Consumer complaint received 2018-09-11
Company: Waypoint Resource Group, LLC
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
Hi. I'm wanting to let you know about a situation that just happened yesterday with Waypoint. Waypoint is a collection agency. They are collecting on XXXX however that company no longer exists. The company is now named XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

Today I checked my credit report and I saw Waypoint listed as 1 of only 2 collections. 1 of those collections I didn't recognize so I decided to dispute it but I did have a XXXXe account in the past so I decided I would at least call Waypoint to find out what was going on. I spoke to a woman named XXXX XXXX. She was a very nice collector. She informed me that this was for a bill for services. She informed me that according to the records on file, I last paid XX/XX/XXXX but services were cancelled on XX/XX/XXXX. She said this bill was for those charges. I know I'm not a perfect individual, but I remember cancelling services with XXXX and going in person to turn the equipment in almost immediately. I know for a fact that I asked at the moment of turning my equipment in if there were any additional fees. I was told no. As any person would do after being told they didn't have any money owed, I went about my business and moved on with my life. 

Here we are 2 years later and I check my XXXX XXXX to ensure that my credit report is accurate and I see this account on my report. I explained to XXXX that I didn't owe any money to XXXX ; and if I did, why didn't they ever bill me or call me about this debt? XXXX went on to explain that her company had sent me a bill this past XX/XX/XXXX. She said she sent it to a XXXX XXXX address. Unfortunately, I don't live at the XXXX XXXX address. I informed her of that fact and XXXX went on to explain that is why I didn't know about the bill. She said that is also why I didn't receive a bill from XXXX either. I could almost understand her logic but I had to correct her because it was based on a faulty premise. It is true that I no longer live at the XXXX XXXX address now, but I did live there for a little over a year from the date she stated I made my last payment in XX/XX/XXXX. I lived there until XX/XX/XXXX. In other words, I lived at XXXX XXXX 1 year and 1 month after I made my last payment to XXXX. That meant XXXX had ample opportunity to bill me or notify me in any way that I owed them money but they didn't. I explained that to XXXX and what I hear next is what really pushed me over the edge. 

Not only was I in collections for a bill that I never knew I owed, but XXXX went on to state that around that same time, XXXX was being bought out by XXXX XXXX/ XXXX and there was going to be delays and confusion. She said it took time for XXXX to figure out what was going on and then take over. I somewhat understood that so I offered her to pay this account off to avoid any lengthy disputes and investigations in exchange for having this account removed from my credit report due to no billing or by her own admission, billing errors. She refused. She stated that her company has to report accurately and what would be the point of the credit bureau if she removed this account. She also admitted that other companies delete accounts but her company doesn't. I then informed her that the reporting of this account is not accurate. Placing an account on my credit report as a collection is akin to letting the world know that I refused to pay a bill when that is not the case. By her own admission XXXX bought XXXX and it took them a while to dig through all the records and figure out what's going on. She also said that it seemed like XXXX threw their hands up during this time and pretty much gave up since they were being bought out. 

How am I supposed to accept this as a consumer? How am I supposed to accept this as a person? From my point of view, I'm being led to believe that because a company decided to sell itself to someone else then I am being held responsible for their lack of record keeping or improper billing. That I am going to for the next 7 years be labeled as a consumer that doesn't pay his bills to any future creditor. How is that fair? Because of that I asked to speak to a supervisor. I ended up being transferred to a XXXX XXXX. To make this complaint shorter, I went through the same conversation with her and also asked her to delete this account for the same reasons. XXXX refused because she claimed that she sent the mail trough a special means with the USPS that supposedly would have the mail reach me even if the mail was sent to a wrong address. Well it didn't. We went through a whole dance of me stating facts and her putting up abstract objections such as millions of people get their mail from the post office we don't know why you didn't or XXXX should have billed you we don't know why they didn't. In the end, she also refused to remove this account from my credit report even thought it was confirmed that XXXX was bought out by XXXX and the buyout caused record problems. It was confirmed that Waypoint sent mail to a wrong address. It was confirmed that Waypoint had never spoken to me about this debt. It was confirmed that I made initial communication upon discovering this on my credit report and I was the one who offered to pay this debt in exchange for a simple courtesy removal of this account from the credit report due to the multiple errors committed by XXXX, XXXX, and Waypoint. Even after all that she refused. To this day I have never received a bill or a phone call about this debt. And because I turned in my equipment to XXXX in person and they told me I didn't owe them any more money, I don't even know if this bill is even owed! 

I am now asking you to please look into this because I am losing my faith as a consumer. Companies are being bought out or merging constantly anymore and if these are the results I can expect anytime something like this happens, how am I supposed to maintain a good credit score or do business with these companies in good faith?

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation