung up on me.:)

My wife just got a call from a collection agency trying to collect on a 10 year old debt that was a result of her wallet getting stolen 20 years ago:mad: Fixing that was an adventure and a half, I don't think this site has the bandwidth to post the story.