BMG Music Service fiasco

[Joe Schmoe]

More than 8 years ago (I think it was 10 or 11), I paid for two BMG CD purchases with one check. They only credited one invoice, and started claiming that I owed them another $20. I wrote and explained their mistake, but they continued insisting that I hadn't paid it. I never bought anything else from them, and cancelled my membership soon after.
Yesterday (remember, this is at least 8 years later), I received a threatening letter from a collection agency claiming not only that I still allegedly owed BMG money, but that the amount was now $120! I destroyed the letter, and will not be paying a penny without a court order.
Can anything be done about this BS? What would you do in the same situation?
(It is a sure thing that I will never join BMG or any other music club again, and will advise other to avoid them as well.)

 

[MDS]

I had a similar thing happen, probably around 1993.

I ordered a CD from Time-Life and they sent me a cassette instead. When I called about it I was told 'OK, sorry for the mistake, we'll send you a CD'. I was also told to just keep the cassette even though I asked about how to return it.

So I got the CD as well as calls and letters saying I owed $20 or whatever it was. They finally stopped annoying me after I wrote a letter explaining the situation.

What happens is that companies sell off old uncollectable debt to collection agencies for pennies on the dollar and the collection agencies harass the people trying to collect whatever they can. After 7 years they can't collect anything anyway but some people will just pay it and that's how the collection agency makes money.

 

[masak_aer]

More than 8 years ago (I think it was 10 or 11), I paid for two BMG CD purchases with one check. They only credited one invoice, and started claiming that I owed them another $20. I wrote and explained their mistake, but they continued insisting that I hadn't paid it. I never bought anything else from them, and cancelled my membership soon after.
Yesterday (remember, this is at least 8 years later), I received a threatening letter from a collection agency claiming not only that I still allegedly owed BMG money, but that the amount was now $120! I destroyed the letter, and will not be paying a penny without a court order.
Can anything be done about this BS? What would you do in the same situation?
(It is a sure thing that I will never join BMG or any other music club again, and will advise other to avoid them as well.)

I keep all correspondence from any dispute for several years. I even still have copies of my correspondence from paypal from 1999 (I need to throw that away though).
First of all, don't destroy any letters regarding disputes/collection effort. Save them all, either from them or from you. Call them up and explain and dispute it. There should be statute of limitations on debts. Depending on where your home state is, it might run from 3 to 15 years. Remember, if it past the statute of limitations, you may call up the collection agency that you won't be paying and shall not call you (cease and desist).

The statute of limitations starts from your last payment (not the date when the debt incurred). If you decide to pay after all, have them reduced it to the original amount (not the $120)!!

May be Annunaki can help you more with this. Sorry for it to happen to you.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Thank you. The part about not being able to collect anything after 7 years means they don't have a leg to stand on.

 

[darien87]

Thank you. The part about not being able to collect anything after 7 years means they don't have a leg to stand on.

Yeah, I had that happen to me once. I had a Discover card way back when I was in college, (about 10 years ago). I guess I still had a balance on it, $200 or so, that I had never paid and had forgotten all about. Same thing, a collection agency sends me a letter out of the blue trying to collect the money. I called them up and told them how old the debt was, and the guy just said, "OK, sorry to bother you." I haven't heard from them since.

 

[j_garcia]

I had a similar thing with Columbia House...who now owns BMG or vice-versa. I also had this happen with Sears. When I was young, Sears was the first credit I got and rarely used just to establish credit. I paid it off and closed the account and 5 years later I saw something show up on my credit report as a big negative because they said I owed them money! I called the credit bureau and they said I would have to take it up with Sears. I called them and asked how I could have a past due account when I didn't have an account with them?? DUH. It took weeks and many phone calls to get them to correct it and then more calls to get it removed from my credit, all due to a clerical error on their part...