Is this legal?

skeggysteve

Hope this is in the right place!

My wife has a loan for some furniture.

Furniture company phoned and asked to speak to my wife I said she couldn't speak to them for medical reasons.

They said if I call them I can tell them that my wife has given me the authority to talk to them.

Seems odd to me that they called our landline but want me to call back and say my wife says I can talk to them.

Surely they need my wife to agree to me talking to them about her account?

kazwookie

Tell them to send a letter.

BillJones

Are you asking if it's legal for you to speak on behalf of your wife if she gives you permission to do so?

Yes, it is.

I do so hope that this is not a prelude to a drawn out story explaining why you should not have to pay someone money that you owe them...

skeggysteve

I asked them to send a letter, they said they had and she had not replied. We have not received a letter from them.
We have replied to all the letters from their finance company.

Bill,
I thought I was a cynic

I'm asking if it is legal for a company to ask me to give myself permission to speak about a financial agreement my wife has.

As far as I aware only my wife can agree to that, or am I wrong?

We want to pay them but they have not given us a way of doing it.
They just keep calling saying they need to speak to my wife.

When I ask why they need to speak to her they say they can't say as I'm not the account holder.

But I can talk to them if I call them and say I have my wife's permission!

CHR15

Why don't you just do that then?

You say you want to pay them, your wife must be okay with you speaking to them "on her behalf" so what's the problem??

Unless we are all cynics and suspect you wish to avoid dealing with them as they will want paying.

honeybean

Yes it is I had a stroke and find it hard talking long periods , when my bank rang up I just said please could you speak to my partner and he was able to talk to them with me sat next to him no problem .All you need is for your wife to say can you speak to my partner/husband on my behalf, surely unless she is hospital and not available then just write them a letter or you write the letter and get her to sign it. Get the feeling you don't really want to speak to them as you will then have to pay them .

bargainbetty

Since you have internet access can you ask them to send you a copy of the letter via email? Explain to them that your wife is unable to communicate by telephone and that you will require all further communications in writing, and must be sent by recorded mail or email to ensure tracking.

They have to communicate in writing if you request it, but you do have to request it formally.

skeggysteve

I'll try this one more time.

The company insist they must speak to my wife, they are refusing to write or email.

But they say that if I call (*) them I can give myself the authority to speak on my wife's behalf.

The question I'm asking is:

Can a company take my word that I have my wife's authority/permission to speak on her behalf?

If you can't answer the question then please don't reply.

For those that have already replied accusing me of not wanting to pay - makes me wonder what has happened to MSE, it used to be a place that people offered help.
Oh, BTW I sent them a cheque today as I've no doubt that will confuse the hell out of them!

* The woman on the phone said I had to call on a 0844 number. I said can you give me a normal number she replied 'No we don't have one, if I need to call in sick I have to call the 0844 number'.

30 seconds on Google and I have a normal number, why do these people have to lie?

BillJones

skeggysteve wrote: »

I'll try this one more time.

The company insist they must speak to my wife, they are refusing to write or email.

But they say that if I call (*) them I can give myself the authority to speak on my wife's behalf.

The question I'm asking is:

Can a company take my word that I have my wife's authority/permission to speak on her behalf?

As above, yes, they can.

I'm not sure why you need to keep asking this, despite being answered.

Any clues?

somethingcorporate

Are you suggesting you ring up and lie?

I genuinely don't see what the issue is here (aside from you trying to create one).

GingerBob_3

I think the issue is to do with the ridiculous, over the top, "data protection" policies now implemented by anyone you speak to on the phone. Most of the time these organisations don't know what the hell they are talking about when it comes to data protection. At one time I couldn't even arrange a bloody washing machine service because the service contract was in my wife's name!

OP - can you get a female relative to ring up?

Failing that, deal with them exclusively in writing. I do the majority of my business in writing now, and I don't divulge my (genuine) phone number to any company I do business with, excepting airlines etc, where it's clearly in MY interest that they can contact me.