Newman debt collection agency (eBay)

ch-ching · 4 December 2013 at 12:48PM

Hi all.

I'm being chased daily by the above DCA on behalf of eBay for £4!! Yes really four quid. They claim eBay instructed them when I had failed to pay my seller fees. However, although there WAS a delay paying it on my part it was paid before they ever contacted me! Let me explain;

I literally use ebay maybe once per year. I sold a piece of jewellery, received the payment, sent it off and that was that. My acct WAS registered to an old email acct and therefore the paypal was linked to that. I (wrongly) assumed that the fees were taken but because the email acct was no longer valid it wasn't. I also didn't get any chase-ups for the fees as they were going to the redundant email acct also. As I said above, I hardly every use ebay and therefore hadn't logged in after the sale and seen the messages they also send you on there. After a few months I logged on again for something else, saw the emails and paid the £20 I owed there and then. I THEN (a few days later) got a letter from the above saying I owed them £8 admin fees but they'd reduce it to £4 if I paid straight away. I told them to whistle.

Despite telling them this each time they call, I have also told them to take me to court if they wish as I will NOT pay them a penny. Several months later, they still call me daily. What do you suggest I do? I don't owe them anything.

heartbreak_star · 4 December 2013 at 1:16PM

Um...pay it? It's only £4...are you willing to trash your credit rating for 6 years over that?

HBS x

19lottie82 · 4 December 2013 at 2:59PM

I agree with HBS.

The admin fees must have been in the T&Cs you agreed to when you joined ebay.

You're willing to cut your nose off to spite your face and trash your credit rating for £4???

teffers · 4 December 2013 at 4:01PM

Long answer:

Your Credit Reference CANNOT be trashed simply by a DCA trying to obtain funds wrongly (or rightly) demanded.

Write to them, tell them straight you've paid, the 'debt' is in dispute and any further contact other than a court summons will be considered harassment.

DCA's have no direct influence on your credit reference simply by you 'owing' them money.

Short answer:

Just pay it - there is a grey area in what has happened and unless you are struggling to keep yourself entertained, £4 or even £8 isn't worth the hassle.

ch-ching · 5 December 2013 at 1:55PM

Thanks all. Wasn't expecting those answers I have to say. So it seems the general consensus is pay a dca whether or not I owe them to stop the hassle? Isn't that what they're banking on?

Tixy · 5 December 2013 at 3:43PM

Do you think you don't owe the fees?

Have they explained what the fees relate to and have you checked the T&Cs on ebay to see what it states in relation to what fees are charged due to late payment.

If you paid several months late then a £4 fee does not sound a lot. But you really need to know what the T&Cs of selling on ebay state to know whether they are due or not.

ch-ching · 6 December 2013 at 1:07PM

Yes I don't owe anything. They were instructed by eBay but I'd already paid.

Buzby · 6 December 2013 at 1:13PM

A DCA (alone) cannot trash your file unless they go to a court claim. What does your file show? Only if eBay did not, and they as acting as eBay agents could - but not if already showing.

Is there a flag or default from eBay already? If so, nothing more can come of this and you could tell the DCA to go swivel.

Tixy · 6 December 2013 at 1:14PM

ch-ching wrote: »

Yes I don't owe anything. They were instructed by eBay but I'd already paid.

But the charge isn't a charge for the debt collector being instructed. Its a charge made by ebay because you paid the bill late.
It presumably became payable in the period of time between when you should have paid and when you did actually pay.

sourcrates · 6 December 2013 at 6:23PM

I had a similar situation with ebay last year, I was late paying my seller fees as I was on holiday, and it had slipped my mind, had a letter from a DCA few weeks later, jogged my memory, logged on and paid up, but DCA wanted £8 in fees, told em where to go, had a couple more letters then...................nothing, they must have got tired, Im with the OP on this one, I will not pay stupid charges just because some bottom feeder DCA says I have too, im not bothered what my credit file says as I don't use credit anymore, and I wont play there silly computer decided theory games either, its all too common practice nowadays for companies to charge us fees for paying late, for parking 2 mins longer than we should, its stupid !!!! stand up for your rights, good on you OP :beer: