Debt should have never existed

I am one of the many people who have been caught up in this situation due to a change of address. I was unaware of the letter which was sent out, and by the time I finally received a text and was able to go online to check what was going on, I had been given a debt of $2056. Naturally, I freaked the eff out in a spectacularly embarassing way whilst at work.

What followed was an absolute nightmare. I did everything which was required and submitted information for reassessment, whist stood pending for at least a month.
I assumed that the pending assessment would occur quickly and my debt would be placed on hold until the outcome was finalised... which was apparently a mistake to assume. On Dec 30th I was sent an email saying my debt was now a week overdue, and an extension could have only been possible before the debt was calculated.

Though I was 100 percent certain that I did not owe anything, I reluctantly set up a payment plan as I was told it would be handed over to a debt collector on the Monday, and I did not want a possible black mark on my credit record. This was one of several instances where I was given the impression that those I spoke to believed I had done the wrong thing. I was also told that the department organising the debt reassessments were on holiday until the 3rd, and should call back then.

I called back. And was told that I could not be given a timeline as it was being run through a computerised system, but to call back on Thursday the 12th.

I called back again, and unluckily my call was answered by someone who gave me one of the worst experiences in this whole process. I was told that I had been "credited" approx $1300 and now "only owed" over $500, plus a 10% recovery fee.

I stated that there should be no debt there as all provided information was correct. I was then told that I "must have reported my earnings wrong", which I absolutely did not do at any point. Every statement or question I made after that point was met with the same repeated script, which contained a lot of jargon about weeks matching up and how the debt was calculated. By this point I was extremely upset due to both the progress of the call and some unrelated circumstances, and could not fully follow along with what was being said. I informed the person I was speaking with of this, however the same scripted quote was read off again.

I hung up and called again to talk to someone else. Best choice I've ever made.

"Ashleigh" assured me that there was no script on her desk, as she did not like clutter, and proceeded to be the first actual person in this whole process who physically looked at my details and the information I had provided. She also immediately found that the underlying issue was that Centrelinks fortnightly period for reporting was a week off my employers fortnightly pay period. This was fixed up by Ashleigh, and I have a final debt of the expected $0.

This whole situation has been extremely stressful and caused me to emotionally break down a number of times. Most people in my situation have worked hard to gain full time employment so that they did not have to rely on Centrelink benefits and, like me, have been caught up in this ridiculous mess. I am still waiting to be repaid the $200 from the payment agreement I was forced into following the threat of a debt collector and a possible black mark on my credit record.