My advice? Be very very proactive about this. You're never going to see or speak to these people again, so don't worry about being "nice".
Be very polite, but very very firm. At the very least, they should write off the fees and charges for years of inactivity. It would be one thing if you were using the card, but not using the card and not receiving the bills, you should definately be able to talk someone into writing off the vast majority of this that was not actually things you purchased.
I tend to use this formula when dealing with such people.
a) Initial contact: be very polite, explain the situation, explain what you are willing to do, and what you would like them to do. Sometimes this solves the problem right here. Some collection departments aren't "allowed" to "offer" to write things off, but can do so "at customer request with extenuating circumstances".
b) if this gets you "I'm not authorized to do that", ask who, within the company is. If you get told "noone", ask "There is no one in your company with the authority to write off fees that were added to inactive accounts?" If this gets you nowhere, ask to speak to the supervisor. This will, in all likely hood, get you transfered to another person in the office (not the supervisor) who will play the role of the supervisor.
c) If you are getting the same story, or have a hunch that you're not speaking to the head of the collection department, don't be afraid to ask for the main switchboard number, and call that, asking to be informed of who is the head of collections. Don't be afraid to ask questions. "What is your title? What are you authorized to do? How can you help me with this situation?"
Be very clear about offering what you are willing to do, but follow that up immediately with what you are not willing to do as well.
We recently had a situation with Nicole where, because Trent has Keizer Permanente (an HMO) and we have Blue Cross, both with coverage of her, Blue Cross was not wanting to pay on something we had done while she was up here, because KP was the "primary". I finally spent an hour or so on the phone explaining to the woman how KP was a HMO, and of course would not pay for anything not done in their offices, and how I would have ran it through anyway, but could not do so as it was a hostile divorce situation and my ex would not provide me with the information I need (group numbers, etc) to do so. Eventually, they ended up running it through with a special overide, and it was all handled. Sometimes you just have to be firm on "this is what I will and will not do."
"I will pay for what I have charged. I will pay a reasonable amount of interest, per our initial agreement. I will not pay for "over balance" fees that were created by you adding more fees onto my card. I will not pay for 6 years of fees you added to a card without ever making a reasonable attempt to make certain the bills were getting to me. I have no proof you sent the bills, I did not receive any of them, and I would appreciate if you would do what you can to help me resolve this situation to our mutual benefit."
no subject
Be very polite, but very very firm. At the very least, they should write off the fees and charges for years of inactivity. It would be one thing if you were using the card, but not using the card and not receiving the bills, you should definately be able to talk someone into writing off the vast majority of this that was not actually things you purchased.
I tend to use this formula when dealing with such people.
a) Initial contact: be very polite, explain the situation, explain what you are willing to do, and what you would like them to do. Sometimes this solves the problem right here. Some collection departments aren't "allowed" to "offer" to write things off, but can do so "at customer request with extenuating circumstances".
b) if this gets you "I'm not authorized to do that", ask who, within the company is. If you get told "noone", ask "There is no one in your company with the authority to write off fees that were added to inactive accounts?" If this gets you nowhere, ask to speak to the supervisor. This will, in all likely hood, get you transfered to another person in the office (not the supervisor) who will play the role of the supervisor.
c) If you are getting the same story, or have a hunch that you're not speaking to the head of the collection department, don't be afraid to ask for the main switchboard number, and call that, asking to be informed of who is the head of collections. Don't be afraid to ask questions. "What is your title? What are you authorized to do? How can you help me with this situation?"
Be very clear about offering what you are willing to do, but follow that up immediately with what you are not willing to do as well.
We recently had a situation with Nicole where, because Trent has Keizer Permanente (an HMO) and we have Blue Cross, both with coverage of her, Blue Cross was not wanting to pay on something we had done while she was up here, because KP was the "primary". I finally spent an hour or so on the phone explaining to the woman how KP was a HMO, and of course would not pay for anything not done in their offices, and how I would have ran it through anyway, but could not do so as it was a hostile divorce situation and my ex would not provide me with the information I need (group numbers, etc) to do so. Eventually, they ended up running it through with a special overide, and it was all handled. Sometimes you just have to be firm on "this is what I will and will not do."
"I will pay for what I have charged. I will pay a reasonable amount of interest, per our initial agreement. I will not pay for "over balance" fees that were created by you adding more fees onto my card. I will not pay for 6 years of fees you added to a card without ever making a reasonable attempt to make certain the bills were getting to me. I have no proof you sent the bills, I did not receive any of them, and I would appreciate if you would do what you can to help me resolve this situation to our mutual benefit."