KSL Investigators help Utahn sent to collections for wireless service she says she never had
Sep 12, 2022, 10:45 PM
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah — Have you ever been hounded for charges you do not owe? Well, it has happened to a Pleasant Grove woman — twice. And when she could not get the debt collector to listen, she called the KSL Investigators for help.
Kim Olsen pays Xfinity monthly for all her “Pawn Stars” and other TV needs, as well as her internet. But recently, she found out she has been paying for another service she says she has never used.
“I have never ever had an account with Xfinity Mobile,” Olsen said. “I have been charged almost for two years now — a year and a half.”
Olsen assumed Xfinity was just billing her credit card for TV and internet, until she looked closer and realized she was getting hit for its mobile phone service, too. She eventually got that fixed.
“It was over $800 they had to reimburse me,” she explained.
But just months later, a new notice showed up saying she now owed Xfinity Mobile $734. Pay up!
“So, they have now taken me to collections for a bill for an account that I’ve never had,” Olsen said.
“And they already know you never had it, but they kept charging you for it?” we asked.
“Correct,” she replied.
We investigate after a Utah woman was sent to collections over a debt she DOES NOT OWE – tonight on KSL News at 10PM.@KSLInvestigates @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/KvopOSrF38
— Matt Gephardt KSL-TV (@KSLGephardt) September 13, 2022
Thus began a ridiculous back and forth. Olsen said she explained it all to the collection agency. But they want a letter from Xfinity Mobile. Corporate told her they do not do that and directed her to the local store. And the store’s response? Well, not exactly encouraging.
“They laughed at me,” she said. “And they said, ‘Well, if corporate can’t handle this, how do you expect us to do anything?'”
Not wanting to see her credit ruined over a bill she has never owed, Olsen decided it was time to call the KSL Investigators.
So this time, we reached out to Xfinity on her behalf, not through customer service but through the corporate communications team. And in a call, a spokesperson explained that because the billing problems the first time around were not flagged as fraud, their system generated a second round of charges. Now, the collection agency has been officially called off, and Olsen no longer owes for a mobile service she has never used.
If you are being hounded for a debt you do not believe you owe, you have 30 days to dispute it in writing, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The debt collector then must provide proof you owe it. The debt collector cannot call or contact you about collecting until that proof has been sent to you. The CFPB says your best bet is to send your written dispute via certified mail.
