Sprint PCS collections procedures (and more)

Well this could be a long story, but I'll make it short as possible (it'll
still be long though).

5 years ago I had a Sprint PCS cell phone when I lived in Corpus Christi,
TX. I was actually working for RadioShack at the time (selling Sprint,
ironically), so I was on an employee plan. In 1999 I left the country to
go to school in Canada, where I lived for 4.5 years. Anyhow, the policy at
the time was that my Sprint representative through RadioShack had to close
my account for me, but she never did, and I never had any idea that I had
an open account with Sprint for many months after I left the country.

Anyhow, 3 months ago I checked my credit report, and Experian and
Transunion both showed a $121 bill to Sprint PCS from 5 years ago.
Fortunately for me, I was back at RadioShack and I contacted my local
Sprint representative and she had the account cleared of all charges.

However, that was almost 7 weeks ago, and the debt is still on my
tri-bureau credit report. When I call Sprint, the Collections Department
refuses to talk to me since technically I no longer owe Sprint, and they
tell me I need to contact the collections agency that Sprint transferred
the bill to once it became "seriously delinquent". Trouble is, they have
no idea what collections agency it went to, and no where on my credit
report does it tell me.

Now this gets even trickier. Next month I am buying a car, and this
delinquent account is really hurting my credit score. Even worse, my new
job requires government security clearance, which also looks heavily at
your credit record to determine if you're fit for clearance or not.

So I really feel like I'm stuck. My Sprint account is cleared, but the
collections agency doesn't know it, and there's no way I can figure to let
them know. And until the collections agency reports to the credit bureaus
that the account is cleared, I might not be able to get a car (for a
decent interest rate), and I might end up getting declined or seriously
delayed for the security clearance.

I'm really hoping someone here has some experience with this and can tell
me what to do. I am completely out of ideas. I don't even know how to
submit a credit dispute since I don't have any idea what my account # is,
and apparently Sprint doesn't know either (how is that possible?!)

Many thanks,
Adam
Boston, MA

---

› See More: Sprint PCS collections procedures (and more)

In article <[email protected]>,=20
[email protected] says...
>=20
> So I really feel like I'm stuck. My Sprint account is cleared, but the
> collections agency doesn't know it, and there's no way I can figure to le=
t
> them know. And until the collections agency reports to the credit bureaus
> that the account is cleared, I might not be able to get a car (for a
> decent interest rate), and I might end up getting declined or seriously
> delayed for the security clearance.
>=20

Can't you simply contest it with the credit bureau? I believe that=20
forces the creditor to respond in 30 days or the entry gets removed.

Ask one of the bureaus about this process. Or there are many sources=20
on something like this.

--=20
R=D8=DF
O/Siris
I work for Sprint PCS
I *don't* speak for them

Adam wrote:


> So I really feel like I'm stuck. My Sprint account is cleared, but the
> collections agency doesn't know it, and there's no way I can figure to let
> them know.

You can contest any negatives on your credit report. The credit agency
is required to contact the company that gave you the negative and they
must respond back within a certain time frame wether the debt is still
valid. If the person who claims you owe money does not respond back
within a certain time frame, the debt is cleared from your record with
that one credit agency (Experian and Trans in your case, there are more)

There are two ways a company collects debt, pay someone to get the money
for them acting as a middle man or wipe your debt out from their records
and "sell" the debt to a collection agency for a percentage of what you
actually owe and let that company haggle with you for whatever they can
get, the more they get the better for them. Almost all companies do the
later of the two, medical bills and government debts are usually handled
by the first method.
I do not how Sprint handles collections but I'd assume the "sell"
method, meaning, you no longer owe Sprint money and they will no longer
try to collect it or deal with you on the issue.
The collection agency will start to send out requests for the money.
Within a short time frame you can contest the debt with the collection
agency and they will contact the original company and verify it is still
a debt owed. If they do not hear from you within a certain time (or you
blow them off also), they assume the debt is valid and will do anything
they can to get their money, including filing a negative credit report.
What I am really saying is your negative marks in your credit report
may not be directly from Sprint, they may be from a collection agency.
Sprint wants nothing to do with you as they have written off your debt
and it is no longer Sprints debt to collect as they can not collect
money from you when they sold your debt to someone else to collect. So,
back to first paragraph, if you do not know the collection agency that
reported the debt, you must contest it with the credit repoting agencies
to get the issue resolved. Keep in mind, Sprint zeroing out the issue
does not automatically mean the collection agency does not still think
you owe them money like it appears you have found out. The right time
to contest the debt is when you first get a letter from the collection
agency, of course, you were out of the country and was not able too.
I can tell you the collection agency is not going to be easy to deal
with after not getting any money from you after they spent money buying
your debt and spent money trying to collect it and reporting it.

Hopefully contesting it with the credit agencies will work but maybe
not. Sorry I can not offer more, at least I was able to explain what
probably is happening

While I understand your frustration part of the issue is with the fair
credit reporting act.

Anybody can bulls-eye your report from the creditor side but the proper way
to do things is to contact the Credit Reporting Agency reporting the
delinquency. Once you contact the Credit reporting agency they contact the
creditor. The creditor at that point has 30 days to get back to the agency
with any information that may be pertinent to the situation. If they don't
respond the line on your bureau goes away. If they do respond they can
either confirm or deny. If they confirm your info then all is good. if
they deny it becomes a back and forth.

"Adam" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> Well this could be a long story, but I'll make it short as possible (it'll
> still be long though).
>
> 5 years ago I had a Sprint PCS cell phone when I lived in Corpus Christi,
> TX. I was actually working for RadioShack at the time (selling Sprint,
> ironically), so I was on an employee plan. In 1999 I left the country to
> go to school in Canada, where I lived for 4.5 years. Anyhow, the policy at
> the time was that my Sprint representative through RadioShack had to close
> my account for me, but she never did, and I never had any idea that I had
> an open account with Sprint for many months after I left the country.
>
> Anyhow, 3 months ago I checked my credit report, and Experian and
> Transunion both showed a $121 bill to Sprint PCS from 5 years ago.
> Fortunately for me, I was back at RadioShack and I contacted my local
> Sprint representative and she had the account cleared of all charges.
>
> However, that was almost 7 weeks ago, and the debt is still on my
> tri-bureau credit report. When I call Sprint, the Collections Department
> refuses to talk to me since technically I no longer owe Sprint, and they
> tell me I need to contact the collections agency that Sprint transferred
> the bill to once it became "seriously delinquent". Trouble is, they have
> no idea what collections agency it went to, and no where on my credit
> report does it tell me.
>
> Now this gets even trickier. Next month I am buying a car, and this
> delinquent account is really hurting my credit score. Even worse, my new
> job requires government security clearance, which also looks heavily at
> your credit record to determine if you're fit for clearance or not.
>
> So I really feel like I'm stuck. My Sprint account is cleared, but the
> collections agency doesn't know it, and there's no way I can figure to let
> them know. And until the collections agency reports to the credit bureaus
> that the account is cleared, I might not be able to get a car (for a
> decent interest rate), and I might end up getting declined or seriously
> delayed for the security clearance.
>
> I'm really hoping someone here has some experience with this and can tell
> me what to do. I am completely out of ideas. I don't even know how to
> submit a credit dispute since I don't have any idea what my account # is,
> and apparently Sprint doesn't know either (how is that possible?!)
>
> Many thanks,
> Adam
> Boston, MA

norelpref wrote:

Sorry to reply to my own post but forgot some things (getting off topic
here)..

$122 is not that bad and depending on your other credit marks, will
probably not effect your car purchase. If you are not having success
getting this removed and if it will impact your car purchase, you would
proably save money in the long run just paying the thing to the
collection agency, it sucks, you can argue the principles, and stand
your ground but if you get a lower interest rate with that cleared, it
will be worth it and any credit you need later on will also be easier.
Apply for your auto loan from the place of your choice (bank/credit
union etc) and see what you get. Ask them point blank if you pay off
that debt, would your interest rate or amount you qualify for change?
If you are planning on getting finacing from a dealer, I would not trust
you would get a straight answer as they just want you to buy the car
right then and there and do not want to hope you will come back later
when the debt is cleared. Their "deals" always seem to be for today
only

I have my own long story with a small medical facility while on leave in
the military that was supposed to be covered under my military
insurance, the doctor dropped the ball, let his eligibility with the
military insurance system lapse and they did not pay him. He sent me
the bill but I moved several times around the country and knew nothing
of any of this until I applied for a mortgage. I ended up paying the
collection agency the $250 bucks and got it cleared.

On Thu, 20 May 2004 00:45:59 -0400, norelpref wrote:

> If you are not having success
> getting this removed and if it will impact your car purchase, you would
> proably save money in the long run just paying the thing to the
> collection agency

I think you missed an important part of my lament; I have no clue who the
collection agency is, and Sprint PCS claims they don't know either. How
can I pay (or even contact) an agency that I have no information about?

-Adam

In article <[email protected]>,
Adam <[email protected]> wrote:

> > If you are not having success
> > getting this removed and if it will impact your car purchase, you would
> > proably save money in the long run just paying the thing to the
> > collection agency
>
> I think you missed an important part of my lament; I have no clue who the
> collection agency is, and Sprint PCS claims they don't know either. How
> can I pay (or even contact) an agency that I have no information about?

The system is that you simply tell the credit bureau that you have no
information on this debt (which you really don't; if you owe it, you
don't know whom to pay) and ask the credit bureau to investigate this
debt.

DON'T get into hoary details. DON'T explain in great depth about Radio
Shack, your adventures in Canada, your poor memory, etc, etc. That's
not relevant to the situation at hand. Fact: you don't have any
information on this debt. Fact: you'd like the credit bureau to
investigate this entry on your credit report. Those are the ONLY two
facts you need to ***** out in your letter to the credit bureau.

The credit bureau, by law, must investigate. Either they can verify the
debt with the current debt holder, or they can't. If they can verify
it, you'll have the information necessary to pay the debt. If they
can't verify the debt, they're obligated BY LAW to remove the entry.

It really is that simple. Whatever you do, don't make it out to be more
than what it is. Don't let any guilt or sense of responsibility make
you go into detail with the credit bureau about how you really want to
pay this off, you need to get this handled, the people at Radio Shack
were really nice to work with and got you this great deal and you used
your phone forever and never had a delinquent payment and you don't know
how it could be that they never turned your phone service off because
after all you went to Canada to study entomology because bugs have been
your passion and Canada is the only place you can do this and did you
know they have great beer in Canada and....you get the picture.

Short, sweet, and to the point. There's a mechanism for handling this.
Use the mechanism. Don't go around it. Work with it.

Adam <[email protected]> wrote:

> However, that was almost 7 weeks ago, and the debt is still on my
> tri-bureau credit report. When I call Sprint, the Collections Department
> refuses to talk to me since technically I no longer owe Sprint, and they
> tell me I need to contact the collections agency that Sprint transferred
> the bill to once it became "seriously delinquent". Trouble is, they have
> no idea what collections agency it went to, and no where on my credit
> report does it tell me.

You could dispute it with the credit bureau. I've also talked to some
people at a law firm that you pay a small monthly retainer to and they fight
with the bureaus to remove incorrect information. They sound like they're
for real and I plan on having them clear up a couple things that banks have
reported properly, but the bureaus haven't fixed; but I haven't retained them
yet, so I can't speak about their performance from a client's perspective...
regardless, their web site can be found at http://www.lexingtonlaw.com/ and
you may want to contact them. Credit bureau disputes take at least 30 days
anyhow. If you use Lexington, PLEASE let me know via email how it works out
for you.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / [email protected]
Domain Names, $9.95/yr, 24x7 service: http://DomainNames.JustThe.net/
"someone once called me a sofa, but i didn't feel compelled to rush out and buy
slip covers." -adam brower * Hiroshima '45, Chernobyl '86, Windows 98/2000/2003

On Thu, 20 May 2004 01:23:57 -0400, Adam <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
>I think you missed an important part of my lament; I have no clue who the
>collection agency is, and Sprint PCS claims they don't know either. How
>can I pay (or even contact) an agency that I have no information about?

That is to your advantage.
You write a letter to each credit bureau. You say that charge in not
true, you do not an never did owe that money. You send the certified
with return receipt. In exactly 30 days you write another letter to
each of them, stating "according to the fair credit billing act
regulations you must remove that item". If the collection agency
actually doesn't know about it, zappo, it's gone.

Note that if the collection agency does not respond in 30 days, it has
to be removed. If the collection agency responds, but not for 31
days, it has to be removed. If they respond you can direct them to
contact Sprint, who will clear that charge with them, and it has to be
removed.

Make the law work for you.

"I have no clue who the collection agency is."
The credit bureau report will name any creditor reporting. That includes
any collection agency. The credit bureau report may show both Sprint AND
the collection agency for the same debt.
Write a letter disputing the debt, as others have said. Be certain to name
the reporting creditor(s).
You must file a letter of dispute with each credit bureau reporting the
debt. Filing a dispute with one, will only resolve the issue with that
bureau.

Jack
"Adam" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> On Thu, 20 May 2004 00:45:59 -0400, norelpref wrote:
>
> > If you are not having success
> > getting this removed and if it will impact your car purchase, you would
> > proably save money in the long run just paying the thing to the
> > collection agency
>
> I think you missed an important part of my lament; I have no clue who the
> collection agency is, and Sprint PCS claims they don't know either. How
> can I pay (or even contact) an agency that I have no information about?
>
> -Adam

Yes and if the collection agency reports in 8 weeks or whenever it
goes back on. but yes if after 30 days it must be removed but it is
not permanent

BTW the credit report has the name and contact info of who ever
reported it delinquent. If it says Sprint and gives their address it
was Sprint

"[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On Thu, 20 May 2004 01:23:57 -0400, Adam <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> >
> >I think you missed an important part of my lament; I have no clue who the
> >collection agency is, and Sprint PCS claims they don't know either. How
> >can I pay (or even contact) an agency that I have no information about?
>
> That is to your advantage.
> You write a letter to each credit bureau. You say that charge in not
> true, you do not an never did owe that money. You send the certified
> with return receipt. In exactly 30 days you write another letter to
> each of them, stating "according to the fair credit billing act
> regulations you must remove that item". If the collection agency
> actually doesn't know about it, zappo, it's gone.
>
> Note that if the collection agency does not respond in 30 days, it has
> to be removed. If the collection agency responds, but not for 31
> days, it has to be removed. If they respond you can direct them to
> contact Sprint, who will clear that charge with them, and it has to be
> removed.
>
> Make the law work for you.

I had the same thing happen to me with a medical claim once that was
an error. The hospital handled it ALL, including contacting THEIR
collection agency (they hired them after all) to fix the problem.

Sprint passing this off on you is just poor.

Here is what I would do, after trying to get in touch with Executive
Services. I would apply for a small loan at a bank. Assuming your
collection account would keep you from getting the loan, you've now
been damaged by Sprint's error and I would file a lawsuit in small
claims court for that damage.

On Wed, 19 May 2004 21:06:50 -0400, Adam <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Well this could be a long story, but I'll make it short as possible (it'll
>still be long though).
>
>5 years ago I had a Sprint PCS cell phone when I lived in Corpus Christi,
>TX. I was actually working for RadioShack at the time (selling Sprint,
>ironically), so I was on an employee plan. In 1999 I left the country to
>go to school in Canada, where I lived for 4.5 years. Anyhow, the policy at
>the time was that my Sprint representative through RadioShack had to close
>my account for me, but she never did, and I never had any idea that I had
>an open account with Sprint for many months after I left the country.
>
>Anyhow, 3 months ago I checked my credit report, and Experian and
>Transunion both showed a $121 bill to Sprint PCS from 5 years ago.
>Fortunately for me, I was back at RadioShack and I contacted my local
>Sprint representative and she had the account cleared of all charges.
>
>However, that was almost 7 weeks ago, and the debt is still on my
>tri-bureau credit report. When I call Sprint, the Collections Department
>refuses to talk to me since technically I no longer owe Sprint, and they
>tell me I need to contact the collections agency that Sprint transferred
>the bill to once it became "seriously delinquent". Trouble is, they have
>no idea what collections agency it went to, and no where on my credit
>report does it tell me.
>
>Now this gets even trickier. Next month I am buying a car, and this
>delinquent account is really hurting my credit score. Even worse, my new
>job requires government security clearance, which also looks heavily at
>your credit record to determine if you're fit for clearance or not.
>
>So I really feel like I'm stuck. My Sprint account is cleared, but the
>collections agency doesn't know it, and there's no way I can figure to let
>them know. And until the collections agency reports to the credit bureaus
>that the account is cleared, I might not be able to get a car (for a
>decent interest rate), and I might end up getting declined or seriously
>delayed for the security clearance.
>
>I'm really hoping someone here has some experience with this and can tell
>me what to do. I am completely out of ideas. I don't even know how to
>submit a credit dispute since I don't have any idea what my account # is,
>and apparently Sprint doesn't know either (how is that possible?!)
>
>Many thanks,
>Adam
>Boston, MA

Can't Sprint simply call the collection agency THEY hired?

On Thu, 20 May 2004 01:30:31 GMT, O/Siris <0siris@sprîntpcs.com>
wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
>[email protected] says...
>>
>> So I really feel like I'm stuck. My Sprint account is cleared, but the
>> collections agency doesn't know it, and there's no way I can figure to let
>> them know. And until the collections agency reports to the credit bureaus
>> that the account is cleared, I might not be able to get a car (for a
>> decent interest rate), and I might end up getting declined or seriously
>> delayed for the security clearance.
>>
>
>Can't you simply contest it with the credit bureau? I believe that
>forces the creditor to respond in 30 days or the entry gets removed.
>
>Ask one of the bureaus about this process. Or there are many sources
>on something like this.

With the new credit scoring methods, ANY collection is bad, the amount
is a minor detail unfortunately.

On Wed, 19 May 2004 23:45:59 -0400, norelpref <[email protected]>
wrote:

>norelpref wrote:
>
>Sorry to reply to my own post but forgot some things (getting off topic
>here)..
>
>$122 is not that bad and depending on your other credit marks, will
>probably not effect your car purchase. If you are not having success
>getting this removed and if it will impact your car purchase, you would
>proably save money in the long run just paying the thing to the
>collection agency, it sucks, you can argue the principles, and stand
>your ground but if you get a lower interest rate with that cleared, it
>will be worth it and any credit you need later on will also be easier.
> Apply for your auto loan from the place of your choice (bank/credit
>union etc) and see what you get. Ask them point blank if you pay off
>that debt, would your interest rate or amount you qualify for change?
>If you are planning on getting finacing from a dealer, I would not trust
>you would get a straight answer as they just want you to buy the car
>right then and there and do not want to hope you will come back later
>when the debt is cleared. Their "deals" always seem to be for today
>only
>
>I have my own long story with a small medical facility while on leave in
>the military that was supposed to be covered under my military
>insurance, the doctor dropped the ball, let his eligibility with the
>military insurance system lapse and they did not pay him. He sent me
>the bill but I moved several times around the country and knew nothing
>of any of this until I applied for a mortgage. I ended up paying the
>collection agency the $250 bucks and got it cleared.

what you could do is call back into sprint collections at 1-800-808-1336

tell them to send a letter that states u have a zero balance to the collection agency.


90% chance the collection agency is on file.

depending on how long your account has been with the collection agency.


let me know how you make out.