Any opinions on the best way to handle this: I had an apartment where I payed the cable/internet bill. As the lease was drawing to a close I called the cable company to tell them when to discontinue the service. Sometime after the service stopped and I was out of the apartment, I went online to pay the last bill from them, but discovered I was no longer able to log into their website as they discontinued my account. I then (being dumb as I am) completely forgot about this for 3 months. Now, I just realized I am being pursued by a credit agency, although I have yet to actually speak to them. How bad is this in terms of affecting my credit? Do I call the cable company and try to explain, or is all in the hands of the collection agency now? Do they accept excuses? Haha.... thanks for any suggestions
You can certainly try to call the cable company. It they've actually sold it they'll tell you they can't help you. Ask them if they'd consider removing any reporting to the credit bureaus as a gesture of goodwill since you always paid on time (assuming you did). Tell them how much you liked the service and that if you move back into the area again you'll use them.
