This is a really stupid story but here goes . I got a parking ticket which I promptly paid . A few weeks later I got a bill for the paid ticket and immediately called relevant authorities to sort it it out , apparently the transport authority had just integrated a new software system and they were working out a few bugs , they acknowledged that I had definitely paid and I was in the clear but informed me that I may get up to 4 or 5 bills as they were automated and that the fine was paid and to just ignore them , this is where things get interesting . Sure enough more letters came which I happily ignored and went on with life . I got a little worried after the 6 th or 7 th letter arrived and decided to call them back , opened the latest bill to get the free phone number , only it wasn ' t from the transport authority . It was from a collection agency . I had bought a tablet months ago worth 2 grand on a 24 months interestpayment free type deal , the payments weren ' t due but they had sent me a bill for a $ 60 yearly admin charge which I had ignored because I stupidly thought it was to do with the parking ticket . Over a month or 2 and 5 further letters it progressed from due to last chance to referred to collection agency to outright getting the letter from the collection house . They transferred the whole debt to the collection agency over the $ 60 admin fee . My credit is now fucked . The ironic thing is , none of the letters were to do with the fine , they were all in relation to the fucken tablet , I never got any of the 4 or 5 letters the transport authority said would arrive . So credit screwed for 5 years and possibly for life because I ' m dumb . This sent me spiralling into a pretty extreme depression episode which I ' m only just starting to climb out of . Moral of the story is , open your fucken mail .