Wescot Credit Services - Sky Television

[N.P]

Hi again folks,

 

Looks like something else has popped up now.

 

Right, my girlfriend has recently informed me that has been unable to pay her Sky bill for a number of months, in fact 6 months multiroom service. I didn`t realise as I never watch TV, I`m always on the PC and only watch the odd DVD rental, as it`s cheaper than the Box Office.

 

She said she had planned to pay it off after Christmas, via installments as she is registered disabled with Arthritus, but it seems Sky have got Wescot onto her case.

 

Today she received the following letter, on red headed paper fading to white at the bottom.

 

It reads -

 

 

 

Date Of Issue: 07/01/2008 Wescot Ref: Yeah Client Ref: Yeah

FINAL NOTICE

Despite previous correspondence a balance still remains outstanding on the above debt.

Unless you make payment of £436.16 within the next 14 days a Claim Form/Summons may be lodged with Hull County Court or at the local Sheriff Court for residents in Scotland and subsequently issued to you for payment of the outstanding balance plus all statutory legal expenses, as follows:-

Amount Claimed* £436.16

Legal Expenses £95.00

Total Amount £531.16

Payment Due Before - 21st January 2008

 

 

 

Below this rubbish is a Girobank TransCash payment slip.

 

Now, as I say she genuinely was going to start payment on this after Christmas but they seem to have beaten her to the starting post with this.

 

She rang Sky before Christmas and explained she would pay it off in installments and they were fine about this, and also said once the balance is cleared the service would be turned back on.

 

The thing is, I can`t understand how it has gone unpaid for so long without any phone calls or letters from Sky, then suddenly she gets this red letter crap from Wescot.

 

I`ve told her to ring Sky in the morning and offer a token payment and tell them we will catch up soon, but we will not deal with these bullies in any way and will deal only with Sky.

 

I also think she should ask Sky for a copy of their complaints procedure and let them know she is not happy the way this account has been allowed to get out of control then sent to morons for collection.

 

I understand a CCA can`t be used as a defense to this, but I would appreciate any help anyone can offer.

 

I look forward to hearing from you guys and gals.

 

Regards

 

 

N.P.

[ThisVeryMoment]

Basically, its tough. You cant expect any sympathy if you simply stop paying for six months!!

 

Instead of blaming everyone else, blame the person who stopped paying. It was HER responsibility. They are hardly bullies for wanting money owed to them are they? To say you will offer 'token payments' and catch up soon is appalling. Would you accept that if YOU were owed money? No.

 

I cannot believe you are complaining. When creditors do call, people moan that they ARE calling!

 

You and your girlfriend give honest debtors a bad name.

[N.P]

Bump anyone?

[renegotiation]

Well, I know this much. Sky let us pay half and they switched us back on. That was for like £250 on a seriously overdue account. We eventually coughed up the £125. If you're ever short of cash what goes first? Has to be the Sky! :D If you ring them maybe they take 40%.

[ODC]

Negotiate with Sky and ignore the threats from Westcott. If you come to an arrangement with Sky make an official complaint about the attitude of Westcot. Sky are responsible for any DCA they employ

[N.P]

Hi boys and girls,

 

Right, we tried ringing Sky this morning but they wouldn`t have anything to do with us.

 

They said they can`t take payment or tell us anything as the debt had been sent to Wescot for collection.

 

Now, we have no intention of dealing with these fools as the debt is with Sky and not these empty heads with their red scary letters, yawn.

 

We have just logged into the account on the Sky website and made a token payment of £10 which the system accepted and printed off a receipt. Therefore, the amount that these numpties are chasing is now wrong.

 

I would appreciate any help with this in any way. Has anyone any idea how we can defent against Wescot so we can just pay of Sky. We don`t have the total amount claimed but can make small tokens every so often.

 

Wouldn`t they need a Deed Of Assignment to issue a Court Claim against us? Has anyone any cleverly worded letters we could throw at these morons in order to confuse and stall them?

 

Perhaps asking Sky for a copy of their complaints procedure might throw a spanner in the works?

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Regards

 

 

N.P

[ODC]

Send them this.

 

You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves.

 

I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (insert company name).

 

I am/we are familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

 

I/we would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

 

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

 

I/we would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my/our liability for the debt in question.

 

I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

 

I/we look forward to your reply.

[N.P]

Hi again boys and girls,

 

Right, we have another letter. This time from a moron Solicitor.

 

It`s from Nelson Guest & Partners Solicitors.

 

It reads -

 

 

Dear N.P`s lass,

Client Ref: Whatever Wescot Debt No: Whatever

Client: Sky Television Balance £426.16

We are instructed by Wescot Credit Services Ltd on behalf of the above named Client, in connection with the sum outstanding shown above.

Unless payment is made to Wescot Credit Services Ltd within 7 days of the date of this letter, legal proceedings for the recovery thereof may be commence without further notice.

In the event of Judgement being obtained, we shall seek all fixed costs and fees together with statutory interest on the outstanding balance.

Yours faithfully

S.A. Nelson.

 

 

 

Now, the above outstanding amount seems to have noticed we paid £10 off last week to try and confuse them, so I would appreciate some help on this.

 

She has no intention of dodging this payment as she would like the Sky turned back on. It`s just when she rang Sky they said she could just pay up when she could afford it and that there are no charges added on the account.

 

The next thing we get a very red letter from Wescot, claiming FINAL NOTICE, despite previous correspondence we have ignored blah blah blah. WE have never had anything from these morons or Sky. That is why we can`t understand how this account has been unpaid for 6 months, even though they didn`t actually turn it off untill just before Christmas, not that we`ll have missed much.

 

We are going to pay between £50 and £100 tonight when we get back in. The Sky website is still accepting payment via Debit Card. It`s just we don`t have the full amount and most vertainly WILL NOT be paying any third parties.

 

Would you suggest sending a copy of ODC`s letter to the Solicitors or not?

 

Does anyone have any idea`s on how to tackle this? Like I said, we are not going to pay a DCA for anything, ever. We will just keep making payments to Sky when we can afford it.

 

Hope to hear from someone soon.

 

Regards

 

 

N.P

[ODC]

Keep paying off the Bill on the Sky Site. No Court will give them judgement if you are paying it off direct to the OP, Nelson Guest are Westcotts in house tame solicitors. By the time they goet their act together you woill probably have the account up to date with Sky, Sky will want to keep your business. If you are paying Sky direct then Westcott are getting no commission and thats probably peeing them off hence the ''Solicitors'' letter

[diskmandave]

Does anyone have any idea`s on how to tackle this? Like I said, we are not going to pay a DCA for anything, ever. We will just keep making payments to Sky when we can afford it.

As Sky have told you that you can pay by installments and Wescot/Solicitors are making threats, they are now chasing a disputed account which against OFT debt collection guidelines...

2.6 h. ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment

 

2.8 k. not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt.

The full text can be found here...

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

 

Regards, Dave.

 

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[ODC]

I dont think Sky would accept instalments from the OP when they phoned them and they were told to pay Westcot. However the OP was able to cut Westcot out of the loop and pay on the Sky Website

[N.P]

Hi again,

 

Thanks for the posts DMD and ODC,

 

Keep paying off the Bill on the Sky Site. No Court will give them judgement if you are paying it off direct to the OP, Nelson Guest are Westcotts in house tame solicitors. By the time they goet their act together you woill probably have the account up to date with Sky, Sky will want to keep your business. If you are paying Sky direct then Westcott are getting no commission and thats probably peeing them off hence the ''Solicitors'' letter

 

That is our plan, to just keep paying Sky. The thing is, I can only really help her out every fortnight, that is when I get paid, and I have other bills etc to pay as well.

 

If they do put in a court claim, don`t we have 28 days to enter our defence? Can they add anything else in this time? If they issue a court claim, I may be able to clear the bill by the time of the hearing, in which case our defence could be that we don`t actually owe anything? Would that go down?

 

Regarding DMD`s post, well the thing is, that is what she was told on the phone about just paying when she can. They even said then she could have the service back on when she`s upto date, then the next thing was a letter from Wescot on red paper. She didn`t actually get anything in writing from Sky. We`ve never had anything from Sky at all.

 

Would it be wise to send Wesclots the `prove it` letter, just to try and slow them down? Surely we could ask for some sort of agreement between her and Sky and see what they come up with?

 

Thanks again guys.

 

Regards

 

 

N.P

[N.P]

Hi folks,

 

Right, we paid another £76.16 through the Sky website this morning. The bill is now down to £350.

 

We`ll send the `prove it` to these idiots at the weekend and see what happens next.

 

We`ll just keep paying through the Sky site until we`re squared up.

 

Regards

 

 

N.P

[N.P]

Hi again folks,

 

Just another thought.

 

On the proove it letter should I also request a copy of all the correspondence they claim we have had, together with proof of postage and delivery?

 

Should I also put me don`t deal with morons as we don`t owe them anything? We will deal ONLY with Sky, as Sky are the ones we owe.

 

Any help with comments and wording would be appreciated.

 

Regards

 

 

N.P

[ODC]

Hi again folks,

 

Just another thought.

 

On the proove it letter should I also request a copy of all the correspondence they claim we have had, together with proof of postage and delivery?

 

Should I also put me don`t deal with morons as we don`t owe them anything? We will deal ONLY with Sky, as Sky are the ones we owe.

 

Any help with comments and wording would be appreciated.

 

Regards

 

 

N.P

You have nothing to lose by making the morons do some work. Go for it.

 

Point out in your letter that you are paying Sky directly and that they are happy enough to take these payments and suggest that the Morons contact Sky themselves as you will only be dealing with sky.

[N.P]

You have nothing to lose by making the morons do some work. Go for it.

 

Point out in your letter that you are paying Sky directly and that they are happy enough to take these payments and suggest that the Morons contact Sky themselves as you will only be dealing with sky.

 

 

Hi ODC,

 

Thanks for the post.

 

I`ll add that too. I love that word `morons`, the Oxford definition means stupid people or adults with a mental capacity of a 9-11 year old. That describes these idiots perfectly.

 

Regards

 

 

N.P

[ODC]

Perhaps its a bit unfair to Morons to be classed the same as DCA operatives.

[N.P]

Hi again guys,

 

Right, I could do with some help on this letter to these turd burglars.

 

I`m not much good with technical, legal wording, so if anyone can come up with something it would be much appreciated. Obviously most of it will need to be deleted.

 

So far I have:

 

 

Dear Morons,

Further to your letter dated 07.01.2008.

 

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number.

Firstly, let me point something out to you morons. Your letter reads FINAL NOTICE, and states we have had previous correspondence. This is clearly nothing but lies as we have not have a single letter or telephone call from yourselves or Sky.

Secondly, the FINAL NOTICE is in big, black bold print, on red paper. This letter is obviously designed to scare, intimidate and cause psychological stress to the receipient.

 

I would point out that this debt is being paid directly to Sky and NO ONE ELSE. We will not fall prey to your bully tactics and intimidation techniques. If you have a problem with this then contact Sky.

 

I am familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance which states that it is unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

 

I would also point out that the Office of Fair Trading say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

 

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

 

I would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my liability for the debt in question, ie the last bill you have at our address, together with a copy of all the previous correspondence you claim we have received, together with proof of postage and delivery signatures.

 

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the Trading Standards department and consider informing the Office of Fair Trading of your actions.

 

I look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

N.P`s lass

I`m looking for something to let these knob sacks know we will deal only with Sky and no one else, and whatever else will pee them off.

I look forward to any seggestions or comments on this.

Regards

N.P

[N.P]

Hi again,

 

Right, just bumping this up as I`d like to get a letter away in the morning.

 

Thanks

 

 

N.P

[ODC]

NP

 

On the principle that less is more I wouldnt bother going into details with Westcot.

 

Dear W***** aka Nelson Gusset

 

I refer to your recent correspondence and your threats of legal action . Please Note that I have been paying this account directly to Sky by instalments which they seem more than happy to accept. It is my intention to bring this account up to date without any referral to yourselves our your ''clients'.

 

I am sure the Courts would take a dim view if you decide to proceed with litigation which would be a complete waste of MY time, your time and more importantly the Courts's time.

 

Please NOTE I will not be entering into any further negotiation or correspondence with you, your 'clients or anyone other than Sky television with regard to this matter.

 

If you do decide to take me to Court for a debt which I am already paying a copy of this letter will be presented to the judge.

 

 

yours etc

 

 

NP.

[N.P]

NP

 

On the principle that less is more I wouldnt bother going into details with Westcot.

 

Dear W***** aka Nelson Gusset

 

I refer to your recent correspondence and your threats of legal action . Please Note that I have been paying this account directly to Sky by instalments which they seem more than happy to accept. It is my intention to bring this account up to date without any referral to yourselves our your ''clients'.

 

I am sure the Courts would take a dim view if you decide to proceed with litigation which would be a complete waste of MY time, your time and more importantly the Courts's time.

 

Please NOTE I will not be entering into any further negotiation or correspondence with you, your 'clients or anyone other than Sky television with regard to this matter.

 

If you do decide to take me to Court for a debt which I am already paying a copy of this letter will be presented to the judge.

 

 

yours etc

 

 

NP.

 

 

 

 

Mmmm,

 

Yep, your right ODC, thanks for that.

 

Should this go to Wesclots or that other Solicitor idiot?

 

Regards

 

 

N.P

[N.P]

Hi again,

 

Right, I beleive it`s to that Solicitor idiot.

 

Thanks

 

 

N.P

[ODC]

Yep the 'Solicitor'

 

You will find that the letter from the 'Solicitor' was sent out automatically by the Westcot Threatomatic

[N.P]

Hi again ODC,

 

Thanks for that. Could you just confirm that the following wording is correct? The last sentence doesn`t seem to make sense to me -

 

It is my intention to bring this account up to date without any referral to yourselves our your ''clients'.

Regards

N.P

[ODC]

Nelson Guest are claiming that Westcot are ''their clients''