Although I know it full well, I am glad I have so many people telling me because I tend to get lazy about these things, and be sorry later. It’s funny how we often do not follow our own advice.
Anyway, at this point I have sent them a last registered letter and I think the only thing to do is wait and see. It could be that they just drop it. It is unlikely but it has happened in the past.
Over the last few years I’ve had a couple of disputes with the phone company, over smaller amounts, and they never gave in, just dragged their feet for a few months and then dropped it. In truth it was not worth the trouble I went through and from a practical point of view I would have paid it except that I wanted to make a point that I was not going to put up with their slamming.
In this case, $4000 is definitely worth the fight.
I’m with dragonlady. Contact Compuserve’s CEO or President. Send them a brief letter explaining the situation and paper clip it to your excrutiatingly detailed documentation. Include absolutely everything you would need if you were to walk into a courtroom and try to prove them wrong.
Two other tips:
don’t mention legal action until you are actually just about to file. Most companies (including mine) will stop talking to you through anything but lawyers if you mention legal action.
see if you can’t get Compuserve on your side. You say this other company screwed up your account. Point this out to them and say “you know, they may have done this to more customers than just me. If that’s the case, they’re damaging you, because you’re going to lose business over this.”
First of all, you want to prevent them from doing it in the first place, because once it’s there, it’s hell getting it off.
Second of all, if they do, you most assuredly CAN post a note in your file. Have you ever seen a copy of your credit report or had to make corrections to it? one of the things you’re allowed to do is actually post a note to a line item in your own words so that anyone who sees your report sees that comment as well. i don’t know how much good it does, but you can do it by law.
I think you really need to heed everyone’s advice and get this cleared up now.
Oh, and you can get a free copy of your credit report several ways. First of all, you’re allowed one free copy per 12-month period. Then, if someone rejects you for credit (like a credit card), by law they are required to tell you which credit reporting agency they got information from and their contact information, and then you by law are allowed to get another free copy of your credit report (any letter a credit card company sends you explains this in detail, again, by law). So you can always just apply for a credit card you know you won’t get and you can get your report that way instead of having to pay a few bucks for it.
sailor, I cannot stress this enough - do not wait for this to appear on your credit report. You will regret it for the rest of your life (or at least the next 7 years). Get this matter resolved now, no matter how much effort it takes. Waiting to see is the worst thing you could do.
Oh, and you really need to look into a better lawyer than some internet chat board. Go to a credit counseling service (most of which are free) or a laywer who specializes for some advice. A little effort now will save you years upon years upon years of problems.
Esprix, thanks for your input. Yes I intend to follow this very closely. Right now I am in Europe and will be here for a few weeks but as soon as I get back I will follow up on this.
Well, I wrote them a very well composed letter explaining it all in great detail and rejecting the charges and telling them to leave me alone under all sorts of federal penalties and I do not want to talk to them ever again.
I sent it registered about two months ago, and… I have not heard from them since. One would think this may be a good thing but the truth is I am wondering what they may be up to. I wonder if they may have handed the matter over to the cosa nostra who will come calling in the middle of the night and break my kneecaps.
I guess if there is anything going on still, I’ll find out in due time.
More likely they have handed over the matter to every credit reporting agency linked to their computer and are letting out a cackle of glee every time they hear the loud ripping sound of your credit rating being slashed.
I sent a similar letter (I told more about the situation somewhere back in the original incarnation of the thread, not that it matters), and when I suspiciously followed up on it after several months with no response, they told me, “If we don’t find the need to make a correction, we don’t have to respond to you.” I have my doubts as to whether or not that is true, but I do know the credit issue continued to dog me like a horrible aroma.
Don’t mean to sound negative - I hope yours works out better. And it does sound like you are doing all you can do. (Sometimes these credit people are simply worse than the worst government agency on its evilest day when it comes to “correcting” information.)
Please don’t wait. Waiting is extremely unhealthy when dealing with legal concerns. Contact CompuServe to verify that the account is in order and everything has been wiped from the books. Don’t let this come back to haunt you later. End it. It might be that they are not terribly concerned with debt collection this month for whatever reason. Next month, they might have a completely different attitude.
CompuServe is a big company. You do not want them to take you to court. How long do you think they can drag out legal proceedings? How long could you?
If this thing is still alive, you need to take action at the top. Send numerous letters with all of the data and evidence that you have collected to the executive offices. Make sure they understand that you are pissed, but be polite.
CompuServe is a wholly owned subsidiary of America Online, Inc.
From the public SEC filings:
America Online, Inc.
22000 AOL Way
Dulles, VA 20166
703-265-1000
J. Michael Kelley
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Steven M. Case
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
When Mr. Kelly hands one of your letters to one of his immediate staff members and says, “I don’t want to hear from this guy ever again”, you can be sure that your problem will be resolved quickly.
Cygnus, I reread your earlier posting and we have all heard so many similar horror stories that one would think we would all agree the credit bureaus should be regulated much tighter.
Tymp, I appreciate what you say but… I feel a bit foolish getting in touch with them after I said I never wanted to hear from them again. Well, I guess I’ll just have to overcome that but after my bad experiences with Compuserve I do not want to talk to them on the phone and I think it’s better to communicate in writing anyway.
So… should I just send them a one paragraph letter asking them to confirm this matter is settled as far as they are concerned? i can’t think of anything better.
OMIGOD do not just wait around. I had something similar happen to me except it was not even my bill (it was my dad’s) and they still came after me. I didn’t even get any notice from a collection agency, they sued me and won because I did not receive my subpeona (my Dad thought it was for him, blew it off). It took me no word of a lie two years to get it straight AFTER I went back to court and got the judgement set aside. Finally my credit is clear, it is a huge headache, keep it off your record AT ALL COSTS!!
And it does sound like you are doing all you can do. (Sometimes these credit people are simply worse than the worst government agency on its evilest day when it comes to “correcting” information.)