I canceled cellphone service last year and the phone company claims I owe them an early termination fee. I never had a contract, didn't get a free/discounted phone, and even explicitly told them I did not intend to have the service two years when I signed up for service. Instead of resolving it with me directly, they refused to discuss it and just passed the account to a collections company.
I have already asked the collections agency for proof of the debt, and they just send me a copy of the last bill from the phone company. The only charge on that bill is for the termination fee. I wrote the collections agency back and insisted on a copy of the original contract with my signature and receipt for whatever phone I was supposedly given at discount/free that actually made me liable for the debt. They just sent me another copy of the same final bill with no copy of contract or any proof the charges are valid.
I've read around and not encountered any preferred methods of handling this flavor of tomfoolery. To me this looks like outright fraud on the part of the phone company, but I don't know how to begin to resolve this without hiring a lawyer which I don't want to waste money on over $150. I assume this is part of the company's calculus to extort money out of me. I am not paying scammers on principle, even if it is the easiest way out.
How can I best navigate this nonsense to get rid of this fake debt? Which legal entity (State Utility Commission, FTC, Attorney General, etc) do I complain to about the phone company's fraud to get justice?
Submitted February 10, 2017 at 09:04AM by madman_sage http://ift.tt/2lwyEAN
