sky chasing a debt we dont owe, in query, DCA harrassing my mum...

[traceyrmj]

hi all, just after a bit of advice here its a long one so ill try and be brief.

 

in feb 2012 we took a home tv bb and phone package with sky for a 12m contract.

in july 2012 they changed the prices and we cancelled our contract under the "change of terms" section of their contract.

 

it took a few calls to get the cancellation agreed because my hubby is the acct holder so they wouldnt accept the cancellation from me

and he had already moved to canada working so he had to call them,

 

they then tried to tell him he couldnt cancel and he didnt have the relevant email and terms and conditions etc to quote at them,

 

finally i got back thru to him on skype and heard him have the conversation with sky to cancel in which they told us we had given 31 days notice

and they would terminate our contract on 23rd august.

 

we paid up to and including that date and i then cancelled the direct debit as i know sky and they have such a dodgy rep that i was anticipating problems leaving them.

 

in august we left our rented house and moved out to canada to be with my husband.we had our mail forwarded to our old house, which we have sold to my mum.

 

in december we had a letter from a DCA saying we still had a contract with sky and they had passed our bad debt on to them.

again refused to speak to me when i called them to explain that we didnt owe sky anything

and i called sky who eventually agreed to speak to me ( having given them the password!)

 

the agent i spoke to (taking date time and user id of the call) said he could see the problem and would get it sorted out and wiped clean.

he also said he would contact the DCA and they would withdraw the issue.

 

in late jan we had another letter this time at our old address (now owned by my mother) saying that the debt still had to be settled and they would come round and knock for it.

 

hubby called them and told them the debt was in query still and gave them the details of the agent we spoke to

and they said they would leave it for two weeks until they heard from sky.

 

we also called sky to ask why the complaint had not been dealt with yet (dated 3rd dec)

and they told me it takes as long as it takes and we care unable to contact them to ask for progress.

 

we told the DCA they had the wrong address, we do not live in the uk any more and we do not own that house or anything in it,

my mother has nothing to do with the debt they think we owe and they should leave her alone.

 

every day for the last three days the DCA have knocked on my mums door, harassing her and her disabled husband.

 

im after something legislational i can use to get them to back off until sky sort out the conplaint and call off the hounds...

 

to recap.

we dont owe anything,

we cancelled and they accepted our cancellation,

we paid up to and including the date of disconnection.

they know we do not live there and that my mother has nothing to do with the debt

yet still go round there every day to ask for hubby.

 

also when we took out the contract we did intend to keep it for at least the full 12m,

but when work came up over here we took it ( better quality of life etc)

when they changed the prices it seemed serendipitous and we took advantage of the chance to cancel mid contract.

Edited February 9, 2013 by citizenB

[citizenB]

They shouldnt be harrassing your Parents like this, especially as you have told them you no longer live at or own the property.

 

I would think that your parents would be within their rights to call the police.

 

I will try and find someone who might be able to advise what else you can do.

[dx100uk]

yes call the police!

 

they have NO LEGAL POWERS

they are NOT BAILIFFS

 

IMHO i would get your parents to actually call the police tomorrow on their non emergency numer

 

ttell them the debt collector have called daily

and that they are ONLY cebt collector with no powers NOYT BAILIFFS

 

tell them they fell threatened and have been told they will do XYZ if

the parents do not pay their sons 'non existant debt'

 

can we please have the name of the DCA please as a matter of urgentcy too

 

dx

[The GodMother]

Agree call police. Tell them been threarenef with forced removal of property for a debt that does not belong to you. Maybe ur mum could use the go away letter telling them in writing they are not allowed at her property.

[postggj]

Call the police next time they show up

 

Make a complaint to the police under section 5 of the Public Order Act in that the debt collectors are causing

 

Intentional, harassment alarm or distress

 

They are duty bound to investigate and take action on your complaint

 

 

Inform SKY as well as they will be held for account on the actions of the DCA under vicarious liability.

Edited February 10, 2013 by squaddie

[unclebulgaria67]

I had the same with a SKY debt left by a relative gone abroad. The amount was only £50 or less, but they chased it for several years. Mackenzie Hall had the debt and they passed the details to Meritforce, who sent around a s/employed collection agent, who was a bit annoyed about their time being wasted by their company. I told them that Mucky Hall already had the address in Spain, if they wanted to pay my relative a visit.

 

Anyway, calling the Police is a little OTT. Make a complaint to SKY and the Debt collection agency that are dealing with it.

[postggj]

if the DCA came to my address three days in a row after being told that the person does not live their, and continues with their threats

 

i would call that causing alarm distress and harassment

[citizenB]

Certainly a complaint must also go to the Office of Fair Trading.

[IdaInFife]

agreed a complaint has to be done against the DCA = they should only need to be told once

 

regarding the sky debt

 

can you explain how your prices increased in july 2012 as sky did not have a price increase then?

 

You can can only cancel the contract withing the first 12 months without penalty if they increase the cost by more than 10% in which none have went above that so can you confirm what you were paying at what it was increase too?

[traceyrmj]

hi, DCA is SRJ debt recoveries.

they have been around again today ( sunday) and aren't demanding to remove anything from the property but they are continually asking for my husband, who they have been told does not live there and they are being polite about it so far. i have told mum to call police when they come back tomorrow.

 

meanwhile i have complained to the managing director of sky and had a reply form his lackey stating that we were not allowed to cancel and so the debt remains, she cites some terms and conditions. the problem being that we were told that if they increased the price we were within rights to cancel and we got their agent to agree to cancel our contract for us. they made no effort to contact us after that and tell us that this was wrong and that we were still under contract.

 

i need to check before i reply back to her so will have to dig out our contract and check it over carefully, but im sure at the time there was a get out clause and we took it.

 

we had tv, bb and phone and the price increase was around 10% over all three, i thnk but will have to check.

 

lackeys respoonce in full...

"

Dear Mr .

Account number .

Thank you for your email addressed to Jeremy Darroch we aim to provide the highest possible level of customer service I am sorry that this has not been your experience on this occasion.

My name is Sandra and I work in the Executive Support Team office and will be investigating your complaint on Mr Darrochs behalf.

I can see by the notes on your account when you called in on 23rd July 2012 you spoke to an agent who advised that you were in contractand of the following terms and conditions

© We may increase your Subscription Payment at any time by giving you at least 31 days written notice. This may include increases under Condition 2(d), unless Condition 2(d)(ii) applies when we will try to give you as much reasonable notice in writing as possible. However, during the Minimum Term, unless it is for a reason set out in Conditions 2(d) or 4, we may increase the price of your Option only once and that increase will not be more than:

Advisor also advised we sent correspondence out back in june to advise of this. Whilst I understand your frustration on this the debt is due and unfortunately we can not reduce this for you.

I hope this information has helped with your enquiry. If you require any further assistance, you can respond to my email. You can also contact us within the Executive Support Team on 08442 411646, where one of my colleagues will be happy to help you if I am unavailable.

For your information I normally work on a Friday 07.00am till 13.00pm and a Saturday and Sunday 07.00am till 17.00pm

 

 

 

Yours sincerely

Sandra

Service Excellence Consultant

Executive Support Team"

[IdaInFife]

I would re check you figures as the increase only applys to your tv services but there was no increase in July - there was on 1 sept but there was no package that increase more than the 10% as it ranged from 50p to £2.50

 

Could it be you were on an offer at the start and then charged full price? as this is not a part of the increase terms which I could assume most people may get confused with. and even if they did cancel then you still would need to pay an early termination charge that equates to what the cost of the remainder of the 12 months is

 

There is no get out clause

[traceyrmj]

I would re check you figures as the increase only applys to your tv services but there was no increase in July - there was on 1 sept but there was no package that increase more than the 10% as it ranged from 50p to £2.50

 

Could it be you were on an offer at the start and then charged full price? as this is not a part of the increase terms which I could assume most people may get confused with. and even if they did cancel then you still would need to pay an early termination charge that equates to what the cost of the remainder of the 12 months is

 

There is no get out clause

im not sure now, i will have to check. the agent told us it was ok to cancel (eventually) and they didnt contact us abck - despite saying they did - until they wrote to us on 17th august telling us that our service had been taken over by another company and if we didnt want this blah blah blah. we had already agreed to pay up to 24th august as that was out cancellation date so the new occupants of the house taking their service elsewhere was of no relevance to us.

I will double check the figures, howveer if the agent on the phone agreed to cancel it why are they now saying that we were not able to and charging us for the privilage?

also it doesnt speak to the harassment of my mum, with whom they have no issues.

will check and get back to you, the paperwork from sky is one of the few bits of contract etc i bought with me as i anticipated some issues, just not this 6 month ordeal!

[IdaInFife]

Back then you were free to move phone and bb to another supplier within the 12 months as they were not pro-acting on early termination of phone and bb but are now but not to cancel tv.

 

 

take the advice above regarding the dca

[traceyrmj]

re the DCA, i have got hubby to sign a letter wich i will email to mum to print out and hand to DCA next time they come round (tomorrow probably) which states, that they know he does not live there and this is a correspondence addrers only. that they are able to contact him via his email address (given) and that the account is in query and as such they should not persue it until a resolution has been reached with sky. also a letter i want them to sign to say that they are aware of all of the above and will not be contacting my mother again. if the agent will not sign and leave, th police will be called the next time they come round as they are causing intentional distress. (citing the public order offence mentioned above)

[IdaInFife]

come back once you have your paperwork and figures