One small victory against incompetent companies and their debt collection agencies?

George_Michael

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

All of the replies appear to forget that energy companies are regulated, the OP only has to advise them payment is made (with some info so they can actually allocate the payment) and to stop contact otherwise they'll follow the complaints procedure and escalated to the regulator if the response isn't satisfactory. 

Which would be fair enough if the OP had actually contacted the company to advise them that payment has been made but they haven't done so and it appears that they have no intention of doing so, instead of which they are waiting until a claim is actually filed in the county court.

wwdits said:

As soon as I get a notice from the County Court I will of course respond with all the details and the fact it was paid long ago.

powerful_Rogue

wwdits said:

DoaM, exactly (except of course I did), and yes I am listening George. The fact that everyone here is getting wound up about it means I've almost certainly accomplished my goal: !!!!!! them off enough to get their attention, so they just may rethink how their incompetence came about, and possibly even to treat people respectfully in future, e.g. by not by threatening and then ignoring them as the first course of action. So thanks guys I've had a blast!

I don't think anyone in this thread is getting wound up!

Not sure how you think you have accomplished your goal. They will just keep chasing you until a recognised payment is made. You're the one that will most likely end up with a tarnished credit file.

How some peoples minds work - the mind boggles!

shaun_from_Africa

wwdits said:

The fact that everyone here is getting wound up about it means I've almost certainly accomplished my goal:!!!!!! them off enough to get their attention, so they just may rethink how their incompetence came about, 

Do you honestly think that what is probably a multi million/billion £ utility company are going to be even the slightest bit worried, let alone "!!!!!! them off enough" over a £40 debt to make them change their procedures?
In the end, there will only be one loser and it's not going to be the energy company.

pinkshoes

wwdits said:

On what basis would I be taken to court?

Er... because according to their system you would not have paid the bill because you paid a different amount and no reference, so they could take you to court for an unpaid bill.

Obviously if it went to court you could then prove you DID pay the bill, so they would lose the case, but because your actions caused the court case in the first place by being petty, then a judge is likely to award their costs against you due to your unnecessary actions.

If you get satisfaction from being so petty, then so be it... (but personally I think life is a little to short to get so wound up by such things, and sometimes it is easier to behave like a grown up and move on).

Jumblebumble

wwdits said:

I had a utility bill that was collected via direct debit. When I moved I set up a new account with a different company and thought no more of it. I am still getting all of my post and emails. However it appears that they did not claim the final payment that was due (about £40), and they never asked me for this.
Six month's later, out of the blue, it seems they woke up and just turned the debt over to a debt collection agency and they sent me an incredibly rude letter demanding payment immediately and threatening me with court. I complained to the utility company about this but they have just ignored my emails and letters. Its not the money, I can easily afford that, its the fact that they ignore me and have not apologised for their mistake.
As soon as I checked I owed the money I paid the bill directly into the company's published bank account, but added a few pennies to the amount and didn't use my account reference number. Meanwhile the debt collectors and their (in house) solicitors are still sending me lots of threatening letters, which I'm quite enjoying, they ignore mine so I will ignore their agents, meanwhile it must be costing them time and cash, and anyway Royal Mail needs the business.
As soon as I get a notice from the County Court I will of course respond with all the details and the fact it was paid long ago. Can anyone see a problem with this? Any other bright ideas of ways to wind them up? Or am I just a sad git that should get a life?

Well if you want your credit record to be trashed then carry on as this is far more likely than you going to court
I genuinely can't decide if you are trolling or not but if you have really done what you say you have then you will deserve any unpleasant consequences that may arise by you being "smarter" than they are.

eddddy

wwdits said:

!!!!!! them off enough to get their attention, so they just may rethink how their incompetence came about, and possibly even to treat people respectfully in future, e.g. by not by threatening and then ignoring them as the first course of action. So thanks guys I've had a blast!

You will just be an anonymous name on a list of hundreds, or maybe thousands, of debtors.

The agent who phones you will just be working through their list - the agent is probably required to phone 100+ people a day, and follow a fairly standard script. Within 20 seconds of ending the call with you, the agent will be on the next call with another debtor, and will have forgotten you.

I expect that many of the debtors will think they've outsmarted the agents, and sent the Finance Director into a frenzy - but in reality, the agent has heard it all before, and doesn't really care, and moves on to the next call.

Paul_Varjak

So, you came to this forum to seek advice on how to to wind up your former energy company further even though you appear to think you have won a victory by winding them up just once? And now you believe that you have another victory under your belt because you think you have wound us up too?

Well, you might want to consider that your former energy company may initiate proceedings against you and what would you tell them? "I paid the money the direct into your bank account but added a few pennies just to wind you up". Or would you, at that point, just say: "I forgot to put in the reference number and I mistyped the amount"?

Whichever answer you gave in court, you would have a problem and you would soon see that you are not as smart as you think you are and certainly not as smart as the County Court Judge.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

OP. Please let us know which court you are going to attend, now I’m semi retired, and the live theatres are closed, I’m in need of some theatrical entertainment.

stragglebod

wwdits said:

LABMAN said:

No, it's not a victory. What you have done is make yourself look extremely foolish.

How so? 

I'm reading your posts thinking that @wwdits looks extremely foolish. That's how.

unholyangel

There's no legal requirement to give a payment reference - when requesting payment or when making payment. Doing so is simply good practice for convenience. As for when it's considered paid, that's when it's received. Not when it's allocated. How often they reconcile or how many transactions they have to reconcile is entirely the recipients problem. 

Bank payments always leave a trail that's easy to follow if you know how to look. 

For instance, bacs payment will have OP's name. It will have sort code & account number from which it was made. Sort code tells you the branch it was opened. Which okay, isn't conclusive on it's own. But together with name, perhaps previous payments received with a reference & the amount paid being very close to the amount owed, it could potentially be vey easy to reconcile.

Typically businesses have an account for exactly this - unidentified payments.

Not saying OP was right to do it in the slightest. As OP has demonstrated, not everyone follows good practice when it comes to accounting - the trader could be the same and he could just be potentially creating a problem for himself that need not exist. Plus the courts freedom to consider unreasonable behaviour would make it foolish to be deliberately obstructive. While OP might get away with claiming they didn't know they had to put a reference on the payment, they likely wouldn't get away with keeping quiet when they continued to be chased for it. Because someone not acting with malicious intent at that point would say "I made payment of £x on y date via z method".