So Ive been being chased by Mackenzie hall for some time. They call me easily 5 times a day. I have an iPhone so i've blocked unknown calls, although a few still slip through. The annoying thing is, ive spoken to them, and told them outright that i WILL NOT give out any personal information over the telephone, and that if they wish to discuss the matter, to contact me by Post. Their perpetual calling wont change my view on the matter. Because they use spoofed numbers to call, Its made me paranoid about answering my phone, and i've actually missed some pretty important calls because of it. Having to delete two or three voicemails a day from their robot caller is getting on my nerves too. At what point does this become harassment and something i should report to the police?

I'm not sure what part of my post was "Hijacking" the thread. I was merely stating something that i had read elsewhere that i thought might be relevant. I'll avoid trying to be helpful in future lest i be accused again

Sorry to bump an old thread if this is I was under the understanding that a Gym cannot enforce their membership fees, regardless of what agreement you signed, if they do not allow access to their facilities. I.e if you miss a payment, and they refuse you access to their facilities until you pay your sub, they CANNOT chase you for those fees from a legal standpoint, because they have not provided you with the service during the time which you had not paid I am happy to be corrected on this of course.

Thanks for the advice. I guess i'll just wait for them to actually send me a letter. Now to focus on my legalcare problem again urgh..

So my phone has been ringing at all hours of the day (see my petition thread) It's PRA / Mckenzie Hall. ive been called as early as 7:30 am and as late as 23:15. I dont answer withheld numbers, but they have started using spoofed local numbers. When i am able to, i answer the call. They always Mumble who they are so it is barely audible and then ask "For security" personal detail which i do not give out over the telephone. I know what the call is regarding as I took one of those 12 month semi payday loans, and when i tried to contact them a couple of weeks ago to rexolve the issue they informed me that they had "sold" the debt to mckenzie hall and would not be able to discuss the issue. I tried telling them that i would not discuss anything with Mckenzie hall due to their reputation of being bullyish and unreasonable but got much the same answer again. Anyway back on point. They keep calling, and i keep giving them the same answer, to which they always say "we will take your refusal to pass security as refusal to co-operate and thus will carry on collection proceedings" digression number 2. given that they are not allowed to pass any information to anyone other than "the account holder" and demand this information to discuss it, does it not seem odd that they then tell "whoever" they could actually be speaking to, that there are collection proceedings against the intended recipient? So why wont these tools just do what they are supposed to and send me a freaking letter, telling me how much i owe? I'm not even trying to get out of paying it. I fully acknowledge that i owe money and am willing to pay. Im just not dumb enough to give out my personal details to any tom, dick or harry that happens to ask for it over the phone. not really sure where to go with it now as i'm still getting calls and voicemails etc etc. This close to christmas, with emploment contracts waiting to be renewed, im in no frame of mind to deal with some dodgy debt collector who cant even send a letter.

They also harass you from international numbers if you are late in paying. If, like me you dont answer international or annonymous calls, it can lead to... difficulties

The fact is they are still doing it AND using spoof mobile and local numbers to get you to pick up. I dont generally answer calls from numbers i don't recognise either, but when your mobile phone rings and it is a local number.. people are inclined to think it is someone they know who hasnt got a number stored in their phone or something. A spoofed number is just as bad as a withheld number. These parasites ought not be contacting you by phone until they have sent you a letter anyway, and yet they still do.

Guys, i've started an e-petition to try and stop DCA's and Collections departments calling on withheld numbers or "Spoofed" numbers. It also includes a bit about preventing those agencies from penalising people who refuse to give out personal information over the telephone I hope this is useful. the link is below https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/vince-cable-stop-companies-calling-anonymously-or-from-spoof-mobile-or-local-telephone-numbers-and-prevent-them-penalising-people-for-not-giving-out-personal-details-over-the-telephone#share Many thanks

I agree with you there. Its been a constant struggle over the last few years. I was discharged from the Services on Health grounds, was unemployed for 6 months after that, then got a new job but was very underpaid and now im finally in a place where i am healthy, and starting to earn decent money, but all that counts for naught if This situation comes to a head. I am hoping that it doesnt. and will endeavour to get the information out as soon as possible, but i suspect that any remittance will have to be gotten retroactively as i cant affford to take the risk of not paying them when i can afford it.

ok well i appreciate the advice. cant do much intil the info comes back from the necessary people.

not being fleeced. i was aware of the charges before i signed anything. I chose to go with a DMC because im a busy guy and trying to juggle several creditors is time consuming and im not an expert in how to deal with creditors anyway. Paying to have someone else deal with my debts is a perfectly viable option, as it takes the stress out of it. im not here to be insulted, i am well aware of my failings. I appreciate the advice and will use what ive learned today to try and square this situation away. But since you seem to be about to turn this discussion around and start insulting my intelligence, ill bow out. Have a good day

Dx you are right. The DMC told me this when i first explained that situation to them. I convinced them to leave the council to me as the DMC cannot garauntee that they can pay the bailiff on the correct day, and so the risk of levying goods would be increased. They DMC sent me a form with "how to deal with bailiffs and your rights" on it, however this is a bit late. I just want to get this debt cleared and stop worrying about it, but i live in constant fear that ill return from saudi thinking everything is ok and my car and or possessions will be gone. I've written to R&R asking for the list of charges etc etc. and ive written to my two local councillors explaining my situation and asking for them to help get the tax department to see sense. The Council tax department keep giving me these robotic responses, when all i want is for the Bailiffs to dissapear and let me deal with an actual human being who wont charge me £173 for the privelege

ploddertom - you are probably right. i've never bothered fighting in the past because in all honesty i accept that the debt is my fault and i need to pay it, and added fees are sort of part of the process. but it occured to me recently that i'm never going to get out of this cycle if the council don't stop being jackasses and actually give me some breathing room. they already have a liability order against me for this years tax too according to them. And they clearly couldnt give a crap about my situation and will quite happily keep piling on the bailiffs. If i wasnt leaving the country i'd go and see the council face to face

Yes there are goods listed on the forms and charges too. There are two accounts combined into one so there are two forms. because the council claims i defaulted on a previous agreement, although i received no such communication about it and thought it was cleared. The charges for the larger amount £1071 are £91.00 and the charges for the smaller amount £337 are £95. other than that the forms are the same barring the reference numbers

form 7 is, (although not in that exact format) one of the forms i have been left. All this information has thrown me off now. Am i in fact being illegally charge or not? (or rather does it look that way with the info ive given) I don't really want to complicate things any more than they have already been, I just want them to back off for long enough to allow me to pay them back without losing my car or posessions, But they are being so unco-operative as they always have been. The bailiffs are being exactly what they are, bailiffs. experts at extracting money. and over the 4 years that ive been dealing with them, i've begun to learn what i can and cant do, and my DMC have been pretty helpful. I understand that the council could have outsourced the tax department, but im not sure what relevance this has to my account, since if that is the case, going directly to the council will just have me running around in circles since the council themselves will be keen to get rid of me and just keep directing me at whoever handles these things for them. (unless i am mistaken) I will get the information advised, so that we can see if i am being lawfully charged or not, but really im not looking for a long drawn out battle, im just looking for advice on how to get the council to stop being this way and meet me half way

ok i'll send another email request to the council asking for more details. and to ross and roberts requesting that info too. Im going to have to do it by email though as im out of country for 6 weeks and by the time i come back ill have cleared the balance. but if i am being ripped off i will flip

the form with the agreement on it. it lists the balance, the amount per month and date of the agreement and the says any fee with a view to levy or make a new agreement will be charged at £173

That is actually interesting. i know for a fact they have charged me more than that. they have charged me three time that just for attending to set up the arrangements. THe form they left me with says they can charge me £173 per visit too. I do think i need to ask them to lay out the charges for all my accounts for the last 4 years since they have never had to attend once the initial arrangement was set up except last month with that cock up they made. but if they charged me for that then i will take it back to the council. although that will likely just get the usual response. Gosport council really are awful when it comes to council tax arrangements. Considering they are supposed to be bean counters they seem to have great difficulty understanding the concept of not having £1500 laying round in your bank account.

Thanks for the response. With a view to getting this information, may I ask what the purpose of this is? I just want to know the basics. Im leaving for Saudi arabia in a week and will be there for 6 weeks, so correspondance isn't going to be easy. My intentions are to have cleared the Bailiff balance by the end of this month and then this years balance shortly after. What i originally wrote to the council for, was to try and get them to call off their "Attack dogs" and give me some breathing room so that i could go to saudi, and do my job, without the constant distraction and worry of whether there were thugs trying to climb in through a bathroom window or something. It really is a case of just needing a bit of pressure taken off and some breathing room. Ive been dealing with R&R for the last 4 years and whilst most of my interractions with them have been fairly business-like, a couple of their bailiffs, including the one handling my account now, i don't trust any further than i could throw them Hallowitch - no. bailiffs have been in over the last 4 years to make arrangements and take inventory of my posessions, but it has never gotten to the point where they have turned up specifically to take levy my goods. Although at the start of may, due to a cock up on their part, a bailiff turned up claiming i was in arrears, when i showed him my bank statement proving i'd paid on time, he eventually left, but not after hovering for half an hour waiting for his boss to give him the ok.

Ok so ive had problems with council tax for years. It all stemmed from a girl i was living with and i breaking up and her leaving me with a huge pile of unpaid bills. since then i've pretty much been stuck in a vicious cycle of being unable to pick up one years council tax because im too busy paying bailiffs for the previous years. Ive recently started a new job, which will solve this situation, however, im a self employed contractor and have to pay for everything up front and claim it back from the company who are paying for my services. This poses a problem, as im on a DMP. The DMP itself isnt too bad, although i have no idea how long it is going to take to clear the balances because ive had to reduce my payments in order to pay... surprise surprise bailiffs authorised by the local council to collect last years council tax. Ross & Roberts are like all Bailiff companies, glorified extortionists. Ive paid so far £700 toward an original balance of £1300 and somehow my outstanding balance remains at £900.. They handled my case so badly at first that i actually emailed the council and tried to open a dialogue. i explained my situation in full and told them that IF they gave me some breathing room, i could clear both this year and last year's balances within the next 6 weeks. The response was basically an explanation of how the council process our tax arrears (something i already knew), a statement of my outstanding balances (again something i already knew) and what can only be described as a "Tough ****" statement regarding my situation. And a "recommendation" that i contact their office to discuss repayment options for this years balance. i have responded re-iterating my situation regarding the DMP and last years balance i.e i have NO spare income, and this financial restriction could potentially cost me my job and that being the case, NOBODY gets paid. I am aware that this situation is really my fault, and i have no intention to try and get out of paying my debts. My objection is that a government department such as the council whose responsibility is to look after the inhabitants should be a damn sight more understanding and flexible. Ive been told year after year by these idiots that if i miss one payment, i lose the right to pay by installments and must pay the full balance immediately or face the bailiffs again. NO other creditor has the power to treat people like this, and those are all optional ones. Without wanting to sound overly dramatic, it is almost fascist, the way that council tax is not only a madatory payment, unless you live on a canal boat or something, but you basically get stomped on with an iron boot if you miss a payment. based on what the council representative said to me, im basically going to be stuck in this cycle forever unless by some miracle i manage to weather the storm and get through the next 6 weeks without any further business expenses.. which is unlikely

Got a missed call from them today on my home telephone. Seems they are gradually getting my details from somewhere. seems like an awful lot of effort considering they arent going to get paid. I am almost tempted to just send the Statute barred letter to them just to get them to quit before it becomes an irritation. Which does remind me of something. I have an experian account, someone once told me that different credit scoring agencies had different files on each person, and so whilst my experian credit report might be clear, there might be things on a different report. Is this true or is my experian credit report, THE only report?

Thanks dx. As a general rule i never answer a number that is either witheld or i dont recognise anyway. Reading more about this company makes me suspicious of a call i had a couple of days ago actually. An indian sounding person called me and said they were from a company, i didnt catch the name because he said it very quickly and didnt pause before saying he wanted to advise me on some goverment legislation. Started quizzing me on if i had any debts or arears, and when i said no to all of his questions he replied "No debts at all??" but the tone of his voice suggested that he knew something. He eventually put the phone down, but i didnt really think about it until i read on these forums about some of the underhanded tactics that these people use. Anyway, thanks for the advice. Ill see how it goes.

Hi all, another newbie here. OK here is the story. Back in 03, i bought something from a mobile phone operator which allowed me to access the internet via a dongle. The cost of the use of this device wasn't explained to me properly, and this well know phone operator let my phone bill run up to over a thousand pounds before they cut me off. When i contacted them, they said that (even though i had been a customer of theirs for years) they had no references with which to set up a limit on my account and that is why it got so high. I argued with them saying I had been mis-sold the product and was not willing to pay. Being young and naive back then I eventually caved in and paid off part of the debt. They said they would accept a monthly installment plan for the rest of the debt, but only if i sent back a form which they would send to me and they received it within a week. The form never arrived and i never heard from them again. I totally forgot about this debt, as i kind of figured they had accepted liability for the remainder of the debt and given up. This week i received a letter from Mckenzie Hall, saying that they wished to speak to me regarding a "Personnal matter", and that if i was not the person the letter was adressed to, i should contact them to tell them. The monthly installment letter was supposed to arrive towards the middle of december 03 (if i remember correctly) I have read a lot of posts on this forum telling horror stories of what this company will do to try to get you to pay a debt. I am registered with Experian and no record of this debt is on my credit report. What i am worried about is that the letter seems to insinuate that there is a team of investigators looking for me. Whilst i am fairly sure that this debt is statute barred, and therefore I am in no way required to pay it, based on what i have read about this agency, I am not sure that they will take no for an answer. This is only the first letter they have sent me, and whilst I am certain that I will in due course receive many more. I dont have caller I.D on my phone either so it is possible that they will catch me on the phone, and i have no idea what i should say to them if they do. Im really worried about this as i am earning peanuts, on the bare bones of my backside as it is and even though i dont think i am liable for this payment, im concerned that any contact with these people will be enough for them to take as acknowledgement of the debt and chase me for it. i really don't know what to do, i hope someone can please advise me and give me peace of mind.