Disputing a cell phone bill - Collection agency involved

[KostnersindaHole]

So I have been dealing with this for the past month now and it is getting super frustrating. Here is the problem:

I used to have a Sprint account and closed it a few months ago as my company is now paying for my phone and plan. I had a final balance, so I called up at the end of October and paid over the phone. I saw the charge on my credit card statement and thought everything was fine.

About 2 weeks ago, I started getting phone calls from a collection agency saying I haven't paid the balance. So I call Sprint and they are still telling me I owe them the money. I explain to them that I have the credit card statement showing the charge and a confirmation email from them showing that they received my payment, yet they are telling me that I didn't pay. Every time I ask them if I can fax over my proof, they tell me that they will open a case about it and someone will contact me regarding the issue which hasn't happened yet.

In the meantime I have been getting a call from the collection agency every day about this balance so I have to explain to them that I have already paid the bill, which is incredibly frustrating, plus it takes about 15-20 minutes out of my day at work.

Is there anything I can do to solve this problem? Every single person I call and talk to is completely incompetent. They won't give me a fax number or address to send the confirmation email/credit card statement to. They just keep telling me they'll open up a case, which seems to go nowhere. What else can I do?

[bobman0330]

google the fair debt collection practices act

[mbillie1]

you're pretty much boned, sprint is notoriously bad with this sort of thing (i'm a former employee there, trust me)

best you can do is goto a store and raise hell til you get the manager to email/call his district manager and hopefully sort it out. and that won't be fun either.

[mo42nyy]

the better business bureau always fixes and problem i have with cell phone companies

[RR]

Generally collection agencies ignore the FDCPA. Ask them not to call you anymore (record the call or put it in writing). Then when they call you again sue them in federal court for violating FDCPA.