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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:04 am Subject: Help! Phone Company Dispute/Debt

Trying to get any good information on this. Long story short, my company has been advertising with the local phone company Yellow Pages for several years. About 2 years ago, I realize they had basically "changed" my phone number by not continuing an advertising tracking number they established for my company. So, I lost a lot of business.

Long story short, I had to stop paying them for the bill and stacked up what they claim to be over 15,000 in debt. They've been hitting me with collection companies for almost a year now. As of late, I'm getting calls and mail from a law firm OUT of state. The letter I received waffled and basically said they'd consider lawsuit if I don't pay blah blah blah. I have a corporation and to my knowledge this debt was always signed in my corporate name as it is a pure business debt. Also, since they changed my phone number I have a serious dispute over the validity of these charges.

I still haven't been sued over this. Just all these threats. I am busy preparing all my documentation for a legal battle. Thanks in advance for any advice on this. Any thoughts on whether or not I might be sued, etc. I've been taking an "avoid" approach as of late with this law firm and basically not communicating with them. I sent my grievances to the phone company over a year ago, and they of course just ignored them. I'm not sure if the current "law firm" that is harassing me is aware of my dispute, but of course they aren't saying they are. Also, they put some weird lingo in the letter about "piercing the corporate veil" which I've been told by my attorney is complete BS and just an idle threat - perhaps because I have told the previous collection agencies that I have a well established corporation and this is not a personal debt and they should not mess with my personal credit over this - which they still have not.

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:48 am Subject:

B2B debt/collections is an entirely different matter from consumer debt/collections, which is what we deal with here. I would advise you to consult with your attorney on this matter.

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:02 am Subject:

The Fdcpa does not apply to business debt.The Fcra,Ftc act,& your state's version of the unfair/unlawful deceptive trade practices should apply to this situation.I would consult an attorney and possibly your state's public utility commission for assistance in this matter.