Received my June phone bill in the middle of July. When I reviewed it, I wondered why the total was more than usual. There was an extra $10.73 added to it. When I saw an unusual charge, I called my phone company who advised me that it was from an "outside billing service".
When I asked what I was being billed for, they could not explain it to me and stated that I need to call the outside billing services, ILD Teleservices, who were the outside billing company, to find out what it was for. I also asked my phone company to put a block on any outside billing services from here on out, and that if I wished to change any of my phone services, I would called them personally. My phone company now has my file marked that the $10.73 is being disputed and that I'm not paying it. But, it is still showing on my bill!!!
When I called ILD Teleservices they stated that U.S. Credit Find asked to have it added to my account because of certain paperwork that I had filled out. I told them that I did not fill out any paperwork and that I wanted their charges removed. They told me that they could credit the money and notify my phone company, but that it would take 1 to 3 billing cycles for this to occur! They also supplied me with U.S. Credit Find's 888 phone number.
I then called U.S. Credit Find directly and asked how they could add themselves to my account. Well, the person could not look up the information because I had already put a block on my phone service!!! But, he would request that a printout of where authorization came from be sent to me as he already had my address on file. He also explained that it would take 1 to 3 billing cycles to get it credited and removed from my phone bill.
What I want to know is:
1) how can an outside billing company add charges to my account without my phone company questioning it or getting in touch with me? Shouldn't they be requesting a signature or verbal confirmation from me before adding charges to my account? Or at least questioning it and sending out a notice about it or calling me with an automated call saying that "additional charges have been added from an outside billing company"?
2) why did it take less than 3 weeks to add the charges to my account, but yet it is going to take over 1 to 3 billing cycles (that's 1 to 3 months!!!) to get it removed?
3) how is this affecting my credit rating in the meantime? Even though my phone company has it noted on the file that I did not approve of these charges it still shows me as being unpaid for U.S. Credit Find's charges.
4) where in the world did U.S. Credit Find get all of my information? If I ever fill out a sweepstake entry, I make sure to read the fine print and I take a blank entry form with me so that I've got documentation that I did not request for my info to go to any other place. And I have not entered a sweepstake or any other form in the past 6 months!
So beware!!! Watch out for any charges from the outside billing service by ILD Teleservices or any charges from U.S. Credit Find for "credit repair monthly fee". I'm hoping that something can be done about this and that no one else has to deal with it.
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