Being chased for a debt which isn't mine

hobo28

I am surprised by the number of people that would pass contact details for their family to a debt collection agency to 'teach them a lesson' - nice people!

I am surprised that you blame Orange for your son's fraudulent activities!
One of the main jobs of any parent is to teach your son how to be a responsible adult. So far, it would seem your son still has much to learn.

I have 4 kids, I would pass their details on without a 2nd thought. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

joe13

wotsthat wrote:

Thanks for all the replies.

I completely agree about taking responsibility etc. but that wasn't the main thrust of the post.

I am surprised by the number of people that would pass contact details for their family to a debt collection agency to 'teach them a lesson' - nice people!

It is not 'to teach them a lesson' it is about being honest and telling the truth. By not passing on the information you are committing a crime.
have to agree with op it is not orange who are at fault here.

gizmoleeds

Also, any of us who happen to be Orange customers are indirectly paying for these people to chase your son, and for any calls he has made and other services he has used on his phone and not paid the bill for.... :mad:

wotsthat

Actually Gizmoleeds you are wrong.

My son (21 years old remember) is so foolish that he signed up for an orange contract at £30/ month and received a 'phone he could have had for free with PAYG. He then never paid a single monthly bill and was cut off. So for the next 11 months he paid £30/ month and couldn't make a call. Orange have already sold this debt and have their money so they don't care any more. It could be argued therefore that it is the fools who are subsidising you - a weak argument I grant you.

It's the same with 0% deals on credit cards, which I use to generate income, who pays for this? It certainly isn't the credit card companies; it's people who pay the excessive interest charges and fees.

I certainly don't condone his behaviour - he comes from a household with a strong work ethic and has always been encouraged to be responsible. I no longer bale him out - he's 21 and has chosen his own path.

jamescredmond

agree, mostly, with other posts about RESPONSIBILITY blah blah blah but let's not forget the intrusive mercenary techniques used by mobile providers to screw their pound's worth of flesh. I was on the wrong end of this with vodaphone and their debt rottweilers last year even though I didn't owe a bean!
buy your son a PAYG mobile. tell him to sort this debt. I have limited sympathy for him but even less for the greed-driven mob. phone companies.

Mark_petty

i'm sorry but everyone makes a mistake, there is no way I would give the details of any member of my family to a debt collection agency.
By the sounds of it he paid back his debt over the last 11 months.
Just tell the debt people that he doesn't live there and that you don't know where he lives, so stop hassling me as the debt has nothing to do with me.

Justicia

This has got lively...!

Mark_petty wrote:

i'm sorry but everyone makes a mistake

I would agree, if not for this sentence in the original post;

wotsthat wrote:

This is not the first time he has been in this situation having previously been chased on behalf of Vodaphone.

Hardly a "mistake" then...

The OP even mentions that the individual concerned also has a bad credit rating also anyway, so I would assume a few more "mistakes" have been made previous to this then...

By the sounds of it he paid back his debt over the last 11 months.

I am not sure that is what was implied through this thread... Is "wotsthat" able to confirm whether an actual, physical payment was made to Orange during the contract, as the previous post related to this appeared to imply that he had been cut off but incurred monthly costs on his account (as you would a 12 month contract).

wotsthat wrote:

I certainly don't condone his behaviour - he comes from a household with a strong work ethic and has always been encouraged to be responsible. I no longer bale him out - he's 21 and has chosen his own path.

If you wish to encourage him to be responsible, then give him the contact details for the debt company (if he already has them, give them again to be sure...) and advise him to demonstrate what you have taught him through a "strong work ethic" and responsibly make contact with them within a week or so (whatever you want) and if he does not contact them within the set time, then give them his revised contact details for them to contact him. Again, feel free to ignore this, as I suspect you might, as far as I am concerned it's not me who is not being respected by my son and whom they are continuously harrassing...

Giving them his details is far from the sending him to the gullotine as seems to almost have been suggested in this thread; it's giving him the opportunity to act his age and yes, show some RESPONSIBILITY for his actions (he signed the contract, did he not?)...

I am 24 and if I was in a position where my mother was being "harrassed" and continuously inconvenienced by the consequences of my foolish actions then I would be ashamed of myself.

moongarden

Percy_Vere wrote:

It's about teaching your son about responsibility, clearly he hasn't learned that lesson yet.

please please encourage and help him to face up to this.
do not be judgemental we all make mistakes.
just calmly say "this is the situation - how shall we deal with it"

could you ask him to pop round for tea and just drop into the conversation that this company is contacting you and has he thought about offering them a Full and Final Settlement or negotiating with them? help him with practical things such as writing a letter, helping make an offer of a couple of quid a week, perhaps even suggesting that if he gives you the cash you can make the payments. then show him how to get his credit report (perhaps even offering to pay for this to encourage it) and work through it with him.

it is such an important lesson and one which i really wish i had learned at 21.

learning to pay his way now = future where the world is his oyster
helping him run away from this = bad credit = ccj's = no hope future and one huge uphill struggle if he ever has his lightbulb moment

also at 21, although an adult, he is not a mature adult and still needs guidance not judgement. these financial skills are not taught in school so it falls to the parents to teach this.