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3 years ago I cancelled my T-Mobile account. I was charged a $250 cancellation fee, plus the amount due at the time, totaling $376.53. Recently I was contacted by a creditor saying I owed T-Mobile over $150 dollars, I was able to track down the payment details 3 years earlier. But I never recieved another bill after the final payment.

After talking to the creditor they said the $150 was billed to me 5 months after my final payment, but didn't have the complete details of the statements. I called T-Mobile asking for the monthly billing statements for the 5 months, but said it was no longer their account (claiming I had to contact the creditor).

I know I can dispute this claim, but is it worth it? I have no proof of the bills for the 5 months before it defaulted. T-Mobile won't seem to release any information to me. I know this is going towards my credit, which will hurt me. It infuriates me that I have to pay this to clear up my credit when I was told by a T-Mobile represenative that I did not owe any more money when I payed the original $376.

What are my options? How can I track down the information to figure out what I owe? My guess is that it is primarmily 5 months worth of late fees on something less that $10. Thanks for any advice!

jsmith
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2 Answers2

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You don't need to pay unless you really owe the money. The burden of proof is on them. If you don't believe you really owe the money (and it sounds like you don't believe so) - you can dispute it against the collection company and the credit reporting agencies.

Here's the instructions on how to do it.

They can call and nag you and harass and threaten you into paying, but you need to remember that they can't force you to pay something you don't owe. They can just make you so stressed and annoyed that you'd pay them just to leave you alone. That's how they work, and that's what they're counting on. Don't let them do that.

There are laws that protect you against the harassment of collection agencies, and many things they do are in the gray area and some are in the very black area of being illegal. If they bother you even after you've disputed the charge, but are unable or unwilling to provide any information that shows that you really owe the amounts they demand - get an attorney and sue them - they'll end up paying you, instead of you paying them.

littleadv
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UNDER NO Circumstances you should pay. When you have paid a cancellation fees and have record of that, how can they raise an invoice even after 1 months. File a dispute.

Natwar Lath
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