SO furious!!

[Laura_A]

I'm so angry that I'm shaking right now!!

Ugh! We have T-mobile for our cell service. We opened the account with FOUR lines in June 2010, have been in good standing, still have the same 4 lines PLUS one we opened in May 2011. We just upgraded our original 4 lines for an additional 2 years this last June. Our account is current and always has been.

So, I started getting calls from a collection agency saying we owed nearly $300 on an account that was turned over to them by T-mobile. What??!!! Of course they can't give me any specific information on the account, so I called T-mobile. THEY can't give me any specifics either since they've turned it over to collection already.

I find all of this VERY 'fishy'. If we actually had an account with T-mobil that was past due and about to be canceled, why did they not contact us via snail mail, email or phone call? They obviously had enough of our information to give to the collection agency, so why didn't they use it to contact us? Not ONE single attempt to collect the "debt" from us before turning it over. It makes absolutely no sense to me.

I've never had to deal with collections before and this has me completely rattled. I've told them a thousand times that my husband is OUT OF THE COUNTRY and cannot be contacted...that we do not owe this money AND that we are getting an attorney to deal with this because, truthfully, I don't have the emotional energy to take them on.

I'm so upset over all this...what if this effects our credit? My husband's job depends on security clearances that can be yanked for bad credit. Maybe I'm overreacting, but I feel like this mess could ruin us!

[ayaandjudah]

Demand to speak to T-mobile's collection area. Insist on speakign to a manager.

Ask for a detailed account as to what is owed and from when. Tell them your account has always been current.

This happened to us with Verizon and the worst part about it was that we actually had a CREDIT balance with them. We demanded that the credit agencies be notified that this was an error on there part. it took a ton of time and energy but in the end we won because it was clearly their mistake.

[Laura_A]

It's infuriating to me that because of their mistake/fraud, we have to spend so much time and money to get it fixed!! If it does come down to getting an attorney, we'll probably end up spending more than the amount of the collection, but it's the principle of it all. If we pay it, they win and we have a scar on our credit. If we fight it, we lose $$, time and peace of mind. GRRRRR!!!!

[Arual]

Laura, did TMobile actually say that THEY *did* send your account over to collection or do they even KNOW?? I ask this because about a year or so ago a friend of mine who lives in North Carolina had a very similar problem happen - turned out to be complete fraud and had NOTHING to do with her phone company at all.... her account with the phone company was in excellent standing and they did NOT ever send her account over to collection. The fraudulent ppl were just hoping to scare her quick enough that she would immediately hand over the money to them, to spare her credit. So be sure your not being the victim of the same type of thing.

[Arual]

Originally Posted by Laura_A

I've never had to deal with collections before and this has me completely rattled. I've told them a thousand times that my husband is OUT OF THE COUNTRY and cannot be contacted...that we do not owe this money AND that we are getting an attorney to deal with this because, truthfully, I don't have the emotional energy to take them on.

I'm so upset over all this...what if this effects our credit? My husband's job depends on security clearances that can be yanked for bad credit. Maybe I'm overreacting, but I feel like this mess could ruin us!

I also understand the importance of spic n span credit... like yours, my husband too has to have spic n span credit for his top secret clearance, this is the same for the friend I wrote about above, as a matter of fact, her husband has a 1 level higher clearance and she was freaking out. Keep a copy of EVERY communication with them and with TMobile. Do you have copies or can you get maybe from online records of your account with Tmobile for the life of the account? His clearance will be okay, it sounds like you have nothing on your record, this isn't going to lose his clearance - however, if it shows up on credit it will need to be explained (I use to work for an attorneys office who assisted in these types of things), which sucks but it'll be okay.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by Arual

Laura, did TMobile actually say that THEY *did* send your account over to collection or do they even KNOW?? I ask this because about a year or so ago a friend of mine who lives in North Carolina had a very similar problem happen - turned out to be complete fraud and had NOTHING to do with her phone company at all.... her account with the phone company was in excellent standing and they did NOT ever send her account over to collection. The fraudulent ppl were just hoping to scare her quick enough that she would immediately hand over the money to them, to spare her credit. So be sure your not being the victim of the same type of thing.

I was going to ask you the same thing. They should be able to tell you when and where the charges are from even if they've turned it over to collections. At the very least shouldn't the unpaid amount show up on a bill somewhere? My first thought was scam especially being that you're military and you're DH is out of the country - it sadly makes you an easy target.

[deebirks]

It really sounds like a scam to me too. I've gotten threatening letters about things I never even *heard* of (like a romance novel book of the month club -- seriously!). They are hoping you're so scared that you'll pay them right away. Of course they want the money sent to their collection agency, not T-Mobil, right?

I think that a phone company would actually turn off your phones if your account was delinquent, not leave them on and send the account to a collection agency. I'd ask for T-Mobil to send me their records of my statements, and I'd be pulling my own info out (check numbers if you paid by check or your bank statement if you made automated payments).

It's a terrible thing, but just think if they sent out that letter to 20 people, if only 5 people got scared enough by the letter to send them the money, they'd make $1500 fast & easy.

[carriesmom]

T-mobile scams are really common.

[Patti]

Ugh!! Hope things get sorted out for you soon!!

[Arual]

You could also call your local police department and ask them if they have had reports of this scam recently. In our city, when they get several calls like this, they will put out a warning to the residents. It might also help you feel a little better if you know others are getting this same call, cause then you know it's really not your account that has an issue.

[BrattyMeg]

if something was past due or late, etc wouldn't the phone lines in question eventually have been disconnected and not work? Seems weird to me.

[nun69]

Originally Posted by FlirtatiousBrat

if something was past due or late, etc wouldn't the phone lines in question eventually have been disconnected and not work? Seems weird to me.

this was my 1st thought!

[MissKim]

Depending on your state, most debt collection agencies have to notify you in writing that they are collecting on the debt and give you a chance to pay it before they start calling (or at least at about the same time). There is a huge scam where they will call and try to get you to pay on a debt you don't even owe... just because some people are stupid enough to pay it because they are afraid of bad credit. Don't hire a lawyer. Get their address, ask for an address and then send them a certified letter asking for proof of debt. That will give you a place to start with figuring out the error.

[profiler_mar]

Originally Posted by MissKim

Depending on your state, most debt collection agencies have to notify you in writing that they are collecting on the debt and give you a chance to pay it before they start calling (or at least at about the same time). There is a huge scam where they will call and try to get you to pay on a debt you don't even owe... just because some people are stupid enough to pay it because they are afraid of bad credit. Don't hire a lawyer. Get their address, ask for an address and then send them a certified letter asking for proof of debt. That will give you a place to start with figuring out the error.

Yes this! Do you have the phone number they called from? You can google the number, people tend to post in forums and on blogs about these kind of scams. I had one call me a while back and found the number was a common scammer number. Good luck!