We had Time Warner send us to collections which then reported my wife to the bureaus, alleging that we had never returned our cable modem (this was just for $60, and it was 5+ years ago!!). First of all, I’m incredibly sure that we did. We had fiber after that, what would I want with an old DOCSIS modem anyway? And second of all, they were unable to offer any proof that we had not returned it. The company that was collecting tried to strongarm us, but after a few documented phone calls, it all went away. But why are companies allowed to report a fraudulent payment to collections, when they have no proof (if they had some proof surely they wouldn’t have dropped it) and there is literally no follow-up or accountability required of them? I’m glad we have the financial literacy and confidence to tell them to stuff it, but how many people get scammed by stuff like this?

We also spent a bunch of time on the phone with TWC directly, and they had no account in our name or any history of our account.

I had similar encounters with a shitty ISP where their salesperson signed me up on a yearly contract despite explaining very clearly that not only did I only want a 30-day rolling contract but that the reason I'm doing so is because of a temporary issue with the new ISP. Even if they somehow misheard the "30-day rolling" part, a yearly contract just wouldn't make sense given my planned use-case. I can only assume that the idiot simply wanted some commission and I guess they don't give any for monthly rolling contracts.

When it was time to cancel I learnt that I was actually on a yearly contract - this was a month later so past the cancellation period. The support advisor claimed that I not only received an email but actually opened it, at which point I knew they sent it to the wrong address or were outright lying as my email client never loads remote resources, making it impossible for them to see that I "opened" it. He also refused an IMO reasonable demand of reviewing the call recording (it was just a month ago so they should still have it) to determine who was in the right.

In the end, I simply blocked further payments. When collections reached out, I explained the story above and they went away immediately. Collections ended up having significantly better user experience than the original company.

> We also spent a bunch of time on the phone with TWC directly, and they had no account in our name or any history of our account

Best part of this story

Not your fault but the easiest way to prevent this is to return equipment at a corporate store, you'll get a receipt for the return.

They can send it to collections all they want, but ultimately if the debt isn't valid as per the law then you're all good. If the merchant is using bad-faith tactics to trick you into a contract (or outright lies as in my case) it is very unlikely to fly in court.

Until when you go apply for a mortgage and the underwriter makes you resolve all outstanding credit issues, which in many cases results in you paying the collection agency otherwise it could hold up your home purchase.

Theses systems were built by the creditors not the consumers.

I'm surprised gyms don't do it... It is my understanding that credit reference agencies pay money for this kind of information, and pay even more if they get to guarantee that the same debts won't be reflected on competing credit reporting mechanisms.