Statue of limitations for Vorwahl phone numbers

I received a notice from a vorwahl company stating that in September of 2005 they did not receive their money from Telekom and are now sending me a notice for 5,83 cents. 1,53 for the charges and the rest for Mahnung gebuehr. WHen can you say that itis too long ago? Is it one year, eighteen months, two years or never.

I posted last year concerning what happened. Telekom had used their own konto number and had paid my bill for almost eight months before they learned their mistake. They didn't know what to do, if I would pay the full amount, or pay their portion or waht. Eventually I was given 100 euro credit by Telekom concerning their mistake, because I was receiving these notices every couple of days from the outstanding accounts since Telekom took back their money. Now after a year since my last mahnung, I get this one in the mail. They never stop. Personally I find it horrible that they are allowed to charge a collection fee for the first notice of payment.

This is the "Verjährungsfrist" in German. For services supplied after 2002 the invoice can be provided up to 3 FULL years later. So for a service supplied anytime in 2005 they need to invoice by the end of 2008. They are within their rights to charge a Mahnungsgebühr for any reminder, but it must reflect the actual cost of raising the Mahnung (letter, postage) and any interest that may have accrued. If you don't pay this charge it would be difficult for them to persue it (as they would also have to prove you received the initial invoice in the first place, which could be difficult. As the root of this problem appears to be a Telekom cock-up, then I suppose you could contest it, but for the money involved it's simply not worth the time, effort and eventual cost.