Old Debt? Mackenzie Hall

david1leigh

I have just done a credit check and the debt i owe to MH is not on my credit file. What does this mean?

amck007

:mad: Mackenzie Hall,

Received a letter this morning, everything about the addressing is correct apart from my surname.

Says that there is an o/s debt of well over £100 from Shop Direct (who, I've never even heard of them?) and that payment needs to be arranged immediately. A few things don't add up. Why has a letter been sent to my address to someone who has without doubt never lived here? Why haven't I received any letters before in connection with this matter? Why have I lived here 18 months and never heard of any such problems before.

Decide to call immediately, (they are open till 12 on Saturday) to speak to one of their representatives.

Explain that I am not the person in the letter but am concerned that a bad debt is associated with my address for an individual that has never lived here.

The rep seems to know my affairs better than I do, talks all over me and states that I don't know that the individual has never lived in or rented my property. Well, the fact is that I do know but I can't convince them of that and the call ends when I get hung up on.:mad:

I call again, (in shock) and speak to another rep. Open by saying that I was just hung up on, the rep seemed to know my affairs better than I do only to
get immediately hung up on again!:mad:

The third call is unanswered, then by coincidence get through to the original rep again who simply tells me it has been passed to their trace team (what does that mean?) and hangs up on me again.

I'm concerned about my address in some way being implicated with a bad debt which as far as I am concerned is either a clerical error or someone using my address fraudulently. They don't appear to be interested in giving me any reassurance or assistance in resolving this so I'm uncertain whether I need to do anything else and whether I should be concerned?

What a stressful way to spend a Saturday morning, trying to sort something out that has nothing to do with you and not being able to gain any clarity or closure from the sender of the letter.

Is anyone further down the line with this company? Anything I should be worried about or can I view this as the end?

Buying up genuine bad debts is one thing but targetting innocent "pay their way" members of the public with these sort of demands based on inaccurate or fraudulently obtained information by an unknown third party is quite another.

I'm still completely in the dark on this one I feel. I guess its a really good job that they didn't get my surname right or it would have probably been a hell of a lot worse!

phillips35

please can someone tell me how i post a new message. I seem to be only able to reply!!!

fermi

phillips35 wrote: »

please can someone tell me how i post a new message. I seem to be only able to reply!!!

Click the button on the main Debt-Free Wannabe page.

(or just click the button above as it has a link. )

sandraroffey

mmmmmm another of these debt collectors who appear to be taking pot luck on who ever lives there!! i would tend to stick to the advice given on here and NEVER EVER phone these people. they now have your number!!! everything in writing and signed for on delivery. someone tried this in a letter to my son for a phone bill on a mobile that we knew nothing off!! and it was three or four years old as well. so we wrote, (signed for) and told them we hadnt a clue what they were talking about, and they left us alone, except to write and say that the debt had been returned to the company who it was (alledgedly) owed to, and they were now not dealing with it. may be an idea to change your number or block their calls.

sandraroffey

if they wont listen or leave you alone, tell them to take you to court for it. perhaps they would like to explain to the judge that you are NOT that person, and they KNOW that you are not that person.

sharon10

hi all,
received a letter from mackenzie hall yesterday, brown envelope, etc.
all the usual stuff ( from what i have read on this site after mum googled the company as it looked a bit sus!)
letter was addressed to me in my former married name which i changed 10 yrs ago(re-married) & moved 3 times since.
pursuers are a tessera portfolio management ltd???????
my letter states i have until noon 25/9/08 to send payment of £133.60 or they will not hesitate to take further action.
firstly yes i did get in a bit of a mess with a bank over 12 yrs ago & ended up getting daily, weekly & monthly charges added, so a £300 overdraft ended up £1500.
i did start paying them back once they agreed to stop all charges.I paid them their £300 & half the charges then thought.you've had more than enough out of me and didnt pay any more that was about 8-9yrs ago. what can they do? more to the point what do i do? iam worried about this any advice PLEASE

walshy.walsh

i had the MH letter approx 3 months ago for a british gas bill for nigh on £900, BUT having NEVER being with BG, it sounded a bit suss, i rang them up and tried to explain that as far as i was aware, i had never been with BG! they said that they had the proof, and that it had to be paid! i explained, that until i had the said proof, i would be paying diddly squat, whereupon he stated that i was in no position to be demanding proof, as they effectively had the upper hand! it didnt go down too well when i explained that I had the money, so in my opinion i was in a much better position than themselves! that was the end of it, OR SO I THOUGHT! yesterday i recieved a MH letter saying that i now owed CABOT financial the same figure as above! as you can guess, that has now gone through the shredder!

wozwebs

Had a recorded message from these last Thursday. It was when someone sends a text message to a landline. Robotic voice read out the phone number to call and reference number.

Called it as I didn't have a clue who they were. Was told I owe £12.99 to an old 3 mobile contract from 2005 the woman said.

It was listed at my previous address which I left in December 2003. She mentioned the mobile number in question and I do recall it. It was in fact a 3 Pay as you go mobile so no contract even existed.

She said payment was required immediaely or legal action would be brought. I said "I'm sorry but unless I see something in writing I am not paying a penny, you could be any old Tom, !!!!!! or Harry"

She said letter should have been there by now so she said she would call back on Friday to check I received it OK. No letter has arrived at all and they haven't called back.

She said it was already on my credit rating and if I paid it they would remove it. Scare tactics as I have just been and registered to see my Equifax credit profile and there is no mention of it anywhere, only that Lowell Financial Ltd checked my file in August 2008 at the old address.

What should i do, refuse to pay it? Would they really bother taking me to court for £12.99?

Woodyrocks

Can someone please confirm that a debt drops off your file after 6yrs? I have an old Natwest debt from April 2002 that I have come home to a letter about. I have no intention of doing anything silly like phone the debt collectors but just want to know that it will be off my file soon!