|
I'm sure we've all been there, at some point. Private utility company's lovely customer service practices and inability to rectify the situation. I wanted cheap internet and semi-expensive TV channel lineup. I got expensive internet and the low-budget TV lineup. One of the support reps assured me they wouldn't charge me for the month. My bill was supposed to be reset to $0 balance and my TV/internet was supposed to be replaced with the proper packages. Never happened. Not to mention modem lease fees for an owned modem where they insist it belongs to them and a whole bunch of E/N bullshit issues which aren't important. Basically I wound up spending a combined total of 10 hours on the phone with support across multiple months and in the end. gently caress Comcast. I just wanna know how this will effect my credit. I'm an idiot who doesn't know a whole lot about how credit scoring works. I have a Visa credit card, which I use quite frequently and pay off at the end of the month. I've never gone over my spending limit, nor have I ever not paid off the balance before the billing cycle ended. I've been late on paying the electric bill here and there, but have no outstanding balances with any company. I'd assume I have pretty good credit, so far. Basically... -I didn't sign anything. A contract was supposed to arrive in the mail. I never got it and even if I did, I wouldn't have signed it until I was positive I was getting the service I had requested. -I didn't give them a dime. -I owe about $300 which is a complete crock of poo poo. -I'm gonna toss their modem and cable box in the trash. They haven't lifted a finger for me, so why should I return their equipment? -I DID confirm my identity by giving them my SSN. Not sure how this factors in, just thought I'd give as much info, as possible. But really, I'm simply unsure how credit works. If my credit score takes a hit from Comcast, can I just keep on spending with my credit card and paying off the balance to sorta "fight" the bad points from Comcast? Will Comcast even be able to do anything aside from refuse to do business with me in the future? liquorlanche fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Dec 2, 2014 |
#
¿
Dec 2, 2014 18:15
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 16:49 |
|
|
How does it work where you go to buy a house or car in 7 years and one tiny black mark on a golden record would literally botch the deal? What would be a practical example of how this would affect a house mortgage or car lease? Can I not keep raising my credit score, despite my outstanding Comcast balance going to collections? My logic is if I keep spending/paying off my credit card balance, my credit score will keep going up and up. Isn't there some point in which it's like "Ok, his credit score is sky high. Honestly, are we really gonna give a poo poo about that $500 it says he owes Comcast from 15 years ago?" When you say "An account sent to collections is kind of a bad thing for the sake of future credit card applications/job applications" what do you mean, by this? The closest comparison I can think of is a straight A student getting rejected from a college because of a B- in 4th grade gym class. In all practicality, wouldn't this be extremely unlikely? I'm willing to gamble on "extremely unlikely" but I'll probably try and settle up if the chances are "more likely than I'd assume." liquorlanche fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Dec 2, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2014 19:44
|
|
|
asur posted:An account in collections isn't a B-, it's an F and has a large impact on your credit score as it basically is a giant flag saying that you don't pay your debts. It may not kill getting a loan, but it will almost certainly effect the interest rate you get which can be pretty expensive. Also credit scores don't work how you think they do. So it's really more of a "history" as opposed to score?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2014 19:58
|
|
|
/\ That's probably what I'll wind up doing. At this point, I'm just asking questions, because I'm genuinely curious. I'm just trying to understand how one's credit score can go up and down. A deliquent account would bring a score down, but at the rate I spend/repay my credit card balance, wouldn't that bring my score back up, over time? Or would the numbers gently caress me over in the end in a sense of "Deliquent account = -1000 points | Paid his balance off before the end of the biling cycle, this month = +1 point." Where I wouldn't realistically be able to compensate for the delinquent account. Lets say I do wanna take the risk that this will pull my score down enough to harm something in the near future as long as I can repair the damage, over time, without paying Comcast back. Would this actually be doable or would the delinquent account forever be a black mark on my credit report? My question is, if I continue to spend responsibly, will the damage repair itself over time, or will this drag me completely down, until I pay off the delinquent account? liquorlanche fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Dec 2, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2014 20:10
|
|
|
Thanks for those articles!beejay posted:Here's something interesting as well:https://www.creditkarma.com/article/accounts-in-collections debts in collections article posted:As with other types of credit report errors, you may file a dispute with the credit bureau if you believe the collections account reported is false or outdated. For example, if it is not your debt or if it has been seven years from the original delinquency of the debt, you could request to have the collections information removed from your report. Funny because seven years was the exact sort of time frame I had in mind. Does anyone have any experience with filing disputes with the credit bureau? Right now, the balance I owe is completely false with no way for me or Comcast to prove it. I figure in 7 years, I could make the argument that it's both false and outdated. Questions... -How would a dispute work wherein neither party has concrete proof that the given amount is owed? Would they look at past transactions with that company? I had Comcast internet last year and paid every bill the day they came. It's as though I was a model customer and then things completely went to poo poo when I decided I'd subscribe to a TV package. -How much of a pain in the rear end is it to file a dispute? I'd assume it would be more annoying/time consuming than just fighting with the company, but who knows, it could be easier. Figured I'd at least ask. What's the typical steps one needs to take to do this? -Do they tend to favor the business's side of most dispute cases? liquorlanche fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Dec 2, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2014 20:28
|
|
|
I'm gonna wind up calling when I have the energy to negotiate and settle but at this point, I'm just curious as to how all this stuff works.Knyteguy posted:just because it falls off your credit report in 7 years doesn't mean the debt goes away. What makes you say this? What do you mean the debt doesn't go away? If nobody aside from me and the company I owe knows it exists, is it really there? (If a tree falls in the forest.) So what? I'm still in debt on a moral level? It all just sounds like if I didn't bother, my debt with Comcast would be a drop in the bucket, 10 years down the road, provided I don't gently caress up by spending more than I make. Or does that drop in the bucket create more of a ripple effect than I assume? If so, how so?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2014 20:43
|
|
|
Knyteguy posted:Well for example: here in my city our cable company Charter Communications has a deal with Dish Network that if a previous customer owes either company money, neither company will provide service. So basically highly unlikely, but I really don't wanna risk being the rear end in a top hat it happens to. Thanks for the info everyone! I now realize that credit reports and scoring is far more obscure than I could have ever imagined. Rules say I'm not allowed to close the thread, but I'm pretty much all set.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2014 20:57
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 16:49 |
|
|
I've made two calls since starting this thread. First call, the guy agreed to credit my account $100 which never happened. Second call, the lady agreed to credit my account $150 which DID happen. Her exact words were "I'm going to credit you with $100 today because that's my daily limit. Tomorrow I'll credit you another $50." Which brings me to the assumption that each account exec has a certain amount of money they're allowed to credit accounts with, on a daily basis. I'm also relatively sure there's huge incentives associated with customer retention. I'm getting the idea that it's totally "worth it" for an account exec to blow their entire daily credit allotment, in order to be able to put down that they retained a customer. Can anyone confirm/deny this?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 12, 2014 15:07
|
|