Orange have sold my account to debt collectors

brucinda

I have has my account with Orange for almost two years and have paid monthly by direct debit every month. This week I have received a letter saying there is £28.20 outstanding on my account and they have sold it to a debt collectors :mad:
I have never missed a payment and have not been contacted by Orange about this amount.
I can no longer call Orange directly from my mobile (it seems they don't want to speak to me anymore!). When I eventually managed to speak to someone she said she could see my account was up to date but after holding for a long time told me to call a different number which seems to go through to another company (NCO??) but none of the options work.
I have raised a complaint online with Orange and am awaiting a response. I have also emailed the debt collectors to tell them this is an error.
I am really worried that this will impact my credit rating as am due to switch my mortgage next year, and don't know how they have made such an error....surely if they needed more for my monthly bill they could have claimed it via the monthly direct debit. Also wouldn't the decent thing to do would be for Orange to contact me first to discuss the matter??? They have my address as they send me offers and they obviously have my mobile number. I have even recently been into an EE store to inquire about upgrading....surely they could have said something?!
I am really worried and angry as have been a loyal customer of Orange for a long time....

grumbler

This sounds like either an error or a second account, possibly fraudulent.

It's naive to expect decency from mobile companies, especially from EE and Vodafone. They routinely trash credit histories without a second thought. And loyalty means nothing to them.

Don't give up, keep chasing them, start a formal complaint and take the case to the ombudsman if needed. If you are sure that you didn't have the second abandoned account, demand your credit history to get cleared.