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Debating About Reporting A Service Company (1 Viewer)

Time for an attorney?
Yeah, maybe, but part of me things I would just be shelling out even more money that I won't get back. I would have to sue for an insane amount of money to get back what I already paid, my time, and whatever I have to pay an attorney. The couple of other times I had to use an attorney, even though I won, I actually lost money.
Probably true...but in the meantime I'd be going full scorched-earth on that SOB over every social media outlet I could. Do you have local reporter that does "problem-solvers" stories? We have a great guy in the Detroit area. He does his "Hall of Shame" episodes specifically for lousy MFers just like this.

 
A detailed negative review on Google, Facebook, yelp etc is a powerful thing. It’ll cost him a lot more than $2000 in lost customers.
 
Time for an attorney?
Yeah, maybe, but part of me things I would just be shelling out even more money that I won't get back. I would have to sue for an insane amount of money to get back what I already paid, my time, and whatever I have to pay an attorney. The couple of other times I had to use an attorney, even though I won, I actually lost money.
Sorry bud. Awful situation. I think I’d email the owner, so there’s a paper trail, one last time and let him know that he knows this is ********, $2000+ in charges and nothing was actually done, that you need to come to an equitable amount that’s fair or you are going to trash his company on every review site and Facebook. After that it’s up to the credit card company. If that doesn’t work, I think I’d file a claim in small claims court.
At this point, I am pretty much pot committed to seeing if my dispute can go through when filed properly. As a small business owner myself, that's another thing that I have found to be self-limiting. I have gone to small claims before to try to compel people to pay what they owed me. I would always win, and never get a dime. The only way to force them to pay is to keep going back to court (and hear more excuses). It ended up costing me 5 times what I filed for in lost revenue. I also have taken other businesses to small claims and won . . . and they never paid either. I always win, but never collect anything. The last time I took a business to small claims court, I got awarded the max could award, but I had to go 5 or 6 times, and eventually the place filed for bankruptcy and reopened under a different name. There was literally nothing I could do about it.

By disputing the oil service companies charges, that would have been the route I would have expected (that they took me to small claims court). Maybe the rules have changed, but the only way I would consider going to small claims is if they let you add in lost wages for all the time it took that got wasted as part of my claim.
 
A detailed negative review on Google, Facebook, yelp etc is a powerful thing. It’ll cost him a lot more than $2000 in lost customers.
Ohhh yea!

I know what you mean Dave when you talk about the small claims route...it's often a long tedious no win proposition.

Did the negative Google review one time for a lemon of a car I bought from this shyster used car dealer one time. That Google review is still the first review anyone reads on his site and I've gotten several responses from it from potential customers thanking me for the heads up. I'm sure he's lost some significant revenues because of it. It does give me a little satisfaction if nothing else.
 
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Here's another update. My bank was able to get the charges to my card provisionally removed. There will be an investigation, and it will go to arbitration (my bank vs. their bank) to determine the outcome, but that will take months. In the meantime, the service company sent me a bill. Still no breakdown or explanation of what they are charging me for, and it's slightly less than what they billed my card. I haven't budged from my stance that they are shady as the day is long. Best way to proceed from here? Contact them and tell them to take their bill and shove it?
 
Here's another update. My bank was able to get the charges to my card provisionally removed. There will be an investigation, and it will go to arbitration (my bank vs. their bank) to determine the outcome, but that will take months. In the meantime, the service company sent me a bill. Still no breakdown or explanation of what they are charging me for, and it's slightly less than what they billed my card. I haven't budged from my stance that they are shady as the day is long. Best way to proceed from here? Contact them and tell them to take their bill and shove it?

Missed that this thread had been updated. You can either do what you proposed or just ignore them. I suspect it will drive them crazy if you choose not to engage. Let the billing dispute between the CC companies play out. Nothing you do now will impact that and at the end of the day all you should care about is not paying them and not having to deal with them ever again.
 
Here's another update. My bank was able to get the charges to my card provisionally removed. There will be an investigation, and it will go to arbitration (my bank vs. their bank) to determine the outcome, but that will take months. In the meantime, the service company sent me a bill. Still no breakdown or explanation of what they are charging me for, and it's slightly less than what they billed my card. I haven't budged from my stance that they are shady as the day is long. Best way to proceed from here? Contact them and tell them to take their bill and shove it?

Missed that this thread had been updated. You can either do what you proposed or just ignore them. I suspect it will drive them crazy if you choose not to engage. Let the billing dispute between the CC companies play out. Nothing you do now will impact that and at the end of the day all you should care about is not paying them and not having to deal with them ever again.
My concern moving forward if I ignore them is they seem like the type that would send me to collection and report me to credit bureaus for non-payment. They already know I am peeved at them, but do I need to send them a formal letter disputing the charges and officially tell them that I won't be paying? I also wouldn't put it past them to take me to court and try to tack on thousands of dollars in attorney fees, fines, interest charges, and penalties.
 
If you want to reach out to them, I would keep it in email format so everything is in writing, and insist all responses are via email. Enough of the phone back and forth.
 
A bill for what? They already charged your credit card which is being disputed. They expect you to pay twice?
They billed my credit card. I disputed it (so the money got taken away). Since they have collected $0 so far, they mailed me a bill. That's where we're at. I would guess while the credit card dispute is ongoing, they will consider the juice to be running and will probably assess 2.5% ($50.00) interest each month in the meantime.
 
Here's another update. My bank was able to get the charges to my card provisionally removed. There will be an investigation, and it will go to arbitration (my bank vs. their bank) to determine the outcome, but that will take months. In the meantime, the service company sent me a bill. Still no breakdown or explanation of what they are charging me for, and it's slightly less than what they billed my card. I haven't budged from my stance that they are shady as the day is long. Best way to proceed from here? Contact them and tell them to take their bill and shove it?

Missed that this thread had been updated. You can either do what you proposed or just ignore them. I suspect it will drive them crazy if you choose not to engage. Let the billing dispute between the CC companies play out. Nothing you do now will impact that and at the end of the day all you should care about is not paying them and not having to deal with them ever again.
My concern moving forward if I ignore them is they seem like the type that would send me to collection and report me to credit bureaus for non-payment. They already know I am peeved at them, but do I need to send them a formal letter disputing the charges and officially tell them that I won't be paying? I also wouldn't put it past them to take me to court and try to tack on thousands of dollars in attorney fees, fines, interest charges, and penalties.
They can't do any of those things without proof. If they do, you can contest it. Same way I can't just make up a bill and send it to collections against you.

They have no signed work orders or anything. No collection agency will be able to enforce anything.
 
A bill for what? They already charged your credit card which is being disputed. They expect you to pay twice?
They billed my credit card. I disputed it (so the money got taken away). Since they have collected $0 so far, they mailed me a bill. That's where we're at. I would guess while the credit card dispute is ongoing, they will consider the juice to be running and will probably assess 2.5% ($50.00) interest each month in the meantime.
I mean, I imagine they can send it to collections. If the credit card rules in your favor, it would be pretty easy to contest. Going to be a huge hassle though, as if it hasn’t been already I guess. I hope you posted a ton of bad reviews on them.
 
So if it's a small company I doubt they have a collection agency that reports to any credit.
Maybe things have changed but my wife at her current company a long time ago to make extra cash worked in the "collection branch". They just created a company, and my wife would send letters using the company letter head and make phones calls. She would do the threaten credit etc etc. She was just trying to get whatever back rent she could lol.

I'm sure this varies
 
Here's another update. My bank was able to get the charges to my card provisionally removed. There will be an investigation, and it will go to arbitration (my bank vs. their bank) to determine the outcome, but that will take months. In the meantime, the service company sent me a bill. Still no breakdown or explanation of what they are charging me for, and it's slightly less than what they billed my card. I haven't budged from my stance that they are shady as the day is long. Best way to proceed from here? Contact them and tell them to take their bill and shove it?

Missed that this thread had been updated. You can either do what you proposed or just ignore them. I suspect it will drive them crazy if you choose not to engage. Let the billing dispute between the CC companies play out. Nothing you do now will impact that and at the end of the day all you should care about is not paying them and not having to deal with them ever again.
My concern moving forward if I ignore them is they seem like the type that would send me to collection and report me to credit bureaus for non-payment. They already know I am peeved at them, but do I need to send them a formal letter disputing the charges and officially tell them that I won't be paying? I also wouldn't put it past them to take me to court and try to tack on thousands of dollars in attorney fees, fines, interest charges, and penalties.
Read here
 
Here's the latest. My credit card dispute went my way, and the service company was officially denied payment from my account. As expected, the company started invoicing me instead. On the back of their statement, it says if you disagree with the amount due, you have to notify them in writing. I sent them a letter indicating I never agreed to the services that were completed, they have nothing to show I agreed to the charges, and I would not be paying any of the amount they claim I owe. Taking things one step further, I said if they continued to bill me, I would take things to the state attorney general's office, file a formal credit card fraud complaint, and take to social media and public forums to reflect on my negative experience. The owner of the company has called me twice to discuss things, which I have let go to voicemail. Every time they told me things verbally, they did the complete opposite, so I am not all that keen on them keeping their word. Thoughts on how to play things moving forward?
 
Here's the latest. My credit card dispute went my way, and the service company was officially denied payment from my account. As expected, the company started invoicing me instead. On the back of their statement, it says if you disagree with the amount due, you have to notify them in writing. I sent them a letter indicating I never agreed to the services that were completed, they have nothing to show I agreed to the charges, and I would not be paying any of the amount they claim I owe. Taking things one step further, I said if they continued to bill me, I would take things to the state attorney general's office, file a formal credit card fraud complaint, and take to social media and public forums to reflect on my negative experience. The owner of the company has called me twice to discuss things, which I have let go to voicemail. Every time they told me things verbally, they did the complete opposite, so I am not all that keen on them keeping their word. Thoughts on how to play things moving forward?

Start invoicing them for the time you use dealing with them
 
Here's the latest. My credit card dispute went my way, and the service company was officially denied payment from my account. As expected, the company started invoicing me instead. On the back of their statement, it says if you disagree with the amount due, you have to notify them in writing. I sent them a letter indicating I never agreed to the services that were completed, they have nothing to show I agreed to the charges, and I would not be paying any of the amount they claim I owe. Taking things one step further, I said if they continued to bill me, I would take things to the state attorney general's office, file a formal credit card fraud complaint, and take to social media and public forums to reflect on my negative experience. The owner of the company has called me twice to discuss things, which I have let go to voicemail. Every time they told me things verbally, they did the complete opposite, so I am not all that keen on them keeping their word. Thoughts on how to play things moving forward?
They told you to notify them in writing. You should tell them any correspondence should be in writing as well.
 
Here's the latest. My credit card dispute went my way, and the service company was officially denied payment from my account. As expected, the company started invoicing me instead. On the back of their statement, it says if you disagree with the amount due, you have to notify them in writing. I sent them a letter indicating I never agreed to the services that were completed, they have nothing to show I agreed to the charges, and I would not be paying any of the amount they claim I owe. Taking things one step further, I said if they continued to bill me, I would take things to the state attorney general's office, file a formal credit card fraud complaint, and take to social media and public forums to reflect on my negative experience. The owner of the company has called me twice to discuss things, which I have let go to voicemail. Every time they told me things verbally, they did the complete opposite, so I am not all that keen on them keeping their word. Thoughts on how to play things moving forward?
Perfect.

I wouldn't do anything else. They have nothing they can do at this point.
 
I would write another letter to the owner and tell him all future communication will be in writing. Time to think like a lawyer.
 
Coming up on 6 months and the company is still billing me and charging interest each month. Other than that, they haven't contacted me in months. My last contact with them was a letter I sent them officially disputing and refusing to pay their charges, as I contend there wasn't a signed contract. If that's the extend of things (ie only getting a monthly invoice), do I really need to worry about anything? If they hire a collection agency or threaten to report me to credit bureaus, I'm guessing I just refute their claims? And if they take me to court, I just demand to see a signed contract?
 
Coming up on 6 months and the company is still billing me and charging interest each month. Other than that, they haven't contacted me in months. My last contact with them was a letter I sent them officially disputing and refusing to pay their charges, as I contend there wasn't a signed contract. If that's the extend of things (ie only getting a monthly invoice), do I really need to worry about anything? If they hire a collection agency or threaten to report me to credit bureaus, I'm guessing I just refute their claims? And if they take me to court, I just demand to see a signed contract?
Not an attorney, I would see what one of our resident lawyers have to say, but...

Perhaps a cease and desist letter to stop sending fraudulent bills. If they contest they aren't fraudulent, they would have to show evidence of services provided that were agreed to. If not, and they continue to bill you fraudulently despite the attempt to have it stop, then it might be actionable and punitive.
 
Coming up on 6 months and the company is still billing me and charging interest each month. Other than that, they haven't contacted me in months. My last contact with them was a letter I sent them officially disputing and refusing to pay their charges, as I contend there wasn't a signed contract. If that's the extend of things (ie only getting a monthly invoice), do I really need to worry about anything? If they hire a collection agency or threaten to report me to credit bureaus, I'm guessing I just refute their claims? And if they take me to court, I just demand to see a signed contract?
Not an attorney, I would see what one of our resident lawyers have to say, but...

Perhaps a cease and desist letter to stop sending fraudulent bills. If they contest they aren't fraudulent, they would have to show evidence of services provided that were agreed to. If not, and they continue to bill you fraudulently despite the attempt to have it stop, then it might be actionable and punitive.
The letter I sent them was a combination written dispute that I did not consent to anything they did (or charge me) and also a cease and desist notification to stop sending me invoices. I suppose I could get an attorney involved, but I don't really want to start shelling out money if I don't need to. At this point, I don't see a clear path for them to compel me to pay them anything.
 
I don't see a clear path for them to compel me to pay them anything.
Notices from a collection agency and hits to your credit report might be am avenue. Sure you could dispute it with the collections agency, but it still might be painful. And to recoup those damages, you'd have to sue them, right?
 
I don't see a clear path for them to compel me to pay them anything.
Notices from a collection agency and hits to your credit report might be am avenue. Sure you could dispute it with the collections agency, but it still might be painful. And to recoup those damages, you'd have to sue them, right?
Unless I am misinformed, I was told by someone involved in credit reporting that people can refute a claim to a collection agency and demand proof of the debt owed. Same thing if somehow it was reported to the credit bureaus. Without documented proof, the credit bureaus have to take it off your credit report.
 
I don't see a clear path for them to compel me to pay them anything.
Notices from a collection agency and hits to your credit report might be am avenue. Sure you could dispute it with the collections agency, but it still might be painful. And to recoup those damages, you'd have to sue them, right?
Unless I am misinformed, I was told by someone involved in credit reporting that people can refute a claim to a collection agency and demand proof of the debt owed. Same thing if somehow it was reported to the credit bureaus. Without documented proof, the credit bureaus have to take it off your credit report.
Couldn't the company just submit the unpaid invoices and say, "here's the proof of non-payment." I also wouldn't put it past them to submit something fraudulent or fabricated, forcing youvto prove that it wasn't your signature or didnt come from your email.
 
I don't see a clear path for them to compel me to pay them anything.
Notices from a collection agency and hits to your credit report might be am avenue. Sure you could dispute it with the collections agency, but it still might be painful. And to recoup those damages, you'd have to sue them, right?
Unless I am misinformed, I was told by someone involved in credit reporting that people can refute a claim to a collection agency and demand proof of the debt owed. Same thing if somehow it was reported to the credit bureaus. Without documented proof, the credit bureaus have to take it off your credit report.
You mean to tell me on this board or in your real life you do not have a buddy who is an attorney that can send a letter on his/her letterhead telling them to show proof or leave me alone?

"You have been harassing my client with no proof etc etc" and if it continues we will be forced to etc etc" kind of nonsense?
 
I don't see a clear path for them to compel me to pay them anything.
Notices from a collection agency and hits to your credit report might be am avenue. Sure you could dispute it with the collections agency, but it still might be painful. And to recoup those damages, you'd have to sue them, right?
Unless I am misinformed, I was told by someone involved in credit reporting that people can refute a claim to a collection agency and demand proof of the debt owed. Same thing if somehow it was reported to the credit bureaus. Without documented proof, the credit bureaus have to take it off your credit report.
You mean to tell me on this board or in your real life you do not have a buddy who is an attorney that can send a letter on his/her letterhead telling them to show proof or leave me alone?

"You have been harassing my client with no proof etc etc" and if it continues we will be forced to etc etc" kind of nonsense?
I don't have friends that are attorneys. At least none that wouldn't want a retainer, and certainly none that would do it for free. Even if I did, it's the "we will be forced to" part that I don't have an answer to. Since I am not out any money, I'm not going to sue them . . . what would I sue them for? I suppose I could bring in a different company to do work on my heating system and pay them, and then allege that the first company actually did damage to my equipment. But as of now, I am not out any money.
 
I don't see a clear path for them to compel me to pay them anything.
Notices from a collection agency and hits to your credit report might be am avenue. Sure you could dispute it with the collections agency, but it still might be painful. And to recoup those damages, you'd have to sue them, right?
Unless I am misinformed, I was told by someone involved in credit reporting that people can refute a claim to a collection agency and demand proof of the debt owed. Same thing if somehow it was reported to the credit bureaus. Without documented proof, the credit bureaus have to take it off your credit report.
You mean to tell me on this board or in your real life you do not have a buddy who is an attorney that can send a letter on his/her letterhead telling them to show proof or leave me alone?

"You have been harassing my client with no proof etc etc" and if it continues we will be forced to etc etc" kind of nonsense?
I don't have friends that are attorneys. At least none that wouldn't want a retainer, and certainly none that would do it for free. Even if I did, it's the "we will be forced to" part that I don't have an answer to. Since I am not out any money, I'm not going to sue them . . . what would I sue them for? I suppose I could bring in a different company to do work on my heating system and pay them, and then allege that the first company actually did damage to my equipment. But as of now, I am not out any money.
You may be able to find a "boilerplate" C&D letter online in that case. Either that or just toss them in the garbage, or the next time you get one, write on it "return to sender, no such person lives at this residence" etc.
 
I don't see a clear path for them to compel me to pay them anything.
Notices from a collection agency and hits to your credit report might be am avenue. Sure you could dispute it with the collections agency, but it still might be painful. And to recoup those damages, you'd have to sue them, right?
Unless I am misinformed, I was told by someone involved in credit reporting that people can refute a claim to a collection agency and demand proof of the debt owed. Same thing if somehow it was reported to the credit bureaus. Without documented proof, the credit bureaus have to take it off your credit report.
You mean to tell me on this board or in your real life you do not have a buddy who is an attorney that can send a letter on his/her letterhead telling them to show proof or leave me alone?

"You have been harassing my client with no proof etc etc" and if it continues we will be forced to etc etc" kind of nonsense?
I don't have friends that are attorneys. At least none that wouldn't want a retainer, and certainly none that would do it for free. Even if I did, it's the "we will be forced to" part that I don't have an answer to. Since I am not out any money, I'm not going to sue them . . . what would I sue them for? I suppose I could bring in a different company to do work on my heating system and pay them, and then allege that the first company actually did damage to my equipment. But as of now, I am not out any money.
I think there's nothing for you to do at this point, it's up to them if they want to escalate the issue. They can first turn to a collection agency. You can try to settle with the collection agency for some amount if that make sense to you to just move on. Or you can ignore in which case they can opt to sue you if they think they have a case. At that point you'd want an attorney.
 

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