Collections Conumdrums

Oh dear. I received this question via email:

I became an "experience" (trial) member after being told in the presentation that you could pay half of the total cost, use all the points, then cancel your membership.

When the time came to cancel I was told you can't. The woman I spoke with at corporate offered a work-around solution; stop the payment on the account, let it go into collections, then after 4 months it will be worked out of their systems and you'll be in the clear. This solution shouldn't affect my credit because they never got my social security number and they use an internal collections department. I called to verify this three times.

On their advice I canceled the payment and have been receiving collection calls for a month. Now my worry is not if it will ruin my credit, but if this will result in a lawsuit for breach of contract. Any ideas or comments?

Oh dear indeed. You're playing with fire, my friend. Unless you've got any of this in writing, my recommendation would be:

• Get something in writing that says what you owe, and that if you pay it you have no further commitments to their organization. I suggest YOU write this and have them agree to it.
• Pay what you promised you would pay (after all, you did make a contractual commitment)
  
• Get a receipt in writing

Yes, somebody might have told you one thing and other people say differently, but the fact is you'll be a lot better off settling the matter and getting on with your life. You don't want this carrying on for years and ruining your credit rating. Cut your loss and move on. You'll never win without something in writing.

-- Fabbo

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