Can Columbia House ruin my credit?

I know usually C.H. has a 2-year time limit, but they had this deal probably 7 or 8 years ago (yeah, I know, it’s been a while), where you had no time limit, so that’s why I joined.

I’m not a deadbeat, by the way, but I know this thread kind of makes me look like one. I’m sorry but as I get older, I just can’t justify spending $22 for a cd.

That, by the way brings up what I mentioned in my first post: They are charging me the cost of 2 CDs including shipping. Shipping? They’re not going to give me any product, but they’re going to charge me for shipping? Tells you where they make their money, huh.

I have had disputes & such with CH, BMG and bookclubs. They have never shown up on my credit report. However, they were always for one book, or for “the unordered balance” or something. There are pretty serious Federal laws about reporting false info to a credit reporting agency, and I doubt if a Judge would really think that our OP owed the price AND shipping on two CD’s he never ordered or recieved. In fact IANAL that sound more like a 'breach of contract dispute" as opposed to a “debt”. CH may know that attempts to collect that “unordered balance” as a “debt” may get the whole thing thrown out, so I doubt if they’ll push it.

OTOH, ordering, recieveing and then not paying for many CD, etc is indeed a “bad debt”, and they can & have reported dudes.

Sorry if it appears I called you a deadbeat, it just seems like you owe the money. I agree that CH’s prices are rediculously high. I’m into them for one more DVD, then I’m history. Do you still have the opportunity to order two CD’s and satisfy them? It seems that that would be the most expedient resolution, even if that does let them win.

No time limit? How could CH make any money that way? You could always say that you’re going to buy the CD’s right up to the moment you die. Since, one hopes, that is many years from now, it would be awfully hard to turn the initial investment of “12 CD’s for one cent” into a profit. How is it done?

I’ve been in and out of Columbia House since the latter days of the 8-track. When you figure in the amount you pay for the 12 “free” selections and the required selections, you usually end up paying somewhere between 25-50% of the standard retail price. They definitely make their money on shipping and handling. The best way to take advantage of their offers is to wait for one of their “Buy one at regular price and get as many at $x.xx”

I’m currently in their DVD club (for the second time). I have been paying about 50-65% retail after all is said and done.

Someone once posted a site where you can compare and contrast Columbia and BMG to see which is the better deal.

Truly, I think the main way these are a rip-off is that you end up buying a bunch of CDs you might not have bought otherwise. Also, back in the day, when they were selling LPs, the records and record jackets were of inferior construction.

I didn’t know anyone filled out those forms with their real names. Isn’t that what you have pets for? Maybe I am a deadbeat, but Columbia House and BMG both always had a habit of not noticing the post cards that I sent saying that I didn’t want the lastest cruddy selection, so it all seems fair enough to me. I’m surprised to hear that creditors can report something without a social security number. That seems very vulnerable to identity theft and simple mix-ups in families where John Smith junior and senior both live in at the same address.

Excuse me, I have to go check my cat’s credit report, she still owes $20 for a Celine Dion CD that she really didn’t want five years ago. Bad Cookie Galadriel Pistachio M&M, bad girl.

House,

On the subject of whether or not this possible “bad debt” will affect your ability to obtain credit, I think it probably varies with the type/amount of credit you are seeking. My personal experience, FWIW:

Many years ago, I had a dispute with the good folks at Mastercard. I’ll skip the boring details, but suffice to say the amount involved was petty (less than $100), and I refused to pay them on principle. I informed them of my refusal and reasons for same via multiple certified letters. I finally stopped hearing from them, and figured case closed. Not so.

Flash forward about 3 years. I applied for a mortgage, and the mortgage counselor at my bank, after reviewing my credit report, clucked her tongue and informed me that my otherwise spotless record was marred by this “bad debt” reported by Mastercard, Inc. After I explained the circumstances, she strongly advised me to put the facts in writing and send it to the credit bureau, to avoid trouble with the underwriters. So, I dutifully wrote a two-page explanation, complete with copies of correspondence, certified receipts, etc., and requested that it be included with my credit report. Mortgage went through, no problem. Case closed, right? Not so.

Skip ahead a couple more years, and you find me applying for a car loan at Honest Al’s House 'O Wheels, or whatever. Honest Al pulls my credit report, and as he reads it he starts laughing. When he stops giggling, he turns to me and says “You confessed to the crime, but there’s no body”! When your confused reporter desired clarification, Honest Al told me that he couldn’t care less about some petty dispute with Mastercard that happened 5 or 6 years earlier, but that my letter of explanation included in my report was drawing attention to the dispute needlessly. His advice was to ask the credit bureau to remove the letter. He happily financed my vehicle, and I never did take his advice, figuring it wasn’t worth further hassle.

So, bottom line. If you are thinking about asking for serious credit, like a mortgage, in the next few years, you may want to think twice about allowing this petty “bad debt” to be included in your credit report. It could conceiveably cause you some aggravation and grief.

:eek: :slight_smile: :wink: :smiley:

But Mayfield- that’s the whole point here- CH does not report such debts to the Credit reporting agencies. In your case, MC may have violated some serious Federal law- however, you have to “dipsute” the debt in the correct fashion.

Basicly, you send a letter- certified is best, using the word “disputed” to the address on the back or your bill for such disputes. Once you do that, they can get in real trouble for reporting you to Experian, etc.

But you have learned a valauable lesson- check you credit report regularly. You can find all sorts of errors- in fact, there is a very good chance that you will find at least one “significant” error.

Well, as I read through the thread, I basically saw 2 issues:

  1. Can Columbia house ruin (a persons) credit? This was the question asked by the OP in the thread title.

  2. Will Columbia House ruin (a persons) credit? This is raised in the body of the OP.

I honestly don’t know if Columbia House will try to ruin a persons credit, since I have no direct experience. DrDeth testifies that in fact they do not go to this extreme, so I presume that to be the case. Seems logical.

But I was trying to address the first question, in a more general sense, that seemingly minor credit disputes can find their way into your record, and they can be a pain in the ass to correct. My main point was that it’s probably not worth the hassle over a minor amount of money. Of course, YMMV.

You are right, DrDeth, there are rules and procedures which must be followed in dealing with these matters. Believe me, I made it my business to learn them and followed them all to the letter (I had a boring job at the time with lots of time on my hands), or so I thought. In spite of my efforts, they still managed to put me in a position of having to prove myself not guilty.

I wasn’t aware that they could face penalties for this (assuming that I didn’t fail to cross a ‘T’ or dot an ‘I’ somewhere, which I very may well have, who knows). I would like to hear more about this, just in case I ever have to go through it again.