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Old 12-04-2012, 08:42 PM
 
21 posts, read 82,633 times
Reputation: 12

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We had a waterline installed for our refridgerator that was purchased from bestbuy about 3 months ago. bestbuy usually sends workers from another company to install it and apparently they needed some valve to install it. They charged us $110 on the spot to which whoever was home gave a debit card to the worker in which he entered the information.

I told bestbuy that the workers were not supposed to charge us anything as it says on the agreement i signed. bestbuy refunded us money back to our bestbuy card although that $110 still had to be charged on the debit card (which we thought had been charged already)

Apparently the guy did not enter the info in properly and i get a call a few days later saying that the worker entered wrong information and I would need to give them the correct info to make payment.


now 3 months later we've received the final notice from the company for payment.
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Old 12-04-2012, 08:50 PM
 
6,357 posts, read 11,798,284 times
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Probably not. If it goes to a collections company then you still have 29 days to pay before its likely to affect your credit. Most of your arrangements with utilities and companies you don't have a revolving line of credit with never report your delinquencies and the only companies which will are the collectors.
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Old 12-05-2012, 06:19 AM
 
3,763 posts, read 12,487,967 times
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If it was a worker for an installation company, techincally they could put a lien against the house (if they did the work, and you didn't pay for it). That's pretty far to go - but (as my HOA recently told us at a meeting) - in some areas it is VERY easy to take out a lien against a house.

$110 may be under the minimum amount for a lien, but of course that differs from place to place.

We had a similar issue with Best Buy over a decade ago. You prepay for water-line to your refrigerator to be installed (used to be $99) - but the fine print (at that time) says it only covers "typical" installations, etc.. etc...

We kicked the guy out (before he started any work) as soon as he asked for more money - got a full refund from Best Buy, bought the $20 kit and did it ourselves.
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Old 12-05-2012, 06:29 AM
 
Location: Wake Forest, NC
835 posts, read 3,967,592 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Willy702 View Post
Probably not. If it goes to a collections company then you still have 29 days to pay before its likely to affect your credit. Most of your arrangements with utilities and companies you don't have a revolving line of credit with never report your delinquencies and the only companies which will are the collectors.

This is absolutely 100% false. A new collection will drop your score 100 points or more and continue to affect you for 2 or more years. Utilities do not report payments but will report collections almost each and every time.

Pay this immediately. You have already be given the money in the form of a refund- you have no argument for not paying it.
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Old 12-05-2012, 09:45 AM
 
9 posts, read 25,182 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dad2jules View Post
This is absolutely 100% false. A new collection will drop your score 100 points or more and continue to affect you for 2 or more years. Utilities do not report payments but will report collections almost each and every time.

Pay this immediately. You have already be given the money in the form of a refund- you have no argument for not paying it.
I had a $240 dentist bill that dropped my score 110 points overnight after it showed up in collection. The funny thing is, I never received any bills from the dentist. I paid the money to the collection agency the day after I got the letter from them, way before the 30 days. It still made it to all 3 of the credit reporting bureaus. The score stayed low until 4 years later when I needed a loan for buysing a rental property and was having to pay a lot of extra money in fees because of low scores.

I wrote a goodwill letter to the collection agencies to stop reporting on the collections. Because of mergers the collection agency had with some other agencies, they couldn't find my record in their system and said they couldn't do anything about it. I took advantage of it and disputed it with all three bureaus, saying it wasn't mine. They investigate it and give collection agency 30 days to respond to prove that it was mine. Poof... The collection was gone from all 3 reports in about a month, since the CA had nothing to prove.

I can't tell from your post if it has already made it to the collection agency or not but here is what you should do:

1. If it hasn't made it to the collection agency yet, pay to the original creditor immediately

2. If it has made it to the collection agency, still try to work it out with the original creditor and pay it to them - do not pay the money to the collection agency. After having done that, tell collection agency that there is no debt. If they don't budge, write a debt validation letter to them. Google it and you will find a million examples.

3. If it has actually made it to the credit bureaus, write a pay-for-delete letter to the collection agency that is reporting it. Some will agree some won't. What that does is, it allows you get the collection dropped from the credit repors after having it paid... instead of just having the status changed from -unpdaid to -paid.

Hope this helps
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Old 12-05-2012, 03:56 PM
 
21 posts, read 82,633 times
Reputation: 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by Briolat21 View Post
If it was a worker for an installation company, techincally they could put a lien against the house (if they did the work, and you didn't pay for it). That's pretty far to go - but (as my HOA recently told us at a meeting) - in some areas it is VERY easy to take out a lien against a house.

$110 may be under the minimum amount for a lien, but of course that differs from place to place.

We had a similar issue with Best Buy over a decade ago. You prepay for water-line to your refrigerator to be installed (used to be $99) - but the fine print (at that time) says it only covers "typical" installations, etc.. etc...

We kicked the guy out (before he started any work) as soon as he asked for more money - got a full refund from Best Buy, bought the $20 kit and did it ourselves.
its not a house but a rented condominium.

Quote:
Originally Posted by asif2005 View Post
I had a $240 dentist bill that dropped my score 110 points overnight after it showed up in collection. The funny thing is, I never received any bills from the dentist. I paid the money to the collection agency the day after I got the letter from them, way before the 30 days. It still made it to all 3 of the credit reporting bureaus. The score stayed low until 4 years later when I needed a loan for buysing a rental property and was having to pay a lot of extra money in fees because of low scores.

I wrote a goodwill letter to the collection agencies to stop reporting on the collections. Because of mergers the collection agency had with some other agencies, they couldn't find my record in their system and said they couldn't do anything about it. I took advantage of it and disputed it with all three bureaus, saying it wasn't mine. They investigate it and give collection agency 30 days to respond to prove that it was mine. Poof... The collection was gone from all 3 reports in about a month, since the CA had nothing to prove.

I can't tell from your post if it has already made it to the collection agency or not but here is what you should do:

1. If it hasn't made it to the collection agency yet, pay to the original creditor immediately

2. If it has made it to the collection agency, still try to work it out with the original creditor and pay it to them - do not pay the money to the collection agency. After having done that, tell collection agency that there is no debt. If they don't budge, write a debt validation letter to them. Google it and you will find a million examples.

3. If it has actually made it to the credit bureaus, write a pay-for-delete letter to the collection agency that is reporting it. Some will agree some won't. What that does is, it allows you get the collection dropped from the credit repors after having it paid... instead of just having the status changed from -unpdaid to -paid.

Hope this helps
The notice is the 3rd and final notice. No letters from any collection company yet. I wish I had $110 to spare LIKE I did on the day it was charged, but there is a reason why we are renting and I don't have the money unless it cuts from a bill .

do you think they would agree to have it paid off over a small term lets say $30/month or per 2 weeks or will they send it to collections regardless if they do not get the full amount by the deadline
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Old 12-05-2012, 04:11 PM
 
Location: Boise, ID
8,046 posts, read 28,352,315 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SportsFan32k View Post
its not a house but a rented condominium.



The notice is the 3rd and final notice. No letters from any collection company yet. I wish I had $110 to spare LIKE I did on the day it was charged, but there is a reason why we are renting and I don't have the money unless it cuts from a bill .

do you think they would agree to have it paid off over a small term lets say $30/month or per 2 weeks or will they send it to collections regardless if they do not get the full amount by the deadline
If they have already gotten to a "3rd and final notice", my guess is they will send you to collections if they don't have payment in full by the deadline. It is only $110, can you charge it on a credit card? $110 isn't worth getting your credit messed up over. And yes, it will damage your credit if they turn it over to collections. I look at a lot of credit reports at work when screening applications for rentals and I am amazed how often I see people who let amounts under $200 go to collections.

For $110, go give blood/plasma a couple of times and you'll have it. Have a garage sale and get rid of some stuff you don't use anymore. Take a bag lunch instead of eating fast food for a month. Give up coffee/alcohol/smoking/insert other expensive habit. Cut back your cellphone/internet/cable bills. There are a lot of ways to come up with $110 over the course of a month. If you are already doing all those things and still are that close to the bone, and don't have a credit card you can charge it on, give up on trying to keep perfect credit. If this doesn't get you, the next thing will.
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Old 12-05-2012, 04:48 PM
 
21 posts, read 82,633 times
Reputation: 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lacerta View Post
If they have already gotten to a "3rd and final notice", my guess is they will send you to collections if they don't have payment in full by the deadline. It is only $110, can you charge it on a credit card? $110 isn't worth getting your credit messed up over. And yes, it will damage your credit if they turn it over to collections. I look at a lot of credit reports at work when screening applications for rentals and I am amazed how often I see people who let amounts under $200 go to collections.

For $110, go give blood/plasma a couple of times and you'll have it. Have a garage sale and get rid of some stuff you don't use anymore. Take a bag lunch instead of eating fast food for a month. Give up coffee/alcohol/smoking/insert other expensive habit. Cut back your cellphone/internet/cable bills. There are a lot of ways to come up with $110 over the course of a month. If you are already doing all those things and still are that close to the bone, and don't have a credit card you can charge it on, give up on trying to keep perfect credit. If this doesn't get you, the next thing will.
We are going to try the credit cards. Should I call and ask if they sent it to collections. Can they lie just to get the money from me? The notice is dated the 19th of November.

also, can someone tell me if this $110 gets sent to collections does it GREATLY affect us getting a mortgage for a house down the line(In 1-2 years time)? Lets say credit history has been 10+ years and credit scores are fair and good (spouse)

Last edited by SportsFan32k; 12-05-2012 at 05:38 PM..
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Old 12-05-2012, 06:18 PM
 
9 posts, read 25,182 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by SportsFan32k View Post
also, can someone tell me if this $110 gets sent to collections does it GREATLY affect us getting a mortgage for a house down the line(In 1-2 years time)?
Yes it does!!

I have the first-hand experience. If it makes it to your credit, its there to stay for 7 years. Read again... 7 years

Quote:
Should I call and ask if they sent it to collections.
Like I said in my previous post, even if it has been sent to the collections, you need to work it out with who you originally owed the money to and pay them directly. If you pay the collection agency, you are agreeing to the fact that there is a long-overdue debt and 9 out of 10 times, it will make it to your credit.

If the original creditor accepts your payment, you have grounds to tell the collection agency to shove it. Send them a debt validation letter. They, then have to prove that owe the money and have to do it within 30 days or drop it altogether.

Quote:
Can they lie just to get the money from me?
not sure why that matters at this point. You owe them, you pay them. They have to pay a percentage to the collection agencies if the collection agency collects from a debtor on their behalf so they are usually open to accept payments even after the debt has been turned over to collections.
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Old 12-05-2012, 06:41 PM
 
78 posts, read 135,699 times
Reputation: 50
Any negative on your report will ding your credit score quickly.

Get it paid, communicate with the other side and work out a deal so it does not go to collection.

If it does go to a collector they will come after you, your wages etc even for 110.00.

Then the collector will report a second negative if they cannot collect it.
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