Old Debt? Mackenzie Hall

magpiecottage

Volcano wrote: »

Remember: Most of the time, MH are sending out letters on the off-chance it'll get to the person they are trying to contact.

Take a look at this thread - you are probably able to get compensation

adamski911

I have just received a letter today from mackenzie hall saying that I owe £42.00 for a debt outstanding from 3.
I once had a 3 contract about 8 yrs ago which I didnt have for very long and cancelled but nothing was mentioned about a charge as it was within the cooling off period.
I have never once in that time received a letter from 3 or these people regarding any debt outstanding?
In fact,when I took the contract out I lived at a previous address to the one now.
Can anyone advise as I dont really want to ring them?

rog2

adamski911 wrote: »

I have just received a letter today from mackenzie hall saying that I owe £42.00 for a debt outstanding from 3.
I once had a 3 contract about 8 yrs ago which I didnt have for very long and cancelled but nothing was mentioned about a charge as it was within the cooling off period.
I have never once in that time received a letter from 3 or these people regarding any debt outstanding?
In fact,when I took the contract out I lived at a previous address to the one now.
Can anyone advise as I dont really want to ring them?

There was a recent spate of dcas attempting to collect 'old' debts from 3.
In your case this 'debt' - if it existed - would, almost certainly, be Statute Barred. Have a look at the following post and send them the letter conained therein:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11571227&postcount=3

adamski911

Many thanks Rog.
What makes me laugh is the letter(allegedly)from 3 that is attached with their letter which happens to say that from the 06/12/2008 your debt has been passed to mackenzie hall in which that letter was dated 01/12/2009.
No attempt to hide the fact that the letter was created just recently and therefore showing that I have only been made aware of this a year later.

I think I will send a letter for peace of mind but there is no way they are getting money off me for a debt I know nothing about.

Dougguk

adamski911 wrote: »

Many thanks Rog.
What makes me laugh is the letter(allegedly)from 3 that is attached with their letter which happens to say that from the 06/12/2008 your debt has been passed to mackenzie hall in which that letter was dated 01/12/2009.
No attempt to hide the fact that the letter was created just recently and therefore showing that I have only been made aware of this a year later.

I think I will send a letter for peace of mind but there is no way they are getting money off me for a debt I know nothing about.

I have found this thread via Google and have EXACTLY the same letter. I had a 3 mobile about 7 years ago but cancelled it during the cooling off period as it was a shocking phone. Never heard anything again until this letter just came through!

I have had dealings with a debt collection agency before for a massive debt of £3.50 for a domain name registration which I never signed up for. I was harassed for over a year before they gave up believe it or not and I will NOT be going through that again.

Can someone advise if going to a solicitor and getting them to write a letter will end this? I do not owe 3 anything and absolutely hate debt collection agencies and how they deal with this. I would prefer to be taken to court than deal with letters, etc constantly and worrying if they will put a default on my credit record for something I don't owe money on (it doesnt even show up on my credit statement for a 3 contract!).

I want this nipped in the bud straight away so could I go to a solicitor, get them to email a letter and then charge MH for the letter via the same solicitor effectively suing them? I would even be happy to take them to court and force them to prove the debt effectively meaning they will end up paying all court fees as I owe NOTHING.

Any advice would be appreciated.

adamski911

Hi Doug,

Hope you dont mind me asking but how much is the debt for?
I am just wondering if 3 had something in small print in the contract that states a charge for cancelling during this period.
Although nothing was mentioned about a charge when I cancelled or ever since and therefore I have no intention of paying it!

cjgregory

Hi everybody,
I too have been receiving text messages from Mac Hall, but the weird thing is about 12 months ago (poss more) my husband received a letter from them for an amount just under £500 and we thort well we have never been in debt before and he worked it out that it must have been an old debt from wen he was married previously about 12yrs ago. We asked his ex wife if she heard anything and she said no and once we googled Mac Hall we realised the best thing to do was ignore this letter and not contact them at all (even tho it threatens court action).
A few months on my husband's ex contacted us and accused us of giving then her contact details which we never did and she received exactly the same letter, but with a different amount of debt. Then a few months after that I am now receiving constant tex messages, and as I am aware of the company I have since been ignoring them. However, the messages are becoming more and more regular and it is starting to bug me, all they do is quote a ref number and ask for me to ring Liz urgently on 01563554788. I have now contacted them and quoted the ref number to which they then asked me for my name, which I absolutely refused to do, the man was not at all shocked by my refusal and I asked him what name he has got down and he was not allowed to say. I then asked for him to remove my name and number off their contact list, as I am aware of what type of company they are and if they persist in sending these tex messages I will be seeking legal advice.
Now I just have to play the waiting game, but do you think I can receive some advice on thias iof the tex messages keep on occurring, if so sho do I go to for this advice CAB perhaps? I have never ever had a debt before so I know that what info they have is inaccurate or it is not my debt.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Thanks

dougz_2

My advice you are wasting your time talking to them. They have already been put on notice by the OFT, see http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2009/44-09, yet are obviously ignoring that and still pursuing the same dirty tricks.

I suggest anyone similarly harassed, either under the name Mackenzie Hall, or one of the names they hide behind, to inform the OFT as per link above:

Any complaints about non-compliance should be sent to: Enquiries
Office of Fair Trading
Fleetbank House
2-6 Salisbury Square
London
EC4Y 8JX

lauzyloubee

Hi I have a problem with Mackenzie Hall it;s now quite complicates so I will expalin clearly as possible.

I took a a mobile contract with Vodaphone in 2004 I was 18 (now 25) and I ran up a huge bill that mounted up to over 1k to which I paid in drips and drabs here and there until they passed it on to a debt collectors called Experto Credite. In Nov 2005 I got a 3k loan from Welcome Finance to which part of the loan was to consolidate Vodaphone/Experto Credite, Welcome wrote a cheque payable to Experto Credite of the remaining balance of £958.01. I snet the cheque and had it verbally confirmed they had received the cheque and they will inform Vodaphone, my account was closed etc. I never heard anything again until now 5 years later I have had a letter from Mackenzine Hall saying I owe £838 for this Vodaphone debt! I am having a nightmare in trying to get info from Experto Credite As guess what i'm not on their system no more I should be in their archive, they don't know how long it will take to try and chace my payments. I have contacted Welcome Finance and they have advised that I will need to write in to obtain info of the cheque details that was written out to Experto Credite. So I need to send a confirmation letter that ive paid this so I can pass on to Mackenzie Hall! I dont feel it my responsiblity to do all this running around I am out of work and a new mother I shouldnt have to do all this running around an be getting myself stressed out over a debt that was paid nearly 5 years ago. Also this debt is not showing on my credit as it was paid off. I cant seem to be able to obtain proof of me paying this debt I fear I may have to pay it again.

Tixy

Hi lauzy and welcome

Unless you kept proof that you had paid the debt then it is in your interests to provide something to show that this was paid.
Have you got a bank statement that shows this cheque being cashed? If you know the cheque number then you can request a copy of the paid cheque which will show it was made out to Experto. This along with copies of the information from Experto to show how much you owed would be useful.

Another alternative would be to send a 'subject access request' to experto to request copies of all information they hold on you, this should include receipt of your cheque. The cost to do a SAR is £10, which you need to enclose with the letter - there is a template here - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11753093&postcount=9

Sorry just seen that you said the cheque was from Welcome. In that case as they say you need to write to Welcome for proof of the cheque.

In the meantime if you haven't responded to MH, then write a letter to explain that you formally dispute the debt as you know it has been paid off. Tell them you are obtaining proof of that payment and will forward it to them.

In future try to keep proof of all payments like this (by photocopying the cheque or asking the lender to write to confirm the debt has been repaid).