transdogmifier
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Flint 1760
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/20 09:20:31
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This has already started appearing in more mainstream press. Any bets on how long it takes Spectrum to come out and say, "What we meant to say was...."
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transdogmifier
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/20 09:27:56
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Flint 1760 This has already started appearing in more mainstream press. Any bets on how long it takes Spectrum to come out and say, "What we meant to say was...."
They should be sued, imo....how threatening can they be? This is ridiculous.
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Nereus
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/20 10:25:20
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☄ Helpfulby transdogmifier 2021/10/20 10:26:06
If I received a letter like that, I would send it straight to my lawyer with a note attached: "sic 'em".
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Grey_Beard
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/20 14:52:32
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Most people don’t have lawyers and are scared when something like this arrives. I am sure many will pay the bill even if they know it’s fake. This is downright fraud. Hope they are punished, but expect if they are it should be a slap on the wrist. Amazing the organizations are people for political contributions, but for accountability, they are always
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CSPlayer089
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/20 18:24:44
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I work for Comcast (ok bring on the hate but the job pays well). I highly, highly doubt a letter would go out like this unless a debt is actually owed. Better that they receive this letter from Charter/Spectrum than a letter from some random collections agency saying they owe. They are usually written off and sent to an agency fairly quickly.
post edited by CSPlayer089 - 2021/10/20 18:28:59
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MasterMiner
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/20 19:53:11
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Is it any wonder why Huawei needed to be killed off…??? and that not a single American company has stepped up to replace them?
We’re all slaves.
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bill1024
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/20 21:32:38
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The way I read this is it is not about a bill or owed monies. This is being sent to ex-customers threating to send a bad report to the credit bureau/debt collectors if they do not re-subscribe to the company's services. From the article. /Quote Case in point: a new Charter (which operates under the Spectrum brand) marketing effort apparently involves threatening to ruin the credit scores of ex-customers unless they re-subscribe to the company's services. It basically begins with a letter that threatens ex-users that they'll be reported to debt collectors unless they sign up for service. It proceeds to inform them the letter is a "one-time courtesy" allowing them to sign up for cable or broadband service before the debt collector comes calling: "A well-established credit history will more likely allow you to qualify for lower mortgage rates, better chances for obtaining credit cards and approvals for home rentals,” the letter says, suggesting that Schklair’s finances could be in serious trouble unless he returns to the Spectrum fold. "You have worked hard to build a great future for yourself and your family,” it says. “We look forward to welcoming you back.” /quote
That has to be a joke. An attempt at humor to get customers back. Has to be. Or it is just "Fake news" I mean after all it is on the internet. Everything on the net is true right? Right?
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Flint 1760
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 03:55:38
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I really think that there is more to this story. No corporation would be dumb enough to send a letter like that to former customers, which is in essence, an invitation letter saying "sue us, give us the worst publicity possible, and look how stupid we are."
post edited by Flint 1760 - 2021/10/21 08:23:01
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the_Scarlet_one
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 04:14:40
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My assumption is that this message was “supposed” to go out to people that had missed payments and their accounts closed due to non-payment. There is absolutely nothing they could possibly report against any user that closed their account in good standing. The only people they could affect is the ones they had already reported, or were waiting to report in hopes of clearing a defaulted account. What are they going to say, “customer left in good standing, so we need a debt collector to collect $0.00? The article seems to take liberty with not quoting the actual letter, and only picking out a few key pieces. It doesn’t help the “spectrum” isn’t even attempting to clear the air of what actually happened, so there is no way to tell. ———————- Completely separate, imagine that there are people that moved and their Mail was never forwarded. If they had defaulted and didn’t received the forwarded mail, and they owed even a small amount, this would absolutely be justified. Too many times people cry wolf, so I don’t hold any faith in a badly publishing article that doesn’t feature the letter directly (with redacted personal information). I watched a video of a person that was trying to buy a house realize that they had opened a credit card at a big box store and never paid it, and had ruined their credit over a $7 purchase. I’ve heard of credit being ruined over only a few cent because of moving and the forwarding address being wrong. If someone is default and finds an easy way out, like what it seems that spectrum is attempting to bait defaulted users with, they will likely take it and default again anyway.
post edited by the_Scarlet_one - 2021/10/21 04:19:39
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bill1024
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 07:07:45
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That article did not say anything about paying owed money. But it did say come back and get our service or we will send a debt collector. If they owed money it would say "Pay us or ..." But it does not say that at all. It has to be n internal memo that was joke or something.
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the_Scarlet_one
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 07:34:59
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bill1024 That article did not say anything about paying owed money. But it did say come back and get our service or we will send a debt collector. If they owed money it would say "Pay us or ..." But it does not say that at all. It has to be n internal memo that was joke or something.
The article left a lot out, UNLESS it was a two line letter. Oh, here we go with slightly more words: “ According to the LA Times, the letter Charter sent Schklair said the company would cancel his (supposed) debts after he resubscribed and that his new account would be in good standing. It seemingly implied that Charter had been reporting that debt to credit reporting agencies (potentially bringing down Schklair’s credit score) and that he would no longer have to worry about that if he was a customer again.” www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2021/10/12/22722758/charter-spectrum-debt-forgiveness-letter-reporting-credit-agencies www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-10-12/column-spectrum-billing-threat%3F_amp%3Dtrue It’s weird that these two article have so much more detail. Spectrum still seems sleezy, but the original la times article paints a wildly different reason, like the fact that the letter is intended for members that were indebted. What I don’t get is when a company cancels the service and turns the debt over to a debt collector, typically the collectors are the ones that go after the member, not the company itself. The letter make it seem as if Spectrum has been holding the information rather than passing off the information to collectors or credit bureau. Also, why is there only one example of this letter? I can’t seem to find anyone else reporting this?
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bill1024
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 07:44:08
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That was very deceiving leaving out all the rest of the letter. The whole thing smells fishy.
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nomoss
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 08:08:21
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Sounds like Charter to me. I recently had Sirius send me a bill for radio service when I let the service lapse. I called in to cancel and the guy (who barely spoke english) kept talking about the "great deal" they had. I said, no, cancel. I had to pay $20 for the 4 days that the service was on after it lapsed. A month later I get a bill for $50 because he signed me up for 6 months instead of cancelling. When I called in again, the person kept going for 10 minutes after I'd said no at least 5 times. Then, when she finally accepted that I didn't want the service (and never did) she told me that I owed another $5 and when I refused to pay it, she threatened to send me to collections if I didn't pay it. I had a similar issue with Qwest when I cancelled landline service 5 years ago. All the telcom/media companies are desperate to regain lost revenue.
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transdogmifier
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 08:28:18
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nomoss Sounds like Charter to me. I recently had Sirius send me a bill for radio service when I let the service lapse. I called in to cancel and the guy (who barely spoke english) kept talking about the "great deal" they had. I said, no, cancel. I had to pay $20 for the 4 days that the service was on after it lapsed. A month later I get a bill for $50 because he signed me up for 6 months instead of cancelling. When I called in again, the person kept going for 10 minutes after I'd said no at least 5 times. Then, when she finally accepted that I didn't want the service (and never did) she told me that I owed another $5 and when I refused to pay it, she threatened to send me to collections if I didn't pay it. I had a similar issue with Qwest when I cancelled landline service 5 years ago. All the telcom/media companies are desperate to regain lost revenue.
Sorry, it's unclear if you know or not (might be a "Sounds like something charter would do to me!" comment), Charter is Spectrum... Anyways, I would have said "Send me to collections...I'll tell them I'm not paying it too". heh
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kram36
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 12:14:17
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CSPlayer089 I work for Comcast (ok bring on the hate but the job pays well). I highly, highly doubt a letter would go out like this unless a debt is actually owed. Better that they receive this letter from Charter/Spectrum than a letter from some random collections agency saying they owe. They are usually written off and sent to an agency fairly quickly.
I was with Spectrum for years and changed to Google Fiber early this year. Paid what I owed Spectrum and have not heard a word from them. This article smells of bad intentions.
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ty_ger07
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 12:19:45
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This article smells of fake news.
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Hoggle
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 12:40:12
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I would wonder if it was some early termination fee that will go to collection unless they maintain an account for X number of months. It's something I won't really worry about until we see a whole letter since we don't have the whole story.
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Nereus
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/21 13:21:25
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Can't comment of this particular situation, but having been a customer of one of their subsidiaries for many years, I can certainly confirm that my personal experience is that there is apparently no depths these people won't stoop to in their lust for money and control.
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Nozler
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Re: Spectrum threatens to ruin credit!
2021/10/24 13:06:37
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I've come across something Similar with Samsung's credit line. I didn't want to connect my checking account. Forwarned jumping through their hoops. Just so I could pay a bill.
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