How to handle this situation?
Date: Mon, 09/10/2007 - 13:26
I had wireless internet at my old address, I just called the company, set up the account and a guy came out, set it all up and then told me that we were good to surf. Fine. Everything is great until we move. The place we moved too has a horrible reception for the wireless, no matter what I did or where I put it….so we finally called and canceled the service due to not having any service. The lady asked if we wanted a repair tech to come out, I told her no, that it wasn’t broken, just not getting a good signal. They told me the account won’t be closed until they get the modem back in the mail.
No problem still…I send it back and now suddenly I have a $190 bill for early cancellation!! I call and ask her about it, I get told that it doesn’t matter if we moved, we were still liable to read our terms of agreement.
Now I blink a few times. What terms of service??? I never signed anything. She said when you signed up and setup the account you clicked on the button agreeing to terms of service. I said, no, that I never set it up, the guy who brought out the modem did it all. She checks her records and states that we went through a 3rd party merchant for our service and it was up to them to inform us of the terms. That is all fine and good, but they did not do that and I didn’t know there were any terms of service!
I am basically getting “oh well too bad.†And She said that it has already gone to collections, assigned not sold. I am so pissed and upset…if this goes on my credit report I am going to throw a hissy.
Do I have any options? I could DV the collector and hope they violate so I have some leverage, but if they send me back the computer stuff that I supposedly ‘clicked’ acceptance, then what do I do? I’m a bit stumped here, but I refuse to pay for something I did not agree to.
When you agree to a service and sign a contract the other party
When you agree to a service and sign a contract the other party is required to provide that service in working order for the duration of the contract which thet didn't. I would file a complaint with the BBB against them. As far as the collector goes they must provide alot more than just a contract. They must prove that the goods were delivered which they can't because they weren't. I think once the BBB gets involved you will see your account paid in full. If not go to the FTC and the FCC. If you can afford it go to NACA.com and get a consumer attorney to write them a letter. Keep after thenm until you wear them down. I have heard many stories like this about wireless providers. If you had a tech come out you would probably have been charged for it and they would not have fixed it anyway. What provider was it so I can warn people to stay away?
Clearwire Wireless. Heck, they were still trying to debit my ac
Clearwire Wireless. Heck, they were still trying to debit my account for service while waiting for the modem..I put up a stink about that and it got taken off, but now this early cancel crap. Apparently in the terms of service it states that you agree not to move, or if you do and get lousy service, you still have to keep the service or pay this early cancellation fee. HELLO? Are you kidding me??? They are deciding if you can or can't -move-???
Besides the fact that I never signed it, physically or electronically. I never even knew there were terms of service.
That is a tough one. I would send a DV letter and ask for the o
That is a tough one. I would send a DV letter and ask for the original signed contract which they of course can not provide. A techy clicking accept on a terms of service would never hold up as a signed contract. The tough part though is the $190 will probably stay in limbo. They are not going to sue for it and you will have a hard time getting them to stop reporting it. If you file a complaint with the 3 C????????s then the company will fire back at them saying the debt is legitimate. You might be able to build a case of your own against them but it will cost you more than $190 that they are reporting. Maybe you could get them for a violation and win damages.
Since this is a original creditor,go ahead and read up on the fa
Since this is a original creditor,go ahead and read up on the fair credit billing act and prepare a billing dispute letter. You want to go on record as a documented billing dispute. This will protect the account from further collections or reporting until the dispute has been fully resolved.
Cajun is right. It sounds like this hasn't gone into collection
Cajun is right. It sounds like this hasn't gone into collections. You weren't getting what you were paying for nevertheless. I'd point that out. Regardless, in your state (Texas), you are protected under the state's debt collection act from original creditors. The fdcpa doesn't kick in until it goes to a 3rd party collector.
Yeah, thanks for the great advice! These people give me a heada
Yeah, thanks for the great advice! These people give me a headache. The 'collection' agency told me they are not a collection agency, that their contract with Clearwire states them as 'customer service'. Seems a bit fishy to me. If they are attempting to collect the debt, then they are a CA..heck their name is Bureau of Recovery. But the lady told me since I am disputing the billing that they will stop all contact with me and let Clearwire deal with it.
I need to go read up on the fair credit billing act and see what my state says about these things as well....I wonder how solid a 'click to agree' is for a legal contract.