Hi I have been chased for a while by Rockwell for an old Halifax overdraft that they claim was never repaid when they closed my account. I knew that bank account had been closed in around 2001-02 and so I know this to be SB. The account was passed across the office to Fenton Cooper who keep sending threatograms and calling etc. I keep saying "in writing only" etc and putting the phone down. I'm quite happy for them to waste their time and postage costs but something I never spotted before just occured to me. Before I knew about this site and its fantastic advice, I spoke to Rockwell on the phone. I didn't admit the debt and nothing was in writing anyway but I did ask them to send whatever details they had to my little used hotmail address. I didn't bother reading the email as I know it to be SB. Today I looked in the hotmail account and read Rockwell's email, dated 25 April 2012. This is what it says: Dear maplins Re: Outstanding balance of £xxx.xx owed to Arrow Global Ltd (HBOS xxxxxxxxxxxxx) We can confirm that the above account relates to HBOS bank account that was opened on xx/xx/1996 account number: xxxxxxxxx our clients purchased the above account from HBOS on xx/xx/2003. They have since instructed us to deal with this account on their behalf. A payment of £xx.xx was made on the xx/xx/2004 to European collections. Our investigations lead us to believe that this matter relates to you and the balance above remains outstanding. Please complete and return the attached form including your repayment proposals. The above account is on hold for the next 30 days to allow time for your response. So Rockwell knew this debt was SB yet still attempted to collect and then gave Fenton Cooper the pleasure of wasting their time and money. Oh, and the payment in 2004 that they mention is a complete fabrication but even if it were true, the debt would still be SB. I'm bored with their tedious communications now so I'm going to send the SB letter. Is there anything else I can say about them attempting collection on a debt they knew was SB?

I had some outstanding Ebay fees from May/June that I completely forgot about until I received a letter from Newman Debt Collection a few days ago and started getting phone calls from them the same day (have received one a day since wednesday) I always hang up without confirming anything. On friday I paid the ebay fees through my ebay account NOT through Newman as I thought this would be a much easier way to do it. Received email confirmation about payment and an email stating my ebay account was fully reinstated (been 2 months since I used ebay so had no idea my account was suspended). Received phone call from Newman asking for payment I told them that I had paid ebay and so as far as I was concerned the account is settled. The agent then stated that I still had to paid an admin fee to them!!!! I hung up mainly out of shock. Has anyone had dealings with these idiots and can they actually chase me for an admin fee that has nothing to do with the debt to Ebay?

HI There I am wanting some advice about issues I have been having with the council who refuse to properly investigate a complaint i have made. In short, several months pregnant in March I had an issue with a waste collection on bin day who said he would help with the bin. On returning down the road, he flipped his middle finger at me, they flashed their hazards and left me standing on the end of the road. this wasn't the first altercation i have had with this collection team who had taken a dislike to my family This was one of many examples where the waste team had been (deliberately) missing my bin collection and then I have been left without a waste collection. This had happened about 7/8 times in a short period After losing tolerance after the lastest incident and after several phone calls and complaints i was promised by a waste manager that i would get a £10 refund for all the trouble I had, but could only claim this back at the end of the tax year Two months later when i pursued this, They then pretended this promise never happened, blaming a person who had left and then also told me that the person in the waste team who had been rude to me had been sacked. (which i felt was unusual to admit to as i thought those sort of things should be confidential). I then put in a complaint where they pretended to investigate it and wouldn't find in my favour, making out I had lied when the waste manager told me the person concerned had been sacked (i complained that they shouldn't have disclosed this as it broke data protection and said it wasn't sufficient can i pursue this in any other way as they are now telling me to go to the local govnt ombudsman and not to contact them again! their arrogance i find appalling and I'm upset at being called a liar!

I am thinking about sending this letter to Bannatynes as they are threatening to take me to court. Please let me know what you think. Thank you. Without prejuice : I am writing to express how very disappointed I am with your company. I feel you have failed to address my complaints, and your use of heavy handed collection techniques which I believe have no place in the business of dealing with consumers, as stated in the unfair contract term act 1977. I feel no contract has been broken myself, as I have signed no contract with you. so no terms and conditions were told to me. I believe I need a membership card with a picture of myself to use your facilities I have not received or used, ( i.e set foot in your gym.) I contacted yourselves to cancel my contract within 14 days of the contract starting, stating that I myself did not sign the contract which was in my name. I was informed that I was unable to cancel as it was a 12 month contract, which was very strong. I contacted Sue Roberts the club administor of Ashford kent branch and left messages but received no reply. So i feel that unfair terms in the consumer contacts regulations were have been apposed upon me, so will not stand up in a court of law. I will defend my case and costs will be awarded to me. So far I have paid £480 for faciilties i have never used, didn't sign a contract for and didn't want. As a good goodwill gesture I would have imagined Bannatyne's Health club would have at least changed the membership into my wife's name so she could at the very least use the facilities i was paying for. This was not the case. After speaking with your company several times about the fact that the contract is in the name of Mr x, but not signed by the same name, i would now like a copy of this contract sent to me along with my membership card, which up to this point i have never seen. Please understand that i have tried to resolve this matter with yourselves on several occasions, but since you have now threatened me with a CCJ, i feel i have exhausted every avenue with you. Please find enclosed copies of some case law that i have found relevant to this case, which i am sure the judge will find most useful. For the measure of damages in contract, see 12 Halsbury's Laws (4th edn) paras 1174-1176 and for a case on the subject, see 17(2) Digest (2nd reissue) 248, 1271. Cases referred to in judgments Addis v Gramophone Co Ltd [1909] AC 488, [1908-10] All ER Rep 1, HL. Bank of New South Wales v Milvain (1884) 10 VLR 3, Vic Full Ct. Bliss v South East Thames Regional Health Authority [1987] ICR 700, CA. Brown v KMR Services Ltd [1995] 4 All ER 598, CA. Davidson v Barclays Bank Ltd [1940] 1 All ER 316. Evans v London and Provincial Bank (1917) 3 LDAB 152. Gibbons v Westminster Bank Ltd [1939] 3 All ER 577, [1939] 2 KB 882. Hadley v Baxendale (1854) 9 Exch 341, [1843-60] All ER Rep 461, 156 ER 145. Heron II, The, Koufos v C Czarnikow Ltd [1967] 3 All ER 686, [1969] 1 AC 350, [1967] 3 WLR 1491, HL. Joyce v Sengupta [1993] 1 All ER 897, [1993] 1 WLR 337, CA. Monarch Steamship Co Ltd v Karlshamns (AB) Oljefabriker [1949] 1 All ER 1, [1949] AC 196, HL. Parsons (H) (Livestock) Ltd v Uttley Ingham & Co Ltd [1978] 1 All ER 525, [1978] QB 791, [1977] 3 WLR 990, CA. President of India v La Pintada Cia Navegacion SA [1984] 2 All ER 773, [1985] AC 104, [1984] 3 WLR 10, HL. Rae v Yorkshire Bank plc [1988] BTLC 35, CA. Rolin v Steward (1854) 14 CB 595, 139 ER 245. Wilson v United Counties Bank Ltd [1920] AC 102, [1918-19] All ER Rep 1035, HL. Cases also cited or referred to in skeleton arguments Hill (Christopher) Ltd v Ashington Piggeries Ltd, Christopher Hill Ltd v Fur Farm Supplies Ltd (Norsildmel, third party) [1969] 3 All ER 1496, CA; rvsdsub nom Ashington Piggeries Ltd v Christopher Hill Ltd, Christopher Hill Ltd v Norsildmel [1971] 1 All ER 847, [1972] AC 441 HL. Marzetti v Williams (1830) 1 B & Ad 415, [1824-34] All ER Rep 150, 109 ER 842. Prehn v Royal Bank of Liverpool (1870) LR 5 Exch 92. Seven Seas Properties Ltd v Al-Essa (No 2) [1993] 3 All ER 577, [1993] 1 WLR 1083. Victoria Laundry (Windsor) Ltd v Newman Industries Ltd (Couldson & Co Ltd, third party) [1949] 1 All ER 997, [1949] 2 KB 528, CA. Appeal and cross-appeal By notice dated 18 May 1994 the plaintiff, Udele Edirin Kpohraror, appealed from the decision of Master Tennant in chambers on 16 February 1994 whereby he awarded the plaintiff damages of £5,500 in respect of an action for breach of contract for wrongful dishonouring of his cheque against the defendants, Woolwich Building Society, contending that he was also entitled to recover special damages for loss of profit on the transaction and on ten further shipments which would have followed from it. By notice dated 7 June 1994 the defendants cross-appealed against the award on the ground that the plaintiff was only entitled to nominal damages. The facts are set out in the judgment of Evans LJ. Daphne Loebl (instructed by Anthony Gold Lerman & Muirhead) for the plaintiff. Katherine McQuail (instructed by Morgan Bruce, Cardiff) for the defendants. Cur adv vult I look forward to a speedy response. Yours Sincerley Mr x

Hi, Firstly, what a great forum with helpful knowledgeable people! I'd like to ask for advise too please: Background: I have 5 old style 93-97 loans. From 98 until 2005 I've lived in the UK but I've never earned the amount to repay so have successfully deferred every year For the last 7 years I've lived in the Caribbean, financially supported by my wife so continued deferring successfully. Since being abroad my mother has been the postal contact for SLC for forms, etc. In 2011 I completed my forms as usual, with my mother's new address, as my mother was here visiting me at the same time she took the deferment forms back to the UK to post. In 2012 I contacted them to see if I could defer online. Whilst I was talking to them they said they wanted to transfer me to 'trace' department to update my contact details. Whilst talking to 'trace' they said that they hadn't received my 2011 deferment forms and therefore hadn't received my mother's new address to post letters to, so there were arrears outstanding. I explained they must be lost by Royal Mail or somewhere in house at SLC. Soon after I was told my file was being transferred to Buchanen, Clarke and Wells to recover the debt and that I was to contact them. I contacted them by email and whilst waiting for a reply my mother received a letter from SLC saying my file had been transferred to Smith Lawson Company to recover the debts and had been charged an extra GBP 60 for the pleasure, despite me doing as advised by SLC to contact BCW. So, my questions to those knowledgeable people are: As I'm not earning any money and live abroad what 'legal proceedings' can they take towards me? Would my mother's address get bad credit rating as this is where my letters are being sent? Say I move back to Europe (but not UK) in the future and I got bad credit rating from this mess, would I get bad credit rating in Europe too? Any other advise, until I can afford to pay back what I owe? Thank you very much in advance, and apologies for the long winded explanation but I wanted to give as much info as possible.

Hi, I've been paying off a credit card that i defaulted on for about the last 18 months, paying a regular payment of £75. I now have only one payment of £78.50 left outstanding but unfortunately my financial situation is such that i'm not able to pay it straight away. The card company, Vanquis, passed it onto a debt collection agency, 1st Credit. the balance stayed at £78.50, this then went onto another agency, DHS, still the balance stayed at £78.50, but then it went to an agency called C.A.R.S and suddenly they want £84.19. is it possible for one agency to not add charges but another to add them on? i've read about C.A.R.S and lots of people have had problems with them. is it possible they might have just whacked on some extra money for the sake of it? because they're excuse is that that's the amount that was passed onto them. If anyone can advise me as to whether i can dispute this it would be much appreciated. Chris

Hi all, I think I know the answer to this, but wanted to get some advice if possible. In February I 'bought' a domain name on Sedo, a domain transfer site. My account was hacked, I told Sedo and they asked for proof - all of the account details had been changed to some Algerian guy's details. I told Sedo again and again, and eventually just asked them to close my account as they took weeks to reply, and weren't interested. I said I wouldn't be paying for the domain this person bought under my account, and thought that was the end of it. Anyway today I get a letter from a German Debt Collection company saying I owe them the Sedo commission fees of €100 and costs. I am a UK citizen, Sedo are a German company as the claim is from Sedo GmbH. Shall I ignore it, or engage them and tell them I'm not paying for XYZ reasons? Thanks.

Dear All, I became the victim of a fast-growing fraud last weekend, a con which I believe needs highlighting to the wider public, and in big style too. I was forced to sell my main computer, an iMac originally bought new 4 years ago. For ease of use (and because of the good experiences I'd made with them until now) I chose to put the computer up for sale on eBay, both as an auction and a 'Buy It Now' option. As you know all Apple products generally have a high resale value; I was hoping to get at least £400-500 for it, so I set the Buy It Now price at £525. Less than 2 days into the auction, the item was snapped up by a buyer with an (admittedly) very low number of transactions, but 100% positive feedback -- still the only thing to go by when checking for a buyer's/seller's integrity on eBay. After his initial contact asking for my phone number, I received a call on Friday night as to whether I would agree to the Mac being collected. I was okay with this, however, telling him in which case only cash would be acceptable -- for two reasons: 1) PayPal transactions can be reversed, a procedure they call 'Chargeback'; and 2) PayPal only provides for seller protection if items are shipped by tracked courier. The next morning, and contrary to our agreement, I received a payment for the full amount via PayPal. Less than five minutes later, a lackey (presumably the buyer's mate) rings the doorbell and asks if the Mac is ready for collection. In my naivety (and in the spur of the moment) I agreed to the hand-over of goods, in good faith that this was a bona-fide transaction. What else is one to do within 5 minutes? The lackey makes off with my Mac -- no receipt, no signature, no CCTV, no witnesses, and I could still kick myself for not following him to his car to take the registration -- and less than 12 hours later I received an email by PayPal informing me that the transaction had been reversed due to 'unauthorised use' of the buyer's PayPal account (which, incidentally, was not in the name of the buyer, as I found out later through checking electoral roll records). As one can imagine, the buyer now does not respond to any of my messages (the phone number used is disconnected; presumably a pay-as-you-go SIM card bought solely for this purpose). Needless to say, I feel absolutely shattered and like a complete idiot. On following this up with the fraud department at PayPal, I was told in no uncertain terms that I can kiss my iMac bye-bye and that "this wouldn't have happened if I had abided by their safety protection" (i.e. shipped the computer). I have now reported this crime (as I believe this is exactly what it is) to the police, although they will in all probability not follow this up since it is a civil law matter, and the chances of a successful prosecution of the fraudster are pretty slim. What's more, the name and address of the PayPal account the buyer used (or abused) do not match with electoral roll records, which makes me believe that the whole 'unauthorised use' claim is poppycock anyway. Quite apart from that: I may be old-fashioned, but it is the PayPal account holder's responsibility to prevent unauthorised access to their account: their email address is analogous to a credit card; their login password to a PIN. Now, my main gripe -- and the real issue here -- is not so much with the conman (nor his lackey, who may be completely oblivious to the fraud, nor the allegedly-'hacked-into' PayPal account holder), but with eBay themselves, who insist that PayPal be offered as a payment method even for collection items, at the same time PayPal flatly denying all responsibility to the seller (i.e. me) in case there is a dispute, and only siding with the buyer, fraudulent or not. This is in addition to the fact that they are one-and-the-same company. In other words I, as a seller, am not allowed to state 'cash only' on collection (I will get penalised for this), but am not protected by PayPal (which is being touted as a 'safe' payment method in the same breath). I don't believe that PayPal should be allowed to weasel out of their responsibility, because with their opaque terms, conditions and requirements they are effectively facilitating criminal actions such as this. The issue was already highlighted by the Guardian consumer protection section (guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jan/27/is-paypal-safe-protection) a couple of months ago, but I feel it needs to be brought out again so that eBay/PayPal will be pressured into a change of their T's&C's, and into acknowledging at least partial responsibility. I believe there have been a great deal of people recently who were stung really badly in the same manner, and a great many call-to-action groups sprouting against PayPal's more questionable techniques online. Lastly, ever since PayPal has located their headquarters away from the UK (they are now based in Luxembourg) I wonder whether they are still bound by FSA rules (they used to be); if not, their status of a de-facto 'bank' should be brought into question, and maybe relegated to a simple money-wiring network, in which case they are no more secure than Western Union, Moneygram et. al., the very companies that they accuse of being 'dangerous'. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Is it worth pursuing the matter through the courts? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and please forward to as many people as you know, because this type of fraud needs to be stopped. Thanks, Jay

Hi I wonder if anyone can help! I ordered an assembled wardrobe from Very.co.uk that was delivered on the 31st May. It was delivered in two sections and when I unpacked the first section I discovered some damage on the inside of the wardrobe. I phoned them that evening and was told they would arrange for someone to pick it up. I'm now being told that I have to allow up to 28days from the day they informed their supplier (Consort). They informed Consort on the 5th June, so that's up to 33 days from delivery is that correct because it seems like a really long time to have a four door wardrobe in my hall way. I also have children so am quite worried about H&S. I have been back and forth with veryHQ but they are sticking to this.

Ok heres the story, I have a credit card with Halifax, and I was unable to keep up payments for a while, they sent my debt to Moorcroft Debt Collection, I have been paying on time through a direct debit, bar one time when I was forced to temporerilly cancel my direct debit, after which they called me and we set it up agian, payments since have all been on time again. This month I had a payment I was not expecting leave my bank, which resulted in a failed direct debit, I have recieved no phone calls only one letter stating they want me to pay the outstanding balance by return of post, I was wondering if they can say I have to pay that way seeing as I do not have a cheque book? I also hate cheques they are an outdated form of payment. They do not know I do not have a cheque book because they haven't bothered to call me, I have sent them an email demanding they call me on Monday or I will contact the financial ombudsman, because I find this demanding a form of payment I am unable to make is very unreasonable. I just want to make a payment from my bank (whether its a direct debit or card payment I don't care) is it within their rights to demand I pay by cheque, they also thretened further action if I do not comply. I have also emailed Halifax with this complaint, is it within reason to ask them to take my debt back if they contact me, after I have been paying Moorcroft for so long? (about 6-7 months) Edit: I want to get this debt cleared as fast as possible, and my previous arrangement with them was fine, until they drop this on me, because of one problem with my direct debit and all I want to do is honour the origanal agreement I made with them. Edit Pt2: Also this letter demanding I pay by return of post only is the only contatct I have recived from them since this direct debit was rejected, is it even legal to demand one form of payment when they are completly oblivious as to the means I can pay?

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/debtcollecting-note.html

But they have taken no action against them, not even a slap on the wrist, just a 'don't be naughty' letter. I have said it so many times, these departments are completely useless and should be closed down. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18160539 The OFT says if they do it again, they could face a fine 'up to' £50,000 - Wonga makes about that much in profit from a £200 loan.

Hi My partner left her previous employer around 6 months ago and she received a letter a couple of weeks ago from a Debt Collections Agency. It states that the overpayment of £178 was a "mistake" but the letter includes no details as to how this calculation has been made. It also said her previous employer had tried to contact her to resolve, but been unsuccessful, however she had received no previous correspondence from them. We wrote the DCA an email stating that we require confirmation of how the overpayment was calculated and that we were not willing to deal with them because it's a dispute between ex-employer and ex-employee. They have since sent a threatening legal action, but still have not provided any details about the overpayment. They have also added a £15 administration charge!! We would be very grateful for any advice you may be able to provide about what our rights are. 1) Do you have to deal with a debt collections agency when this is a dispute between an ex-employer and an ex-employee? What are our rights? 2) No details of how this overpayment was calculated have been provided by your previous employer or by the debt collections agency, so how do we know this is legitimate 3) Why should we have to pay an admin charge to a debt collections agency that we didn't want to deal with?! It's not like we asked them for their service, surely any moneys for their services should be paid by the employer?? Thanks Keith

I live in US but needed certain legal advice in Netherlands on a civil matter. I signed the engagement letter and we had an agreement that I would pay EUR 5,000 as a deposit but lawyer will not incur charges/hours above the deposit amount without prior authorization from me (the agreement was oral and not in writing). During the course of my dealings with the law firm, I had couple phone conversations, one meeting in person and a 6 page letter summarizing my situation. I was under the impression that the charges were still within the deposit amount previously paid. I never heard from the lawyer requesting to go over the amount. Once our dealings were over, imagine my surprise when I received a bill for an additional EUR 15,000. The legal firm (Loyens & Loeff) sent me various bills and I kept explaining that I did not authorize extra charges. The firm finally sent my case to a collection agency in Netherlands. Can a collection agency in Netherlands collect a debt from me in US? Will they go to court in Netherlands? Any advice on what to do in the current situation is really appreciated.

Hi i need some help regarding ScotCall Dept Collecting Services. I had a River Island store card when i was 18 and never payed it off, in fact I have never payed any money towards this card. I'm now 25 away to turn 26 soon and they are looking for £175.39. These letters came out of the blue a while ago. The dept was with some other company before but has now been passed on to ScotCall. I have been just chucking these letters in the bin. I could keep ignoring them but i think i'ts about time i got them to stop wasting paper and save some tree's : ) by the way i live in Scotland any advice would be great and thank you in advance.