Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum but I need some help that would be greatly appreciated. I've been reading as much as I could on the topic but there's just mountains of information and I've very very upset about my situation. So here's what happened. In 2001, I closed my year long AT&T Wireless account. I paid off some of the balance (not all of it) and I was going to pay off the remainder on the next invoice. No new invoices came and suddenly I get a "SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT" notice. So I think to myself, "OH NO!" and I quickly and immediately pay the remainder. Fast forward TWO YEARS later. May 2003, this pops up on my credit report as an OPEN ACCOUNT PAID CHARGE OFF for $0 with NO DATE OF LAST ACTIVITY. So not only is it now on my report (how did it pop up so late!) but it has NO date of last activity so it potentially will NEVER go away! So I called AT&T and got the fax number and mailing address to their credit investigations team (they apparently have no direct number, does someone here have it?) and sent them a letter explaining my situation. There was no response. So I disputed with the CC reporting companies. Nothing came off, and there were NO changes. I disputed again this time trying to get just the stupid date of last activity filled in with the appropriate 08/2001 and not "" and time passed. Got the reports this week.... no changes. They basically ignored my dispute it seems. I called the only AT&T Wireless number that I had and complained, demanded a number for their investigations team and got nothing. They claim to not have it. They told me to fax them again. I don't think will resolve anything. So here I am. I don't want to use a CR agency like Lexington. I want this to, if not removed, just be fixed so it's telling the proper truth. But it's really hard to negotiate (or even talk) with people who just ignore you. What do I do? My credit is really good other than this. But this totally destroys it. Thanks guys, Nick
I filed suit against AT&T for the very same problem on an account that they never owned. They snuck an undated paid charge-off onto my report dated March 2003. Instead of playing games I disputed it and sent an ITS immediately. They did not materially respond, and in fact updated the trade line to show an August 2003 date. I tried calling the number for the "Executive Appeals" department that was in the form letter they sent back to me but got no response so I filed on them. The court mailed their copy of the lawsuit on August 27 and just yesterday AT&T called. AT&T has to submit its notice of appearance before Wednesday morning so I suppose they might be hot to settle. I don't know as I won't be speaking with them until Monday. Seems to me you're likely going to have to file suit against them for it to get them to do anything. My strongly worded letter didn't get me anywhere.
It looks like I might have to do the same thing as you. My undated paid charge-off was filed on May 2003. Worse yet, after the dispute it's now labeled September 2003. I found out when I started apartment hunting in NYC and this popped up. Sigh. I'm really interested to hear what happens on Monday. Is an ITS an Intent to Sue? I searched for the acronym on the board and couldn't find it so I'm going to take a shot in the dark. All I sent them was a strongly worded letter and received absolutely NO response (not even a form letter.) Do you have the number of the executive appeals line? And finally, how did you go about doing the lawsuit? What type of lawyers should I look into? Was it really time consuming? Fortunately for me, I have LOTS AND LOTS of records (bank statements from 2001, invoices, checks cashed, etc...) Thanks so much, I'm starting to see there might be an end to this trauma. -Nick
I am happy u filed suit against them. They know that most consumers won't file suit against them and that is why they do whatever they want. If more consumers stood up for themselves instead of whine & complain - the big companies would police themselves better.
Yes, ITS = Intent to Sue. I filed in small claims court here in Pennsylvania. Since it was for one violation of the FCRA I only filed for $1,000 which cost $70 here. Pennsylvania makes the process very easy, no lawyer needs to be involved unless you want one involved and you want to pay for one. I don't know where you live but the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts is online at www.aopc.org. They have the small claims forms available as templates for MS Word that are easy to fill out. Small claims courts (and therefore complaints) are less formal than Common Pleas or Federal Court. Your complaint need simply state what AT&T did wrong and what section of law they violated. Small claims court really is the little guy's court. The "Executive Appeals" number listed on the letter they sent me is 800-390-0197. I don't know what good calling them is going to do for you, however. You may find it easier to simply correspond with them via letters, especially if you have any tendencies to let your mouth run. If they get you on the phone they will simply claim they have done nothing wrong, which as far as the person in Executive Appeals is concerned is correct. You had the account and they reported it but I doubt they will understand the nuances that make it incorrect and therefore illegal. Before you speak with them make sure you understand what the problem is, why it is wrong and illegal, that you must remain calm and professional, and that your ultimate goal is deletion of this inaccurate tradeline. Why ask them to simply correct it if you've got them against the wall? I expect the call I'm going to make Monday to only take a few minutes as I only want $100 to cover my filing costs and deletion of the tradeline, something they should jump on, especially when you consider what it might cost for them to get someone to my town with FCRA knowledge.
Hey, can you post the numbers that you have for AT&T? I have sent letters to several addresses, but have gotten no responses...maybe the one you have will work for me too... I wish you luck with these scumbags...
This is all the info I have about AT&T Wireless: The number Experian gave me is: 800-544-3859 That's their Colorado Call Center. They basically will deny any knowledge of credit problems and forward you to the Credit Investigations Team (which apparently LOVES ignoring people.) The CIR team can only be reached by mail or fax (it was quite a bitch to get the fax number) but here they are: AT&T Credit Investigations Team PO Box 309 Portland, OR 97207 Their fax number is: 503-306-6143 I'm going to send them a second, much much meaner (intent to sue) letter Monday Certified Return Reciept mail. [speaking of, anyone have any good drafts or sample letters I can look at?] I'm also going to fax it that same day with copies of all the documentation I have (bank statements, checks, etc..) and I'm going to attach my previous letter with a copy of the confirmation reciept for it. I figure that covers all my bases. If I don't hear back from them by October 30, I'm going to sue in New York City small claims court (http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/smallclaims/index.shtml) for $1000. I don't want the money, I just want this off my report. I'm not really in a rush to solve this (which is good, because I can totally wait them out), but it's tough to get an apartment in this city with this on my credit report. What addresses did you send letters to? -nick
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. Wireless Executive Response Center PO Box 3032 Bothell, WA 98041-3032 800-390-0197 -- This is the information in the form letter they sent back to me in response to my ITS.
Did you send the ITS to the Credit Investigation Department address I mentioned above or somewhere else? Thanks again! -nick
Re: Re: Help... AT&T is haunting me. I sent the ITS to their resident agent for Pennsylvania and cc:'d the Credit Investigation Team. I suppose you could send it to their headquarters as well but since their resident agent must receieve all legal process in the state I believe that is the best place to send an ITS.
Re: Re: Help... AT&T is haunting me. I don't think it is a matter of being bad, it is that someone at AT&T got the bright idea to submit tons of old accounts to the CRAs without being careful about what they were doing. Since AT&T's Credit Investigation Team is unwilling or unable to correct mistakes and the Executive Appeals people don't respond the next available option is legal process, and I am *sure* the lawyers will get the problem fixed if they are served several more times.
Re: Re: Re: Help... AT&T is hauntin Stupid question... how do I found who the resident agent for New York is?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Help... AT&T is hauntin Usually thru the state's department that handles all corporate filings. In TX it's the Secretary of State's office.
Re: Re: Re: Help... AT&T is haunting me. If they don't become more cooperative, they can count on me serving them...
Re: Re: Re: Help... AT&T is haunting me. Has anybody posted a PUBLIC PFB complaining about this department? ...the squeaky wheel gets oiled.
Re: Re: Help... AT&T is haunting me. Is an ITS an Intent to Sue? I searched for the acronym on the board and couldn't find it Did you look here? http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=373344#post373344 THE END ** *** ** LB 59 """"```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""'''
Re: Re: Help... AT&T is haunting me Thought I'd give everyone an update. I sent a second certified-return-reciept mail to the Credit Investigations Department today. It included photo copies of the last two invoices AT&T ever sent me from 2 years ago, and a photocopy of the actual bank statement showing AT&T deposited the check complete with a digitized copy of the check (it even has an "AT&T Northern Trust" deposit stamp on the back!) I gave them until October 23, 2003 to respond. If not, as I told them, I'm going to court. ::fingers crossed:: Slykens, any update on your situation? Thanks again everyone. Here's hoping this is resolved soon.
Re: Re: Help... AT&T is haunting me Hey everyone. Just thought I'd let those who are following this know, I discovered another person who is going through this EXACT same problem (with even the exact same May 2003 reporting date) on attvictims.info. I still haven't recieved any response from AT&T Wireless. I completely and definetly paid this thing off and sent them a photocopy of the check (and checkign account statement showing the check was deposited) to AT&T last week. Hopefully, I'll get some sort of response in a week or so. Sigh.
Re: Re: Help... AT&T is haunting me Another update... hopefully someone can help me out here . I sent AT&T Wireless that mean letter threatening suit if they continue to ignore my request for removing/correctting/doing anything to the AT&T wireless account on my credit report which really shouldn't be there (at least with no date of last activity.) To prove that I did pay this account, I sent AT&T a copy of the actual last check they needed and a copy of the last invoice. I also sent them a copy of the first letter I sent. This was sent CRRR and was I got back the green card stamped Sept 25. I'm waiting now, and still no response. I'm about to dispute with the three agencies (or at least one of the three to see if it comes off.) Is that the next step? Call up one of the three CRAs and dispute it again? Anything special I should mention on the phone? Afterwards, I guess I go to court. I have tons of documents backing me up, and the fact that AT&T posted a notation on my credit report nearly 4 years later with NO other information (date of last activity, balance, etc) seems kinda shady to me. Thanks again guys.
