Mackenzie Hall - Please Help!!

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping someone on here will be able to help me. A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from MH titled 'REDUCED SETTLEMENT OFFER' for £135.29 for Vodafone. The letter states after repeated efforts for payment the accout is unpaid. The letter then offers me a reduced settlement figure of £101.47.

At the time I paniced & called them straight away (silly now I know) & spoke to the guy on the phone who said it was from 2005-6 with vodafone & I explained that I have had a lot of problems with debts my ex partner has ran up in my name & agreed to pay half now & the other half on 25th Feb. I did have a contract phone with vodafone back in the day but wasnt aware I had left any debts with them. This offer was accepted & I made a payment over the phone. After reading all the stuff I have read on here I am now kicking myself. Is it too late to send a letter asking for proof as I have made a payment already? If so what proof do they need to send me and will they know if have written the debt off? And where do I find a template letter? They advised I call vodafone if I want details which I found a little odd. Also when I log into their website it gives a different address for myself that I lived at in 2006/7. When I click on online statement it says 'period 01/10/2008 to 19/02/2012' which I dont understand either.

Any advice will be very much appreciated.

Thanks very much,
Nicola.
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Comments

  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
    Hi

    To be honest if you've paid up in full now you are probably too late to do anything about it. If you've just paid a small payment then you could still definitely ask them to provide proof of the debt before you make any further payments.

    When you say you logged into their website - do you mean vodaphone's website? or MH?

    The prove it letter template is here - Letter when you know nothing about about the debt - AKA "Prove it" letter
    They would need to send proof that this is your debt, which could be a copy of the service agreement, copies of bills sent to your address and details of payments that were made etc.
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
    or "It costs nowt to be nice"
  • If the debt collectors have no details of the debt, then how can they prove that it exists? The suggestion that you should call Vodafone for details of this debt is absurd - it isn't Vodafone who are hassling you, it's McKenzie Hall - the first problem you would have is getting through Vodafone's security checks because you have no knowledge of the account which you are querying

    Let McKenzie Hall take you to court, and see if they tell the judge to contact Vodafone himself because they have no information about the alleged debt!

    You probably won't get your first instalment back, but I wouldn't give them a penny more until they have proved to you that you owe the money
  • I have agreed to pay £100 & I have already paid £50 & my next payment due of £50 is due on Friday coming up. I logged into the MH website with a password and pin number they sent me. I have just done an Equifax Credit report which states it was March 2006 I defaulted with Vodafofe (APPARENTLY) so just short of 6 years by a month and Carbot Finance tried to locate me at a previous address in 2010 according to that. I should never have paid in the 1st place but i really dont want to pay the rest of the balance!!
  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
    Did you pay by card last time? there is a chance they'll take the next payment from it. If not don't pay the next payment and instead write to them with the prove it letter and wait to see what they reply with.
    (they may reply to say that as you paid last week you've acknowledged the debt - if so you'll simply need to state you require proof of the debt and that it belongs to you before you'll be paying any more).

    Don't speak to them on the phone again do everything in writing.
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
    or "It costs nowt to be nice"
  • Yes I did pay by card last time and they asked if they could set up a Direct debit for the next payment and I said no. I have just saved the template and I will sent it off tomorrow but like you say I can see them taking the payment anyway.
  • Tixy wrote: »
    Did you pay by card last time? there is a chance they'll take the next payment from it. If not don't pay the next payment and instead write to them with the prove it letter and wait to see what they reply with.
    (they may reply to say that as you paid last week you've acknowledged the debt - if so you'll simply need to state you require proof of the debt and that it belongs to you before you'll be paying any more).

    Don't speak to them on the phone again do everything in writing.

    In the meantime, contact your bank, and see if you can cancel any authority which you may have given to McKenzie Hall to debit your card (and write to McKenzie Hall immediately to withdraw any authority which they might have assumed)
  • I didn't know you could do that - I will contact my bank 1st thing tomorrow and make sure if they have any authority it is stopped. Thanks you are all so helpful! If i write to them and receive no reply do I assume the debt has been written off?
  • neverbefore2011
    neverbefore2011 Posts: 98 Forumite
    edited 19 February 2012 at 10:43PM
    nstaley26 wrote: »
    I didn't know you could do that - I will contact my bank 1st thing tomorrow and make sure if they have any authority it is stopped. Thanks you are all so helpful! If i write to them and receive no reply do I assume the debt has been written off?

    Hopefully, you used a debit card rather than a credit card - continuous authorities on credit cards cannot be cancelled by the bank, only by the beneficiary.

    And if you used a debit card, then it's not so much you created a continuous authority, it's just that McKenzie Hall now know the numbers, and are likely to try to use them.

    If you had allowed them to to set up a Direct Debit, then it would be a simple matter for you to call the bank and cancel it, but with debit cards, you may find that you have to put a total stop on the card or something - talk to the bank

    Concerning the debt being written off, I doubt whether the letters will stop coming, but in the absence of any proof of the debt, McKenzie Hall are pretty powerless, just annoying
  • Simple answer for anyone else reading this- if you get a letter from McKenzie Hall or any similar chancers over debts like this, NEVER EVER contact or phone them:

    Simply ignore them, they WILL give up and go away. Half the time the debt isn't theirs to collect, may not exist, or may be statute barred.

    The only certainty is that if you don't reply, they will do NOTHING about it except go away. They certainly won't risk a court fee on a speculative claim, no debt collector ever does even when there is far more at stake.

    Those of you unfortunate enough to have paid them something, don't for goodness sake give them any more.
  • Concerning the debt being written off, I doubt whether the letters will stop coming, but in the absence of any proof of the debt, McKenzie Hall are pretty powerless, just annoying

    I can promise you they do stop writing if they receive no reply. They write to you to frighten you, and if that isn't happening they cut their losses and move on after they have sent their progression of template letters.

    If you reply they know they have hooked a live one and then they get down to business.
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