The lot of you are ridiculous. I work for AFNI and have heard it all. If you feel upset having to send proof that you are innocent, like the other 99 percent of debtors that the evil creditor and collection agency have supposedly conspired against to extort a whopping 100 dollars, then perhaps you should look around and blame the dishonest masses for their outlandish fabrications and never ending need to avoid responsibility for their actions.
The collector is surprisingly powerless to read the minds of others, and if every account was closed the minute someone uttered "not me," there would be no collection industry because of course, as we all know, the vast majority of those with credit card, phone, or any other account listed on their credit are in fact, victims of cruel, twisted fate in the form of some freak billing error.
Oh yes and while on the subject, why forget that according to 60 minutes and the rest of the fear mongering drivel the media fills the minds of americans with these days, identity theft actually happens more often then customers legitimately get phones. If you can't remember your phone number from 10 years ago, then what most certainly occurred was someone had got hold of your personal information, followed you to work in order to obtain your current employer, requested your phone number in order to list it as the can be reached number on the account, then had the phone installed in your house (since the service address of the phone was your home), and lastly with precise timing every month snuck into your mailbox (the billing address on the account) to pay that bill in order to keep that phone on for 2 years. (That would be sarcasm for the slow minded).
It may not be pretty, but if verizon or any other telecommunications company has a portfolio of old unpaid debts that the consumer has mistakenly not been billed for in the meantime, someone has to collect upon them. Everyone, per law, is given the opportunity (30 days) to resolve the debt before any collection activity including credit reporting is taken. Computers don't forget about money owed, apparently much like the infallible human beings that have posted in this topic thus far. There are laws in place to protect consumers, you may send in a letter of dispute, along with any supporting documentation if you feel inclined, it will be reviewed and the agency will validate the bill:if it is still correct, you will be mailed that validation, if not you will be sent a release of responsibility letter.
I'm not accusing anyone of trying to get out of something they know they owe, in fact it's quite the opposite. I have no doubt that everyone here honestly believes they don't owe the bill, unfortunately deeply believing something does not change the situation in this particular case. In short, try thinking before speaking, learn the laws (there is no statute of limitations on collecting a debt, only on credit reporting and litigation), and spare the semantics and threats of lawsuits; these are two multi-million dollar companies, with detailed account information and no reason to put themselves at risk by making up numbers vs. a debtor whose only "documentation" is attempting to remember a 3 minute conversation that took place 5 years ago in which they think/hope that someone told them this bill was all a big mistake and they don't owe any money.
I will conclude with responses to the most frequent objections that I have seen:
This has never been on my credit-
Your bill was run up just prior to the merger when verizon was created by buying out many smaller companies. Verizon did not have in house collections of their own the first few years of their existence and when they did finally have in house collections, they started with new accounts and moved forward. All the accounts from this timeframe sat in their office in a file until they recently did an audit last year and sold AFNI a large number of past due accounts. Oh and to my dear Annette a few posts above me, how's about you try educating yourself before blabbering on about things you know nothing about. The "bimbo who works for Afni?" Ah yes, name calling, the last refuge of someone with nothing intelligent to say. You certainly went to college no? I do this for a living, what do you do? I would imagine nothing, and I'm willing to bet that if you took all the energy you put into weaseling your way out of debts and obligations into actually looking for a decent job and taking care of your responsibilities, you'd have no creditors coming after you.
The phone was on for 6 months after i moved out-
The terms of service state the customer is responsible to make sure phone is disconnected or taken out of their name when leaving an address, and if it is not the customer is liable.
I've never had verizon-
You're absolutely correct, they didn't exist for most of the 90's, you had GTE, Bell, or a number of other companies that were bought out.
The original creditor said they have no record of this-
On most accounts, AFNI is not acting as a 3rd party collection agency but has rather bought the acct from the creditor who cannot even look up the account in their computer let alone discuss it with you, not to mention the fact that unless you specifically inform them that it is a sold account, they will not be able to find it thinking you have a current account with them.
They are phishing for my personal information-
AFNI already has your information because you gave it to the telephone companies and they in turn sent it to us. If asked it is for the purposes of verifying your identity due to privacy laws, or making sure we have the correct john smith, jane doe, etc. as per the social security number, not attempting to connect you to the bill.
Thank you all for your time, and this certainly doesn't apply to everyone. Hats off to those with enough integrity to accept their responsibilities and satisfy their debts, without immediately firing off excuses and looking for loopholes or a quick buck in this sue-happy country of ours. |
452 days ago by Ana Lisa De La Fuente [
445 days ago by J [
433 days ago by John Jones [