Sharon Lindsay of Pacifica takes time to cuddle with her feline friend. "Meet Maggie. She is ferocious," said Lindsay.
[Ads /]
Maggie comforted Lindsay after a collection agency sent this past due notice for $926 from DirecTV in April.
It's not a service she even has.
Lindsay immediately filled out a fraud form and pointed out her name on the collection notice is misspelled. It omits the "A" in her first name, Sharon.
"They didn't even get my name right. I didn't even have a contract," she said.
RELATED: Woman thousands of miles away from Bay Area gets FasTrak toll bill; here's how it went wrong
DirecTV reviewed her claim of fraud, but in June sent her another notice saying it considered her $926 balance to be accurate.
"Please remit the balance due in the amount of $923.06 to the following address to avoid further collection agency," it read.
The letter claimed she "was never current. No payments from April through Sept. 2021." DirecTV also charged her an early termination fee along with a non-return fee.
Lindsay felt like she was running out of options.
[Ads /]
"We didn't know what to do anymore because every month I get these letters with more added with interest and I owe on this," she said.
That's when she reached out to 7 On Your Side.
RELATED: SF couple gets $1,500 fine for parking in their driveway despite doing so for nearly 40 years
And that's when the situation began to turn for the better.
"Excuse me. I got a tiger by the teeth here. I wasn't about to pay that," Lindsay told us.
She said within two hours after 7 On Your Side reached out to DirecTV, the company promised to look into it further.
DirecTV told 7 On Your Side: "We worked with the Lindsays to quickly investigate their claim and determined the account was opened by fraudsters."
All collection efforts have ceased and the fraudulent account has been closed.
[Ads /]
Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.
7OYS's consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company / agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. Due to the high volume of emails we receive, please allow 3-5 business days for a response.
READY TO CONTACT 7 ON YOUR SIDE?
EMAIL US AT 7OYS@KGO-TV.COM
Please note the address uses the letter "O", not zeros.