Received bill from debt collection agency. Didn't order anything!

omgwhat

I'm getting confused. Am I allowed to say these were unsolicited goods? Nobody asked for them. They were probably ordered with a fraudulent credit card and then somebody posed as DHL to collect them.

omgwhat

What makes them unsolicited? Surely these were unsolicited since nobody at the house asked for them?

dmg24

omgwhat wrote: »

I'm getting confused. Am I allowed to say these were unsolicited goods? Nobody asked for them. They were probably ordered with a fraudulent credit card and then somebody posed as DHL to collect them.

No, they are not unsolicited within the meaning of the Act (emphasis added).

A person who, not having reasonable cause to believe there is a right to payment, in the course of any trade or business makes a demand for payment, or asserts a present or prospective right to payment, for what he knows are unsolicited goods sent (after the commencement of this Act) to another person with a view to his acquiring them [F1for the purposes of his trade or business], shall be guilty of an offence and on summary conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding [F2level 4 on the standard scale].

You need to contact the police.

omgwhat

jesus christ. what are the police going to do? will they be able to make sure my dad doesn't have to pay the fine?

Browntoa

its a regular scam , scammers get dhl tracking details from viking etc, then either sit down the road until it turns up or check online until status shown as delivered

Scammer then knocks on the door as Mr DHL " sorry it get delivered to the wrong address" and takes the goods "back to be delivered"

one for the police as your fathers signed for the the goods, so DHL have his signature

he needs to report it as fraud , the police may have had a spate of similar crimes already in the same area....

omgwhat

what happens to innocent people that are used as "drops". Do they have to pay fines because of what the fraudsters have done? That seems unfair.

omgwhat

bump

what happens to innocent victims who were used as a drop and had packages taken away from them by people posing to be DHL? Do they still have to pay the debt collectors?

dmg24

The police will investigate and you can pass this information to the debt collectors. Obviously if the police cannot establish a case, there may still be a debt to pay.

chattychappy

Your father disputes the debt - with his credit card if the debt is still with them. The onus is on credit card to prove that he incurred the debt - not on your father to prove what he did with the goods that he didn't want.

Whilst collecting receipts or noticing this on a statement earlier might have been useful, this is really a side show. Many people would have "fallen for" the same scam. But the risk of this scam is really with CC companies and merchants, not your father.

Viking Direct, by the way, are a perfectly decent supplier. But the argument is not really with them but the CC company.

[PS this assumes the order was originally placed on a credit card as this is a CC forum. If a straightforward commercial debt because the goods were sent on credit, then it is less simple. But they still have to prove that the money is owed.]

dmg24

chattychappy wrote: »

Your father disputes the debt - with his credit card if the debt is still with them. The onus is on credit card to prove that he incurred the debt - not on your father to prove what he did with the goods that he didn't want.

The OP (or someone in their household) received the goods. The goods would have been signed for by someone in their household. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, this is sufficient proof that the debt was incurred.