<p>I recently interviewed with at&t for an engineering position and the interview went great. I am hoping I will get an offer from them soon. BUT I have an unpaid at&t bill from about three years ago for about $200. I didn't pay this bill because I disputed it since they overcharged me a couple of time before. Instead I disconnected their service and switched to a different carrier. Now I am scared they will somehow find this balance and reject me because I owe them money. I will pay it right now but my money situation is kinda tight too. What should I do?</p>
<p>bump…anybody? I am very nervous about this.</p>
<p>was the bill reported to a debt collection agency?</p>
<p>Paying it now won’t do any good if it was, and if AT&T requires a credit check as part of the hiring process, the unpaid bill could have caused a ding on your score. I don’t think the credit check would disclose what account(s) were not paid, just as a part of your credit score/history. If this is your only unpaid bill, and you otherwise have good credit, this might not have hurt your score too much.</p>
<p>I don’t know, though, if they run the names/social security numbers of job applicants through their data base.</p>
<p>Don’t think it will be a problem. It was disputed correct? Have you checked your credit report if it is a ding to that? Honestly I doubt if they would place $200 for collection. There are costs involved that probably would exceed that amount. Don’t worry but be prepared if it comes up again. Explain it was a dispute. Good luck.</p>
<p>I don’t quite understand - you disputed the bill and switched carriers, and nothing has happened since? I do know people whose bills have gone to collections with only $200 owed, so if you have not been contacted, the likely result is that they decided to cut their losses and not pursue things with you. I think it is unlikely that they would know about an unpaid, disputed bill and just as unlikely that they would care.</p>