Originally posted by: PSYWVic
Originally posted by: Millenium
Originally posted by: PSYWVic
Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
I would threaten to call the BBB. I always 'backdate' my checks if I forget to pay a bill. I treat all my accounts like I'm a business since most businesses pay bills a little late every month anyway...they never seem to notice.
And you probably have sh!t credit too.
Bills have to be more than a month later or even later for them to be turned over to collections. Only after collections fails in their attempt to collect money does your credit report get changed by the billing company.
FWIW,
Evan
I'm a loan officer and I pull consumer credit reports all day long. Also, I have considerable experience in credit underwriting.
Late payments show on a credit report as soon as the regular monthly payment is more than 30 days late. In fact, when dealing with poor credit customers, we refer to late payments in that fashion, i.e. "a couple of 30's here, a 60 there," etc. Depending on how recent these late payments are, they can have a DRAMATIC effect on the credit score. Also, every single late payment more than 30 days will show up on your credit for 7 years.
So now I know that some of you are thinking, Hey, cool, I can be up to a month late on my payments and it's ok! Not so, as late fees may begin when a payment is only 5 days late. If you make the regular payment (albeit late) but forget to add on the late fee, you may still be reported as 30 days late to the bureaus.
Back-dating checks will not help you. Most companies never even look at the date on the check when they post it. The only date that matters is the day they post it.
And
Scarpozzi, if he went to the BBB to file a complaint because ATT disconnected his cable for non-payment, he might get laughed at, just FYI.
The good news here is that utilities (of which cable TV is one) don't report to credit bureaus unless the account goes to collection, which would usually take 90-120 days (or more) of continuous non-payment. As ATT collects for their services in advance (as opposed to arrears like electric, gas, and water companies, for example) and promptly disconnects non-paying customers (as you have seen), you can at least be thankful that your account won't go to collections.
Get DTV if you want, I hear they're nice. Most importantly, just pay your bills on time. It's the honest thing to do and it will save you a lot of money in the long run.
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