Westcott ?Vodafone - how do I play this?

[Don-e]

Hi,

 

 

I'm just after some advice with regard a debt I have or had with Vodafone. I would have taken the straight forward route reaging my situation, however my naivety 12 months ago may have made the situation a bit complicated.

 

Background if at all relevent

 

About 14 months ago I was on a bog standard Vodafone contract with a phone...i was bought a PDA - all singing, all dancing phone - which i switched too without chaing the contract...anyway, this new phone was a bit WAP hungry, without worrying too much I started to use the email sycn function and recieved emails and pictures, browsed the web etc etc (these accrued charges that werent highighted to me when i took the contract out). Anyway, over the course of two month i got hammered with a 1200 pound bill (normal bills about 30 line rental calls and texts). Obviously i didnt have that kind of money and made some partial payments but Vodafone shut the accoutn and reffered it to Wescott (i think)

 

Anyway, i move back in with my parents, and respond to the DCA letters - telling them that I wanted to sort the situation out, and that I would make payments of £150 until the debt was cleared. This was a strectch for me and I managed to do it for a few months...however, my situation changed...and I could no longer make the £150 per month, although I kept reasonable payments on a regular , monthly basis (Nothing less than £50).

 

Before Xmas I had little more than 3 buttons to pay them, but made a payment of £40 to which Westcott sent a stropy letter saying that they were going to pass the accoutn to their doorstep collecter.

 

 

I'm confused about a few things. I still get statements from Vodafone - they say I owe £480 and Wescott state that i owe £670 , which seems to be a very wide spread.

 

I guess those are charges, but is this a reasonable charge?(£190)

 

Who has the debt?

 

Does the consumer credit act extend into Telephony/communications providers?

 

 

What is the best way to deal with Wescott? I serioulsy dont have buttons, let alone extra money I can give them.

 

I know their powers dont extent beyond asking me for the money...but they do call my house and work, which has my parents and colleauges asking questions.

 

 

I have possibly in the past acknowledged the debt by writing to them and offering £150 a month which I havent kept too.

 

 

Any guidance would be appreciated (sorry, I know there's tonnes of info on here...but I'm not quite sure what i can do if I have already acknowledged the debt)

 

Cheers,

 

James

[poochball]

Hi James,

 

I would get your latest statement from Vodafone with the £480 amount on it and make a copy to send to Wescot.

 

Next, I would write a letter to:

 

Process and Compliance Coordinator

Wescot Credit Services Ltd

PO Box 137

Dunedin House

45 Percy Street

Hull

HU2 8HF

 

Account Number: 1414535354

 

Dear Sirs,

 

I write regarding the above account.

 

I would like to bring to your attention a descrepancy between the balance you report as owed, and the balance shown as owed from Vodaphone. I enclose a copy of my latest statement in support of this.

 

I would like you to confirm with your client the correct balance for this account and where neccessary make adjustments to your records.

 

I also recently made arrangements to make payments of £150 per month. Unfortunately due to my personal circumstances changing, I am unable to committ to this amount.

 

However I would like to offer a payment of £20 per month until the balance is paid. I have enclosed a copy of my income and expenditure for your perusal in support of my offer of payment. As you can see, after my outgoingd, I only have 3 BUTTONS left.

 

As a final request I would like to ask that my Work telephone number is removed from your database and all contact with me is made in writing. There is a risk of me losing my job as I am not allowed to take personal calls at work. You also run the risk of my debt being 'exposed'.

 

I do hope that you will respond positively to my offer to avoid unneccessary action being taken against me.

 

Yours Faithfully

 

 

 

Pooch the Dog

 

 

Next draw up an income and expenditure and put down an amount which you can truly afford. Be sure to enclose this income and expenditure with your letter to the above. If you need any help with this drop me a line.

 

They usually will accept your payment and don't worry, it would be far too costly for them to send someone to your door. By writing to them you are showing that you are making an effort to pay them and any amount they claw back is a result.

 

Make sure you send your letter recorded as well to check it is delivered.

 

Thanks

Poochball

[Don-e]

Cheers for that!

 

I'll do that today!

 

Question - if they write back to me saying that there were "legal" charges associated with my account - is this permissable?

 

Thanks again for the help!

 

James