How to Deal With Business Debt Collectors

Basically, I was utilizing a business to provide a monthly technical service for my company's website. Three months ago I emailed them canceling their service since I wasn't making money off of it. Every month they kept emailing me a bill and every month I emailed their billing and customer service department telling them I had canceled the service. I retained all of these records showing I repeatedly canceled the service.

Now three months later, they have sent the debt to a collections agency. They didn't sue me first or anything, otherwise I'd have just showed up in court with my proof of cancellation. This can't be legal, pretending I never canceled services, keep billing me, then send the debt to collections. This is very shady on their part.

I know if this were consumer debt, I could demand validation, show that I canceled the service and sue if they dinged my credit. But since this is business debt, I don't think it has the same consumer protections. What do I need to do to get the collections agency to see I don't owe this money and what recourse do I have if they tarnish my personal or my business's credit? Do I have any recourse against this company? Thanks!

did you read your contract to see if you're required to cancel via mail or something like that? they're not required to accept a cancel via email if the contract says otherwise.

gamer83 said: I just checked. Contract says "One Month Written Notice". They are billing me for 4 months now it looks like. This seems very shady to me. Can anyone tell me if businesses have any protections like consumers do?

Sounds like you didn't cancel. Next time read your contract. If not before you cancel, at least after the first errant bill came.

gamer83 said: Sounds like you didn't read my post. I did cancel multiple times by email(last time I checked, email is "written notice"), and I have it all documented.

If anyone has any info on how to handle business debt collectors, please let me know. Thanks!

Not a lawyer, but I thought email did NOT count as written notice.

I would think that unless you can prove through prior actions that they've accepted electronic communication in lieu of physically written documents, you're up the river.

How was this contract signed. On paper or electronically? Was all other communication done through email? Did they send you physical, verbal or electronic responses/letters? The idea here is to prove that they have a pattern of accepting electronic communications.

Then they will either sue you for payment, at which point you can defend and counter sue for costs, etc, or you can wait until they cause you damage (ie credit report) and then sue them.

gamer83 said: All communication with them has been via email other than training which was done over the phone and WebEx. I have never mailed nor received a mailed letter from them. All payments have been made via paypal at their email requests. All invoices to me have come via email. All questions/tech support have been asked and answered by email. The original contract I faxed(not mailed) back to them, faxes are "electronic" too I'd imagine. There's definitely a pattern of accepting emails and electronic communications.
Here is a question for you: Why do you think they asked you to fax it back to them instead of just emailing back saying you accept the terms? What difference could it possibly make to them?

Oh OK, so maybe you should read the my car was illegally towed, I'm not paying, the tow company says they will take me to collections, how can I fight this, don't waste my time asking me how I'm so sure my car was illegally towed, oh nevermind, I was wrong it wasn't illegally towed, I paid, problem solved thread.

EDIT: Or the what does your contract say thread or the what did they say when you called them thread.

gamer83 said: SigX said: Oh OK, so maybe you should read the my car was illegally towed, I'm not paying, the tow company says they will take me to collections, how can I fight this, don't waste my time asking me how I'm so sure my car was illegally towed, oh nevermind, I was wrong it wasn't illegally towed, I paid, problem solved thread.

EDIT: Or the what does your contract say thread or the what did they say when you called them thread.
If you're bitter about your thread take it up with the people who made your thread bitter. I'm trying to make a thread to help other small business owners out there should debt collectors try to come after them.

Your thread was about a consumer debt collector. This is a totally different animal. If you aren't, or haven't ever been, a small business owner or aren't a lawyer who handles these types of cases, you probably don't have much to add to this topic.
Uh, it wasn't really my car dude. I know where my car is. I own businesses, sit on corporate boards, among other things. I'm all for a good thread about small businesses and debt collectors, but not one built on half of a story, a weak position, that most competent business owners would have already resolved on their own by now.

Did you ever get a confirmation number for the cancellation? If they sent you a bill every month, why wouldn't you call and fix it right away? For a cancellation to be valid, it needs to have a request and a confirmation from the company. If I ask for a quote for any kind of service via email, and a quote is provided, can they assume that my not responding is acknowledgement that I accepted the service? Of course not.