how do i go about fighting this?

[DCopper04]

FWIW George gets charged $98 when he loses "Rochelle Rochelle." I think the ~$100 pricetag for lost movies is pretty standard.

[JayTee]

"they sent us some letters over that timespan but i don't go there that often and it slipped my mind for awhile."

You didn't care about their situation, why should they care about yours? Pay up.

[XXXNoahXXX]

[ QUOTE ]
Just pay it the collection guy want his money his not going to negotiate with you. If you try to stiff him his going to get a court order enter your home and take $300 worth of stuff to auction off to pay his $100 fee. At least he will if your laws are anything like the UK's.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the strangest/worst post advice ever.

When a collection agency takes it, they probably pay $5 to the video store for the rights to your debt. Which means they then basically have free reign to try and maximize that post-$5 profit.

They will never go to court for this, they might just annoy you will calls and letters that say things like "SUPER FINAL NOTICE" and "FAILURE TO PAY COULD RESULT IN INCARCERATION"

I know someone that got a thing from a collection agency demanding $250 for some unpaid $75 bill. He wrote back saying, I just got my tax refund and I can pay you the original $75 I owed, but its that or nothing.

They took it because they still make a profit on that.



The only time I had to deal with collections was for some gym membership that I signed up for one month, and filled out cancellation form, then they charged me for second month...Went to collections. The letter from the agency had a line that said "If you dispute this charge you must respond within 7 business days or else we will assume.."

So I wrote back saying why I didn't owe, and they left it alone.

[jba]

[ QUOTE ]
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Collection agencies aren't going to sue you for $100 or come take your stuff. I'd be surprised if they wouldn't accept $50 if you offered to pay it right away. The collections agency doesn't make a penny if you don't pay so there is incentive for them to deal.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can't they report you to the credit bureau for something like this?

[/ QUOTE ]

they can and will. its the only weapon they really have.

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you can make this part of the payback deal but make sure to get it in writing.

[AvivaSimplex]

Everybody's saying pay the collector $100? That's crazy. I say you can come out of this with an extra $1000.

Check out this page. It lists what debt collectors are allowed and not allowed to do. Based on your report, the collector has tried to collect more than you owe, and has been abusive to you. Based on federal law, you are entitled to $1000 for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Act.
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/eBoo...nLawsuit.shtml

Record your conversations with the collector. Get documentation from the video store that your debt was only $25. Then sue them in small claims court. Generally they don't show up, and you win by default. You may have to do a little legwork to collect on your judgment, but it shouldn't be that hard if you're patient.

Search around on the internet--there are people who make a couple grand a month by being abused by debt collectors and suing them.

[Josh.]

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Sucks that it went to a collection agency but you are actually pretty much in the wrong here dude. Even if the collection agency were dicks about it and you could have settled up for less (because the store knows they can't track down and sue everyone who doesn't pay a fine) you don't really have a case for small claims.

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i'm not claiming i'm completely innocent here, but i think charging 5x the price of a 3 year-old movie is just bad business and completely taking advantage of me. i highly doubt The Mancurian Candidate would've been rented 25 times over 3 or 4 months

[private joker]

Josh, I hope this has taught you a valuable lesson:

[LeapFrog]

[ QUOTE ]

They will never go to court for this, they might just annoy you will calls and letters that say things like "SUPER FINAL NOTICE" and "FAILURE TO PAY COULD RESULT IN INCARCERATION"


[/ QUOTE ]

They may not go to court over this but they can really screw up your credit. Same thing happened to a friend of mine (about $120 I believe) -- he refused to pay and just ignored it. Another friend pulled his credit years later and its a nice black mark.

[Josh.]

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Josh, I hope this has taught you a valuable lesson:



[/ QUOTE ]


yeah seriously

[Mike Gallo]

Mike, good looking out for Josh, he sent me a pm this afternoon.

I returned the pm, I will help Josh out.