Say I Owe $143.76 From 2009

In 2009 I cancelled a dating site's free trial. 17 years later, their records still say I owe them $143.76, and my account is still blocked over it.

What happened

I signed up for a free trial on a major dating site and cancelled before the trial ended. A charge hit my card anyway. I disputed it. The site then closed my account with a balance still on it. That was November 2009.

I did not owe that money then, and I do not owe it now.

Round and round

I went back to them in 2010 and again in 2012. Each time I got a case number. That makes three. None of them ended with an answer. The balance just sat there, year after year, and I figured it would eventually go away. It did not.

Why zombie balances matter

I call these zombie balances. A small old charge stays on a company's books long after anyone remembers the reason for it. It can block your account, follow you into new sign-ups, or get sold to a collector.

Many states limit how long a company can sue over old debt. Those rules differ from state to state, so look up yours. A time limit on lawsuits is a separate question from whether the balance is still sitting in a company's records.

What I did this week

I sent a short written dispute. It says I do not owe the balance. It lists every prior case number, so nobody can claim they have no history on this. It asks for written confirmation that the balance is removed and the account is reopened.

I wrote it so that anyone reading it could understand the whole story in under a minute. I will see what they do with it.

Takeaway

This could have ended in 2009 with a few minutes of paperwork. Here is what I would do differently, and what I am doing now.

- Cancel free trials in writing, and screenshot the confirmation.
- Keep every case number. They are your proof that you tried.
- Dispute old balances in writing.
- Never pay just to make it go away. Paying a charge you do not owe can cost you the argument.
- Ask for written confirmation that the balance is removed.

If you have a balance like this on an account you closed years ago, start the paper trail today. It costs nothing, and it is much harder to ignore than a phone call.