debt collectors HELP !!!!!

Mr__Black_5

Basically, im not trying to dispute with Cineworld that I should be exempt from paying for the card.

I will fully admit I should not have assumed it was done and dusted. I am also willing to accept that their PR & Marketing team probably gave me the wrong advice and that I wasnt able to cancel when I did and I needed to wait until the 12 months was over.

My concern here is that im trying to rectify the situation with Cineworld by giving them what I owe (£40) but they wont accept it.....they are insisting I pay the collection agency (Which includes their fees which I dont think I should or am obliged to pay).....I just want to pay cineworld, who i have the contract with and put this all to rest....i dont want to pay a third party that i have no custom or contract with and pay their fees on top of what I owe. It just doesnt seem right that the collections agency can demand this and cineworld refuse my payment like they have??

Hintza

I don't understand why you are even thinking of paying them if as I saw you cancelled via email. Just inform that you will see them in court.

(But you do suggest later that you them the money.....I'm slightly confused)

Mr__Black_5

Hintza wrote: »

I don't understand why you are even thinking of paying them if as I saw you cancelled via email. Just inform that you will see them in court.

(But you do suggest later that you them the money.....I'm slightly confused)

Sorry, I'll clarify. I did email them and cancel (As I was originally advised by them that I could)....They have now turned around and said that I was mis-informed and that I cant cancel before my 12 months expires (Which is August)....Rather than argue I have agreed to pay the £40 (Never had a debt collectors letter before and its a little scary, just want this all to end)....They just wont let me pay and I refuse to pay the debt collectors their fees on top of the £40.

Sure I could probably argue in court that they advised me that I could cancel....but I just want this to all be overand settle....if they will let me

DVardysShadow

Mr__Black wrote: »

Basically, im not trying to dispute with Cineworld that I should be exempt from paying for the card.

I will fully admit I should not have assumed it was done and dusted. I am also willing to accept that their PR & Marketing team probably gave me the wrong advice and that I wasnt able to cancel when I did and I needed to wait until the 12 months was over.

My concern here is that im trying to rectify the situation with Cineworld by giving them what I owe (£40) but they wont accept it.....they are insisting I pay the collection agency (Which includes their fees which I dont think I should or am obliged to pay).....I just want to pay cineworld, who i have the contract with and put this all to rest....i dont want to pay a third party that i have no custom or contract with and pay their fees on top of what I owe. It just doesnt seem right that the collections agency can demand this and cineworld refuse my payment like they have??

You cancelled on the basis that the price was being increased. This is your right. If the price is increased in contract, then it is to your detriment, so you can cancel. Once you have cancelled, if there is any attempt to collect money, you should immediately raise a dispute with the original creditor and tell the debt collector the amount is in dispute. The debt collector is powerless to collect while the matter is in dispute.

Personally, I think you jumped the gun by cancelling on media reports - you should have cancelled only on personal notification or on noticing an increase in price. And the amount indicates that they are only seeking the original price, although it may be that they realise that they can only do you for the old price.

If you have your original correspondence and you stated you were cancelling because the price was going up, you can fight it on the basis that they did not offer to complete the term at the new price. In that position, I would not have offered to pay them.

oldone_2

Send a recorded delivery letter (not an e-mail) to the debt collectors saying the debt is in dispute and they are to hand it back to Cineworld.This they are then required to do.

When Cineworld contact you again, make your offer of making good the payments under the contract, less of course any debt collectors fees. If they refuse, advise them to issue court proceedings, making sure you have kept copies of all your correspondence.

dinglebert

Sorry can you clarify. I am reading that you cancelled as you believed the price was going to increase. However the company had not contacted you directly about this. As it turned out the price would not have increased during the period of your contract. You cancelled your direct debit (and I presume returned your card or at least stopped going to the cinema). If these are the facts then you are in breach of contract and owe the money.

Evilm

Mr__Black wrote: »

Not on a personal level, but they announced it in the media and to those with unlimited cards via mass emails, social network sites etc. I did enter into dialogue via messages on one social network site where I said (as did a lot of other people at the time), What if i dont want to proceed? Which they replied with "You can cancel your card should you not wish to proceed at the increased price"

If loads of people were saying that that means it wasn't just to you and they did not check the contracts to see if you'd exceeding the 12 months initial contract. It therefore doesn't override your individual contract or non-cancellation period.

It would have been nice for their rep on the social networking site to say "you can cancel your card should you not wish to proceed at the increased price providing you have been with us 12 months. If you haven't been with us 12 months then your prices will not be raised until that 12 months is over" or something but they didn't.

easyhost

Mr__Black wrote: »

THeir announced it via the various social sites, cinema magazine/literature and signs in the cinema chain etc.

I was told I could cancel via a message from their PR & Marketing team through twitter (Something they then backtracked on over the fone)

a twitter message is a general message and not one to a customer direct, you could be having a twitter chat with the tea boy of cineworld as theirs no way of knowing. you had a 12 month contract with them and on the back of a twitter message you canceled your direct debit, therefore breaching the contract to pay them monthly

Forwandert

dinglebert wrote: »

Sorry can you clarify. I am reading that you cancelled as you believed the price was going to increase. However the company had not contacted you directly about this. As it turned out the price would not have increased during the period of your contract. You cancelled your direct debit (and I presume returned your card or at least stopped going to the cinema). If these are the facts then you are in breach of contract and owe the money.

Thats how I interpreted it, however the OP isn't disputing they owe the money they don't want to pay the extra fees and costs just the £40.50, I'm just wondering how it got to a final demand with no other contact from Cineworld inbetween, if the OP wasn't aware they hadn't terminated the contract paying what they actually owe £40.50 sounds reasonable, Cineworld could have made contact after the first payment failed after the OP cancelled the contract and the OP would have been made aware the contract was still running.

easyhost

Forwandert wrote: »

Thats how I interpreted it, however the OP isn't disputing they owe the money they don't want to pay the extra fees and costs just the £40.50, I'm just wondering how it got to a final demand with no other contact from Cineworld inbetween, if the OP wasn't aware they hadn't terminated the contract paying what they actually owe £40.50 sounds reasonable, Cineworld could have made contact after the first payment failed after the OP cancelled the contract and the OP would have been made aware the contract was still running.

also as cineworld would have still attempted to draw on the DD, the OP should have also had letters from his bank of these attempts.
But i would have assumed the cineworld would have sent notices to the OP after every fail telling them that payments were refused.