3/06/2005
Advice from Nashville's leading Financial Aid Advisor Dave Ramsey
Dave Says
By Dave Ramsey
Author of:
Financial Peace and
The Total Money Makeover
"Company did an extra draft and won't pay me back!"
Dear Dave,
Two years ago, I had an account with a local cable TV provider. I had given them
permission to automatically deduct my payments from my checking account. I moved
out of state, canceled my cable service and closed my bank accounts.
Now it’s two years later, I’m back in town and have received a letter from a
collection agency who claims I owe them money. After some investigation, I
discovered that they cable company had mistakenly drafted my account twice one
month, causing the account to become overdrawn. The collection agency is trying
to collect on the overdraft amounts plus court costs and had started a legal
process on me, which I’ve gotten them to put off.
After several months of haggling with the cable company, I finally got them to
admit their error and they sent a check for the extra draft amount to the
collection agency’s attorney. However, the collection agency is still trying to
pursue me for the court costs.
My question is, if the cable company has admitted their mistake in this, which
caused the overdrafts, shouldn’t the collection agency hold the cable company
liable for the court costs?
Christopher in Nashville, TN
Dear Christopher,
What a mess. The short answer is that you’re liable to the bank for your
insufficient funds charges. However, the cable company is liable to you for
causing this. You could probably collect from them if you choose to pursue the
matter.
The cable company cannot be held directly liable to the bank because they were
never a signatory on your bank account.
What I would do is to clear up the mess with the court costs and then either try
to get reimbursed for this from the cable company or just write it off as a
really bad experience. At least you’ll have gotten out from this situation.
-Dave
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