Alf -v- Studio Cards

[alfwithhair]

Sorry, really should try and keep up.

In which case follow through and file a report with Trading Standards as they are chasing an unsubstantiated debt.

 

TS it is then. Cheers Ben

 

Hi again Alf,

On your original letter for claiming the charges back did you give them a certain amount of time to reply to your complaint?

I gave them 40 days and when that was up that's when I sent them my LBA

 

Caz, I gave them 10 day to reply to me on 21 January 08, so what do I put in this LBA letter. I had never sent one of these so have no idea. Can you post a sample?

 

oh sound like everyone is having fun with this.

Just complain Alf. I will be. Chrissi

 

You know me Chrissi, I'm not one to make a fuss:D

[Caz1974]

Morning Alf,

Use something like this but ammend it to your own personal requirements, it's a personal choice at this stage to add the 8% interest allowed by the courts in these kind of claims but it does make a big difference in the amount you recieve overall ( and I've always been succesful so it's up to you ) :

[your address]

 

 

 

[their address]

 

 

[date]

 

 

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx

 

 

I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond to my letter of the [XXDATEXX].

I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to, Administration charges (ETC ETC AMEND AS APPROPRIATE) and so forth are unlawful at Common Law and contrary to consumer regulations.

 

I am frankly shocked that you have operated this account in this way.

 

I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX plus £XXX which you have charged me in interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £XXXXX.

I am also now claiming 8% interest on top of the above total OVERALL TOTAL XXXX

I am enclosing a copy of the schedule of these charges which I am claiming. I have already sent you a copy of this in my original letter of the [XXDATE OF FIRST LETTERXX]

 

In addition to full payment of the sum mentioned above I require that you remove the default entry from the register and I require that you cease from sharing my data with any 3rd parties. Please note that mere correction or amendment to the entry will not be acceptable.

 

I require repayment in full of this money and removal of the default notice. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus a claim under ss.7 and 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998 plus my costs and without further notice and at the XXX Location of XXXXX County Court.

 

Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction of 5 April 2006 and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit licence under the 1974 Act. If you do not understand what this means then seek advice from your legal department.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

 

 

[name]

 

Red - if you have a default notice issue as well - which has been caused by the charges. Otherwise to not include this part.

 

DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR SCHEDULE OF CHARGES WITH THIS LETTER

[pt2537]

Hi Alf,

 

right, i havent been following you case here too closely im afraid but one thing i do see is a slight problem here,

 

if the amount of charges are more than the outstanding balance then i would say forget the CCA and go down the charges route

 

however if the charges arent more than the balance, then i would not bother with the charges

 

 

the reason is, if you reclaim the charges, they will simply off set them against the account which they are entitled to do so and there is very little short of taking them to court that you would be able to do about it. but if you took them to court, you run the risk of the judge looking at the case and considering you being unjustly enriched and you could end up lumbered with costs

 

now im not saying it would happen but you must keep it in mind

 

Regards

paul

[The GodMother]

If the charges can be offset against the balance then cant alf if necessary then take them to court and ask the courts to make a order that the charges are offset against the balance and then any money left over he is given?

 

Also in the LBA he makes clear that he wants charges offset against the balance and then any money left over is sent to him?

 

Chrissi

[alfwithhair]

This is becoming even more confusing now.

Maybe if I reiterate (sounding like Robbersway now) the details again it will give you all a clearer picture.

 

According to Studio on 11 Feb 08, the balance outstanding is £226.15

 

According to Robbersway on 12/02/08 the outstnding balance is £246.15 (so looks like another £20 admin fee has been added)

 

The total cost of goods ordered since account inception is £267.26

 

The total ammont of payments made to date is £220.23

 

So this leaves as balance of £47.03 remaining on the cost of goods ordered.

 

On 21 Jan 08 I sent Studio a claims letter, in brief saying

 

"In the absence of a legally binding agreement the following charges have been unlawfully applied and I am therefore seeking repayment of these amounts".

 

Penalty fees of £100 (£20 X 5) plus interest at 8% = £5.31 and

Service charges of £79.12 plus interst at 8% £6.86.

Making a total claim of £191.29.

 

I said the alternative would be to write the debt off and remove all data from the Credit Reference Agencies and your system.

 

Now by starange coincidence a letter arrived from Studio this morning.

 

Dear Mrs X

Thank you for your letter dated 21 January 2008 regarding repayment of charges that have been levied to your account.

 

Statements are issued every 28 days advising you of the minimum payment and the payment due date. Should your payment reach us after the due date, your account will fall into arrears and incur an administration charge. Details of our current trading terms are always printer in the catalogues and also detailed on your credit agreement. (Which for isn't one for this account, you have said as much. How many more time do I have to tell you)

 

However, not withstanding this, without prejudice and as a gesture of goodwill I have reimbursed administration charges to the value of £100 and credited £5.31, the interest calculated at 8% being the limit permisable by the court for any interestt claimed, leaving an amended balance of £120.84. (this equate corectly to being deducted from Studios outstanding balance. But not Robbersways, as there is more admin charges on their balance) The service charges relate to interest charges and will not be refunded, as your account has been paid by instalments.

 

We have now fully complied with your request and consider this to be our final response. Blah. (If you are dissatisfied complain to FOS they enclosed a leaflet of how to complain)

T Simpson

 

So, after reading Pauls earlier thread I am not sure if claiming these charges back was in fact the right thing to do? Can anyone tell using the figures above if I should have gone down this route or stayed on the NO CCA path.

 

I know for a fact -100%, that they have no signed CCA for this account.

Also as the balance is now considerably lower now, does this render the default notice they served last year for the full balance invalid, ie would they have to send out another one now demanding payment.

 

As Robbersway seem to be dealing with the pursuit of this account and have send that I will not have a signed agrrement, but have deemed to have agreed to the credit by ordering. I am now totally confused as to what the next step is?

 

Cheers folks, look forward to your comment

Alf

 

 

 

[Caz1974]

Hi Again Alf

My figures were similar and I was getting nowhere down the no CCA route so I added up the charges and applied the 8% interest at LBA stage.

I found that after interest had been added it showed that Studio actually owed me money.

I decided this was the best way to get rid of the debt and leave the slate clean so to speak with a little money left over for myself.

Studio seem to roll over quite easily to charges claims mine was settled within 2 weeks of my LBA and I didn't have to go anywhere near a court.

I know quite a few other people on here who have had the same response.

I'll forward you the link to the spreadsheets section and just add up the charges with interest and see if it overtakes the balance owed.

If it does I'd go down that route but if it doesn't I'd just pursue the route of no CCA.

[Caz1974]

It's a bit like a game of poker but if you do everything correctly it's easier than it seems:)

[alfwithhair]

Did you get just the admin fees back or did you get the service charges back as well Caz?

[Caz1974]

Doh! Alf had already claimed 8%

[Caz1974]

I went for admin charges and late payment fee's. I was told that the service charges were just for a service and were unclaimable but at the same time as I issued my claim another lady on the forum went for service charges and was awarded them aswell.

So it's totally up to you:)

[alfwithhair]

I have submitted the claim with 8% already, they replied this morning, letter is above, buy only credited the account, did not refund. Admin fees only said they would not refund service charges as they were interest.

[Caz1974]

removed because I hadn't read the above posting correctly

[Caz1974]

oooooo sorry Alf so they've offered you back your admin charges and interest which is a good result by greatly reducing the balance.

Do you know exactly what the amount of charges applied by Rob's is and will this clear the balance?

They shouldn't have been dealing with this anyhow as the account was in a serious dispute but thats what these critters are like!

[Caz1974]

The way I see it is that neither Studio nor Rob's have a valid CCA so they cannot enforce the debt whatever you decide to do now.

You can now argue that the amount you were defaulted for was incorrect because it was made up of unfair charges and ask for the default to be removed.

I'd report them to TS now for the way that Robs have tried to collect a debt that is unenforcable and in serious dispute.

[alfwithhair]

Ok thanks Caz.

 

Does anybody know for certain if these "service charges" which is basically interest form part of the alleged agreement?

 

So therefore if no signed agreement is in existence, would it be fair to say that these too are unlawful charges. All this "you deemed to agree to the terms and conditions of the agreement by placeing an order" guff, is there any truth in this?

 

I will be notifying TS about both Studio and Robbersways business practices, but any info on the above topic would give me another string to my bow so to speak.

[pt2537]

If your charges outweigh the outstanding balance then go for the charges.

 

however, what im saying is that if the balance is bigger than the amount of charges then it could be a pointless exercise in my opinion going for the charges as they would just deduct them from the balance but you may not benefit from it so its a lot of work for no benefit to you

 

that's all, i don't like making work for myself which doesn't provide any benefit to me:D

 

i dont think you have done anything wrong Alf, i hope that explains what i meant

 

regards

paul

[Caz1974]

I think you can pat yourself on the back Alf and add that to your bow:D

Even though you haven't had the money in your hand it's reduced the balance a great deal and is more than a weeks wages to some people!

I understand your point above about no agreement so therefore interest being unlawful too and actually it is.The problem with the interest though is that you can only reclaim a percentage of it ( I've seen this in the bank Forum lots ) you can reclaim the parts that have been applied due to the charges being added - meaning if the charges weren't added the interest you would and should have paid would have been a lower amount. It's very mathematical and gives me a head ache:D

Studio will always argue that because you chose to pay in installments then whether you signed an agreement or not you used the account as a credit facility so interest from their part is allowed.

[alfwithhair]

If your charges outweigh the outstanding balance then go for the charges.

 

however, what im saying is that if the balance is bigger than the amount of charges then it could be a pointless exercise in my opinion going for the charges as they would just deduct them from the balance but you may not benefit from it so its a lot of work for no benefit to you

 

that's all, i don't like making work for myself which doesn't provide any benefit to me:D

 

i dont think you have done anything wrong Alf, i hope that explains what i meant

 

regards

paul

 

Thanks Paul.

 

I did claim the charges and they did credit them to the account, but only the administration charges, not the 'service charges' their word for interest. It has reduced the balance by half, but not cleared it, so I guess I was mis-informed to go down this route.

 

Nevermind, they have no signed CCA, so what ever the remaining balance is they will be getting none of it, so both Studio and Robbersway can take a running jump.

 

No doubt cocked the CCA route up now, but lets see who contacts me first demanding payment now. If I could get Studio to credit the 'service charges' as well with interest it would leave about £40, so would make a FF of 25 % if I could acheive this.

 

But lets see who starts the ball rolling first.

 

Thanks to everybody for the help and advise

Alf

[Caz1974]

Alf I just read your whole thread again ( wipes brow as steam comes out my ears )

Look at posts 48 & 65 seems suprise went down the FOS route and got back some of her service charges.

Might be worth having a quick read again.

[The GodMother]

Ok thanks Caz.

 

Does anybody know for certain if these "service charges" which is basically interest form part of the alleged agreement?

 

So therefore if no signed agreement is in existence, would it be fair to say that these too are unlawful charges. All this "you deemed to agree to the terms and conditions of the agreement by placeing an order" guff, is there any truth in this?

 

I will be notifying TS about both Studio and Robbersways business practices, but any info on the above topic would give me another string to my bow so to speak.

 

 

According to my standard credit agreement it is on there under the other financial info.

 

Alf l am going to include on this thread a copy of the agreement they sent me. As your is unopen you would not have seen this part.

 

[surprise]

Yes, I got my charges back from when I disputed the account and I've also got any further charges frozen. I also got a proportion of the PPI back to January 06.

 

Alf, I'm not sure why you were saying you were misinformed to go down the charges route?

[pt2537]

Surprise, i think the reason why was that the Charges were not larger than the balance owed. there fore, what is the most likely outcome is that if Alf tried to reclaim the charges, they would simply off set them against the account balance.

[alfwithhair]

Well another letter from Robbinscum this morning dated 09/03/08.

 

Dear Mrs X

 

WHERE HAVE WE GONE WRONG? (do you rearly need me to tell you)

 

On behalf of our client we have written to you, (aye) and we have tried telephoning you, (no you haven't you lyin **** bags) yet the sum noted above is still due and owing. (thats right cos it is still the wrong amount and no CCA)

 

Our client requires payment in full. (tough) If you can pay in full, do so, NOW. (don't think so )

We can accept payment over the telephone by credit or debit card. (which cards would this be then, the ones the banks cancelled cos I can't pay them)

 

If you cannot pay in full WE MUST HEAR FROM YOU (well to bad, cos you will not hear my dulsit tones on your phone)- telephone one of our payment counsellors now - your circumstances and problems will be considered. (aye right, like you consider all the other complaints about you)

 

WE NEED YOU TO RESPOND IF WE ARE TO HELP YOU. (well respond to this boys - K*ss my A**e)

[Conniff]

I think you should return their above letter with the comments you've added above.

 

Go on, you know you want to, (well 'we' all want you to)

[The GodMother]

yeah please it would be funny.

 

Needlees to say they obviously have not got the message then.

 

Studio have not with me so there big bosses have cot a letter. they signed for it today lets just see what they say.

 

Chrissi