a firm says i owe money for a catalogue from ten years ago.ive never had one .what can i do?
966149
You need to ask them for a statement of what they say you owe and with copies of signed delivery notes. If they cant produce these they dont have a leg to stand on. \n\nJust hold your ground. If you havent had the goods, then dont pay for it. Even if they threaten legal action - they're just trying to scare you. Just write to them and tell them plainly you have never had such goods and you are not willing to pay for them. Keep copies of all correspondance just in case its needed
700327
You were 100% ripped off.  I would go to the Small Claims Court over this - it costs £50 for the case and you will probably win back your £160 from them so you gat a net recovery of £110 which is well worth it.
707101
When was the last time you were in contact with either the collection agency or the rental company? If 4yrs has already expired, you have 3 remaining until the note is purged from your file. If you try to contact them again, the clock essentially resets and you will have to wait another 7 years. If you haven't been in touch with them, don't start now. \n\nYour other option is to work out an agreement with the collection agency. Negotiate how many cents on the dollar or the total amount due. If you luck out and they accept an amount you are able to pay off, make them put in writing that when the amount is paid they will request to clear the negative item in your credit report.
839375
What seems to be happening here is,the company you had the actual debt with has not closed the account and it has therefore gained small interest,these files are then sent in bulk for a collection agency to sort out,the amount which has been paid still remains as unpaid when sent to the collection agency,so what you need to do is make contact with the persons,company or who ever the debt originated from and in turn they should inform the collections company,the fact that you say you continue to get them off different companys also backs this,has what is also happening one you explain the situation to one collection company and they then send it back to the originator who then sends it to another collection company,this is because the left arm hasnt got a clue what the right arm is doing and in any case dont worry about it,if seven years have passed you can tell them to take a run and jump
767057
If you are trying to say the the collection agency is trying to collect on checks that were written by the thief, send a written statement to the agency, return receipt requested, informing them that you dispute the debt, that the checks do not bear your signature and that you believe they have no cause to seek payment from you.  Let them know that the checks were signed by the thief who went to prison for that offese. They should then try to verify the existence of the debt and should leave you alone.  On the other hand, if the debts are unrelated to the checks, you should probably do nothing because the statute of limitations has probably expired and any contact may revive the debt.  In that case, if they sue you, you will need to assert the statute of limitations as a defense and for that you will need an attorney.
830111
You have just stumbled into the trap that I have tried warning people about for months now!\n\nThere are only two ways to get a negative item removed from your credit history.\n\n1) The creditor must remove it\n2) The creditor fails to respond to a credit bureau investigation request.\n\nOnce you have paid the creditor, you are going to find it extremely difficult to get them to cooperate in fixing your credit.  \n\nThat is why I warn people who are going to pay off old debts...make the creditor agree IN WRITING to delete the entry once the bill has been paid off.  Don't pay them a dime unless they agree to do it.\n\nNow you are broke, and you still have bad credit.  Is that fair?\n\nAll you can do now is start the dispute process.  Note that even though you paid off this debt, the creditor is only REQUIRED to show that the debt has been paid off, but it will still show reports of late payments, charge offs and collections.  It will still be a negative report. \n\nBut it at least should show the bill is paid.  Failure of the credit to update your credit history is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  If they don't update the listing, you can sue them for $1000 in small claims court.\n\nSend a dispute letter to both the credit bureau and the creditor.  But note that it sometimes takes a couple of months for these updates to show up on your report, so you need to be patient.
1152757
you from the UK? got info the other day from a company called Nationwide Credit consultants tel:0870 787 1990, call is free. You pay them a fee and can have your history cleared of the last 6 years, and yes it is Legal too so try that. I will.
99667
If you have ordered things from their catalog in the past, they will aotomatically send you a copy of their current catalog.You may also write to them direct, if you believe your catalog is lost in transit to you.
474397
Contact their client (the company you owed) and request to totally clear the account/bill. \n\nI've done this before with BMG Music. i cancelled my account and return the CD, so I really don't have to pay. the collection agency keeps on sending mails but contacting BMG fixed everything.
1057245
Have you followed up with your lawyer? That might be faster than firing one and getting another. You could email him some message like 'I know you are really busy, and perhaps I should get my file back.'  However, I'd try just following up first.  Otherwise, ask what he/she thinks you owe them first, or you might find out he/she has incurred time behind the scenes that you will pay for and have nothing to show for.\n\nAlso, if you signed a contract, there might be something in there you need to take into account.
1093197
I would contact the better business bureau and place a negative report on their business. Next I would contact the credit card agency and ask them how to dispute this charge. Since this is from December 05 you might have a hard time getting them to do anything since that is almost 6 months ago.\n\nAs far as small claims court goes, you have 2 choices in filing a case. You can report it in your precinct where you live and if they will not go across state, which i do not understand as i have done this several times with medical collections....then you can file in the precinct where the business resides. You would need to call the county clerk for that county or the sherriff's dept and they can tell you which precinct that address would fall under. Best of luck.
678499
You would have to contact the bank. Unfortunately, because there have been many bank mergers in the past ten years, you may have to do some investigating just to find the bank that might have bought the original bank. However, if there has been no activity in 10 years, the account could have been closed and the funds transferred to the state unclaimed property fund. If that has happened, the documents you have would help you in claiming any funds.
393358
You still owe them the funds, irrespective of it being their mistake. They cannot penilize you for it i.e: charge intertest that you would not have paid, or make additional money on the deal. However as they have inconvienced you, they should allow you to settle the debt in a manner that you have been doing without additional fees.\n\nYou may be entitled to compensation for damages if for example you had already budgetted for another item. In that case a lawyer would be the person to handle that.
811113
Doesn't sound right.  There has to some onus of responsibilty on the part of the operator of the storage facility.  I do know they recommend obtaining renter's insurance if you use such a facility.  At any rate, you may have a case for small claims court.  It depends on the state where your reside.  Assuming this was a recent ocurrance (within your state's statute of limitations) and you were in good stead (you made the required payments on a timely basis) then you may be able to recoup at least a portion of your loss.\nTry the website I have listed below for additional information.  It will serve as a good "jumping off" point, giving you an idea of where else to look for information specific to your state, what documentation you need to prove your claim and what questions you need to ask and of whom.  Good luck!
978208
I've read many of Debt Guru's answers in the past and they usually are fairly decent.  But this one I have to comment on.  It's very self-serving and borders on spam.  I don't suppose you are the owner/employee of this company, are you?\n\nTelling people not to file because it "stays on your public record the rest of your life" is the exact sort of scare tactic nonsense that collection agencies tell you.  Yes, the statement is true, but very few creditors go through the trouble of referencing bankruptcy records, and depend more on credit reports.  BK filings drop off credit reports after 10 years.  You know that!  So why are you passing on this sort of advice, other then scare people enough to do business with you?\n\nOne more reason why people need to look carefully at these "credit repair" companies.\n\nTo answer your question, it really depends on how much debt you are in.  You need to look at your individual situation and see if it's the right thing to do.  A bankruptcy attorney will give you an hour of free advice, so call around and do some research.  NEVER file a BK on your own.
1061100
Absolutely zilch! A furniture co. recently took my money, never delivered products worth 2500.00, then closed up shop. 2 months before close, I knew this was going to happen because the owners kept ducking me. So, I contact BBB. A bunch of mumbo jumbo---we're right on it. We'll file a report. ZILCH. By the time they got to my case, the store was shutdown. If you really want a better shot (also depends on the circumstances), call local authorities. I am dead serious. I called the DA's office here in SF--the consumer fraud division--those guys are on shady business practice sooo fast. Again, not sure what your situation is or how much but take care of it before the possibility of those scrupulous owners filing bankruptcy. When that happens, you are as good as SOL.
940837
(Im in the UK, but hopefully its too different in the USA)  \n\nYou have the right to ask who their 'governing body' is and they MUST tell you.\n\nThen tell the company that either they assist you with your problem in a reasonable manner or you will need to go to their governing body.\n\nI would write to the retail company (send it recorded delivery) as you will find that MOST companies request that any complaints be put in writing (this is what they do to make it that little bit harder and time consuming - its done on purpose!!!)  but either way if you email or write  put whatever the problem is to them, and then tell them what you want the outcome to be (dont mess around, if, for example you want a refund, tell them this in no uncertain terms, if you want a replacement, tell them this in no uncertain terms) and then give a deadline for them to respond  to your reqeust (normally 10 working days is acceptable)  (their response may not nescessarily mean RESOLVE - they may send you a letter of acknowledgement saying that they have recieved your letter and will respond to your letter with regard to your complaint within (i.e.) 10 working days etc etc) and then you simply wait for their response, but ensure that, if you do not get a response that you act, as they may be hoping that you 'cant be bothered to take it further' (believe it or not, some companies work on this basis - the consumer not being 'bothered' to uphold their rights')\n\nIf you do need to go further then the fact that you have given the retail company ample time and a chance to resolve the issue already will show as a credit on you to the 'governing body'.  \n\nBy the way - if this retail company offers you anything, for example a 'gift voucher' etc then if you accept this then you are accepting to put an end to the situation and there is no more you can do (WITHOUT PREJUDICE) - so if you want a FULL refund, or a REPLACEMENT then dont accept anything until AFTER you have got what you wanted!!!\n\nBut throughout it all and with EVERYONE you contact regarding this issue then be clear asto what EXACTLY you want and also, give reasonable time limits asto when you expect a response (otherwise they will push it as far they can!!)\n\nGOOD LUCK     -    I hope this helps, but please remember....... this is based on how it would work in the UK