Consumer complaint received 2017-04-05
Company: Berlin-Wheeler, Inc. (Kansas)
State: GA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)
Issue: Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was paid

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, my Internet service with XXXX XXXX was abruptly terminated without warning or notification of any kind " for something you downloaded '', according to the explanation given to me by XXXX that day. In the absence of any written warning or notification of any kind, I could only conclude that this was a continuation of the efforts by XXXX to extort me into purchasing services & products from XXXX for which I had no use. Specifically, XXXX forced me to purchase an identical replacement for the Cable Modem I had previously used with XXXX earlier in the year unnecessarily when my service was activated on XX/XX/XXXX, falsely claiming that the model I was using was not being recognized on the XXXX XXXX ( despite the claims by XXXX that it was fully compatible with the service ), only to recant the following month when I told XXXX that I was going to cancel the service if they could not activate my replacement Modem. XXXX also tacitly threatened to throttle my service during the process of activating it if I did not upgrade the speed of my Internet Connection, falsely claiming that a natural " bottleneck '' occurs after Internet service has been active for a certain period of time. 

Since it was clear that XXXX uses its services primarily to extort consumers and therefore offered me service under false pretenses, I immediately set about replacing my Internet service with XXXX and disputing the bulk of the credit card payments I had made to XXXX in an effort to recover the funds I had wasted on equipment in connection with both setting up my service with XXXX and also my efforts to replace it ( including being forced to purchase a Data Plan with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and also a DSL Modem for my new XXXX service ), totally about {$170.00}. Although the absence of any written notification regarding the termination of my service is a clear indication that there was no legitimate grounds for it and that XXXX intends to use it to extort me, XXXX has has claimed in connection with my BBB Complaint regarding the matter that my service was " suspended for abuse '' on XX/XX/XXXX and then " terminated for non-payment '' on XX/XX/XXXX because of the credit card payments I disputed. 

However, this assertion by XXXX is very much at odds with the fact that the merchant 's response to my BBB & FCC Complaints remains the only written acknowledgment I have received from XXXX regarding either a suspension or disconnection of my Internet service ( XXXX actually claimed in my BBB Complaint that my account had been sent to Collection Agency, which I have also as yet received no notification concerning ) and also with the fact that XXXX continued to assess me the normal monthly fee of {$39.00} right up until XX/XX/XXXX ( even the bill XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, the day after XXXX claims my service was " terminated for non-payment '', reflected " New Charges '' in the amount of my normal monthly service fee covering the time-frame from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX ), as I have been assessed back charges from XXXX for the time-frame wherein XXXX now acknowledges my service was either suspended or disconnected. Furthermore, XXXX continuously assessed me fraudulent returned payment fees in connection with its efforts to use the credit card that I deleted as a payment method in my online XXXX account on XX/XX/XXXX and which XXXX fraudulently retained access to in order to continue assessing me monthly fees for service which XXXX freely admits now was suspended and subsequently disconnected, despite the disputes I have filed with my card issuer against the merchant, which would cause any additional transactions from XXXX to be declined.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation