Default registered by EE

wstock86

Buzby wrote: »

The default is not manually entered - if the bill is not cleared by the due date, a default is automatically flagged.

Sadly there is no negotiation, their information to you was erroneous at best, misleading at worse but means even if you told them to go whistle for their money, taking you to court would have been unlikely (as a CCJ and their Default would mean you were being penalised twice). They would sell on the debt and let a parade of DCA's try to wear you down.

So now I have the Default, I may as well tell them to go whistle.

robbies_gal

not a good idea you'll get debt collectors calling on you instead and u cant just write them off

wstock86

robbies_gal wrote: »

not a good idea you'll get debt collectors calling on you instead and u cant just write them off

But they can just be ignored? It's an unsecured debt with a default already registered, I'm not going to pay another £1700 to clear off a debt that'll last 6 years anyway!

oopsadaisydoddle

wstock86 wrote: »

But they can just be ignored? It's an unsecured debt with a default already registered, I'm not going to pay another £1700 to clear off a debt that'll last 6 years anyway!

Whilst I don't agree with not paying, you do have a point. You have to remember though that they might (and i say might because I'm not sure it's relevant to a mobile contract) get a CCJ? If that happens then I believe it will be another 6 years from the ccj date that it affects your credit.

Like I said though, not sure if that will happen.

NFH

This is another reason why phone bills should be allowed to contain only communication costs. Premium rate numbers should be abolished. If consumers want to make payments above the cost of communications, they can do so separately. Premium rate numbers make it too easy.

Buzby

The 'go whistle' aspect is certainly gaining popularity. If a firm can administratively cause you grief for non payment via a CRA, there may well be threats of court action - but if you are prepared to ride them out, you ultimately benefit for a (possible) few years of hassle as a succession of down-at-heel recovery firms attempt to be successful where others have failed.

Since debts have become a commodity, the debtor has a responsibility to the primary creditor. However, if said creditor have/has no interest in working with the debtor to be paid - preferring to cut and run, and selling on the debt, the debtor should have no qualms about any continuing responsibility to pay a third party.

If the organ grinder didn't want to wait for your money, why bother with a succession of monkeys?

wstock86

After 4 emails, Orange have agreed to remove the default; obviously the debt has to be cleared.

My argument was that I asked them on a number of occasions if a default would be added, they answered no. Had they answered yes, I would of sourced the money and paid it off.

My only worry now is that they only give me 14 days or so and with this default on file, is going to make it impossible to get a loan to get it paid off! Maybe my £200 a month will have to stick!

judasblitzkrieg

Having worked for the T-Mobile side of EE before, it's alarming that it got to this point.

With the best will in the world, the account should not have been allowed to reach a charge of that much. Everyone with a mobile phone contract is given a credit limit (like a credit card) that they can bill. This is based on their credit score. The highest credit limit I ever saw on an account with only two lines was £750. Their system should have locked down his line WELL before you reached this point.

They also shouldn't have created a default because you were paying SOMETHING. You should only have gotten a default if you didn't pay anything. Because you were still making payments to the debt, the worst they could have done to you was lower your credit limit when it was paid off. They also shouldn't be asking for the full amount back to remove the default as that is entirely unreasonable.

My advice would be to make the biggest complaint you possibly can. I mean really take them to task for this as it is a !!!! up of monumental proportions. Even better, if you live anywhere near Greenock, North Tyneside, Sunderland, Darlington or Merthyr Tidfil, then go to the call centre and ask to speak to a member of staff face to face. That happened many times with disgruntled customers when I worked there. You wouldn't believe the amount of phones I would troubleshoot in reception for people

wstock86

judasblitzkrieg wrote: »

Having worked for the T-Mobile side of EE before, it's alarming that it got to this point.

With the best will in the world, the account should not have been allowed to reach a charge of that much. Everyone with a mobile phone contract is given a credit limit (like a credit card) that they can bill. This is based on their credit score. The highest credit limit I ever saw on an account with only two lines was £750. Their system should have locked down his line WELL before you reached this point.

They also shouldn't have created a default because you were paying SOMETHING. You should only have gotten a default if you didn't pay anything. Because you were still making payments to the debt, the worst they could have done to you was lower your credit limit when it was paid off. They also shouldn't be asking for the full amount back to remove the default as that is entirely unreasonable.

My advice would be to make the biggest complaint you possibly can. I mean really take them to task for this as it is a !!!! up of monumental proportions. Even better, if you live anywhere near Greenock, North Tyneside, Sunderland, Darlington or Merthyr Tidfil, then go to the call centre and ask to speak to a member of staff face to face. That happened many times with disgruntled customers when I worked there. You wouldn't believe the amount of phones I would troubleshoot in reception for people

Thanks very much for the reply. I wasn't aware of the credit limit thing, until recently my phone got locked off at £80 and was informed of it then. His contract was with Orange, and not EE (was taken out before they merged and wasn't passed over, it stayaed as Orange), so he might not have had a credit limit?

How would you go about complaining, obviously it's his fault that the bill got to that so really there's not much of a complaint?

Thanks again, it's much appreciated.

judasblitzkrieg

T-Mob and Orange's internal policies merged when they became EE, so he will have a credit limit.

Although the debt is his fault, you can complain about the way it was handled by Customer Services, because it's abysmal how they've been treating you.

This is the best (if slightly longwinded) way of getting a complaint through EE:

1 - call the call centre and request a manager to call you back at a time you specify. Don't speak to the manager on the original call as it impacts the agent's stats and they will do their best to fob you off lest their team look like they're taking the !!!!. You can have a much more detailed conversation if the manager calls you back

1a - if the manager doesn't call you back, ring back and speak to a manager on the call, your courtesy to them went out the window when they didn't call you back

2 - Explain, in the nicest terms that you accept that your brother racked up the debt, but that it's unfair for them to penalise your credit rating when you're making the best possible effort to pay it back. Usual reminders of you being a good orange customer and never having an issue before this should be placed frequently.

3 - If the manager can't put you back onto a payment plan without affecting your credit rating, ask to have a complaint raised to the chairman's complaints office. The manager then has to create an action on the system and should record your contact details. get them to read back the message they'll be submitting about it so you know they've got all the details down and correct if necessary

4 - wait. when things go to chairman's complaints you generally have to wait a couple of weeks for a response, which although frustrating is entirely normal.

5 - the chairman's office should contact you and attempt to progress your complaint further in the hope of closing it down (complaint resolution rates are their targeted KPI). Don't let them just fob you off, make sure whatever they advise you is in your best interest. You can reject offers from them. However, in my experience of the EE chairman's complaints, they're usually pretty good and as long as you're not being entirely unreasonable, they should be able to sort you out.

6 - In the unlikely event that Chairman's complaints can't resolve your issue to the satisfaction of both yourself and Orange, then you can request them to provide you with a deadlock letter. You then escalate this to CISAS, who are an independent intermediary (can't post the link, just google it)

7 - Finally, if CISAS cannot help you and don't provide a resolution within 8 weeks, you escalate to OFCOM.

You shouldn't need to go beyond point 5, or ideally point 3, really. Remember to ask everyone you speak to for their name and team number so you can keep track of who you're speaking to and you can cross reference your points with the notes on the system every time you make contact with them. You should also request that if you have to escalate to the chairman's complaints team, the amount you owe be placed into dispute, simply so that it's not ticking away and you aren't running the risk of missing payments or having your credit file affected.

This isn't a guarantee that your issue will go away, but this is the best way to complain through EE.

Good luck