I'm hoping someone with some experience can help me out or give me some advice. Long story short, a wireless provider is trying to collect money that I don't owe, and has now turned it over to a collection agency. I know, it sounds like the typical BS from cheapskates that don't pay their bills, but anybody that knows me knows that isn't the case. Hell, my credit record speaks to that...its absolutely perfect.

Background: I tried Nextel wireless (actually Nextel Partners in my area) because I moved and my provider at the time did not work. I cancelled the service by porting my number out seven days after activation. I sent the phone back, but it was received by them well outside of the 14 day trial window. This was because they never would send the required return form until the fourth time I called about it. Now, they're trying to get a $200 early termination fee out of me plus the price of the phone. Based on the bits I can gather from my unsuccessful attempts to straighten this out, they're claiming I owe this all because the phone came back late. I really have tried to get things straight, even faxing letters to their corporate headquarters to the "escalation department".

Now, I'm faced with basically paying them off to keep my credit where it should be. This is a particularly bad time, as I'll be buying real estate within the next six months. I can:

1. Just pay it and forget it
2. Refuse to pay and take the credit hit
3. Pay it, then try to get it back

It's only about $275, but I'm hardheaded and I don't want to pay it just because its pure BS. I've actually been in a similar situation before with Verizon, where I tried their service, cancelled within a few days, and they just kept it going until I supposedly owed them hundreds of dollars. I got lucky on that one, because (this is a strange coincidence) I was buying a house and someone in the lender's office happened to be an ex-Verizon employee. They put me in touch with someone that handled it and that was that. I really feel like these companies, in many cases, are holding people's credit records hostage to increase their profits. So, I'm willing to spend a little bit of time to keep my credit record clean and keep Nextel's greedy little hands off my money at the same time.

Do I have a chance in small claims court? Will the BBB do anything for me (I filed a complaint with them today)? How far will it drop my credit score? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I would just pay it and chalk one up to "won't do that again!" All that typing you just did cost you $275 in time and fuss! Life is too short. Stuff like this gives you gray hair!

I wish my time was worth that much. Won't do that again = no more wireless contracts.

Oh well...I'll just submit to the mighty corporation in the name of saving my credit and go back to being a good citizen.

Howdy,

Personally, I'd rather pay a lawyer twice as much rather than just have to suck it up with pigf*ckers like that.

But before I did that, I'd stop at one of their local stores and ask to see a manager. Seems like at least the Verizon manager folks have the ability to remove charges and if you can get them to be calling the home office to straighten it out, you'd think they would have a little more traction.

But maybe with it already sold to a collection agency, its too late for the manager to help?

Either way, I'd rather pay the lawyer than Nextel.

Mark

Either get a lawyer or get a written document saying that payment is on the terms of deletion of the credit tag line. Because if you just pay it off, the collection's tag line on your credit report will still sit there for up to 3 years.

I ran my credit report the other day, and there was nothing on there about this at that time. Yesterday, I called the "collection agency" and verified that they had not put anything on my report yet. I negotiated the debt down 25%, and paid it off with my credit card. I suspect that this "collection agency" is actually part of Nextel, as they did not own the debt and it did not go on my credit report yet. The letter the "collection agency" sent also had a payment stub to pay off the balance, and it was addressed to Nextel. Still, I decided not to roll the dice with my credit on the line so I paid up.

There are no local Nextel stores, only unrelated storefronts that become Nextel dealers as a side business. They're pretty much useless as all they do is collect signatures and money. It seems that once you cross the line from customer to ex-customer, nobody cares anyway.

So now, if I feel motivated, I'll file suit in small claims court to get my money back. Its almost not worth the time, but its one of those things I'd derive a lot of satisfaction from.

Correction. Once you cross from potential-customer to customer, they don't care.

Nextel, they're now in bed with sprint. That was a match made in, well, not heaven. sprint, Nextel, Verizon, they're all a bunch of pigfsckers, it is just a matter of who porked you the last time.

It's paid, I'd just quietly walk away and get on to happier thoughts.