Unable to pay bill for months.

[Sharkymark]

Hi,

I have never been able to access one of my Telus accounts.  I was signed up to the service over the phone, provided my payment info, everything was fine. 

I have received a bill from Telus saying my credit card will be billed on Feb 23.  I know this is an old credit card so called trying to update my credit card information.  Because the account is now closed, they are unable to update the credit card information.  

They have also said that they have sent the bill to collections - which is a direct violation of Consumer Protection BC policies - as Telus is both sending me a bill for payment as well as selling the debt to collections (double dipping).  

What are my recourses here?  I am submitting a complaint to Consumer Protection BC but I feel like that will likely go nowhere, I just want to pay the bill that I received. 

I should add - I had never even received a bill for this account.  This is the first and last bill I have ever received.  

Help!

[Dimo-X]

That sounds stressful for sure. It usually takes 2 or 3 missing payments to have the account closed and sent to collections. They would also have tried to reach out about the overdue payments a few times before that. If the account is with collections you'd need to settle it with them as it's no longer with TELUS.

[Sharkymark]

Thanks Dino-X, for sure.  Especially since this was the first bill I ever received from Telus. I was never contacted, I had been contacting Telus for months to try to resolve this.  
It is an interesting business practice that Telus has where they will send a bill and at the same time sell the debt to collections.  Consumer Protection BC considers this double dipping and is an unethical (if not illegal) practice… but I’ll let the lawyers sort that out!  
I can’t wait for collections to call, because although Telus customer service couldn’t help I did find a way to pay my bill.  Collections agency will likely now have to deal with Telus to get their money.  

[Sharkymark · Accepted solution]

I should add - I have about $1000 in monthly fees with Telus through my 4 mobile lines, and TV and internet over multiple properties.  I had security for years.  I have streaming services through Telus.  Funny they should upset a customer to this extent over $70 that I had been willing and actively trying to pay for months.  Anyways, waiting a couple more months for my contracts to be up, and I’ll have some decisions to make!  

[Dimo-X]

Totally get where you're coming from, specially if the other accounts you mentioned are in good standing and you've been trying to pay. Maybe once the payment you found a way to make is received by TELUS you can give them another shout in case they can retrieve it from collections or find another possible solution.