Can I safely ignore a credit card bill for an account that shows as closed on my credit report?

[Red Squirrel]

A few years ago my credit union changed credit card companies, it was mostly seamless, except one of the companies involved in the transaction somehow has an account under my name now and there was a balance of 1 cent. So I kept getting a bill for that direct from that company. It grew to 17 cents over time and despite efforts at trying to get them to close the account they keep sending me bills. So I gave in and made a cheque for 17 cents and sent it hoping that they'll stop sending me bills once the balance is 0.

Now it's somehow at like 30 cents. I guess the interest accumulated faster than the time it took to send the cheque. It cost me more money in stamp/envelope than what is even owed, and since this is not a company I do business with I'm not setup to do it online. I really don't feel like sending more money only for the interest to grow yet again. Seems like it could turn into a never ending game.

I told them twice to cancel the account in letters sent back to them and they just refuse. Can I just do return to sender and just ignore these? Given it's credit card debt it will grow fast but the account is marked as closed on my credit report so am I safe to just ignore this or could they still eventually send me to collections? I paid their damn 17 cents it's not my fault it grew bigger before they cashed in the cheque.

 

[SunnyD]

You can do whatever you like, but they will send it to collections, tack on the fees and ding your credit report after the fact. Trust me, they'll do anything they can to screw you over and unless you're willing to fight them on it they'll make it a pain in the ass for you to clean up.

Keep ALL documentation of your correspondence with the company from here out.

 

[highland145]

Are canuk credit bureaus like Yankee ones? Meaning trade lines hang around for,7 years?

 

[WelshBloke]

Send them a buck.

Then send them begging letters every year asking for the interest on the balance.

 

[highland145]

Send them a buck.

Then send them begging letters every year asking for the interest on the balance.

TD bank closed my business account some years back, fuck you bobo, so I moved all of the personal accounts but kept their visa. I still charge something small every few months and overpay a few pennies. After 3 months, they USPS me a check, that I walk over and have the teller cash. 147 years from now, I may feel satisfied.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Tough call. I don't know how it works in Canda-uck-istan - but here in the US - paying the bill is essentially an admittance of guilt (not exactly, but sort of).

One would say "just pay it off" but part of me also says, don't admit guilt.

I would personally send them a certified letter that legally requires them to verify the debt and see if they actually reply. Any person worth a shit would write it off the books because the postage is more than the actual debt.

 

[lxskllr]

If that stuff was still done by actual humans, and I worked for the company, I'd pay Squirrel's bill just so I wouldn't have to deal with the paperwork. That's a good use for AI. The computer can ask itself "Is this retarded?", and just write the amount off if it is indeed retarded.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Tough call. I don't know how it works in Canda-uck-istan - but here in the US - paying the bill is essentially an admittance of guilt (not exactly, but sort of).

One would say "just pay it off" but part of me also says, don't admit guilt.

I would personally send them a certified letter that legally requires them to verify the debt and see if they actually reply. Any person worth a shit would write it off the books because the postage is more than the actual debt.

Yeah it may have been a mistake to pay the first one... I should have just did return to sender right away.

I found an escalation email address on their site, it looks like they are owned by TD and send them a letter to stop this. If they still don't, I'll probably lawyer up. I guess it's better safe than sorry... don't want a few pennies to turn into hundreds or even thousands that I'm suddenly on the hook for.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If that stuff was still done by actual humans, and I worked for the company, I'd pay Squirrel's bill just so I wouldn't have to deal with the paperwork. That's a good use for AI. The computer can ask itself "Is this retarded?", and just write the amount off if it is indeed retarded.

You'd think the system could flag stuff like that. If it costs more money to send the bill than what is owed then just write it off. And since the account is technically closed it should have been written off anyway.

 

[MrSquished]

Debt collectors can be the worst and are perfectly capable of fuck ups. I had a hospital bill from many years ago when I didn't have health insurance due to just opening a small business. I was young and figured I wouldn't need it, so put the money towards the business, but ended up in the ER. Anyways, that went into collections. I paid it off but I got chased for the same debt again later by different collection agencies, not once, but twice. Between the hospital and the collection agencies, they were a shit show. I had to scour through emails and make phone calls to get a letter proving I had paid it off to not have it go any farther and stave off a court date.

Basically get proof this account is closed, and get it to them, or they will put it on your record.

 

[SKORPI0]

Comcast/Xfinity did that to me after I moved and closed my account. Made sure that everything was written down with paperwork.
Months later got a letter from collections. Complained at local store that was 3 blocks away. Boy was I mad.

 

[sdifox]

I am still getting a statement every month from TD cc that I purposely over paid five cents. It's been at least a decade.

 

[dullard]

When you owe money that is collecting daily interest, you need to either (1) ask for a final payout amount and pay it in full by the date that they supply or (2) overpay. I've done both with success both times. When I overpaid, I got statements for about 6 months showing a positive balance then they wrote me a check for the balance. But your mileage may vary.

I personally don't think your time and possible credit trashing is worth the few cents. I'd follow WelshBloke's advice to just pay $1 and be done.

At least with Discover credit cards, if your bill is under $1, they send you a notice that they are waving the bill because it isn't worth the costs to process it. That is how business should be done.