Debt letter advice needed

pmiller056

After 4 weeks and too many phone calls wasting too much of my life listening to awful muzac on hold, proof of debt has finally been provided. It relates to import VAT and duty on a package delivered (on behalf of another carrier) from an EU country in early January. The package was dispatched before 31 Jan 2020 and delivered after 1 Jan 2021. The accompanying paperwork has gross errors, but that's the subject of another conversation with a different business. UPS did what they had to do with the paperwork provided.

UPS allegedly posted an invoice on 11 Jan, but I'm sure I didn't receive it - but I can't prove that I didn't get it. Apparently UPS never bother to send any reminder invoices nor do they try to communicate with the person liable by other means. They sell the debt on with minimal supporting information to whoever will buy it. This appears to be very common practice in the parcel delivery industry.

Throughout the whole process ControlAccount have not inspired confidence or good faith by going about their business in an unfair manner. Since my post on 17 July they went back on their commitment to post documents stating 'we can't do that because we are all working from home'. I did point out that they have already posted paperwork to me. In addition they are perfectly capable like everyone else of putting the paperwork in an envelope, writing and address on the front, putting a vaild stamp on the envelope and walking to the nearest post box, but the person on the phone was having none of that......  

Proof documents were posted online and I recived a text message telling me where/how to see them. I looked at them about 4 hours after receiving the text message. The documents made sense so I went to make payment only to discover the outstanding amount had now been increased by a substantial amount. I phoned again. After about 20 minutes of wasted life on hold, I spoke to someone and challenged the extra charge imposed. The person on the end of the phone admitted that the extra charge had been instantly added as soon as the proof documents were made available. After pointing out that this was grossly unfair given that they'd previouly promised a 48 hour delay after documents were made available before any extra charges would be applied. The extra charge was removed with no apology, the bill settled over the phone and case closed with a very sour taste in my mouth for the experience.

ControlAccount have never admitted to receiving any recorded delivery letter from me, even with proof of delivery provided. This should have saved a lot of telephone time both for myself and their staff if it had been acted on by them at the time. Telephone communication (despite the long waits on hold) appears to get things done. Letter communication (which is what is legally required as a minimum) appears to go into a black hole when I send something to them.

For future reference...  Be vigilant about any charges that may due when receiving any packages from outside the UK. Always follow up any letter you send (even if by recorded delivery) with a phone call. Always record or note details of any phone call. Be aware of the legalities involved and always make sure that your rights are not being eroded (noting differences between Scottish and English law!). Always ask for detail of and challenge any unfairly imposed extra charges.

Grrrrrrrr.