Comcast Hounded By Collections Agency 142
Bob the Super Hamste writes "According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Comcast is being taken to court for non-payment by a bill collection agency it used to collect past-due payments from customers. The suit alleges that Comcast agreed to pay $5 for each account it closed and that for each account the collection agency handled Comcast would pay 33% of the collected funds. The suit is seeking $314,210 for account cancellations and estimates Comcast owes them $50,000 for delinquent funds collected."
Serves them right (Score:4, Interesting)
I had Lindy's collection service calling my house with a robodial at all hours multiple time a day for over year...even after I explained to them that I have never had comcast and never will because they aren't even available where I live. Apparently that was some kind of confirmation to them that it was my debt. I ended up having to get an attorney friend of mine after them to get them to stop. It turned out to be someone with the same first and last name that lived in the same area code but not the same town.
Re:As much as I hate... (Score:2, Interesting)
I'll agree - collection agencies are a necessary evil. But, necessary or not, they are still evil - or most of them are.
Oh yeah - the statute of limitations. We were given one of those damned credit cards, years ago. Didn't ask for it, didn't want it - should have just cut it up, but we ketp it laying around. One day, we NEEDED some auto repairs, and used that stupid card. Then, I got laid off, only weeks later. The bill came, and the wife sent them a letter, explaining that I was laid off of work, and we wanted to take advantage of thier sales point in the brochure that came with the card. "If you lose your job, we'll waive three months payments" yada yada yada. They stopped sending bills, but a few years later, some collection agency took it to court. The wife looked at the summons, and laughed. She took a day off of work, went to court, and told the judge that the statute of limitations had expired. I'm pretty certain that the collection agency ASSumed that we would ignore the summons, and that they would win by default.
My wife is pretty smart, sometimes. But, don't anyone tell her that I said that!
Re:The enemy of my enemy . . . (Score:3, Interesting)
Support your municipal cable company!
Who? No, really, who is that? I have Comcast and...Comcast. I opted for neither.
Re:These guys deserve each other (Score:4, Interesting)
I had a collection agency almost a decade ago now actually call my inlaws and say "I'm looking for Sean Vaandering, i'm actually an old relative of his and just looking for his current phone number so I can call him up and wish him a happy birthday and send this present to him? Did you happen to have his current phone number?"
Oh that was brilliant. Here I am, unlisted number and they come calling one day and i'm racking my brains on how the hell did they all of a sudden get my phone number!? Then my wife talks to her mom that evening and she admits that someone called earlier today asking for our phone number and wanting to ship us a gift. Thanks mother-in-law! Appreciate that. Needless to say, we settled that debt, but we were so damn close to 7 years, that it literally would have dropped off and became unreported on my credit report and a noncollectable debt. I actually had someone who used to work at a collections agency tell me in confidence that I shouldn't pay it back because once the debt falls off your credit report, the collection agency legally cannot collect it and cannot enforce any legal action against you to collect it.
That little act cost me 7 more years of low credit score because once I actually paid it, the collection agency updated my credit report stating the R9 was paid in full - but that now means the R9 remains on my file for ANOTHER 7 years, needless to say I paid dearly when I financed a car I absolutely needed at the time (new baby, taking the bus was not in the cards).
Today, the bank who originally sent the file to the collection agency over 15 years ago now just sent me another mailing asking me to sign up for a pre-approved Platinum $10,000 credit card. Please. Never ever in a thousand years, and i'd love to be able to blast someone there for sending me this crap, but alas, I don't want to blow a hole through some front line lackey, for something that happened probably when he was in diapers. Things are different today, and it was a very long and expensive lesson on collection agencies, but the moral of this story is:
Do not fuck with collection agencies, they are paid for one thing and one thing only: To collect unpaid debt at any cost.
Pay your bills on time and every time - especially if the company updates your credit report. It really is that simple. Not paying at all should NEVER EVER be an option your considering.