Okay so I mentioned our $200 bill for Verizon that's like over 2 years old. It's over disputed charges, but it's a negative mark on our credit report and we've come to the point where we're just going to pay it off to get our credit better. I called the number from the only collections statement I have, and they referred me to another number, saying the bill had been sent back to Verizon. So I called the Verizon number only to hit a wall without an account number. I emailed Verizon about it, and they gave me a number for a collections agency that it has been forwarded to, so I call that number. I've called it like literally 20 times already. Of those, 17 times it doesn't go through ...I get the message "dooo doo dooooo Your call did not go through. Please try your call again. 076P" The times I dont get that message, I get a busy signal. That's the only number I have to settle this debt. It's obviously still being pursued, as Verizon sent me their number as the collection agency that is dealing with the account. But nothing happens. Verizon won't deal with the issue, saying it isn't in their jurisdiction any longer, as it's a closed account and over 2 years old. So what on EARTH do I do??

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We had a similar situation several years ago and we could not get it resolved. It wasn't with Verizon but another company that kept giving us the runaround and when we contacted the collections agency they referred us to, they were not very helpful either. So, to make a long story short, we turned the collection agency and the company into the better business bureau online and within 24 hours we were able to get it resolved and had to pay way less than if we had just paid the bill directly. And, it didn't make our credit look bad. I would recommend trying something like this. HTH

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Thanks I think this may be the route we need to go. I'll talk to DH about it tonight after he gets home from work.

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I would send a letter to the collection agency FIRST requesting that they validate the debt. Legally if they can not provide validation they have to remove it from your report. You would be surprised how many records get destroyed when an account is closed. The validation must come from the original debtor and it sounds like they have sold the account and possibly no long have the records indicating you owe the amount.

Well we have no address for the collection agency. All I have is a phone number and a name that Verizon emailed to me.

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