BUREAU OF COLLECTION RECOVERY sent me a letter, signed by George Gustafson (who is already mentioned elsewhere on usacomplaints.com), stating their usual offer of a settlement on a debt I owed to AT&T Wireless formerly Cingular formerly AT&T Wireless.
My thanks to usacomplaints.com for educating me about this scam, so that I can leave my anxiety in the closet and face down this collection agency, knowing that they can hurt me in dishonest ways, but I am in the right (and it's righteous) and will see it through, not to clear my good name but to rub their piggy noses in it when justice is served.
They must have friends in high places to get away with the things they do. Their claim, that I owe ATT Wireless, is pure larceny, and pure fraud. And being done therough the US MAil, it becomes MAIL FRAUD, doesn't it? I think the POSTMASTER GENERAL might be interested.
But maybe their skills in fraud and ripping us off have gotten them so much wealth and power, that not even the POM General can mess with them. Telecom has wheedled and cajoled us all into parting with the big bucks for their stupid phones and services, and we're super-frustrated because of their treachery, their predatory, unregulated badness, their dishonesty and untrustworthyness in the dealings with us, and most of all, just their unmitigated cunning, guile, and GALL, in trapping so many of us with agreements that stick to us but don't stick to them. We're also really fazed by unexpected huge bills that stick to us, all the way into the future via the credit report, etc.
In that huge bill category, I can't believe some of the numbers posted here on usacomplaints.com. With five pages of links there to Cingular/ATT Wireless bad news ripoff stories, I believe we've seen the "unexpected high bill" get up into four figures? Truly, the big telecom companies have the ability to redefine us as having fewer rights than they do. They can pick numbers out of the air and claim we owe them. What can we do back? Cancel our service? Complain to Customer (Dis) Service???
Anyway, I'm a little skittish about collection agencies because I hate owing money and getting behind my bills. So when I see a collection notice in my mailbox, it causes me a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress, right?
Well, not this time. You see, I quit my wireless service several years ago, and transferred the wireless telephone number to a VOiP service provider (at $10/mo, what a steal!). THE POOR DUMB BASTARDS AT AT&T WIRELESS, who apparently traded a list of their old subscribers to the POOR DUMB BASTARDS AT BUREAU OF COLLECTION RECOVERY, would never have let me take one of their phone numbers with me when I quit them, unless I was all paid up, on long distance and EVERYTHING. AND I DID TAKE MY NUMBER WITH ME, so *ptbtbtbtb*.
Someone I read about said that the AT&T explanation of the scam was that these late, late charges that they've been handing off to collectors, are actually for the service of transferring a wireless phone number.in other words, it is a fee for taking the wireless phone number with us when we quit ATT-Cingulate. So sorry sorry AT&T but *BZZZT* THAT ANSWER IS INCORRECT. As your subscribers scrutinize their bills, they see that they're paying you a fee every month for number portability. You started charging it the day the government agreed that you could, years before you ever transferred a number. And you're still charging it today, even though portability has become a relatively smooth, predictable process. It is probablty a profit center.
One last note about Bureau of Collection Recovery. Someone might google them and see that they're big business, and then think there's no point in pushing back at them because of that. The link sort of makes them look pretty damn important until you realize that the other company involved is currently the subject of one of usacomplaints.com's sidebars about our rights and corrupt property assessment practices.:
Http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2007_April_30/ai_n19041987
I think they're all in bed with each other and just lousy with wormy corruption. I'm keeping that in mind, and my shovel handy in case I get the chance to bury them. And I am really happy to know that I don't have any REAL collection happening.
Ry
Anytown, Manitoba
Canada
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