Ripped off by BYU

I am LIVID. As I hunt for a home of my own, my alma mater has decided that they want to ruin my chances for no apparent reason other than laziness.

In early December, I got a letter from a collections agency. BYU had decided that I owed $80 for something. Instead of attempting to contact me, they sent it straight to a collection agency! Sure this must be a mistake, I called them, but the company gave me a bureaucratic run-around, and I never got to talk to anyone. Then I started calling BYU.

After about 5 phone calls, I learned that the sport jacket I had checked out from Performing Arts Management for a Vocal Point tour was never returned. I called my VP director, and we sorted out that he had it, he contacted them, and everything was supposed to be fine.

A few days later, I noticed that the account had not been cleared, so I started making phone calls again. I contacted PAM (performing arts) and the lady there said she had called it in to financial services, but she'd check again. She called me back later saying she had gotten hold of them and it was all cleared. That night, I got an automated email from BYU saying the debt had been cleared.

The next day, I got another automated email, and the debt was back! I started making calls. 4 phone calls later, the student working at Financial Services told me that the person in charge of this sort of thing wasn't there, but there was some kind of glitch that had put the debt back on. They'd sent an email to the person in charge, and it should be fixed.

A few days later, it still wasn't. I called again. It was now December 19th. I told the girl there that I was concerned, because the letter I got said if they didn't hear from me by the 27th, they'd assume I acknowledged the debt. She said she had put a flag on it and it would NOT go into collection.

Today I got a letter postmarked December 29th. (10 days later) The account is in collection. Those idiots at BYU who kept promising me that this wouldn't happen let it happen. From the literature I've read, my credit score will now be impacted by this. 80 freaking dollars. I would have paid $80 I didn't owe if I knew it would come to this.

Now I have to take several hours off of work on Monday to drive down there (I'm done trying to deal with these people on the phone) and get this sorted out.

I'm so glad that the institution that sends me six letters a year asking for donations doesn't care enough to:
- Make good faith efforts to settle problems before jumping to outside agencies
- Hold employees accountable to keep the promises they make
- Show that my concerns are valid by explaining what is happening
- Return my phone calls

Thanks a lot, BYU. I'm glad you're not above making me pay for your mistakes.