TalkMobile Failure to Call Off Ballifs!!

Michael_Jones

OK the story...

I started a two year contract with TalkMobile through the CarPhone Warehouse in April 2011. In October 2013 I went into the CPW and rung TalkMobile to give 30 days notice and cancelled the direct debit in December.

In April 2014, I received a letter from Buchanan Clark and Wells a debt collection agency saying that I owed £150. So I rang TalkMobile and they apologised and said they had made an error and it would take 30 days to fix.:)

However, I received another letter from the debt collection agency threatening to take me into court. So I rang TalkMobile on 29th of April and they initially claimed that I owed them £120 and that I needed to pay immediately. I asked when I gave notice and when my last direct debit was and they said 14th October and 18th November. :mad::mad:

I told them this is over 30 days and they were like: oh sorry there must have been a mistake. I asked them to talk to the debt collection agency and send me an email confirming this. I got this:

"Hi Mr XXXX


I have contacted the debt collection agency, your reference number is XXXXXXX .
I will notify you with feedback as soon as the debt collection agency get back to me.
I do apologise for any inconvenience talkmobile has caused you."


However, they never emailed me back and I received a letter this week threatening to send a debt collector to my parents house.

****************************
The whole thing is beyond a joke. I've received an email from an official TalkMobile account apologising which is implicitly accepting some form of guilt. I don't want to contact the debt collection agency as this will open up a new can of worms.

(i) What should I do to force TalkMobile to do something?
(ii) What form of redress is open to me? They are wasting my time and more importantly they could well be effecting my credit rating.

MothballsWallet

From what I remember of this sort of thing, your credit rating could only be affected if the following happen in this order:

1. TalkMobile take you to court.
2. They win.
3. You fail to pay what the judge orders you too within the time limit.
4. A CCJ (County Court Judgement) is applied to your credit file.

Now, a decent judge will ask them what measures they've taken to resolve the matter before coming to court (court is seen as a last resort), such as using mediation to negotiate.

I wouldn't call the debt collectors, and would insist on all correspondence in writing - this also helps your case if they do use court.

Other people who know more about this will be along soon.

I'd suggest you also follow the advice of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Don't Panic!

wealdroam

Michael_Jones wrote: »

I asked when I gave notice and when my last direct debit was and they said 14th October and 18th November. :mad::mad:

I told them this is over 30 days and they were like: oh sorry there must have been a mistake.

Sorry, but I don't understand this bit.

If you gave notice on 14 October, then you contract should terminate around 14 November.

Surely you would expect another bill after 14 November, because they do not have the final call charges until then.

A final DD on 18 November doesn't appear unreasonable to me.

What am I missing?

Michael_Jones

wealdroam wrote: »

Sorry, but I don't understand this bit.

If you gave notice on 14 October, then you contract should terminate around 14 November.

Surely you would expect another bill after 14 November, because they do not have the final call charges until then.

A final DD on 18 November doesn't appear unreasonable to me.

What am I missing?

I have no issue with the direct debit on the 18th of November - I allowed the DD on this date and therefore cleared my balance.

As far as I can see this is sufficient to clear my balance.

halibut2209

wealdroam wrote: »

Sorry, but I don't understand this bit.

If you gave notice on 14 October, then you contract should terminate around 14 November.

Surely you would expect another bill after 14 November, because they do not have the final call charges until then.

A final DD on 18 November doesn't appear unreasonable to me.

What am I missing?

You're missing the part in the OP where he says he cancelled the DD in the December, after he paid the bill on the 18th November

wealdroam

halibut2209 wrote: »

You're missing the part in the OP where he says he cancelled the DD in the December, after he paid the bill on the 18th November

Yes, I did see that, but I wondered why the OP wrote:

Michael_Jones wrote: »

I told them this is over 30 days and they were like: oh sorry there must have been a mistake.

There doesn't seem to be any mistake there to me... as I say, seems reasonable to get a bill, and pay it, after the contract is terminated.

Anyway, that isn't important.

All the OP needs to do is get TalkMobile to explain why they think he has an outstanding amount owing, and to call off the debt collectors if he owes nothing.

Simple.

unholyangel

MothballsWallet wrote: »

From what I remember of this sort of thing, your credit rating could only be affected if the following happen in this order:

1. TalkMobile take you to court.
2. They win.
3. You fail to pay what the judge orders you too within the time limit.
4. A CCJ (County Court Judgement) is applied to your credit file.

Now, a decent judge will ask them what measures they've taken to resolve the matter before coming to court (court is seen as a last resort), such as using mediation to negotiate.

Not where theres already a credit agreement in place. Usually any time you default on a payment, your credit score is affected.

arcon5

I'm fairly certain talk talk report to CRAs.

Although the credit file fallout can be dealt once TT have sorted the issue itself out.

And the terms debt collectors and bailiffs are not interchangeable words.
Bailiffs are court appointed, debt collectors in this case are mere agents who have as many rights to your property as your ice cream man.
If they visit tell them to do one and call the police if they refuse

MothballsWallet

unholyangel wrote: »

Not where theres already a credit agreement in place. Usually any time you default on a payment, your credit score is affected.

I was going on the OP saying that they thought they'd settled their credit agreement.