Negotiating with Lowell

RAS

If a debt is statute barred, you are NOT required to pay them a penny.

if a debt collector hounds you; write and tell them you are not paying and if they keep hounding you, make a formal complaint to the OFT.

The law and the courts are against pursuit of SB debt. Stick to the law.

By the way some people who were paying so not SB were offered 5% F&Fs in the late noughties.

Vodafone

kittycat47 wrote: »

Hi!

First time to post; hoping for some advise on how to deal with Lowells please. They are attempting to get payment for a debt that they've bought from Vodaphone. Just received what I think is 2nd letter from them and thought I better check my paperwork to see if the debt was state barred or not. From what I can tell the last contact I had about the debt was another debt Company whom I spoke to and made a payment of £20; this was 31st May 2007. My bill had been under query with Vodaphone but I've not kept full paperwork and don't know where to go from here; approx 12 weeks from debt being state barred

Hi kittycat47,

If you'd like me to take a closer look at matters for you could you email me with the relevant details via the link in our profile here?

All you need to do is copy and paste the link into your web browser and it will take you to the Contact us form on our website.

To ensure that it reaches me could you also quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line and once our automated reply arrives update the thread with your email reference number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible?

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

fatbelly

Given that Lowells only have 12 weeks in which to commence court action, it may not be in the poster's best interest to acknowledge and identify this debt to a former owner of it.

But if they do commence a court claim I am sure they would appreciate your help.

notsleepingwell

Hi fevlo

I also have debt with lowell and need to negotiate. I would very much appreciate the name and contact with this chap at lowell. I am very encouraged by what you have achieved. I tried to send you private message but still showing 0 messages sent? can anyone help? I am new here.

many thanks

fevlo wrote: »

Thanks guys, I spoke to a very nice chap at lowell a few days a go and we settled on 55p in the £ for all accounts in full and final.
Closed 4 of the 6 accounts, one of the remaining 2 was with debt managers and i was able to secure the same F and F discount with them. The final account is with advantis credit and im in the process of negotiations with them.
Its made a massive dent in my debts and given Lowels recent rise in using bankruptcy as a recovery option its nice to now have my debts with them below the £750 mark.

fevlo

notsleepingwell wrote: »

Hi fevlo

I also have debt with lowell and need to negotiate. I would very much appreciate the name and contact with this chap at lowell. I am very encouraged by what you have achieved. I tried to send you private message but still showing 0 messages sent? can anyone help? I am new here.

many thanks

Got your PM and replied

Fyffes

notsleepingwell wrote: »

I also have debt with lowell and need to negotiate. I would very much appreciate the name and contact with this chap at lowell. I am very encouraged by what you have achieved. I tried to send you private message but still showing 0 messages sent? can anyone help? I am new here.

I would proceed with caution if I were you. Don't be fooled into thinking that anybody who works for a debt collection agency is genuinely a nice chap. If they're being nice it's because they feel that it's the best way to squeeze more money out of you. The very same "nice chap" will be fully capable of being more abrupt if he feels that it's the best way to earn his commission. The "nice" act is nothing but a psychological con trick.

In my experience (with a different DCA) they all start off as "nice guys" in the hope that you agree to settle at much more than you need to. I am of the opinion that an agent will become more aggressive and threatening as you negotiate closer to his absolute limit for a settlement. Settling when he's still being nice is a fair indication that you've folded way too soon and should perhaps have called his bluff and forced him to reluctantly reveal his true hand.

I would say that the individual you are seeking out simply won't believe his luck when your call is put through to him. Trust me, he will be thinking you're an absolute mug who's there for the taking.

I never thought I'd see the day when a commission chasing debt collector is actively being personally recommended :undecided

fevlo

Fyffes
I'd agree with some of what you have said and my reply PM explained that I couldn't give specifics details of the agent I spoke too so I think saying he is "recommended" is not very accurate.

Most DCA's I've spoken too have been firm but generally fair, all apart from a chap at Global.

In my opinion, if you start out giving the impression your serious about sorting the debt then they have no alternative but to be nice

Fyffes

Fevlo I absolutely respect your opinion on this. I just think it may be misleading to describe one of these people as a "very nice chap" as you did in one of your earlier posts. It incorrectly gives the impression that people like this are here to help. The reality is that they are a unique breed of incompationate human being who will do whatever it takes to fleece anybody who represents an opportunity to earn extra commission.

Does it make financial sense to accept a 55p in the pound settlement from a "nice chap" when you may have been able to negotiate a 30p in the pound settlement with a not so nice chap?

Please don't take this the wrong way. All I'm saying is that people should take a step back and ask themselves why these debt collectors are being so pleasant and helpful. They are parasites who will use every trick in the book to get their hands on your money. The old "good cop, bad cop" act is of course a tried and tested routine. They send threatening letters to force/trick you into phoning them and then turn on the charm when you actually do. Ultimately the "customer" is so relieved that they got through to a nice guy (and not the baddie who wrote the nasty letters) that they end up paying over the odds because somebody has duped them into believing that they genuinely care about helping them. Does anybody believe that even one of these telephone based debt collectors actually clocks into work at 8am every day and tells himself "today I am going to help people who have fallen on hard times to rebuild their lives"?

Trust me, by 8.05 they have been given a target figure for the day and if they have to fleece your granny to achieve it, that's exactly what these ruthless individuals will do. Please don't kid yourselves into thinking that's not the case.