Monday, May 22, 2006

Oops! I did it again

I like to think that for all my bitching about hating my career in retail, at least it provides me with a relatively stable middle class lifestyle. I feel pretty financially secure. Sure, I've got my fair share of the average American's credit card debt to work off, but I make regular payments.

Last week I got a letter that had been forwarded from my previous address from Xcel energy dated May 1. Because I do not pay electricity in my new residence, when I moved I simply called Xcel to cancel my account and pay off my last bill. At least that's what I thought I had done. The letter claimed that I had not, in fact, paid my last bill which was now more than 3 months over due. It also stated that if I didn't pay them by May 8, they would turn my account over to a collection agency. Naturally I got the letter around May 9.

I've paid the bill (I think), but not without a few phone calls from bizarre area codes. I'm just hoping that they know I paid the bill and will stop calling to collect. I've never dealt with these people before, so I'm not sure how they operate. But its not hard to imagine a scenario where I periodically get calls about this bill for the next 10 years.

When I want to buy a house in 10 (or 20) years who wants to bet that this will be an issue?

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