I received a very abusive, threatening and intimidating letter from VMC Satellite, Inc. Stating that I owed them $290.00 because I disrupted or cancelled my service with Dish Network. Our "full time" home is in California and we have the Dish Network service connected at our farm in Alabama. We have never had any disruption or disconnection of our satellite service with Dish Network and we have never caused the service to be disrupted or disconnected. Yet, we received a letter stating: "Your account is in default!"; Since your service was disconnected before your one year was up you are in default of our terms and conditions which you agreed to."; "Our terms and conditions state that you now owe us a $290 early termination fee."; "If $290 is not received in our office within seven days, we will turn your BAD DEBT over to our collection agency."; "WARNING! We report unpaid debts to all major credit bureaus! Call us today to avoid additional hassles."; "By ignoring this letter, your debt will only increase as collections costs, interest, attorney's fees and court costs continue to be added on."; "We will aggressively pursue this until your debt is paid!".
We never breeched the terms of any agreement for the installation of Dish Network service and we never caused a disruption or cancellation of our service. Yet, we were threatened with legal action, damaging our credit record, attorney's fees, interest, etc. We are very concerned that the elderly, the poor, and those who are not proficient in English may have been intimidated/scared into paying this $290 fee to avoid the threats that are contained in the letter. Importantly, VMC Satellite, Inc. Did not validate any report that they may have had that our service was disrupted or cancelled.indeed, we have sent all of our paid bills to the Department of Consumer Protection of Fairfax County, Virginia (12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 433, Fairfax, VA 22035-0047). We will be asking the District Attorney to investigate this practice and determine how many people may have been defrauded by this procedure without validation by VMC Satellite, Inc. I have included the body of the letter I sent to InPhonic Corporation, the parent corporation of VMC Satellite, Inc, for your information.
If you have received a similar intimidating letter from VMC Satellite, Inc. Please contact InPhonic (1010 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20007) and the District Attorney's Office in Fairfax, Virginia.
This practice is wrong and may have defrauded many people out of a large amount of money.
Walter
Ms. Megan Murray
Office of David A. Steinberg, Founder and CEO
InPhonic Corporation
1010 Wisconsin Ave.
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20007
October 19
Dear Ms. Murray:
Thank you for talking with me this morning with regard to the threatening letter I received from VMC Satellite, Inc, a subsidiary of InPhonic. As I indicated, the content of the letter is threatening, abusive and without merit.
To suggest that I have a BAD DEBT and that once your account is turned over to them [our collection agency]; you will owe additional collections costs and interest without having first investigated the validity of your statement that your service was disconnected before your one year was up: you are in default of our Terms and Conditions which you agreed to is clearly unethical and may represent a civil violation of the law, business and professional codes and statutes of the States of California (my home address), Alabama (where the service is connected to our farm in Chambers County) Virginia (where VMC conducts business) and Federal regulations.
As I mentioned, there are numerous complaints that have been posted on the internet with regard to VMC's practices and this letter in particular. Frankly, I am concerned that some persons may have been defrauded and scared into paying $290.00 to VMC in order to avoid the threats that are contained within the letter. I am particularly concerned that the elderly, poor, immigrants that are not proficient in English and others may have been victimized by VCM Satellite's practice of sending this threatening letter without validating any breech of contract with VCM. As I indicated to you, there has not been any disruption or cancellation of my Dish Network service by me or any member of my household since it was originally installed in our home in Alabama.indeed, Dish Network's equipment failed on two separate occasions and they were required to replace two satellite boxes because of equipment failure. Equipment failure of Dish Network's newly installed equipment does not constitute disruption or cancellation of service by me under the terms of our contract. Thus, VMC Satellite, Inc. Has breeched its contract with me by failing to ensure that I indeed cancelled my service within twelve (12) months of installation (my account records with Dish Network verify my uninterrupted service and VMC should have inquired about them prior to sending me a threatening letter). Too, VMC has threatened me, and my household in what appears to be a method of extracting money from me without due cause.
Should it be determined that VMC Satellite has made false and damaging statements to any credit bureau about me or any member of my household, I will seek an immediate remedy as appropriate.
I thank you for your courtesy and your help with this matter. I feel sure that Mr. Steinberg will be dismayed to learn of VMC's business practice of sending threatening letters prior to initiating a thorough investigation, including a discussion with the customer.
Sincerely,
Walter
WHM: sm
Enclosure: Copy of letter from VCM Satellite dated 10/15
C: Certified copy to Aaron Daniels, Senior V.P., VCM Satellite
Fairfax County Department of Cable Communications and Consumer Protection
Walter
Santa Ana, California
U.S.A.
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