This is going to be long, I'm sorry in advanced I just want to give as much info as I possibly can. Hello, this is my first time here so I'm sorry in advanced if I'm going about this the wrong way. I should also add I know nothing about debt and debt collection but please try to bear with me. Roughly a year ago I had rented a car from Enterprise and it seems I never payed them completely. I owed them around 1200 (I do not know the exact amount) and I had a $600 deposit. With the deposit the total comes to around $600. I was unaware of this and there were no attempts to contact me about this debt. I had not received no phone calls, emails or mail from them. I should note that this was around a time I was moving and I hadn't received any of my mail for a good 9 months and still counting. My mail was being sent to a P.O. box which my mom was checking weekly and she has told me I had not received anything from them. Just a couple of weeks ago, I received a call from Caine & Weiner trying to collect my debt. They had all the right info like when the debt was made and from who. The lady(Denise) I was speaking to told me if I didn't set up a payment system that legal action could be taken to receive the debt. I agreed to pay the debt in full in 2 monthly payments (the other option was something along the lines of 6 monthly payments which would total $700). She said I needed to give them some sort of payment info so when the day comes to pay they can receive it. I got angry and didn't want to give them any payment info to someone I don't know over the phone. She said this was the only time I could take care of this or legal action will be taken. I ended up giving her my credit/debit bank card info (the account has long been closed). I later called Enterprise's 1-800 customer service and their rep told me I didn't owe them a dime so I just ignored it thinking it was some scam or fraud. Please note for the upcoming paragraphs that I work grave yard and just got home, I had just taken some sleeping pills to help me sleep right as she called. Fast forward to a couple of hours ago. Denise called me back tell me the info I gave her to make the payment on 7/29 was declined. I told her I made the appropriate phone calls to Enterprise and I don't owe anything. She tells me there is some conflict somewhere and that I need to call the Enterprise office that I had rented the car from. I called them, they said I did owe $601 or something along those lines. I talked to the person in charge at the time at Enterprise and they told me I could pay my debt in payments and as much as I wanted as long as I did. I told them I would rather do that than go though the collection agency who wants $300.50 right now. I called back C&W and told them everything and Denise said I still have to pay the 300.50 right now either through Enterprise (get a receipt # and call her back and give it to her) or by credit/debit card, a check, or straight from a bank account with her by today. She also mentioned that the person I talked to (at Enterprise) didn't understand that it's gone to collections and if I didn't take care of it today as agreed upon earlier that it was going to effect me and I need to pay how I agreed upon. I told her that I had no way to pay her electronically (over the phone) and the only option would for me to pay cash at an Enterprise. She told me that's fine as long as I get a receipt number to give to her. I figured that I would be sleeping all day and by the time I would wake I wouldn't be able to take care of it via cash. I ended up going to my local Wal-mart and getting a Green Dot card so I could pay her and not have to worry and go to sleep. My cousin told me I'm an idiot for paying her so easily and that since it's gone to collections that I could make some agreements with them and pay a lot less. After he told me this I did a little bit of research (and in turn, found this site) and found out I went about this all the wrong way like doing it over the phone like a moron. Now for my questions. 1. How badly will this affect my credit or did I take care of it in time? 2. How many stupid mistakes did I make? 3. Where should I go from here? Finish paying it off though C&W next month? Ignore them and just go straight to Enterprise to pay them? I know I have more questions, but I just can't think of them, I can hardly think straight at this moment because of how tired and sleep deprived I am. I do apologize again for the extremely long post as well as any bad grammar or hard to understand sentences. I just had to ask for some help with this so I can learn from my mistakes. I was feeling very aggravated and angry with myself for paying them so easily after doing that little bit of research. I do feel a lot better after typing all this and asking for help and insight. I'm going to stop now and go to bed. I'll check this thread in about 8 hours when I wake up to go to work. Thanks!
To be honest, I would have never acknowledged the "debt", let alone agreed to pay a penny toward it. If the car rental place failed to charge the proper amount to your credit card, that is their problem--not yours. Also, if a collection agency contacts you by phone, it is best to deny that you are the person they're trying to reach and end the call as quick as possible. Legally, they have to send you a letter--with a notification of your rights--within 14 days of initial contact, and at that point you could have sent a DV letter and disputed the alleged "debt". That would have put a "customer disputes this information" notation on your credit report with regards to this account. Also, the idea that the collection agency would have filed a lawsuit over a $600 alleged debt with little or no proof that the debt is even valid is laughable at best. However, they didn't say that they would sue--they merely said that legal action may be taken. Likewise, it may be sunny and warm in December in Chicago, but it's not terribly likely to occur!
