Author Topic: Dealing with Sprint/Collections  (Read 4821 times)

unccnick

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Dealing with Sprint/Collections
« on: March 27, 2017, 09:35:42 AM »
Hello all -

I think this is where this post should live, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

To make a long story short, wife and I had Spring cell service, hated it, and switched. I attempted to return my cell phone to them (they made it nearly impossible to do so - going to the store and being told I had to do it via phone, and when on the phone they would say to go into a store). After 30 days of dealing with that, they stated that they could no longer accept the phone. After that period, they have charged my account for the value of that phone (plus the last month of service). I contend that I owe for the monthly service amount, but have refused to pay for the phone they refused to take back, and since a partial payment (paying for service and not phone) does me no good in clearing this situation, I decided to pay nothing. In total it's about $900. This is not about me not trying to pay my bills - I'm definitely not that guy. But I'm also not the guy who is going to be bamboozled.

This has been turned over to collections (which did just hit my credit recently), and I wanted to see what you all would do/how you would proceed. Again, I'm fine with paying for what I know I owe, but refuse to pay for something that I shouldn't have to pay for (the phone they didn't take back).

To add a bit of context, I can not sell the phone privately to make up the difference because it isn't worth that much on the market.

What options do I have? Pay nothing? Accept the credit hit? Pay a little bit to the collections company just to settle the matter? Other?

Thanks in advance!

NestEggChick

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Re: Dealing with Sprint/Collections
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2017, 10:19:45 AM »
That sounds very frustrating. If it were me, I would go through my call records and calendar and write down the date of each time I spoke to someone. Then I would call Sprint and insist on talking to a manager. I would explain the situation and list out the times I tried to resolve this "properly" and insist they fix the issue. If they can't help, speak to *their* manager. If that person can't help, speak to *their* manager and so on. While I've never had anything in collections, I have definitely had issues where the company tries to get me to pay for their mistake, and this is the approach I take. There is always someone who can help, though sometimes I have to make multiple calls on different days before I'm put in touch with that 1 helpful, almost magical person. Good luck!

FernFree

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Re: Dealing with Sprint/Collections
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2017, 10:38:16 AM »
You can also challenge it with the credit reporting agency.  I had to do this with a similar situation on a hospital bill, and after fighting with them for a year, they told me to just forget about the whole bill after the credit agency got involved.  Debt cancelled and credit report corrected.

It's really important to document all of your attempts with dates, who you spoke with, how much time you spent.  I told the hospital I was going to deduct $50/hour for my time spent dealing with their mistake. :)

ormaybemidgets

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Re: Dealing with Sprint/Collections
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2017, 10:09:36 AM »
That sounds very frustrating. If it were me, I would go through my call records and calendar and write down the date of each time I spoke to someone. Then I would call Sprint and insist on talking to a manager. I would explain the situation and list out the times I tried to resolve this "properly" and insist they fix the issue. If they can't help, speak to *their* manager. If that person can't help, speak to *their* manager and so on. While I've never had anything in collections, I have definitely had issues where the company tries to get me to pay for their mistake, and this is the approach I take. There is always someone who can help, though sometimes I have to make multiple calls on different days before I'm put in touch with that 1 helpful, almost magical person. Good luck!
I recommend this, but with the collections agency, not Sprint. Sprint doesn't have control over it anymore. I would also send a letter, and not do this by phone. You can start by asserting you don't owe anything and then see if they offer for you to just pay the final month's bill.

bacchi

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Re: Dealing with Sprint/Collections
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2017, 10:34:58 AM »
If you don't need a loan anytime soon, I'd tell them to pound sand. It's unlikely they'll sue you for what they bought the debt for (probably less than 10%).

Definitely write down when you spoke with Sprint and what they told you, and definitely send a certified letter (return receipt, because they'll deny they received it) to the debt collector stating that the debt is invalid disputed.

You have 30 days to dispute the debt. See FDCPA Section 809. Validation of debts [15 USC 1692g].

http://www.justanswer.com/consumer-protection-law/37g63-debt-believe-invalid-so-essential-question.html
« Last Edit: March 28, 2017, 10:37:33 AM by bacchi »

unccnick

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Re: Dealing with Sprint/Collections
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2017, 10:43:54 AM »
Thanks all. This is helpful, and I appreciate the feedback on this annoying situation.