I believe in paying my debts and haven't had any troubles in the past. Recently, I have experienced a very strange situation.
6 or 7 years ago, our family went to a hair salon. Over the span of a year, all members of our family received hair cuts and occasional massages. At the time, we paid with American Express. The salon was sold to another owner and we stopped going there for service. About 5 years later (2 years ago), I got a phone call from someone claiming to be the husband of the previous owner. He explained to me that, even though they had taken my credit card, NONE of the charges had ever been sent (and thus paid) by American Express. The total came to about $1300. I didn't know if it was for real at the time, or simply a scam, so I told them to send me the details and I would look over them. I did get some hard copies of receipts showing my credit card was processed, but they were expecting me to take their word for it that a mix-up occurred and they didn't settle on the funds. I called American Express and they told me they couldn't see my records, but I could special order them and get up to 7 years of records.
My dilemma is this, while I didn't know the card was not being charged back then, I do believe that they never received funds from my credit card (and thus, I never really paid for the services). I believe this because others in the area also used this salon and they mentioned that this salon didn't charge ANYBODY over the span of 1.5 years when they used American Express.
I guess I am trying to justify my not paying this bill, and am wondering what legal precedent exists for allowing a business owner to go after funds for old services and if they have an obligation to seek funds for a limited amount of time. While I know there are bigger legal issues out there, any 'legal' advice would be greatly appreciated.

