Asset Collections and Investigations hassle

JessePinkman26

Hi again,
I recently posted about a company called Perch Capital registering a default on my credit file with TransUnion which with your help I eventually got to the bottom of. So Perch Capital appear to be sister/parent company of Asset Collections and Investigations from a Google search. The total owed is around £360.

I logged into an old e-mail address and I found lots of e-mails from ACI in the junk e-mail folder commencing collection activity. I then searched the internet for a partial settlement offer letter template and inserted my details and my offer of £190 and e-mailed it back off to them on the 5th March. I also asked them the following questions as per advice/template:

Can you also confirm that you agree that you or any associate company can take no further action against myself to enforce or collect this debt and that I will be released from all liability?

Can you also confirm that you will also mark my credit reference agency file to show that you have accepted the above amount as the full and final settlement and that the account is closed and paid?

They replied via my old e-mail address  on the 15th March and said they are able to accept my settlement offer. However they did not mention or confirm any of the questions I had asked in the e-mail. I replied on the same day, with the same questions, stating that once confirmed I was able to pay the partial settlement figure right away. I never received a response to that e-mail.

On the 16th March, I received another e-mail from them this time stating "Thank you for your recent email and offer of settlement. Your available settlement is £325.88. This offer is available for 30 days." Of course, they had already stated in the previous e-mail they are able to accept my partial settlement offer so I replied with that and attached a copy of the e-mail they had sent me just a day previous. On the 18th March they replied stating "Thank you for your recent email. We can confirm we have accepted the settlement for £190.00 however the payment will need to be paid on or before 31st March 2021.Please note, if we do not receive the payment your account you will receive communications."

Once again, they did not answer my two questions. I replied once again stating that once they confirmed the information in my questions that I would make the partial settlement payment right away once done.

I then received a reply a day later on the 19th with what I'd describe as a very vague response. "We write in response to your recent email. To make the payment for £190.00 please either visit the online portal by using the link below or please contact the office on ___.Once the account has been paid at the settlement offer, we will look to update your credit report as a true reflection, and it will show as partially satisfied." I replied to this, once again asking them to confirm what I had asked and I have yet to receive a response to this. The failure to confirm that they can take no further action against me to enforce or collect this debt - completely ignored that question. And the wording of the updating my credit file is vague and confirms nothing with the "we will look to".  

I have tried calling, only to be placed on hold several times for 10 minutes plus, at which point I had to hang up because I'm working or something has come up.  I have also e-mailed them back this morning, once again asking for confirmation of the above and yet to receive a reply. I am currently drafting up a letter to send recorded delivery, however looking through previous posts about this company on this forum they seem prone to ignoring letters. They also ask you to send them letters to a PO Box address in Blythe, where as there is another address for a Blackpool office. I suspect for them to actually receive this letter that I'd need to send to the Blackpool office as that seems to be their main location. I suspect they regret accepting my settlement offer and are just holding out for whatever reason. I am unsure of my next steps, if someone can point me in the right direction, that would be appreciated.
Thanks