Bad Credit Agency

How do I deal with a credit agency in a blackmail situation?

I had an account with a wireless telephone company. I cut off my service and paid my final bill. I left the country for work and upon my return six months later, I had six monthly bills from the company for a phone I didnt use. Plus, I had a bill from a collection agency threatening to send their report to the credit bureau. The wireles company had continued to bill me monthly charges and when the bills were not paid and my account was sent to a collection agency. I spent 30 days disputing the charges with evidence and my dispute was denied. The wireless company refuses to speak to me. The collection agency is telling me that I either pay or my case is sent to the credit bureau. This is blackmail. I do not owe this money. But I obviously don't want this on my credit report because getting that off will cost more than the bill. What are my options? Who can I call? Where do I go? Is there an agency for consumers for this type of fraud? Do I have legal options?

Public Comments

1. Report them to the better business bureau
2. you need to send copy's of all the pertinent facts to all 3 reporting bureaus..... this is a common practice for at least 3 of the wireless companies...(sprint, Nextel, Verizon)
3. Did you get a bill that said "final bill" on it? If so send a copy to the carrier's legal department with a letter stating that you will take legal action. If this is a verbal debate then what you could do is get copies of the bills that you had while you were gone that show no activity and compare it to the ones previous that do show activity. Also if you have any documentation showing that you were out of the country you can send them that too. These big companies are hard to deal with. I got a Cingular bill for 2 months for a number I had closed 18 months previously(they also had re-issued the number to somebody else-I know I called them) when I had switched to Verizon. It took me about 4 months and many calls to get it cleared up. They got their databases all messed up when they bought ATT Wireless. Good Luck