Expert: Creditwrench - 6/2/2008

Question
Hi,

We purchased a mattress from Mattress Giant in the summer of '05. We financed the mattress through Well Fargo.

Three months later, when we hadn't received a bill from Wells Fargo, we called them to verify the account. They told us that the account was paid-off and closed.

We called them three months later to verify again - thinking that maybe a computer glitch had occured. Again, Wells Fargo said that our account had been paid and closed.

We repeated the verification call again three months later, and we received the same answer: The account has been paid and closed.

In January 2008, nearly three years later, we received a letter from a collection agency contacting us on behalf of Mattress Giant. Mattress Giant said it wasn't paid, and that we owe them the full balance of the bill + the collection agency fee.

We called the collection agency. They said that, due to a computer glitch, Mattress Giant accidently paid off our account. Now they want their money.

We have documentation from Mattress Giant which states that we financed the mattress through Wells Fargo. We have documentation from Wells Fargo stating that our account was closed in good standing.

The collection agency offered to reduce our bill from $1100 to $1000 and honor our original agreement, but I have to pay the collection agency, not Mattress Giant.

Do we have to pay this? I mean, we've since made lifestyle changes to accomodate our lower incomes. We can't afford this right now.

Answer
It isn't important to the debt collector what you can or cannot pay and moreover it also probably isn't important to them whether you owe the debt or not. The matress company claims you didn't pay for the mattress and thatps the end of it as far as they are concerned. The first thing to do is to send them a demand for validation and dispute of the debt.

Don't tell them a thing, just say you dispute the debt and demand validation and send it certified mail return receipt requested and see how they answer that.

Bill Bauer
405-684-9297
405-227-9423

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If you live within driving distance of Oklahoma City you can also come to our monthly meeting of the Oklahoma City Chapter of Jurisdictionary meetings. They are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month at Coit's Root Beer Stand which is located on the corner of SW 24th & Western Ave in Oklahoma City. The meetings start promptly at 7:00 P.M. and last for 2 hours. Attendees usually arrive about half an hour early so they can enjoy a good meal at Coit's Root Beer Stand. The meetings are free and open to the public and we can discuss your problems as well if you like.

We are going to start holding mock trials so that you can learn some court room procedures.