Inaccurate invoice being threatened by debt collection

BrOz

Hello, I had a 12 month contract for a website for e commerce which I cancelled at the end so that it did not renew. Unfortunately the company still took money out of my account despite them confirming the contract was cancelled. I disputed this payment with the bank and had a refund by the bank of the amount taken £33.60. 

A few weeks later I recieved an email for a credit note from the company for the amount of £21.10 there was no explanation for this only that the credit can be redeemed via the website. I assumed this was the company trying to get me to sign up to a new contact by offering me credit so I left it as I no longer want the website.

A month later i receive an invoice for failed payment, the amount of £33.60. I contact customer services and they informed me there was no money to pay and that the invoice was cancelled.

A month later I receive another failed payment invoice of £33.60 and a threat of being passed over to a 3rd party collection agency within 7 days if I do not pay, along with an additional £15 fee. 

I again contact customer services and this time I am informed that it is due to being refunded twice, by my bank and the company. I sent them the information I received regarding the credit note and they appologised informing me that there was an error and it was the £21.10 I owed for the credit note (they paid it into one of my PayPal accounts I did not know) I did not owe £33.60. I requested an amended invoice which they said they would do.

I have now received an invoice to pay £33.60 by PayPal. They have not sent me an amended invoice for the correct amount.

I disputed this again requesting a correct invoice and a confirmation they will not pass this to a third party until their error is rectified by a correct invoice. I had two separate responses by email, one to say the team are looking into this issue in the background and once it has been looked into I will be given the information and actions taken. Then another email that, they cannot amend the PayPal invoice amount but instead I could pay the incorrect amount and then they can refund me the difference after I have paid and not to worry as a third party collection agency doesn't impact my credit rating they just chase the money owed. However I do not agree that they will be adding a £15 fee due to their admin error.

My concern is I have not been given an accurate invoice and I have never heard of a company asking me to 'just pay the invoice and we will refund later' when the amount is incorrect.

I know that the money is minimal but the whole process is absolutely ridiculous and I was wondering what my rights were in this situation. 

I would like to demand a correct invoice be sent to me first before I make the payment as I do not believe they will refund the money and I think they will continue to invoice me even if I pay but I am worried doing this will result in my details being passed onto the collection agency and having to pay an additional £15 for their error. 

Any advice greatly appreciated. 

Kind regards 

saajan_12

I agree that I would have no confidence in them refunding the difference. Guess they don't want to pay you the difference first before you pay them the incorrect invoice..

If you have in writing
1) what the correct amounts are from them; and
2) you offering a reasonable set of options eg you just pay the correct amount directly, or they correct the invoice and you pay that; and
3) them not following any reasonable options 

Then I think you're safe from further costs. A collection agency might ASK for extra costs but that doesn't make it enforceable. It's not going to court for the amount but if it did, then sounds like the judge should agree with your amount and you can just pay that, no fees. 

born_again

Send the £21.10 credit note back.
Then tell them that is the end of the matter as they have no longer refunded you twice.

But this is the danger of disputing via bank, without 1st trying to resolve with the company. While the company were wrong to take the payment, not giving them a chance to refund has caused this issue.

eskbanker

BrOz said:

Hello, I had a 12 month contract for a website for e commerce which I cancelled at the end so that it did not renew.

[...]

I was wondering what my rights were in this situation. 

This board focuses on consumer rights but you don't have any consumer rights for business purchases, so any rights you do have will be those defined in the contract.

Having said that, the supplier has to comply with the likes of VAT regulations regarding invoicing....

BrOz

Thank you for your responses. I've sent them emails today with the details on the errors they have made and I have said that I will not pay the invoice until I receive an amended bill, alternatively I will transfer the correct amount to their PayPal using my invoice Number and details so the payment can be traced. I said based on current poor customer service I did not want to over pay a bill and that I found it strange that a company would request this and that PayPal invoices can easily be amended by the company. 

They have replied a long email which included "To address this issue and dispel any uncertainties, we have opted to cancel the invoice once more to rectify the balance. You may disregard any emails or communications from the collections agency."

I have now emailed them to confirm if the invoice has been cancelled and if there are any outstanding balances to see if I get the same response but from the response it seems they have already passed my details on to a third party collection agency.