A-Link U.S.A.

I am being harassed by a collection firm: [redacted] & [redacted] for an erroneous fee of 346.23 RE: cancellation of a monitoring agreement

On [redacted], I signed a 36-month monitoring agreement with [redacted], Inc for the rate of 34.95 a month. During the visit In [redacted], I specifically asked the installer, Brian, if [redacted] would be my monitoring company for the duration of the 36 months, as I feel more comfortable doing business with a local company. At that time, he assured me "We're not going anywhere". In [redacted], I received a form letter stating that my monitoring had been "sold to" or "transferred over" to [redacted]. I immediately called [redacted] to communicate my displeasure in being "moved". They stated in no uncertain terms, that I could not cancel; that I would have to ride out the contract. Begrudgingly, I agreed and did not pursue the matter any further. After my contract agreement had expired, I began searching a for a local company and found one. It was also half the cost I had been paying. I contacted [redacted] to see if they would like a chance to keep my business. They firmly said "no" by being unwilling to negotiate a better rate. I then inquired as to how I would need to switch providers. The answer I was given was "send written notification". I immediately faxed over a form stating that I was no longer going to use them for monitoring. The next month, I am billed again. I call there again. "Oh, you needed to send a letter via the US Mail". Why could they not have told me that in the first place? So, then I send a letter certified mail. I get billed one more time. Again I call. I might add, I never got to speak to the same person twice or so and so was "unavailable". Not satisfied with their response, I went to their website where they have a "Contact the President" section. Three form submissions were subsequently never answered. Bottom line is the billing stopped, finally. In my experience, if the billing stopped, then that would indicate to me that I was no longer under contract. No more US mail correspondence was received and I thought everything was okay. I have not moved and I have not been away from my home or out of town for an extended period of time. I am easy to get a hold of; I have had the same telephone number (which they have on file) for 15 years. Then suddenly, on [redacted], I receive a letter from the said [redacted] & [redacted] stating they are trying to collect debt related to [redacted] / [redacted]. There are many things wrong with this situation. First and foremost, I fulfilled all my obligations to [redacted]. Secondly, there has been poor and little communication on the part of [redacted]. If, I was still indeed, under contract, when then did the auto-billing, the draft stop? Why did the rates go up, after cancelling the contract? If I was still under contract and I was being charged, 38.95, 39.98 and other rates, not consistent with the 34.95 rate I contracted for, would then not [redacted] be in violation of contract? This claim is completely and utterly erroneous. I have never resigned a contract under [redacted] and /or [redacted] / [redacted] and did exactly what they asked me to do, when I decided to leave.