My buddy at the coffee shop fixed my credit mess in 10 minutes

I was sitting at this little place in Austin last month stressing about my credit score. It was stuck at 620 and I could not figure out why. This guy named Mark who works the counter saw me looking at my credit report on my phone and just casually asked what was up. I told him about a medical bill from like 2019 that I thought was paid off. He said go check the actual date on the bill and call the hospital billing department directly. I did it that same day and turns out they had a $45 mistake on their end that was reporting me as late every month. After I got it fixed my score jumped 50 points. Has anyone else found random small billing errors messing up their score?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_lewis17d ago

Man that's wild, I had almost the exact same thing happen with a utility bill from 2021. Was checking my report and saw this random $23 charge showing as delinquent. Called the company, turns out their system had a glitch after I moved apartments and never updated my final payment. Took one phone call, got it cleared in like 5 days, and my score went up 35 points. Always dig into the small stuff, collections especially love to slap on tiny bullshit fees.

aaron_perry17d ago

Man that's rough, I feel you on the tiny fees thing (gotta love how a few bucks can balloon into a nightmare). It's crazy how just taking that one phone call can save you from years of credit headaches over something so small. Good for you for not letting it slide, most folks would just pay the $23 and move on without knowing they could fight it.

riverh4917d ago

23 dollars is exactly the kind of number they love to tack on, saw it happen with my cousin and a medical bill for 18 bucks that somehow became a $400 collection when they added fees. @phoenix_lewis you nailed it about digging into the small stuff, most people ignore anything under 50 bucks and it drags their score down for years. I always tell folks to check their old utility accounts too, those are the ones that slip through the cracks the most when you move. Good call on fighting it, even a tiny win like that is worth the 20 minutes on the phone.