Mam was an agent for a catalogue, now they are saying she is responsible for the debt

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I apologise in advance for this wall of text!

So, my mam has a massive problem and we are in urgent need of some help and advice. She has, for the past 37 years, been acting as an agent for a very well known catalogue. During this time the catalogue has changed names three times. She even has a document from 1998 which says 'AGENT'S NAME MRS XXXXXXXX'.

She has had some of the same customers for over 7 years and one of them has stopped making their payments to us. My mam has used her account with this catalouge in exactly the same way for all of this time. She has never missed a payment, and never been in arrears until now! She wrote to the catalogue before the payment was due, letting them know of the problem and that a customer was not paying but they said they did not recieve the letter and she was charged for not meeting the minimum payment.

My mam has never been directly informed by letter or any other means that her situation has changed. But now when she contacted the catalogue by phone to tell them that one her customers is not paying her and that is why the minimum payment was not met, they have said that my mam is not actually an agent and she is completley responsible for all this other person's debt (which is close to £1000).

Roughly 2 1/2 years ago my mam had a similar problem, one of her customers stopped making payments but the remaining balance was only about £20. My mam contacted the catalogue and they sent her the relevant documents to fill in, said they would take over and that the customer should be taken off my mams customer list.

Now the catalogue are saying my mam is not an agent, and that all of her customers should have had credit checks or else they would not be allowed to order goods. She had no idea of this change, and is not in a position to pay £1000 of someone else's debt. The person on the phone said my mams situation was like her letting someone use her credit card. But, my mam had no idea that was how it worked and was unaware that anything had changed, and that somehow the debt is hers.

Do we stand a chance if we fight this? Please any advice or help would be appreciated, we are going to write a dispute letter but I was just wondering if anyone knows what our chances are? We have never been in this situation before and are not even sure the best way to go about writing a dispute letter!

Thank you so much! If you need any more info I will tell you as much as I can.

Sambucus_Nigra

What does the contract that she has with them say about this?

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Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

What does the contract that she has with them say about this?

Thank you for your quick response!

I am not aware of a contract that my mam has with them, I will need to ask her. She first set up her account with the catalogue 37 years ago when it was under a different name. We havent had a chance to ask, do we request this information in writing? We have no idea what to do next... the person was not helpfull on the phone.

I was thinking my mam should phone back but this is upsetting her so much.

Sambucus_Nigra

There must have been some contract in between being a 'user' and changing to being an 'agent'.

If she's not an agent then what is she and why haven't the catalogue done the necessary checks before they give the customers credit?

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Just to point out, the person on the phone told my mam the terms and conditions had changed... they state:

'Please note, unless you are registered with us as an agent, you are responsible for all purchases made on your account and are personally liable for the full outstanding balance. From 7/01/2011, agents may not recruit or place orders for new customers. Agents will be personally liable for any such orders placed.'

The part about orders placed for new customers does not apply, the customer regarding this dispute has been with my mam for over 5 years. When I quoted this, that is when the person I was speaking to told me my mam was not an agent. How could this be after 37 years of business with them? We are so confused.

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Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

There must have been some contract in between being a 'user' and changing to being an 'agent'.

If she's not an agent then what is she and why haven't the catalogue done the necessary checks before they give the customers credit?

Again thank you for your reply.

My mam has said she joined as an agent and never signed a contract... She has always placed orders for others, having their goods be delivered to their homes. She has from years ago the original agent books that were sent, with spaces for customer lists and order forms, and she has a document that states 'Agents Name (then my mams name)' from 1998.

Credit was never given to my mam's customers, she orders for them. This worries me. But like I said she had a problem with a previous customer, they owed £20 but would not pay. My mam contacted the catalogue and explained, they then sent my mam the relevant documents and told my mam to take the customer off her list. How could they say that 2 years ago, but now just say 'this time it is your debt and we cant do anything about it. You have to pay'.

What they are saying is now my mam isn't an agent, and that her account is just hers and they compared her ordering for others to be like her letting someone buy things on her credit card! But she was never aware that anything changed regarding her account. Since she joined so many years ago the catalogue has changed names three times, I don't know if that has anything to do with this.

We are trying to dispute that this £1000 is her debt, but I am concerned that we wont succeed!

vax2002

Were the goods delivered to your mum or the "customer " direct

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vax2002 wrote: »

Were the goods delivered to your mum or the "customer " direct

They were delivered to the customer direct. She was making payments for a while but has now stopped all contact! The catalogue has said that even though the goods were delivered to the 'customers' address that does not mean anything, as items can be delivered to where-ever you want them to be.

We don't know what to do next, technically it seems my mam is now responsible for this debt. But it is not hers!!

s_b

i might be wrong here but it appears they are saying your mum was acting as a loan person but she wont have a credit licence will she
so by this her supplier is also in breach of any credit licence they would need as they give credit somewhere down the line
i suggest get half an hour free solicitor advice and get him to draft a letter that tells them they have more to lose than your mam

Sambucus_Nigra

turn_over_a_new_leaf wrote: »

They were delivered to the customer direct. She was making payments for a while but has now stopped all contact! The catalogue has said that even though the goods were delivered to the 'customers' address that does not mean anything, as items can be delivered to where-ever you want them to be.

We don't know what to do next, technically it seems my mam is now responsible for this debt. But it is not hers!!

Did they have separate accounts with their details on them, or were these all on her account?

turn_over_a_new_leaf

s_b wrote: »

i might be wrong here but it appears they are saying your mum was acting as a loan person but she wont have a credit licence will she
so by this her supplier is also in breach of any credit licence they would need as they give credit somewhere down the line
i suggest get half an hour free solicitor advice and get him to draft a letter that tells them they have more to lose than your mam

Thank you for your reply! What you say makes sense and we will speak to a solicitor.