Ebay fees paid late - bully boy tactics by Transcom

Lewis.

Ok, so I paid my recent ebay invoice late, and have since received a letter and numerous phone calls from a company called 'Transcom'. It transpires that these are the bully boy debt collectors that ebay pass your invoice to if you do not pay in good time (this is the first time I have paid it late in over 4 years of using ebay).

Anyhow, that aside, I paid the invoice over Christmas but since received a letter from Transcom for the original amount plus their 'administration fee' of approximately £18 (for what - jokers). However, I had made payment to ebay for the full amount (less the Transom fee as that wasn't stipulated on my ebay invoice) after the date of their first letter, although I didn't receive the letter until AFTER i had made the payment due to the delay in the post over Christmas. They called again last Thursday, and stupidly I spoke to them and advised that I had paid the invoice, they then advised of their administration fee which is still outstanding. In my mind I have no intention of paying this fee, especially given that it s no way justifiable (tell me how one letter and a few attempted calls amount to £18). I advised them of this on the call and hung up when they started to tell me how ''I still have to pay the admin fee etc etc''.

What I would like to know is should I continue to ignore their calls, or is there a letter I can write to make the problem go away? I do not want to ignore the issue and find it will cause me a problem in a few weeks/months? It almost amounts to harassment now the number of times they have called.

I am aware that I made the payment late on this occasion, however, this should not be an invite to other sharks to attempt to defraud me of additional monies, which is what I believe Transcom are trying to do. I have no contract with these people.

If anyone can shed some light on a sensible course of action I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

RFW

Lewis. wrote: »

What I would like to know is should I continue to ignore their calls, or is there a letter I can write to make the problem go away? I do not want to ignore the issue and find it will cause me a problem in a few weeks/months? It almost amounts to harassment now the number of times they have called.

I am aware that I made the payment late on this occasion, however, this should not be an invite to other sharks to attempt to defraud me of additional monies, which is what I believe Transcom are trying to do. I have no contract with these people.

If anyone can shed some light on a sensible course of action I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Next time they call ask them to stop calling, tell them if they call again you will report them to Trading Standards for harassment. You can also refuse to give them your personal details when they call and they then can't take it any further.

There's nothing they can do to you other than send letters/call. There's no way they will take you to court and they can't mark anything against your credit record. If they ever did take you to court (and they won't) it's fairly easy to defend and I suspect most courts would throw it out.

It's not much different to a total stranger inventing a number and a spurious reason for you to pay and sending you an invoice. Sadly some people do pay so it keeps on going.

Lewis.

Hi,

Ok thanks very much for your advice. It is maddening alright! And when they call they state ''can I take your details to confirm I am talking to .......''. So I should just say ''No'' at this point? Excellent stuff.

The only thing that did concern me, is at the foot of their letter it states ''Failure to respond may result in further action begin taken against you. This may include scotcall, our doorstep collection agents, to visit your home and collect the debt personally''.

I guess this would apply to the whole amount though, rather than just their admin fee. To give you an idea the whole invoice was around £70 plus their fee the total was £90ish, that's what was stipulated on their letter.

RFW

Lewis. wrote: »

Hi,

Ok thanks very much for your advice. It is maddening alright! And when they call they state ''can I take your details to confirm I am talking to .......''. So I should just say ''No'' at this point? Excellent stuff.

The only thing that did concern me, is at the foot of their letter it states ''Failure to respond may result in further action begin taken against you. This may include scotcall, our doorstep collection agents, to visit your home and collect the debt personally''.

I guess this would apply to the whole amount though, rather than just their admin fee. To give you an idea the whole invoice was around £70 plus their fee the total was £90ish, that's what was stipulated on their letter.

They can call at your door. It's the same as the phone though. State you don't owe it, refuse to talk to them any further and threaten them with Trading Standards for harassment. Other than pester for a bit they won't do anything. Be prepared for them to sell/pass the debt on and it to start again with someone else.
I'm sure you'll get some people on here telling you to pay up, don't. They feed on people paying. If no one paid they would cease to exist.
As I said on another thread this is something the government should be doing something about. They won't as they now use these companies too:mad:

Lewis.

RFW wrote: »

They can call at your door. It's the same as the phone though. State you don't owe it, refuse to talk to them any further and threaten them with Trading Standards for harassment. Other than pester for a bit they won't do anything. Be prepared for them to sell/pass the debt on and it to start again with someone else.
I'm sure you'll get some people on here telling you to pay up, don't. They feed on people paying. If no one paid they would cease to exist.
As I said on another thread this is something the government should be doing something about. They won't as they now use these companies too:mad:

The thing is though, I want to address the problem and draw a line under it, not just enter into a long drawn out process. Is there a letter I can write to end it here and now? I do not want to put my fiancee under the stress of having meat heads arriving at the door, although I cannot think they'd bother for £18?

Lewis.

To update, they have just called me again today.

So to summarise:

1) 2 x calls 07/01/2014
2) 1 x call 06/01/2014
3) 1 x call 02/01/2014
4) 1 x call 30/12/2013
5) 1 x call 27/12/2013

I have also received a text message from them in the meantime. I think I should write them a letter. This is harassment. Can anyone else advise?

RFW

Lewis. wrote: »

To update, they have just called me again today.

So to summarise:

1) 2 x calls 07/01/2014
2) 1 x call 06/01/2014
3) 1 x call 02/01/2014
4) 1 x call 30/12/2013
5) 1 x call 27/12/2013

I have also received a text message from them in the meantime. I think I should write them a letter. This is harassment. Can anyone else advise?

Ask Trading Standards for advice regarding what constitutes harassment. They have been known to prosecute some of these companies for that.

astrata

Lots of companies from mobile phone providers to credit card companies charge late payment charges anything from £12 to £35, personally £18 doesn't seem to me to be excessive - I would put it down to experience, pay and forget about it.

However, its your choice, if you think you are being harrassed then you should seek specialist help, as suggested trading standards are a good place to go.

If you can't stop the agent on the basis of harassment and you are not going to pay just be prepared for more calls, letters and for home visits from this agent and possibly the same from a subsequent agent at a later date.

harveybobbles

No one is going to turn up at your door for the sakeof £18.

if they do, just laugh at them and ask them to remove from your property before you phone the police.

Bantex_2

Why did you not pay the original bill on time?

RFW

Bantex wrote: »

Why did you not pay the original bill on time?

Does the reason make any difference?