Verizon bill gone to collections - who do I pay?

[ncat]

I messed up shortly after we moved and accidentally payed our new phone bill to our old, closed out account. Verizon could not resolve this in any sensible way and I have spent hours and hours on the phone with them trying to resolve the issue. (they would no just apply the credit to the new account and they could not competently issue us a refund). When they finally took care of it (after 2 or 3 phone calls), they overpaid the refund. I foolishly just cashed the check hoping to be done. They sent a new bill, including monthly service fees back in March. I spent more time on the phone with them, where they agreed to issue me a corrected bill. I never got this corrected bill. I should have followed up, but could not stand to spend any more time on the phone getting nowhere. Today I got a collections notice. Who should I pay - Verizon or the collections company? Will this affect my credit? Note that the only money I owe is not from unpaid service, but from incompetently issued refund.

[ncat]

Maybe I should have posted in the bitching post, but am not sure what I need to do. Paying Verizon would likely not resolve the collections agency issue. Worried about the credit implications. Should have pushed this with Verizon earlier, but I only have so much time to spend on the phone.

I did call both tonight - the collections agency does not have any info of who to contact at Verizon - they are a 3rd party.
Verizon said they'd email a copy of the correct bill, but instead emailed me (in 4 duplicate emails) a link to log in to view the bill, which I can't get to work.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I wouldn't worry about the collections. Just call Verizon and pay over the phone.


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[Simon]

I would ignore the collections company and deal directly with Verizon. BTDT with moving and bills.

[3isEnough]

I would ignore the collections company and deal directly with Verizon. BTDT with moving and bills.

But Verizon likely no longer owns the debt, they probably sold it to the collections agency. Thus, if you pay Verizon it won't resolve the debt with the collections agency. And yes, having it go to collections will impact your credit. I went to refi our house about 5 years ago and we have spotless credit, great income, significant equity in our home, etc. - basically an easy refi. Except, I had a $40 dental bill that went to collections that I didn't know anything about until the home lender pulled my credit reports, and they wouldn't complete the refi until I resolved the collections issue.

I researched it at the time and learned the only way to remove the collections entry from my credit report was to have the dentist's office tell the collections agency it was a mistake. Had I simply paid the collections agency it would have shown on my credit report as a collections debt that was eventually paid (i.e. it would have remained as a negative mark).

I seem to recall that federal law requires the debt collector to verify the debt in writing if you request that they do so in writing. A quick google search led to some good info here http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/debt-collection-defense-requiring-that-the-collector-document-the-debt.html

[o_mom]

Go to creditboards.com. They are the Baby Bargains of credit. They can give you all the steps to go through in dealing with the collections.

[LBW]

This is all Verizon's fault, so I'd report them to my state's dept of consumer fraud or whatever dept deals with communications companies.

We had to do this in NJ after similar issues with Verizon. They sent us incorrect bills every month, and I'd spend hours on the phone every month trying to get the bills corrected. After about 6 months of this, I was fed up and cancelled our service. They refunded the pro rated excess we had paid them, and then months later I got a bill from collections! We tried to get them to fix it, and they couldn't. We then reported them to the state, and within a day it was resolved. Apparently, the state complaints all were sent directly to an executive at Verizon who handled them very quickly.

[onerubberducky]

Pay Verizon. Feign ignorance to collections and tell them it has already been paid. Check your credit report. Keep all the papers.

[ncat]

LBW - looking into this. Should I report to my current state, former state, or both?

[LBW]

LBW - looking into this. Should I report to my current state, former state, or both?

I'd go with both. Can't hurt.

Good luck! What Verizon put me through was hellish, so I feel your pain.