[Rumor]

Nine years ago, I had an AT&T cell phone. I moved to an area with poor coverage and decided to cancel. About a year later, I get a bill for $300 and some odd dollars. At the time, I didn't know about the clause that no cancellation fee will be charged if service cannot be provided. So I paid it. A couple of years later, it pops up with a collection company. I dispute the charge and it went away.

I just recently found out that the damn thing popped up again. AT&T has no record of it. I called the collection agency and informed that it has been paid for several years. The lady I talked to said they didn't handle disputes and told me to call AT&T.

Any suggestions on how to handle this? Since it's been paid, I've moved at least a dozen times and there is no way to get the record of it. I don't even know which bank I was with at the time.

[Lateralus]

Ignore it.

Even if you owed it, which you don't, I'm pretty sure they lose any legal claim to the amount after 7(?) years.

[Rumor]

Problem is that it is on my credit report. It shows as being added in March of this year.

I currently have a contract for AT&T cell service.

[Cold Warrior]

I wouldn't ignore it. If they think it's legit, then they'll keep coming after you and it'll damage your credit. Find some way to resolve it.

[rickey939]

ATT&T, eh?

[Jawbone54]

I hate AT&T. Too bad I have no choice but to use them.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by rickey939 

ATT&T, eh?

American Telephone, Telegraph, & Transexuals

[KeriVit]

I had something similar happen to me with Nextel a while back. I was advised by bankrate to do the following: what to do when they're wrong

All is well now. They cleared it up.

[::maroma::]

Call AT&T and demand it get resolved right then and there. Don't get off of the phone until its resolved. They are the ones that are responsible for clearing it up now, since you've paid it already. If they get pushy, tell them that you will sue them for damages to your credit if they don't resolve it immediately.

[iMOTOR]

This is a scam most dishonest cell companies try to pull. If AT&T claims to have no record of it, then I think the best thing you can do is demand a letter stating that you owe nothing. Then send that to the credit reporting agencies and wait for the item to fall off your report. It's a real pain in the ass.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by iMOTOR 

This is a scam most dishonest cell companies try to pull.

Yeah, because most multi-million dollar cell companies make most of their profit off this "scam".

CEO: "Guys, we need more profit."

CFO: "How about we collect cancellation fees, delete the records indicating it's been paid, and then send collecting agencies after people?"

CEO: "Fantastic idea. It's illegal and if we get caught we're in deep sh#t, but who cares? We're a big company and can do what we want. That money twice paid will make us an extra $30,000 this year."

I'm 100%, absolutely positive this is NOT some "scam" that cell companies run on a regular basis just to f#ck with people.

Time to take off the tin-foil hat.

[Buckaroo]

Originally Posted by Rumor 

Problem is that it is on my credit report. It shows as being added in March of this year.

I currently have a contract for AT&T cell service.

This is real simple to fix. I recently had to fix something myself. It may seem hard because you feel you shouldn't have to do it to begin with.

1) Find out the credit report agency that is counting this against you.
2) Go to their web site, find the phone number for appealing incorrect charges.
3) Call them and they will take down the information.
4) You may have to contact the people making the claim against you, but the credit buero has to provide you with correct contact information.
5) In a couple weeks it will disappear off your credit report.

You can tell them both that the debt has already been paid, and that it is over 7 years old. There are a bunch of laws that protect you against this kind of action.

One thing that is very important, be nice to the person at the other end. No matter how agrivating the BS sounds, explain the issue, and they will have to fix it or they are libal for a lawsuit.

For me it was my ex-wife's bill that got attached to my account. It didn't take long to get it fixed. I had a hunch that my ex-wife didn't do it on purpose, it was more than likely the doctor's billing dept. just used old billing information.

[Rumor]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[alligator]

What evidence do you have to show it was paid?

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by alligator 

What evidence do you have to show it was paid?

It's been so long, basically none. Except it was removed from collections several years ago and just this year came back.

[Buckaroo]

Just to let you know what may have happened. AT&T may have sold your debt to a collection agency almost immeadiatly after it was unpaid. They may have sold it with a million other unpaid accounts. They never notified the collection agency that you paid and when you challenged it later, that collection agency deleted the claim. After a few years, that collection agency sells all the accounts that it can't collect (including your challenged account) to another company for maybe a penny on the dollar balance. It's all a bunch of BS. Because you and thousands of others will have to deal with this every couple years. Keep all information about this episode so that if you ever have to file a lawsuit, you'll have prof that you already cleared this several times previously.

I may be wrong, but I believe what I explained above is pretty close to correct.

[Rumor]

Thanks. After digging around a bit, I found that this started happening after AT&T took over Cingular.

[macintologist]

This is one of those few times when a lawsuit might actually be legitimately employed. Once you hit them up with a lawsuit, they can't ignore your plea.