Another Slingshot customer Cancelled, Sent to the debt collectors

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xFev3r

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Wannabe Geek

Topic # 114019 5-Feb-2013 12:22
I cancelled my contract as I was shifting to a place that already had internet, rang up and asked for a final bill to be sent and cancel my account. I didn't hear anything for 4 months to find Slingshot have been still billing me monthly and have sent my account to the debt collectors. Awesome customer service! Any ideas on what I should do? Unfortunatly I have no record of when I have called them to cancel my account

johnr

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Vodafone NZ

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Reply # 756024 5-Feb-2013 12:26
If you knew you cancelled the account and were expecting a final invoice why did you not call them a few weeks later and say you want to settle the account you closed? Systems Engineer Vodafone NZ https://community.vodafone.co.nz/

xFev3r

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 756034 5-Feb-2013 12:43
I got a bill from Slingshot following that conversation which was paid straight away, after that I didn't think anything of it. I received no emails or letters telling me I owed any money or that my account was still active, when I received a text message saying "Please phone Sam ASAP on 0800 222 378. Please quote XXXX-XXXX" I immediately called it and "Sam" sounded extremely dodgy. She asked for my address and refused to tell me what it was about until I had given it. I NEVER give out my address to random people as they could be anyone so I hung up I googled "Sams" phone number to find this: http://www.phonespamfilter.co.nz/search.php/0800222378 So I dismissed it as spam according to all the other people who got the same text as me. Another serious factor is my father is a policeman and I can't give out my address, our phone number isnt even listed in the phonebook.

Slingshot

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Reply # 758712 9-Feb-2013 16:00
Hi If you could PM your account number i can have a look and see what i can do. Thanks Lewis www.slingshot.co.nz www.twitter.com/SlingshotNZ forums.slingshot.co.nz https://www.facebook.com/SlingshotNZ

mattwnz

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Reply # 758751 9-Feb-2013 18:07
Don't they have to give you a warning before a company sends you to a collection agency anyway? eg a letter or email saying you have an overdue account etc. You should make sure that this doesn't damage your credit rating, so once you have sortied it, get them to give you a print out that shows that there have been no negative effects.

xFev3r

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 758752 9-Feb-2013 18:16
mattwnz: Don't they have to give you a warning before a company sends you to a collection agency anyway? eg a letter or email saying you have an overdue account etc. You should make sure that this doesn't damage your credit rating, so once you have sortied it, get them to give you a print out that shows that there have been no negative effects. That's what I thought but I never received a single letter, email or phone call about anything overdue. The very first communication was the text. Who would I check the credit rating with? Slingshot, or the shady debt collectors? All this leaves me wondering how was my account not closed properly and why has it ended so badly for me? I sent Lewis a PM and will post an update after I hear from him

mattwnz

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Reply # 758753 9-Feb-2013 18:20
xFev3r: mattwnz: Don't they have to give you a warning before a company sends you to a collection agency anyway? eg a letter or email saying you have an overdue account etc. You should make sure that this doesn't damage your credit rating, so once you have sortied it, get them to give you a print out that shows that there have been no negative effects. That's what I thought but I never received a single letter, email or phone call about anything overdue. The very first communication was the text. Who would I check the credit rating with? Slingshot, or the shady debt collectors? All this leaves me wondering how was my account not closed properly and why has it ended so badly for me? I sent Lewis a PM and will post an update after I hear from him If I knew I had cancelled an account with an ISP and didn't have anything owing, and had had my account sent to a collection agency without any warning, I would get the ISP to sort out the credit report for you.

Regs

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Reply # 758757 9-Feb-2013 18:36
johnr: If you knew you cancelled the account and were expecting a final invoice why did you not call them a few weeks later and say you want to settle the account you closed? hardly the point... why was the account still open and accruing charges months after being cancelled? The OP took the original action, shouldn't also need to do the ISPs job for them... Surely its not that hard for a company to log and action a 'close account' request following a call? Need help implementing Microsoft CRM? Give OA Systems a shout. Winners of CRM Solution of the Year at the 2010 Microsoft NZ Partner Awards

Slingshot

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Slingshot

Reply # 758764 9-Feb-2013 19:32
Hi If an account is overdue and is in threat of being canceled or being sent to debt collectors we do send customers letters and emails advising them of the situation and to contact us. Unfortunately in this case the customer had moved address and the contact email address on the account was the email address that was to be canceled off. The text they received from "Sam" had no connection with us and just seems to be spam. I am currently working with this customer to get this all straighten out Cheers Lewis www.slingshot.co.nz www.twitter.com/SlingshotNZ forums.slingshot.co.nz https://www.facebook.com/SlingshotNZ

Stan

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Reply # 763250 15-Feb-2013 21:48
I feel your pain. I had a similar occurrence with ihug except they did email me i final bill trouble was it was not complete they screwed up so even after i paid it 2 years later i found out they had taken me to the debt collectors. Vodafone would not wipe it either, they told me ihug had sent out letters even tho i had moved instead of emailing me like they normally did. Good luck i hope slingshot is less unreasonable.

jase81

20 posts

Geek

Reply # 766351 20-Feb-2013 12:19
My mum rented some movies from VideoEzy for my brother while he was in NZ over Christmas and he returned them late. Less than 2 months later my mum got a call from a debt collector saying she owed $90. After going to the store to find out what was going on she was told the store called and left a voice message (my mum doesn't have voicemail) and they sent her a letter in the mail. When she said she didn't get the letter they asked when she changed address and why she didn't update it (my mum hasn't moved house). As it turns out her address was entered into their system incorrectly when she initially signed up. The whole debt collection process in NZ really needs some oversight. It awful to think people's credit ratings could be destroyed because of a data entry fault of a store person or a mistake in process from at a call centre. I hope you get your issue sorted.

ajobbins

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Reply # 766358 20-Feb-2013 12:24
I believe companies are required to write to you at your last known address prior to sending to debt collectors. I assume in this case the OP did not have mail from their old address forwarded to their new address? Always something I recommend for at least 3 months after moving. Twitter: ajobbins

nunz

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Reply # 766662 20-Feb-2013 19:59
Put it into dispute with the debt collectors so it cant go firther than get slingshot to talk to you. They have to talk to you and resolve this before the debt collector can take it further. Shane

Kyanar

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Reply # 766727 20-Feb-2013 21:25
ajobbins: I believe companies are required to write to you at your last known address prior to sending to debt collectors. I assume in this case the OP did not have mail from their old address forwarded to their new address? Always something I recommend for at least 3 months after moving. No, they aren't. I know of several companies that deliberately ignore accounts for up to 3 years just so that they can send it to debt collectors.

freitasm

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Reply # 766759 20-Feb-2013 22:37
nunz: Put it into dispute with the debt collectors so it cant go firther than get slingshot to talk to you. They have to talk to you and resolve this before the debt collector can take it further. Shane Please read the thread. Slingshot is already talking to the OP. Do not post advice without reading the whole topic folks. Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure, my tweets, Web Performance Optimization) Geekzone Price comparison \| Amazon Kindle order page \| How to get the best out of Geekzone \| New Zealand IT Jobs \| Geekzone News \| Jinglebugs

webwat

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Reply # 768371 24-Feb-2013 01:01
Still the debt collectors need to know that they are disputing it with Slingshot until its sorted out so that debt collection can be put on hold. Qualified in business, certified in fibre, stuck in copper, have to keep going ^_^