Talk Mobile in breach of consumer credit act

Gareth_Backer

Hi,

This may be slightly long winded but I want to explain all the facts and get some advise.

In June 2011 I took out a 24 month contract with Talk Mobile, I then wrote to them in August 2011 to inform them that I no longer needed the contract and that when it ended in June 2013 it should not be renewed.

In August 2013 I noticed that 2 payments had gone from my account and assumed that it was due to me not stopping the direct debit. I was working over seas at the time as I do regularly and did not call Talk Mobile to discuss this at the time, I cancelled the DD and never chased the £36.

In March 2014 My wife and I went to the bank to discuss porting our mortgage to a new property, thereby giving us more room and the ability to pay off some credit card balances.

The bank informed me that there was an issue with my credit score so I checked with Experian to find that Talk Mobile had placed a default against me in Jan 2014, it was now March 2014 and this was the 1st I had heard about the default or indeed any money being owed on the account.

I called Talk Mobile on 31.03.14 and agreed to pay in excess of the default amount (the bank had recommended that I just pay it as it was a small amount in order for them to get the mortgage sorted out). I paid more than the default notice amount on the agreement that it was a final payment and that the account would then be closed and the default notice updated to satisfied. I stated that I would also take action in the future to recover the money as I was paying under duress in order to get the default updated that should never have been there anyway.

The rep that took the payment informed me that the contract had been renewed because I had not called Talk Mobile to tell them not to, however the T&C states that it should be done in writing which I did in 2011.

It is now 3 months later and Talk Mobile have still not updated the default with Experian, I have written to Experian and sent them a copy of the payment receipt but they have told me that they are unable to update the notice without permission from Talk Mobile. Talk Mobile however are in breach of the consumer credit act as they are legally obliged to keep credit reference agencies up to date.

I have written to the Ombudsman Service regarding this and am currently waiting to hear back.

I suspect that I will end up having to take Talk Mobile to court to resolve the issue and get my money back but I was just wondering who I should inform of the issue relating to the default not being updated and who I should talk to with regard to having it removed if the Ombudsman do not sort the issue?

Thanks for reading my essay.

Gareth

flashg67

I may be wrong here, but you can cancel your contract at any time of course giving 30 days notice. If you're inside the minimum term, you pay the rest of the contract up, or outside the minimum term, you just pay that month and ou're free. What you may not be able to do is give 22 months notice to terminate a contract after the contract expires, and there must still be some onus on you to make sure that bappens, which by your own admission, you just cancelled the DD, so presumably the contract continued on a monthly basis until cancelled?

I didn't read all of your long post, but did TM acknowledge and accept the cancellation you made in 2011 and acknowledge they would forward date this to June 2013?


Ref the default - I'd chase the Ombudsman for a response along with TM but by recorded means eg. letter rather than ringing them - this kind of request is likely to beyond the remit of their normal customer service team

I believe TM are owned by carphone warehouse - have you done a CEO email search for them?

mobilejunkie

You can't give notice to cancel that far in advance unless you terminate the contract and pay for the whole of it up front. TalkMobile is especially determined to stick to notice exactrly 30 days before the end of the minimum term.

Cancelling the direct debit simply creates a debt which is then passed over to debt collection agencies and wrecks your credit file.

Unless you have written evidence showing they accepted the early notice - which is almost inconceivable, because they don't - there's nothing you can do. You are at the mercy of their goodwill - IF they have any.

grumbler

Gareth_Backer wrote: »

...I have written to Experian and sent them a copy of the payment receipt but they have told me that they are unable to update the notice without permission from Talk Mobile.

Looks like a primitive fobbing off to me.
http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/questions/askjames282.html

2. Let us know which entry isn’t accurate
...
3. We’ll contact the organisation that’s recorded this information on your report
...
4. We’ll let you know the outcome

d123

Gareth_Backer wrote: »

In June 2011 I took out a 24 month contract with Talk Mobile, I then wrote to them in August 2011 to inform them that I no longer needed the contract and that when it ended in June 2013 it should not be renewed.

So you didn't give notice as per the t&c's then? 30 days prior to termination?

I suspect that I will end up having to take Talk Mobile to court to resolve the issue and get my money back but I was just wondering who I should inform of the issue relating to the default not being updated and who I should talk to with regard to having it removed if the Ombudsman do not sort the issue?

Gareth

I suspect you would lose. Perhaps you should rather plead with Talk Mobile to compromise (though it probably won't make the default go away).

You did default on the agreement.

grumbler

What the OP wants is "the default notice updated to satisfied".
I think it's possible for an account to have both 'default' and 'settled' marks.