Charter Communications (Spectrum Internet Service)) review: Charges for services not rendered

I am writing this complaint out of frustration and anger after seeing the numerous similar complaints. During the time I had Spectrum Service my bills were always paid on-time with Auto-Pay. I thought I was a "good" customer. Being a senior (late-70's) I'm on a restricted budget. After several price increases and unsuccessful attempts to have rates lowered, I could no longer afford Spectrum pricing. So, I switched to Frontier with the same service at a $20.00 a month reduction. Frontier came out on 01 July 2023 for installation. At that time service to Spectrum was disconnected and the modem and router were carefully packed in the original boxes to be returned. When I called Spectrum to inquire as to procedures for returning their equipment I was told to either take them to a local office or drop them at a UPS Store. I was also rudely informed that I would be charged for the equipment until it was actually received and also billed thru July because I was still receiving service on the 1st of July. When I disputed the charges, I was told it was my fault because I didn't call before the end of the month. How can that even be legal. How can I be billed for "Services Rendered" when the "Service Equipment" is no longer in service. Returning the equipment was also a hassle. The closest UPS Store is about 5-min from my home while the nearest Spectrum Office is approximately 20-min. I chose to return the equipment directly to the Office to insure it was properly accounted for. Bad timing. After about an hour wait, an announcement was made asking if anyone was just returning equipment. At the front desk they checked my information and I was told that due to the volume of customers it would be another 2-3 hours wait and that my best bet would be to go to a USP Store, which is what I ultimately ended up doing. Upon returning home I checked my Spectrum Account and it still showed a $0.00 Balance. When I checked on 15 July 2023, the balance was $205.99. The next time I tried to check the balance (19 August 2023), I could not get fully into the system but my screenshot shows a balance of $0.00 presumably due to the fact that they received the equipment from UPS and my account was cancelled. At that point I waited to see if I would receive a final bill. Nothing in August, Nothing in September. Then in October I received a letter from a Collection Agency (The CBE Group, Inc.) stating that they were trying to collect a debt ($69.99 for "Services Rendered") owed to Charter Communications for my Spectrum account number [protected]. I returned their letter along with a letter of explanation of events. Several weeks later I receive a call from them saying that must pay. When I politely tried to reason with the gentleman on the other end, he became pushy and told me that I was old enough to know better and that I should just make the payment. We hung-up on a negative note. A week later I received another letter stating that the debt was still there. I'm at my wits end trying to figure out why I should pay for something I didn't receive; something that I cancelled because I could no longer afford it in the first place. Calls to Spectrum have ended with negative results. I was told it's too late, it went to collections. Why not mail me a final bill before sending it to a "Collection Agency". Is this just a "Scare Tactic" to intimidate the customer into paying an unjust debt. I'm sure there are many that are scared into writing a check rather than chance having their credit tarnished. Does anyone listen anymore. Does anyone care. We are constantly being made aware of scammers that try to steal what little retirement money we may have. Maybe there should be a campaign to make consumers aware of how big business tries to steal retirement funds through fraudulent billing charges. Hopefully this complaint will not fall on deaf ears. I believe in paying for goods or services received, however I do not believe it to be ethical, moral or fair to be charged for goods or services not received. Please Help ! ! !