Reasons I don't like thinking about financial things

[fgnord]

If you give billing people your wrong address by mistake, it can cause problems. Especially if you're like me, and you don't really pay attention to such things - you just pay each bill as it comes in. I always would have thought that if the bills were constantly being returned by the mailman to the sender, they would try calling me by phone or

Comments

[robini]

I suppose maybe people actively TRY to avoid bills by putting the wrong address sometimes, and the places themselves are tired of dealing with it?

That said, someone mistyped the billing address on a store-specific card I applied for once, and I just happened to remember a few months later that "gee, I hadn't had a bill for the coat I'd bought". So, I went into the store, got it all straightened out, and thought that was that. Two months later they were calling me about the INTEREST I OWED because I hadn't paid my bill in a timely fashion (duh!), and because they STILL hadn't gotten my address right in the system, and so had no way of mailing me to inform me that I owed them additional money for my untimely realization of their incompetence. Needless to say, the customer service representative I talked to had to put up with a very exasperated tone of voice.

So, I guess they DID call me (is it possible that they your people had the wrong phone # too?), but I was still annoyed. It does seem like it'd be prudent (or at least polite) to go a little greater distance and make a phone call before resorting to credit bureau drama.

Although if it makes you feel better, I once had blockbuster spend 6 months trying to track me down in college, and threated to affect my credit over about $8 in overdue fees.

[fgnord]

Lame. I didn't know blockbuster had that kind of power. Guess I'll have to be more careful with my rentals in the future.

As for the address, it definitely was my fault: I was must have been partially brain dead because I gave them my old street+new city address. In that sense I am responsible. On the other hand, they definitely had my phone number - they gave it to the collection person after all - so if someone had just taken a couple of minutes to call me up instead of assuming I was a crook, they would have been paid faster, they wouldn't have had to waste $ on the collection company, my credit rating would be intact, and we'd all have avoided a lot of hassle.