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S.R.J. TalkTalk, Tiscali
Ukfrog_2
Posts: 14 Forumite
Hi all
This is just a summary of the outcome with Talk Talk (formally Tiscali).
After the Trace Confirmation that S.R.J. sent me on the 07/01 current, I did nothing, as they didn’t indicate the origin of the debt, and had no reference to any client, and no amount due.
On the 25/01 current, I received a Pending Litigation Proceeding from S.R.J. This time, as they added the details of the client, Talk Talk (at the Time it was Tiscali), I was able to contact Tiscali customer services. I found out that after I had terminated my contract with Tiscali back in 08/2007, they had cancelled my broadband connection, but for some unknown reason had left the phone line active, for 13 months, yes you read right, 13 months. (What happened to cutting you off after the last bill wasn’t paid?) Regardless of the reason, I was left with a bill in the amount of £158.55. (S.R.J. was claiming £178.55, this makes their fees at £20 for the letters sent)
At this point I still didn’t contact S.R.J. as I was in direct contact with Tiscali customer services, I spoke to a Tiscali agent and explained I had moved from the property back in august 2007, therefore I obviously did not acknowledge any debt following that date. It took very little time for them to agree to a billing mistake, and that we also agreed that I would send them a letter with proof that I had moved on the said date. I did just that the next day.
On the 12/02 current, I received an other letter from S.R.J. a Referral For Litigation, giving me 7 days to agree to payment plan. This time, stating that Talk Talk had passed the account over to them.
At this point I sent 2 recorded delivery letters, one to S.R.J. stating that I was in direct contact with Talk Talk and they had no reason to write to me because the matter was being resolved with customer services and the Talk Talk billing department. Furthermore I did not believe Talk Talk had passed the account on to them, but if they did consider having a claim, I would respectfully ask them to send me a copy of the original agreement with a “prove it letter” (See templates on this forum.) I joined a £1.00 PO and sent it to the Head Office, S.R.J. 52 Newtown, Uckfield, East Sussex, TN22 5DE, NOT THE PO BOX.
The 2nd letter was sent to Talk Talk’s head Office, W11 4AR. This was simply a recap of the conversation I had with their agent, the reference numbers, and to prove I had moved, a copy of my 1st utility bill at my new residence back in Aug 2007.
Tiscali answered back on the 27/02 current, acknowledging the mistake, also stating a credit to the account for any charges made after Aug. 2007.
I haven’t heard from S.R.J. since, but I feel like taking up the issue of them lying to me about the account being passed on to them. I’m not sure I have the time for that…..
S.R.J. use big words, but don’t be impressed by the Bold Title lettering on red backgrounds. It doesn’t mean Jack until they get a court order, and boy I would love S.R.J. to take me to court on this one. I would have so much fun.
I hope this can help somebody deal with the same type of issue. I will come back and update this should I receive any more letters from any of them, or if I end up taking S.R.J. to court.
Ukfrog
This is just a summary of the outcome with Talk Talk (formally Tiscali).
After the Trace Confirmation that S.R.J. sent me on the 07/01 current, I did nothing, as they didn’t indicate the origin of the debt, and had no reference to any client, and no amount due.
On the 25/01 current, I received a Pending Litigation Proceeding from S.R.J. This time, as they added the details of the client, Talk Talk (at the Time it was Tiscali), I was able to contact Tiscali customer services. I found out that after I had terminated my contract with Tiscali back in 08/2007, they had cancelled my broadband connection, but for some unknown reason had left the phone line active, for 13 months, yes you read right, 13 months. (What happened to cutting you off after the last bill wasn’t paid?) Regardless of the reason, I was left with a bill in the amount of £158.55. (S.R.J. was claiming £178.55, this makes their fees at £20 for the letters sent)
At this point I still didn’t contact S.R.J. as I was in direct contact with Tiscali customer services, I spoke to a Tiscali agent and explained I had moved from the property back in august 2007, therefore I obviously did not acknowledge any debt following that date. It took very little time for them to agree to a billing mistake, and that we also agreed that I would send them a letter with proof that I had moved on the said date. I did just that the next day.
On the 12/02 current, I received an other letter from S.R.J. a Referral For Litigation, giving me 7 days to agree to payment plan. This time, stating that Talk Talk had passed the account over to them.
At this point I sent 2 recorded delivery letters, one to S.R.J. stating that I was in direct contact with Talk Talk and they had no reason to write to me because the matter was being resolved with customer services and the Talk Talk billing department. Furthermore I did not believe Talk Talk had passed the account on to them, but if they did consider having a claim, I would respectfully ask them to send me a copy of the original agreement with a “prove it letter” (See templates on this forum.) I joined a £1.00 PO and sent it to the Head Office, S.R.J. 52 Newtown, Uckfield, East Sussex, TN22 5DE, NOT THE PO BOX.
The 2nd letter was sent to Talk Talk’s head Office, W11 4AR. This was simply a recap of the conversation I had with their agent, the reference numbers, and to prove I had moved, a copy of my 1st utility bill at my new residence back in Aug 2007.
Tiscali answered back on the 27/02 current, acknowledging the mistake, also stating a credit to the account for any charges made after Aug. 2007.
I haven’t heard from S.R.J. since, but I feel like taking up the issue of them lying to me about the account being passed on to them. I’m not sure I have the time for that…..
S.R.J. use big words, but don’t be impressed by the Bold Title lettering on red backgrounds. It doesn’t mean Jack until they get a court order, and boy I would love S.R.J. to take me to court on this one. I would have so much fun.
I hope this can help somebody deal with the same type of issue. I will come back and update this should I receive any more letters from any of them, or if I end up taking S.R.J. to court.
Ukfrog
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Comments
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May i ask, why did you send SRJ £1? If you were thinking about a CCA, a telephone line is a service, so done by a service agreement, not a credit agreement (CCA).
When a debt is disputed SJR should have stopped asking for payments, see OFT Guidelines - http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf
I am glad you seem to have gotten it sorted, SJR may well have been asked to collect the debt, because TalkTalk will have different departments that do not communicate well, accounts will automatically issue debt collectors and customer services wont see it on there screen.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
Hi Darkconvict
I must say, I wasn't sure about the £1 Postal Order, but I thought I'd better send it anyway just in case.
About S.R.J, I only contacted them after the 3rd letter they sent me, and I haven't had any news from them since.
I'm aware of TalkTalks difficulty to communicate between services, and I expect the 3rd letter from S.R.J. to be auto generated anyway.
Hopefully this will be the end of it. I only have to call TalkTalk Customer care department for an update according to the letter I received, the account has been put on hold for 30 days. So it seems I still have a couple of things to sort out, but I'm out of the woods for sure.0 -
Moving house is pretty sure to end the contact as you couldn't have received the services :P
Its going to be TalkTalk sorting it out and then talking to SRJ, will probably still try and get money from you knowing there reputation here. Just ignore them/reply with TalkTalk is/has dealt with it, the debt is a billing mistake and is not owed by myself.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
Hi Folks,
It seems like this organisation continues to mess up on the rules that are there to protect honest consumers.
Please be aware that I have had contact from Surrey Trading Standards who are investigating unfair debt collection practices in their area (the area which SRJ trade).
It doesn't matter where you are in the country, because SRJ are based in Surrey it is Surrey Trading Standards who are investigating. Give them a call on 01372 37170.
Regards,
Expectingstandards (for a reason!)___________________________________
Expecting Standards for a reason....0 -
I've recently received a second letter from SRJ claiming that I owe Tiscali over £300. I've had a good look around google and these forums and it seems that my case is a little different as I'm not in debt and have lived at the same address for years. I am 100% certain that I owe them nothing and that they incorrectly recorded the cancellation of the account 3 years ago. I suspect they are trawling old accounts looking to make money.
My defence (as it were) is:
1) I've never moved house and they have never once written to me about this claim.
2) they were always paid by direct debit when I had an account, and could have billed me if they thought their claim was legitimate.
3) It is technically impossible to change broadband providers without a MAC so they can't claim I didn't notify them that I was leaving.
4) I was outside the minimum contract term when I left so they can't say I went too early.
I'd like some advice as I do not want to contact SRJ (having seen their reputation online). Point 3 in my list is extremely strong, but how do I prove I cancelled correctly when Tiscali are the ones with all the records?
Should I continue to avoid writing to SRJ or would demanding proof somehow acknowledge a relationship and debt with Tiscali?
I am convinced (and with seeing the other posts) that they've done a database trawl, so how do you prove a case from three years ago when you have never missed a bill with anyone else and cancellations are done on the phone?0 -
The MAC code is the unique ID of the modem, if you changed modems (new supplier gave you one) then the MAC code changes. MAC code is only used if you transfer without issuing a new modem.
I would get on to Tiscali yourself and ask to see the status of your account to ensure it was indeed cancelled.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
Er No. A common mistake. There are 2 different MACs, totally unrelated, apart from the fact that they both apply to some aspect of networking technologyDarkConvict wrote: »The MAC code is the unique ID of the modem, if you changed modems (new supplier gave you one) then the MAC code changes. MAC code is only used if you transfer without issuing a new modem.
I would get on to Tiscali yourself and ask to see the status of your account to ensure it was indeed cancelled.- Media Access Control [MAC] Address. Unique low level address given to every ethernet network interface card. This is world wide
- Migration Authorisation Code [MAC]. Unique code which permits ADSL customers to choose another supplier. This is solely UK practice
Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam0 -
Oh, Thanks DV
Can you tell I do programming not networking
A new acronym is needed. But if he cancelled 3 years ago, and started a new contract elsewhere at a later time so didnt migrate, would they still have to get a MAC from the previous supplier.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
thanks for the reply guys. Just to clarify I didn't change providers years later. I moved from Tiscali to o2 so my service remained continous.
To leave one broadband supplier to go to another without being cutoff you have to be issued with a MAC (this has nothing to do with modems or the term MAC in relation to hardware serial numbers). In my case Tiscali themselves gave me the code to leave their service as this cannot be obtained from anywhere else.
I'm in the situatinon where I have to provide evidence that I left them nearly three years later, when the only way I could have left them was to use their own cancellation procedure.
Does anyone have any experience to say whether I should ignore the letters as it seems people never actually stop them, or should I write to SRJ in hope?0 -
I had a bad experience of switching broadband providers a few years ago. I was with AOL, and had decided to move to Tiscali. I phoned up AOL to ask for my MAC and to cancel my contract (I was outside the minimum contract period at this point). I gave Tiscali the MAC, and my broadband connection was transferred over after a brief break.
However, a few months later I noticed that AOL were still billing me for my broadband even though I had already transferred over to Tiscali. I phoned AOL to ask why they were still charging me as I had cancelled my contract - but they were completely obstructive, and asked for my "cancellation reference number". I told them I hadn't been given one, and their response was "well then you obviously didn't cancel the contract, did you, otherwise you'd have a cancellation reference number!". I felt completely tricked! Did they honestly think that I would phone up for a MAC code to transfer my broadband supplier and still want to pay them £19.99 a month for a service they were no longer providing?! (Grrr!)
Anyway, the experience just highlights that obtaining your MAC from your existing supplier isn't necessarily the end of your contract, and these b*****ds can pretend that you didn't cancel your contract as it's all done over the phone.
I'm still seething about the whole thing five years on, not bitter at all am I?!
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