You are here:

Business Debt/recurring notice of fee and late fee in dispute

Advertisement

Expert: - 11/6/2010


Question
After several months of no service, no repair, and no follow through to calls,
we cancelled our contract with a home alarm system.  the only response has
been a bill for service after the cancellation.  We have informed them we will
not pay for service we did not receive or service after the cancellation.  they
continue to send this bill and mounting late fees.  What is the best and most
reasonable recourse to prevent the continued harassment?

Answer
Pam:
Thank you for your inquiry. You did not state if you had signed a term contract with the service provider that entitles them to the entire amount of the contract in the event of early cancellation. Some vendors have the specific language imbedded in the sales agreement. Either way you did not receive services, therefore you should dispute the billing with their collections department in writing backing up the amount paid thus far for services rendered and allow them to make a "remedy" by refund or continuation of services at no additional charge. As well you can report them to the Better Business Bureau to complain. Lastly, you can offer a settlement of a discounted amount, but get them to agree to it in writing before issuing payment. By the way, sending unwanted bills does not really constitute harassment - but you may want to check what is under the Fair Debt Collections Practices act. I hope you found this helpful and if so, please take a moment to provide a positive rating so others may benefit as well.

Respectfully,
Christine Janklow

Business Debt

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Christine Janklow

Expertise

As President of SettleSource,Inc. a business debt settlement firm, I invite you to inquire about all aspects of business debt solutions to best determine which may be most appropriate. If you have questions such as: What is debt settlement and how process provide debt relief to my business? What options are available to deal with my business debts? Is it possible for a business owner to negotiate their own settlements? Why is debt settlement preferable to filing a bankruptcy or debt consolidation? Why are creditors willing to provide settlements to a business? How will settling debts affect credit scores? or How to rebuild a business after debt is eliminated. Please ask it now! For more information regarding how debt settlement can help your business, please visit www.SettleSource.com and place your inquiry. Mention All Experts to have a confidential no cost consultation with Christine. If this is your business situation time may play a very important factor in getting matters resolved proactively before they have negative affects on the business.

Experience

My expertise is specific to providing business solutions that will have profound positive impacts on the financial health of businesses. I have 25 years experience as an entrepreneur and have developed national sales programs; strategic alliances; product development; marketing programs; business and turnaround plans and debt settlement programs all providing methods to improve the financial outlook for large and small businesses. In the area of commercial debt settlement I have over 10 years experience working with large and medium corporations and closely held businesses to enable successful debt reduction and turnaround. I am a professional debt arbitrator and have negotiated with major banking institutions as well as vendors, suppliers and other trade creditors.

Organizations
Provisors;Turnaround Management Association; Los Angeles area

Publications
Accounting Today; Web CPA; National Restauarant Association;Los Angeles Daily News; Today Magazine Monthly series of business articles entitled "Brand News."

Education/Credentials
Bachelor of Business Administration; Associate of Arts Merchandising

Past/Present Clients
American Airlines, American Express, Safeway Inc., New York Life, consumer products manufacturers; retailers, food service industry and other small businesses and service providers.

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.