Unpaid bills

[Monica_G]

I need advice please.
My roomate suddenly left 8 months ago and she left me with huge amount of debt (rent, gas, etc). Since all the bills were in my name I paid most of them all and i moved to a new place now. I was thinking i can start a new life but i just got a call from the internet provider (BB) saying that i still have to pay the bills even though i had moved since 7 months ago. I paid the bills until the month i moved and i also returned the router plus all the cables that they gave to me. I also had called them regarding the cancelation, but their argument since i haven't sign the cancelation paper they still charging me the monthly base.
Now I am thinking of not paying. I have not tell them my new address and i am thinking about changing my phone number since that is the only number that they know. Do you think this company will pursue this case to court, or put me into criminal record if i don't pay? The unpaid amount is around 38.000 yen and i think it will increase since its monthly base. What do you think should i do?

[sillygirl]

How good is your Japanese? I would explain this instead of running away.

You can get free legal advice in English at your local prefectural International Association. Google 'your prefecture' international association. These places are wicked for free internet access, library/book swap, notice boards etc. (Plus bumping into all the gaijins you usually try to avoid - think blokes wearing socks with shorts or girls with fat asses and loud accents.)

[kurohinge1]

... Do you think this company will pursue this case to court, or put me into criminal record if i don't pay? The unpaid amount is around 38.000 yen and i think it will increase since its monthly base. What do you think should i do?

Any advice you get here (particularly mine) may only be worth what you paid for it ... nothing.

If you're lucky, someone will post a similar experience they had with a Japanese ISP (perhaps even the same one) which may provide a hint as to how the company will act.

I'm not familiar with Japanese local laws but I strongly suspect that this dispute would only be considered a civil matter, not a criminal one.

Lastly, the amount you mentioned (38,000) would seem to be uneconomic to chase via the Courts as it would cost more in fees and disbursements than the amount in dispute.

As a fall-back position (to ensure that the fees don't continue), it would be wise to ensure that you've signed the "cancellation papers" now - but maybe back-date them to when you rang them to cancel in the first place!

Just my 2 cents & feel free to ignore all of the above.

After all ...

[kamome]

If they have your bank account info and were previously withdrawing the fee from your account on a monthly basis, they could automatically debit the amount from your account if they feel you won't ever pay. So if you're going to change your phone number, change your bank account info as well.

[flotsam]

don't pay. they'll give up after a year or two. these companies exploit every possible avenue to rip you off and keep you paying, but in the end they can't make you. about four years ago i changed providers and the old company wanted me to send the modem back at my own expense and said they'd keep charging me rental if i didn't. naturally i told the bitch on the end of the phone that she was having daydreams. four years later i haven't paid a single yen and their precious fucking modem is a proud pebble in the first cofferdam at centrair. they've given up sending bills and phoning since i threatened to set my killer budgies on them too.

[Mike Oxlong]

Had a similar experience to Flotsam years back with a telephone line rental biz. The end of the year they suddenly claimed I hadn't paid for July. No mention of it on the Aug.-Nov. bills, just a sudden new bill for good ol' shichi-gatsu. I told 'em it'd be a cold day in hell before they got a double-payment outta me. They hasseled me for the better part of the following year, then gave up.

[Monica_G]

Thank you so much to all of you for your nice advices.
I can speak japanese fluently, so I think when they called me that time they already understand that i had paid the service, called them regarding the cancelation and returned the modem, however they still presistent to ask me money because the contract still alive until now. That time I told them i would not pay anything for the remaining bills.

Now, I will stay with my decision to not pay this unpaid bills and change my phone number asap. In addition, I will try to consult this case further more to a foreign legal advisor near my place.

Thanks again for all the advices.