Verizon's unfairness

According to this letter, sometime after 2002 you occured a debt of
$320 to Verizon. You admit you "owed Verizon approximately $320" but
that "Verizon would not work with you".

I'm not sure what "working with you" means, but I don't think there is
any reason they have to "work with you". That is, if the debt is
legit, which you say it is, then you are expected to pay the bill.

After saying this amount is now $1240 you say, "There is no way I can
pay this and it is so unfair". This amount may seem large, but could
be atributed to the late charges, interest and collection fees.

Start by contacting Verizon. They are the ones you initially had your
contract with. Ask them for an itemized statement to justify the
amount. Keep very good records, keeping name and employee numbers.
They shouldn't have a problem getting you this information and then
will be able to understand the amount.

If it is justified, I would get it paid right away. There's no need
to see the amount grow or damage your credit further.

Maybe if you paid your bills on time and had taken care of this when
it first came up you wouldn't have this problem.

S. Brown said she DOES owe it. It's just that the OP doesn't owe $320
anymore (the amount from five years ago); the OP now owes $1,240
because that $320 probably has interest, late fees, and other
penalities on it.

Verizon is not necessarily being "unfair." You owed them $320, and
despite any accounting errors, you are not disputing this amount. You
didn't pay it, and now, five years later, that amount has shot up to
$1,240. There could be many reasons for this, namely late fees and
non-payment penalities. From my experience with collection agencies,
if you want to verify the accuracy of that amount, you'll need to go
through the collection agency (NOT Verizon) as the collection agency
now owns this debt.

As for the collection agency and Verizon taking this off the credit
bureaus, they won't do that. If it turns out that you really don't owe
$1,240, you'll need to write a letter of dispute to each credit bureau
explaining your situation, and work with the collection agency. And if
you think Verizon is hard to work with, try working with a collection
agency that's trying to get their money.

How does one accrue late fees, let their credit be ruined, and neglect
to follow up while letting five years pass? Where does the urgency
suddenly come from NOW? Did you apply for a loan or mortgage and it
suddenly showed up? I'm just curious how any of this is "unfair" or
Verizon or Collection Agencies Fault?

I hope you realize that if you had paid $25 a month or so, you'd have
paid off the debt long ago, rather than facing all those interest and
collection charges you now do. Why do you feel that your credit
record should be wiped clean rather than accurately reflect what kind
of debtor you are? And why should you not have to pay interest, etc.
on years of bad debt?

Here's a hint ~ pay your bill. Had you paid it back in 2002, you
wouldn't be hit with late fees, penalties and collection costs. I am
guessing that when you say Verizon wouldn't "work with you" you mean
that they wouldn't reduce the amount you owe them. So you got mad and
refused to pay. Don't ya just HATE it when companies actually expect
you to pay your bills... how dare they????!!!

That will make them go away. And it will clean up the problems with
your credit bureau. Just write the check. Or start putting some
money away every week to pay them off.

It IS really that simple.

Actually my Verizon bills had been around $120 a month or so and then
one month it shot up to $700 and I called Verizon and I spent about an
hour with one of their customer service reps. We went through the
billing and he ageed with me that the amount OF $700 was incorrect. He
told me the actual amount and I made a payment over the phone.
Everything was fine again until the following month when the bill shot
up to $700 again. I kept getting the round about, get it straightened
out, etc. but then it would start over again. No one seemed to know
what to do. They terminated my services and ever since then it's been
a nightmare.

Sounds like Verizon has added some more late fees and penalties, also,
the collection agencies may be adding fees of there own. If it has
gone to an attorney, then you have attorney fees added to. The longer
it is in collections and the more collection agencies it goes to, the
more fees it can collect. My husband started out with $350.00 owed
and it has ballooned into almost $3000.00, he has made arrangements
with the collection agency to send in $100.00 a month until it is paid
off. Try calling the collection agency and explaining to them that
you want to set up arrangement, some will work with you and some
won't, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

I am sorry you were treated so terribly by Verizon. There is no
excuse for this. Be sure to report this episode to the Federal
Communications Commission. You can do so here:

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm

If you owe the money, they are not going to remove it and it does get
reported twice. The original creditor reports it as a sold off
account and the collection agency reports it as a collection issue.
If you let it set in collections, the charges start to increase with
interest.

Whether you owe them $1,240 is not dependent on whether you can pay it
or whether it's having an adverse effect on your credit. When did it
first show up on your bill? Did you make any progress toward paying
it? Is your failure to make this payment promptly the reason your
service was terminated? What rules regarding nonpayment, interest,
and fees did you agree to?

I'm sure you do owe more than $320 at this point, because time has
clearly passed since the original deadline, but it's hard to tell from
this how much you do owe. It may be that you actually owe $1,240 and
it may be that you don't, but just $320? No.