Hi everyone! I'm a newbie and have been getting bug-eyed searching and reading through all of the posts. I thought I'd post my problem and see if you guys have any experience, suggestions, etc... dealing with either Verizon or American Express validating accounts. I've been disputing accounts with these 2 creditors since December, first with all 3 credit bureaus, and after receiving updated reports in January verifying these accounts I've been calling/writing the creditors directly. I have never had an account with either creditor. Amex has completly ignored all of my letters. Verizon sent me a letter in Feb. stating that after a thorough investigation the account was determined to be mine......I've sent 4 letters since then requesting proof, questioning their investigation procedures,e tc.... and have not received anything. I've sent all letters certified mail and last week wrote to all 3 credit bureaus enclosing copies of all letters I have sent to each creditor, asking the credit bureaus how they have verified these accounts when i can't even get a response. Have any of you had a similar experience? Have you had problems with Verizon or AMEX? Any suggestions or advice for me? Is there anything I should have done that I haven't? What next? THANK YOU! I'm so glad I found this website! Lunabeam!
There has been a lot of consolidation in the phone industry. I think Verizon has purchased other companies. Have you considered the possibility that they purchased a telephone company that you did business with in the past? Is there another telephone company from your past that you may have owed money to? Who as it and were they purchased by Verizon? Consider this possibility, even if you don't think you owed them any money. I can't help you with AMEX - never dealt with them. Have you considered identity theft? Look at your credit reports and see if there are any funny addresses on them. Also look for other accounts that are not yours. A couple suggestions. First, when people don't respond to me, I start calling. Sooner or later, they realize you will not quit until your problem is resolved. They will eventually realize that it is easier to take care of your problem than to keep dealing with you. Three or four calls a day helps. Try being super sweet. Sometimes it works. If it doesn't, try being nasty. My last problem was resolved a few weeks ago. I called the CA and was nasty because I was so ticked off. I didn't quit until they hung up. Then, having blown off some steam, I called the credit bureau. I was a lot nicer but refused to take no for an answer. They removed the item. Persistence pays. You have to get the right person. Many people here report no luck in their disputes (like you). Then they get that one good person who handles the problem right away. Last, consider a lawsuit if you have documented everything.
Thank you for your reply! I DID have an account with another cellular phone company years ago and this company is not listed on my reports.....maybe you are right and Verizon purchased this company? I will have to do some research BUT the dates reported of account opened/closed/etc... do not correspond with the dates I had the other phone? And the information is reported different on all 3 credit bureau reports? These accounts are both reported as charged off, profit and loss write off, from nearly 6 years ago......and December is the first I have heard of these! After the 3 bureaus verified these accounts I began to contact the creditors by phone....spent 3 weeks going around in circles with each of them, got transferred a million times, repeated my problem over and over again, was actually given phone numbers of collection agencies to call regarding the accounts.....you can imagine how that went when i called nearly a half a dozen collection agencies..... finally received contact information from a credit bureau to address the creditors in writing and have sent letters since the beginning of February. I have thought of identity theft and have been trying to correct my personal information with the credit bureaus since December......I have sent letter after letter with a run down of all of my former addresses and copies of the reports with the incorrect addresses circled.......they still haven't corrected them. They even have half a dozen different name spellings reported that they haven't corrected yet. I guess I will keep tyring and be persistant. If anyone has had experience dealing with these 2 creditors....AMEX and VERIZON......validation old accounts please let me know. I did a search and came up with various discussions about these but had a hard time going through them it was so many! Maybe you have info that might help me???
Verizon bought out Airtouch Cellular, maybe you had an account with them. I had an account with Airtouch Cellular, but it was listed on my report as Verizon. I sent validation letters to them and they sent back an original application signed within two weeks. I'm still following up with them and I'll let you know how it goes. Trip
You are so right..... I just got a copy of the old cell account in the mail from Verizon. With a letter stating that I am to contact the collections department immediately to arrange payment. I've been searching through the old posts.....a contract is not complete validation, right? And I am 100% positive that this old account had a zero balance when the contract ended. This was over 5 years ago and I don't have my bank records from back then. So how do I prove that I paid every statement every month during the contract without my bank records??? What are you doing about this? Do I send Verizon another letter? I also just got another updated credit report fro Experian and there is a "Verizon inquiry" listed from last month.....are they allowed to do that? And still nothing from AMEX...... lunabeam!
