Hello, I've been receiving letters from Harlands / CRS for the last six or so months (I'm not actually sure how long, I wish I stored the old letters). They claim that I owe £186.47 due to cancelling my direct debit, failing to close my account and whatever extra admin fees they decided to throw on after each letter. I've already read a few posts about Harlands on here and I can see that plenty of people have been in similar situations. I originally submitted my cancellation request approximately 30 days before the end of my 12 month contract using the Xercise4Less membership website. There were no official cancellation options on there from what I could see but I did submit a request using the contact features on there and asked to be notified if I needed to cancel via. a different method. I called Harlands after one of the first letters came through and they said that they can't close the account without notification from Xercise4Less so I called the gym and they said that I need to speak to Harlands... I got quite frustrated with this and basically ignored the letters after reading that Harlands don't really have all that much power in regards to legally forcing me to pay up. It's gotten to the point where Harlands are threatening legal action and although I doubt they'll bother I'd rather deal with these claims before it gets the chance to escalate any further. I sent the following response to them last night: ------- Dear Sir or Madam, I'm writing in reference to a debt collection letter stating that I owe a sum of £186.47. These claims are in spite of the fact that I requested cancellation of my account with Xercise4Less / Harlands on two separate occasions; the first being 30 days before the end of my 12 month gym membership was due to expire and the second attempt being over the phone after receiving a letter from Harlands stating that my account was in arrears. As I mentioned over the phone to one of the customer service representatives at Harlands my initial cancellation request (submitted around 30 days before the 12 month period) was sent using the contact features on the membership area for Xercise4Less and explicitly stated that if there was an issue using that as a cancellation method to please contact me. From what I can see the contact form/feature I used at the time has now been replaced by 'Fisikal', some kind of ticketing system. Although this doesn't look much more professional either, there are some typos that need fixing... It's clear that phone calls don't seem to work in the resolution of this matter since I am still being chased up for debt that is solely a result of negligence on the side of Xercise4Less and/or Harland's side - either with staff or the systems in place. I'm well aware that CRS is just another branch of Harlands so I also contest claims that a fee has been incurred as a result of this credit resolution being passed on to 'them'. It's also important to note that trying to impose admin fees is unenforceable and can be reported to the Office of Fair Trading for investigation. Since you are threatening me with court action I want to be clear that I'm willing to contest all charges. I also request a detailed invoice proving that Harlands / CRS / Xercise4Less have incurred any actual losses. Regards, My Name Here ------ Now, I'm honestly not all that clued up on my consumer rights and feel like points in that email are me talking absolute crap. So far I've had no response but I'm a bit anxious about being called out on the points I made. Any advice? Thanks, -Strider

I recently received a demand from lowell portfolio1 asking for £322.34 which is alleged I owe to 3 mobile.Lowell said they bought the debt from 3. I replied stating that I had a 3 month old phone that was faulty, but 3 would not pay to have it repaired as they said the PCB board was not covered under warranty (according to Carphone Warehouse who did the inhouse repairs for 3)... To cut a long story short, I sent a letter recorded delivery to 3 (received by them and signed for)with the phone stating that they have contravened the Sale of Goods Act 1979, as they have sold me a phone that is faulty and have refused to repair, or replace it. I also quoted that they contravened the Misrepresentation Act 1967, as the phone they provided me with does not do what they are claiming (The phone would lose its connection midway through a call, The phone would not send around 85% of text messages, I couldn't get a signal at work etc)......... I therefore stated that as they have broken the terms of the contract, my contract is null and void. I then cancelled my direct debit after the next monthjs payment went out. The letetr was my 1 months notice to cancel, although 3 broke the terms of the contract by contraveneing the above 2 laws........ Fast forward about 3 or so years, and I get this letter from Lowell portfolio1 saying they have purchased the alleged debt from 3, and I now owe Lowell the money. I replied by asking for a copy of their Consumer Credit Agreement and a copy of my contract with Lowell that I signed and dated. They have come up with neither as neither exists. I also said that the matter is in dispute and they should refer back to 3. Where do I stand in this issue??