What would you do in this situation ?

[bombini]

Firstly I am not sure if this thread is in the right forum so feel free to move

I have come home to find an answer machine message from a company that used to supply me some products stating that there is an unpaid invoice of £80 outstanding from November ! I am really shocked for several reasons as I have always paid for my products at time of ordering on my card and this is the first ive heard of it

The other thing that has annoyed me is the message was left on my landline and picked up by my dad who is now convinced im up to my eyeballs in debt, the lady that left the message mentioned court proceedings etc in the message which I know is breaking the data protection act. I used to work for a debt collection agency and there are really strict rules in place about what you can/can't say on a voicemail.

Obviously Im going to call them tomorrow and locate my statements for November but im not really sure what to do now and im really annoyed they have left that message !

What do you think ?

 

[joe90]

Before you call them Juliette, make sure you can find your statement for the period in question and when you have found the debit you are looking for, ring em give it to em both barrels!!

Good luck.

 

[oey]

I would also ask them for proof of the debt owed as November is an awful long time for something to be left without previously chasing payment.

I would ask them what the debt is for as I wont be suprised if they were chasing the wrong account!

 

[JDs]

Save the recording!!! For proof of harassment if it comes down to that.

 

[Chameleon]

I agree with Theresa...an awfully long time for an outstanding debt

Im sure you cant say what she did on the phone surely!

Do you have the invoice to hand? There must be a mistake as you say

 

[Rach]

And ask them why this is the first time they have contacted you since November!!!!

Fingers crossed that you get it all sorted x:hug:

 

[bombini]

I can't find statement anywhere and have a feeling it is my old business credit card which was cancelled beginning of year

I have found the invoice though so I definetly placed the order and would have given the card details at the time of ordering so it is there fault it wasn't taken. Im annoyed as it means ive now got to pay something I don't even have anymore grrrrr

 

[oey]

I would still fight your corner on this one!

 

[bombini]

I would still fight your corner on this one!

Yes your right, It could only happen to me !

I just can't believe what she said on the answermachine, something to do with court proceedings. I have only dealt with consumer debt not commercial so I have no idea if they could start legal proceedings.

Hopefully card company will send me the statements, if i have to pay for it then i will be really angry :irked::!:

 

[jenny]

Hiya

i have used tis company for years
i placed a order £260..

they invoice you a couple of weeks later

the products come within 2 days

i have never had problems with them


then... i get the same as you, a letter saying court action will be taken if payment is not sorted within days...

I called them to find out what is going on

they never send goods unless you pay for them, and i dont have an account with them.

they put me on hold passed me around accounts...then said someone will call me back
days later no call...this went on and on and on.

i got another letter..u ow me £60.00 etc

i was fuming at this point...called them back, they were happy to give me a slanging match(i said see you in court and put the phone down on them)

the problem was i later found out, the day i placed my order they didnt take the full amount on my card.

i would have paid without problems..the way i was treated made me stand my ground.

then a week later they sent me a letter to say they wrote it off

jenx

 

[Tammy BTN]

I wouldn't worry.. Unpleasant yes but i'd put it down to human error.

It costs between £40-£80 to issue a bad debt report depending on the company they are using. This person was probably a credit contraoller working from an old debt report of unpaid balances of 3 months and older of balances £50 and above.
They say they will issue proceedings but it's a long way away from that. By issue court proceedings - really means "if they say this you are more likely to pay before they pass your details to the debt recovery agency" .
All that probably happened is your payment didn't allocate your payment to your invoice so it get left as unpaid and comes on there report where they leave this message for everyone to clear it.

If you give the date, amount and method of payment they will be able to quickly reconcile.

It's horrible when you get a call like this but if you call calmly with all the info you'll have it sorted in no time..
It's happened to me a couple of times..... and at work i'm one of the mean people who send the accounts to credit control before issuing bad debts.

xxxxx