BMG Music send a letter from a collection agency...how to avoid...

[Maximus96]

BMG believed i owe them $25.00 for some CD i never received...i just kept on ignoring the bills they send cus i never got the damn cd and don't even know what it is...now a collection agency send a letter regarding this matter...i didn't open the letter yet, just peeked around from the clear platic in front of the envelope and saw DYNAMACO INC. regarding BMG something something...the BMG account is not actually in my real name...they got my name spelled differently...what can they technically do?? i was about to send the letter back, unoped to the sender telling them the person already moved...anybody else has any thoughts on this please help, thanks

 

[Bryan]

Ahem.... psstt.... (that's not a real collection agency)

 

[Maximus96]

sorry, it was spelled "DYMACOL Incorporated"...not Dynamaco...

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

You need to clear up the bill, tell them you never got CD and a) need a new one if you're exptected to pay bill or b) are not interested in buying the CD from them anymore, please remove past due balance. I will tell you when it comes to bills it's not very good to "just ignore" them, I speak from experience

 

[dcdomain]

LOL... I don't know, when I was younger, I'd always sign up for mad stuff, and end up never paying. There must have been 25 collection agencies after me. After about 5 'this is the last notification' letters they just stopped hassling me... don't worry about it.

 

[Maximus96]

the thing is, its not under my real name...they kinda had it backwards...i'm just wondering what can they technically do to me...

 

[madthumbs]

Something like that happened to me once. I sent them a very nasty message telling them to either give me a 1(800)# to reply to (after 4 nasty notices), or send a self addressed stamped envelope and in either case refund my postage for this letter. Other than that I just bitched them out and never heard from them again.

 

[RoadRuner]

if you've never given them your social security number , they will never be able to collect or put derog info on your credit file.

however if you have, you best pay it.

 

[AndrewR]

What RoadRuner said. However, if they have your bank (you paid by check at any point?), they know your account number and COULD gain information that way. Unlikely though.

For $25, it is doubtful they will do anything since it will cost them more to go after you than the "debt" is worth. If you wanted to handle it otherwise, you would respond to the letter and ask them to provide proof of the debt. They then have to produce something showing you owe them money. It would come down to a swearing contest between you and BMG but since there's no tracking on their shipments, they can't really prove that you received the CD.

Most collection agencies are populated by bastards, however.