Has anyone had success dv/disputing utilities?

[sharizap]

I know I'm asking a crapload of questions tonight- I really appreciate all the help. As I'm learning more and the process is making more sense to me, the questions are becoming more lucid and focused. (I hope.)

I have a bunch of negatives on my CR from utility bills. I spoke to a rep from one of the utilities & asked about all the various reports & she said I could fill out one of their dispute forms and handle it that way. There are a few outstanding balances- one of which is with a CA, but most are from the OC reporting lates, etc. I know the reports are, for the most part, accurate. Should I write a GW to the utility company and ask them to delete the negs? Dispute with the CRA? With the one exception of the one that's transferred to a CA, (I know I can't get them to delete that till it's paid) they're all lates, and any outstanding balances were transferred and billed to our current service address and paid. How do I improve this situation?

There's also a Verizon and a Sprint account handled by CAs. Has anyone had any success disputing these? Again- there is no question that they were our (either mine or my dh's) accounts. No suspicious activity, and within SOL. It seems that many of the people who have things like this removed have experienced either some kind of account fraud or identity theft, or are billed for things that they don't owe. (like equipment that they returned but were charged for anyway, etc.) I don't have any circumstances like this. I'd RATHER deal with the OC than the CA- so do I need to dispute/DV in order to do that?

[gypsie]

I would dispute the lates with the CRAs first. I don't know where in PA you are, but if you're rural- they may not have the best record keeping.

If that doesn't work, try the GW route. I personally have been known to "bombard" a company with GW letters and calls - until they wanted me to "go away".

For Verizon and Sprint, do a search in this forum, I've seen LOTS of posts about dealing with them.

[stancil1]

Midland Credit Management had an account that they had gotten from Southwestern Bell and claimed that it was mine. I begain disputes in January 07, it took 3 months and an ITS, but I just noticed this morning that their entries are gone.

D