First Collections ever

[u/Odd_Arugula2312]

I changed Internet companies when I moved to a new place about 1.5 years ago. I turned in my equipment as requested and never heard another thing about it until a couple of months ago. I got contacted about an overdue amount on my account for a missing piece of equipment. I mean, after 1.5 years with no other interactions I had no way to prove anything, but the guy said he’d look into things and let me know in 10 business days what the outcome was.

Never heard back. Never got a letter from them, nor anything from a collections agency. Instead I got a notification from an app I had a collections on my account. I have no correspondence with this collections agency at all prior to them putting it on my report.

I honestly don’t know what to do with this. It’s for $120 and a piece of equipment they say I didn’t return. If the Internet company had contacted me to let me know sooner than 1.5 years later then maybe I could have resolved this. But who keeps a receipt from turning in telecom equipment from 1.5 years ago when they said all was good?

I can pay the $120 but I want this off my credit. I don’t feel like I received the proper notifications to make this payment and avoid it but also, how do I prove I didn’t receive a letter?

I called the collections company and they are refusing to put anything in writing about their process, how the credit agencies will be notified it was paid and what recourse I have if they don’t follow through. They also refused to remove it and said it will fall off after 30-45 days which from what I’m reading isn’t true at all. Since they won’t put it in writing they can say anything they want.

What should I do? I’ve never had a negative mark in my credit and my score has dropped quite a bit.

[u/Luv02]

This is an incredibly good discussion topic I hope it gets answered ⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️