Up until recently, I lived in an area where Shaw Cable, Internet and telephone were available. I had subscribed to this bundle and was asked to sign a two-year commitment, which I did.

Because of circumstances, I had to make a move to Oliver. I contacted Shaw to transfer my service to Oliver.

I was informed that they did not have cable service or Internet or telephone in Oliver. I was surprised and thought it was unfortunate. Nevertheless, I had to discontinue my service when I moved.

I discontinued my service as of August 5, 2016 (the end of my billing cycle) and made arrangements for Shaw to send someone to pick up all their equipment on that day.

I received an invoice dated August 8 for $825.44 for unreturned equipment and a service adjustment.

A few days later, I received a voicemail stating that I owed for unreturned equipment. I then received another call to say that I owed approximately $600 for the balance of the equipment and service adjustment.

I indicated that all the equipment was picked up by a Shaw representative on August 5. On August 26 I received a voice message stating that if I did not pay my bill within 30 days they will send my debt to “collections.”

Sending my invoice to collections impacts my credit rating. I called Shaw and eventually spoke to Monica – supervisor of payment solutions. It seems that the Shaw representative finally returned the equipment which he had taken from my home on August 5. The balance owing was now $235.20 which represented the balance of my two-year contract.

I explained again that I would be happy to continue with my two-year service agreement but Shaw does not provide the service in Oliver. I am not cancelling the two-year agreement — it is Shaw who is defaulting on the agreement by not having service available.

Monica, the supervisor, says that this doesn’t matter because I agreed to the two-year service agreement. She was prepared to reduce the amount to $150. That was not an acceptable compromise for me.

How can anyone, including a large corporation like Shaw Cable, charge for services they cannot provide? Has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone have any advice?

I’m concerned about Shaw proceeding to collections and having my credit rating impacted.

Vi Brown, Oliver