Seems to be the text book case. I ran my credit report - working on some old bad credit. I came across this American Agencies collection account for an old Pac Bell telephone. I disputed it in April on CreditExpert, and it was apparently "verified". I have no idea what that's supposed to mean, because I never saw any verification personally. So, I called American Agencies and the guy tells me that I not only owe them $2000 for this account from 1998, I owe them another $2000 for an account from 1993!!!
What the heck is going on?! The 1993 account doesn't show up on my credit report. I told the guy at American that it's not on my credit report, and I asked him how I could have possibly gotten a telephone in 1998, if I owed $2000 from 1993. He said he didn't know, but offered to have "everything removed from my credit report if I paid in full."
So, I called SBC today. This guy tells me that he sees an old phone number from 1998, but doesn't have access to the final bill, and that I'd have to clear it up with American Agencies. But, before he ended the call, he said I could leave a deposit in the same amount of my final bill if I needed telephone service. He said the deposit amount would be $660. Hmmmmmm. I thought he didn't have access to my final billing information?
These two companies have been involved in some very shady collection scams for some time. I've done some internet searches, and found tons of information. Now, I just don't know what to do with it all or what to do about this crazy charge. I've read that neither company cooperates and that they just continue to charge interest and late fees. I don't think SBC is being very honest or ethical, and this relationship they've got with a bottom-feeder like American Credit Agencies is highly questionable. They seem to be getting away with literally stealing money.
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