hello C Netters- I signed up for a VS/T-Mobile wireless plan that had 3000 anytime minutes. My bill was about $100/mo. regularly. One monthe I was working on a film and my minute usage was 7000 minutes and I was charged $2000 and now they have added disconnect fee. Do I have to pay this? I feel I was lied to as far as my plan as I signed upo withe an affiliated distributor. I wrote a letter to Customer service but they would only issue $200 credit max to cover disconnect fee. I tried to discuss a different plan to meet my needs (they had 5000 min. for $99 and then I would have had to pay $700) but they said they would not go back retroactive, etc. etc.- round and round. They escal;ated the account - shut it off and werent willing to settle to keep me as a customer, etc. The affiliated distributor won't help either. I sent dispute to first collection agency (they said it was already written off). Now new CA- Diversified Consultants sent me a collection letter for $2400. I will dispute this too but what else can I do? I'm not sure what I signed or if they even have an original contract. i'm afraid if they do, they will produce and sue. I am willing to pay something but feel these charges are a usurous scam! Any help or ideas? Thanks Mr. T "I pity the fool who messes with my credit."
I had something similar happen to me (albiet not for that much money) with Voicestream and I finally used http://www.planetfeedback and got a very fast response from their corporate office. Voicestream is now T-Mobile by the way. I think the Gentleman's name that finally helped me was Stacey Olsen but I could be wrong about that. Search on PFB for T-Mobile and see what comes up. good luck!
You went 4000 minutes over your plan, or am I misunderstanding you? If so, that $2000 bill is probably correct. Thats why my plan is unlimited Nationwide. No surprise bills.
...and I complained when the kids called a "TON" of local calls that they could have used the "land-line" phone for... BILL $220+ (NORMAL $100) 4 PHONES T-MOBILE
Isn't it sorta irresponsible to use 7000 minutes? (3.75 hours per day x 31 days). I mean, did you ever think that you were using the phone a lot? All you had to do was dial 611 to hear minute usage. I went over 4 minutes last month they gave me a credit. I happened because I had bonus minutes for 6 months and they finally had expired. You'll probably wind up with some settlement but now your credit reports are ****ed. And won't they demand a HUGE deposit to give you a phone now? You can always do prepaid I suppose.
I would also try www.planetfeedback.com. I recently had a complaint that I filed with them and it was handled very well. Besides everyone can see the complaints against all of the companies. Give it a try, you have nothing to lose!
Wow... didn't look at your call timer at all, did you Couldn't you expense the bill if you're on project? I'm confused. How were you lied to? You seem to understand the terms of your bill. You ran over by 4000 minutes. .50 a minute sucks... but if you agreed to it... You should have taken the 99 plan and paid the 700... that's a 1300 concession on their part out of nothing but goodwill. They earned the 2000 bill, you just don't want to pay it. And while I agree that it's painful, you did use their services at an agreed to rate... Now, I'm one who will always look for ways companies screw us/ up and try to fix it... but you can't use the Fair Credit Billing Act b/c your bill was correct and you have passed the time limit (60 days) from receipt of the bill... so what is your goal now? I'd send Diversified a validation request letter (certified return receipt) and see if they can validate the debt. You can try to get them to make mistakes in collecting the debt and use the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act as leverage.. other than that you can do a settlement percentage with the collection agency and settle the bill, but that will leave you with their notation on your report and you may get a 1099 for the amount settled (you get to pay taxes on portions of debts forgiven)... so If I were you, I'd request validation and see what they can send you.
