Saturday, October 20, 2007
Back in the desktop days, I had a dialup connection. I had a second phone line from Frontier, and the server was ClearTel. I paid once a year for the ClearTel connection, for the year ahead, and every month for the Frontier line.
Then I got the laptop and the wireless connection. Shortly after that the annual bill from ClearTel arrived. Naturally, I called ClearTel and cancelled the account. Don't need it any more. I got a cancellation number, and the guy said that since we were a few days into the next contract period, I would have to pay one months' prorated cost. Ok, no problem. As soon as I got off the phone, I followed up with a formal snailmail letter closing the account, with the rep's name, and the cancellation number, and enclosed a check for the prorated amount.
The next month, I got another bill for the year's contract, with the prorated amount deducted from the total. I wrote them another letter, reminding them that the contract was cancelled, and the balance owed should now be zero. I asked that they contact me after verifying this, and let me know what their disposition was.
No response. The next month, I get a notice that the account has been turned over to a collection agency.
I exploded!
I wrote letters this evening to ClearTel and to the collection agency. The tone of the letter to the collection agency was businesslike. I know they can't do much without direction from ClearTel. The letter to ClearTel was mostly businesslike, except for the first paragraph, which is: "Please forward this letter to someone with enough intelligence to read it, enough experience to understand it, and enough courtesy to answer it. My experience with ClearTel so far is that these are rare qualities."
Frontier is next, but I'll try a phone call to them first.
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