Oregon Qwest communications has been billing me for over 6 months for an "unreturned" modem. Let's go back briefly to the beginning. Our connection was spotty so I called to have it repaired. A new modem was sent to us, and then a couple of weeks later, another modem arrived at my doorstep, for no reason. The connection continued to be poor, so I called Qwest and asked for my service to be disconnected. I then, packed up the three modems and returned them. I then received bills stating costs for both an unreturned modem, and more service that I did not receive, as it was AFTER I had disconnected my service. I have called Qwest probably a dozen times. Each time, I am told something different. Each time, it concludes in the issue being "resolved." I was told that all modems had been located, that the charges would be dropped, and that I would not have to pay the charges for service during a period when I was not actually receiving service. After about an hour on the phone, I am transfered to someone who can see my entire record of calls, and the times when I was told an issue would be resolved, and I am told, again, that it will be corrected. At this point, I owed Qwest for approximately $40 for actual service but was told I could wait until I received an updated bill, reflecting the amendments. But, then I would receive another bill for an even higher amount than before - now in the hundreds of dollars. I have now been sent to collections and this is on my credit report. Immediately upon receiving the first letter from collections, I wrote a letter to Qwest, explaining the situation, included a check for what I was told I owed, $40, and asked them to contact the collections bureau. I received yesterday a second letter from collections with a settlement offer, of $154, of which I do not owe one penny. I have two problems. The first is, I disputed the debt with the original creditor, rather than the collections agency, because I thought this would be a valid way to dispute. The second is, I have no proof of these "resolved" issues as all of my communication with Qwest has been over the phone, except for the letter of dispute. Does this count as a letter of dispute? The second letter from the collections agency reflected the different of $40 so I know there has been communication. How do I go about disputing these charges? Do I write to the collections agency? Do I call? Do I call and/or write to Qwest? Do I call every credit bureau? How do I prove this situation? Can I still send a letter of dispute to the collections agency that will be deemed VALID since it is after the 30 day period?
You always dispute with the collection agency. There is no requirement for ano original creditor to reply to a validation request. Besides, it's quite possible the Qwest doesn't own the debt any more. In any case, send a validation letter to the CA. They do not have to cease collections activity if it's outside the 30-day window. They never have to reply, they just have to cease all collection activity until they validate if you dispute within the first 30 days.
