Consumer complaint received 2018-01-14
Company: ERC
State: UT
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I had a receiver stop working and when I called to try and have the problem fixed I was told that I would have to either pay to have a technician come out or agree to a new two-year contract to get new equipment. Having been a loyal customer for five years I did not like the two options that were given to me and decided to cancel my service as I was knew I was not bound to any contract at that point. I was then sent a box to return two receivers. I actually had three receivers at the time and decided to return all three. After this, I told my wife to shop around for a new TV service and she did and ended up signing up for XXXX again. 

A few weeks later I received a bill in the mail saying that I did not return my receivers so I gave you guys a call to clear up the matter. I spoke with an extremely nice man from Arizona that said that the bill had been sent out before the receivers had been received and that it would be resolved no problem. At this time he noticed that my account had been deactivated and that another one had been opened in my wifes name. He said that since I had been such a good customer that he would be able to merge our accounts together in order to get us some really good deals so I agreed. He got most everything set up and then said he had to transfer me to what I believe was an account specialist and this is when everything turned south and where I believe this whole problem is stemming from. I was then transferred to and incredibly rude young man that said merging accounts was not possible. So I told him thats what I was just told by the previous employee and he refused to look into it. Because of this I told him to cancel everything the previous employee set up if he wasnt going to do what I was quoted. After this I was under the belief that things were just going to be like what my wife set up. 

About a month after this ordeal I received another bill. I called again and eventually talked to a very helpful woman and she supposedly got to the bottom of it when I explained the whole situation. She also told me that merging accounts was in fact possible and that the rude young man I spoke to was in the wrong. I spent over an hour on the phone and she told me that she had it all figured out and that I would be receiving another bill but to just disregard it. Once again I figured this matter would be taken care of. 

About another month later I received another bill. Once again I had to waist a considerable amount of time explaining the exact same situation to multiple people. Once again I was told that this matter would be resolved but I was reluctant to believe it so I asked for a phone number that I could call if not and so she gave me the number XXXX and a pin of XXXX. 

I just received a letter from collections in the amount for the bill I have been receiving ( {$150.00} ). I called today to figure out what was going on and tried using the phone and pin number I was given but it did not work and I was told that the bill was for an early termination fee and that the only way to deal with the matter was to send a hand written letter to the XXXX disputes address. I dont know how could possibly receive a bill for early termination when I was with the company for 5 years and no longer under contract and now that my wife is signed up and still paying her bill. The phone number that was on this account ( XXXX ) that was supposedly terminated early wasnt even correct so I dont know how it got created in the first place. I then gave the correct phone number and I was told that I would receive a call back from a supervisor, which not surprisingly did not happen. 

I sent the letter as well as filed the complaint. The dispute went through for the collection company but it did not for XXXX. Now ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I just received another collection notice for the same amount from ERC. I was never contacted from XXXX about the letter I had to write so I assumed the debt had been cleared. I will be disputing this again as I do not know how I could get an early termination fee when I was with the company for 5 years and was no longer under contract. After being assured by managers of the company that this would not be an issue I would really like an explanation and proof of why I am being charged this debt.

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