Fredrickson International/Vodafone

patchb

So I took out a contract with Vodafone a couple of years ago for 24 months. After the 24 months was up I simply cancelled the Direct Debit and thought nothing of it (presuming that the contract would end).

I got a letter from vodafone around a month ago saying that I owed them money and another letter a while after saying that my line had been cut off (this is what I wanted to happen as I now live in New Zealand and was really struggling to contact vodafone)

Today I recieved a letter from fredrickson international stating that I have a Debt that they are trying to collect and to contact them on a number provided. The letter is very vague and doesn't say who the debt is owed to or for how much. After a bit of digging on the internet I have made the decision not to telephone them but to send them a 'Prove it' letter.

I am however worried that the debt is going to have grown massively, I owe vodafone around £90-100 but from what I have read on the internet Fredrickson may have been trying to contact me for a while via text but I have not used that number for around a year so would never have seen them.

What I want to know is am I doing the right thing and do I have anything to worry about with Fredrickson? I live the other side of the world and don't want the debt collectors knocking on my mums door! It also makes it very hard to deal with over here (obviously my mum has been opening the letters and telling me about it)

Cheers

miles_muso

Hi,

Here's the text of a letter I'm sending to Fredrickson International telling them that I refuse to pay their extortionate 'admininstration charge'. If I get a reply (ha-ha!) then I'll post it here.

Fredrickson International Limited
PO Box 260
Weybridge
Surrey
KT13 0YH

my_email_address

7th July 2015

Dear Sirs,

re: your ref nnnnnnnnn – M Forman/Vodafone

Further to my conversation with one of your staff earlier today, I write to inform you of the following:

In these days of easy identity theft, I find it incredible that your representative asked me a number of 'security' questions, over the phone, but refused to tell me why I had been asked (by a barrage of text messages) to contact you. Security for who? Certainly not me, as I was being asked to give out information that could have been used as a basis for identity theft. And certainly not yourselves, as your company is made no less secure by not having me confirm my address, date of birth, etc. So I would be grateful if you would let me know who's security was at risk by me not giving out this information – yours or mine?

I have read that many Debt Collection agencies, yourselves included, ask these questions in order to fill in the blanks in your records, allowing you to continue chasing the debt. The questions are deliberately posed as 'security questions' because most people will respond if they feel that their security is at risk. In my mind this is deliberate scaremongering: quite possibly illegal and most definitely immoral. However, I acknowledge that debating the morality of collection agencies with a collection agency is probably pointless, so to continue........

It transpires that you were contacting me regarding an outstanding Vodafone debt of £347.37, plus your administration fee of some £50 and thus totalling £399.nn (I forget the exact pence amount).
I acknowledge the debt to Vodafone and am happy to come to an arrangement to pay it off in full, but I do NOT consider your surcharge as part of the debt and I will NOT be looking to pay it.

As discussed, your administration fee is one of the main ways you make a profit for your business, along with the difference in what you pay for a debt and how much you reclaim. I am not privy to the percentages involved, but I would assume that if I agree to pay the full amount (NOT including your admin fee) then you have still made a profit. Furthermore, I understand that the admin fee is, in part, a way of offsetting the loss made when other debts are not recovered. As I have stated above, I AM willing to pay the outstanding amount, but I refuse to pay your administration fee – why should I pay to cover the costs of other people's debts that you cannot recover? If your business model is unable to recover all the debts you purchase, why should that affect me?

I explained all of the above to your representative, who told me that, as I had agreed to Vodafone's Terms Of Business, I was liable for the administration fee. I have looked through the terms of my contract with Vodafone in great detail, yet nowhere can I find a clause saying "if you do not pay us, we will sell your debt to Fredrickson International who will charge an administrative fee of 15% of the amount owed." In fact, "Fredrickson International" is not mentioned at any point in Vodafone's Terms of Business and thus, by extension, neither is your fee. Therefore I state that I have NOT agreed, at any time, to pay the administration charge.

In light of the above, I propose the following:

I will make a one-off payment to a bank account of your choosing in the amount of £347.37. I will not do this via your website, as I have no wish to sign up and thus give you even more of my personal details. I also will not pay by credit or debit card, as once again this will be more information passed on to yourselves and I have NO CONFIDENCE that such information will not be used for further illegal and/or immoral purposes.

Once my payment has been made, you agree that NO FURTHER amounts will be outstanding including, but not limited to, your administration fee and you will consider my account closed and that my debt has been PAID IN FULL.

If I do not hear from you within seven working days, I will assume that you agree to my proposal and I will then contact you for your bank details. Alternatively, please feel free to send me the details at my email address given at the top of this letter.

I await your reply.

Yours faithfully,



Miles Forman

Important contact information: I work on a cruise ship for 4-5 months at a time. Once every few weeks my ship docks at our home port of Southampton, which is the only chance I have to deal with UK matters by phone. Therefore, my email address is the ONLY way of contacting me on a regular basis. I have also blocked the phone number you have used to send me text messages, as these cost me money to receive when I am outside of the UK. Furthermore, the UK address you have for me is my father's address, where I was staying until recently. My father passed away a few months ago and the house is currently in the process of being sold. There is NOBODY at that address who will forward any mail, so it is pointless to write to me at that address.

Let's see what happens, eh?

sourcrates

A common misconception with phone contracts is that cancelling the DD cancels the contract, it doesn't !!!!
You need to give your airtime provider 30 days written notice of cancelation, otherwise they will continue to charge you, that appears to be the case here, write to them, and offer to settle the account, it's a small amount of money, save ya mum some grief !!!!