Very serious please help

daisydog_3

My friend came round today distraut, she is a very moral and dutiful person, hence the mess she is now in.
She changed her home phone provider 2 yrs ago to Talk Talk, apparently with no problems. She uses the phone very little and her monthly bill is always around £20. THEN 1 yr ago she received a bill for £800+ and of course questioned it. She was rudely told that she had been calling a premium rate number for 12 hours from 1am to 1pm continuously?
She of course told them that she hadn't but they insisted that the calls were made from her phone (she lives with her elderly mother in law who doesn't use the phone!). So she visited the CAB who told her to contact Oftel. They then apparently investigated the calls and came to the same conclusion that the calls were made from her phone.
So she set up an aggreement then to pay Tak Talk £100 per month to clear the debt that she had never made herself, as I said she is very dutiful and felt exasperaated and that there was no alternative.
So she paid the £100 per month which she thought finished in November. Now, lst week she received a letterr stating that she still owed £100 and Debt collectors would be visiting her if she didn't pay it immediately which she couldn't afford to pay in full this month. She straight away phoned the Debt collection agent and explained that she had gone through all of her receipts and that it actually was her mistake and that she had in fact missed £100, purely accidentally and could she pay half this month and half next month. They told her no it must be paid right now and spoke to her like a criminal.
Of course the 2nd part of this was her mistake but the initial problem remains...... she never made those calls, does any one have any experience like this that they could advise?


Many thanks and sorry for the long post

wantmemoney

daisydog wrote:

does any one have any experience like this that they could advise?

hi daisy
register and post here.
http://www.the-scream.co.uk/forums/f30.html?
in General Telcos

daisydog wrote:

My friend came round today distraut, she is a very moral and dutiful person, hence the mess she is now in.
She changed her home phone provider 2 yrs ago to Talk Talk, apparently with no problems. She uses the phone very little and her monthly bill is always around £20. THEN 1 yr ago she received a bill for £800+ and of course questioned it. She was rudely told that she had been calling a premium rate number for 12 hours from 1am to 1pm continuously?
She of course told them that she hadn't but they insisted that the calls were made from her phone (she lives with her elderly mother in law who doesn't use the phone!). So she visited the CAB who told her to contact Oftel. They then apparently investigated the calls and came to the same conclusion that the calls were made from her phone.
So she set up an aggreement then to pay Tak Talk £100 per month to clear the debt that she had never made herself, as I said she is very dutiful and felt exasperaated and that there was no alternative.
So she paid the £100 per month which she thought finished in November. Now, lst week she received a letterr stating that she still owed £100 and Debt collectors would be visiting her if she didn't pay it immediately which she couldn't afford to pay in full this month. She straight away phoned the Debt collection agent and explained that she had gone through all of her receipts and that it actually was her mistake and that she had in fact missed £100, purely accidentally and could she pay half this month and half next month. They told her no it must be paid right now and spoke to her like a criminal.
Of course the 2nd part of this was her mistake but the initial problem remains...... she never made those calls, does any one have any experience like this that they could advise?


Many thanks and sorry for the long post

BritBrat

Don't invite or let anyone in the house unless they are a bailiff with a court warrant. (not even to use the phone or any other reason like the toilet, if you let debt collectors in you are in a worse possition) Only bailiffs with a court warant can force entry.

Offer to pay what she can afford, record it or put it in writing.

A court will not go after her if she is willing to pay what she can afford.

You would be better off asking in another part of MSE where the experts will be on this subject.

This may be more the area: Debt-Free Wannabe

Debt collectors have very few legal powers.
They can not enter your house unless you invite them in.
They can not take property from your house, regardless of who owns it.
They can not take a vehicle unless by prior arrangement and with your full agreement.


SOURCE

daisydog_3

thanks to both of you, will post in the above recommended places. What about the calls tho, is there any way that she can prove she didn't make them?

BritBrat

It sounded as if she had gave up on that battle a long time ago.

I would start by asking for a log of the phone calls.

Some thoughts:

Computer with dialup modem? (Rogue dialer)

Older style wireless phone? (someone else is on the same channel and she is paying for the calls)

Does she have Sky television?

Is it connected to the phone line?

PRESSING RED BUTTON CAN BE EXPENSIVE

daisydog_3

Yes she doesn't stand up for herself at all, thats the problem.

Its broadband she's on as oppose to dial up, with no wireless router

Her phone is wireless and 3 yrs old approx

She does have Sky but never used or make the PIN number active.
Thank you your help is appreciated

Night-owl_6

For a sum of £800.00 I would seek legal advice and take this to a solicitor for it to be looked into and so that your friend can be represented by them, it sounds the same issue I have which I am going to post on a new thread, about Talk Talk, keep alook out for it, may post the link here after posting the thread!

BritBrat

I have broadband but I also have a PCI modem installed so I can FAX or use dialup.

Make sure she has no phone line connected to the computer. Yes you can have both dialup and broadband on at the same time, I do it quite often.

daisydog_3

Thanks Night owl will watch out for your progress too, so good luck with that.
Brit brat, I didn't realise that about broadband not very computer competent. She does have the phone line connected to the computer, no wireless router

daisydog_3

Would ID faud insurance cover such a thing?

BritBrat

daisydog wrote: »

Thanks Night owl will watch out for your progress too, so good luck with that.
Brit brat, I didn't realise that about broadband not very computer competent. She does have the phone line connected to the computer, no wireless router

If it is connected to a BB router/modem that is safe.

If it is connected to a normal modem then it is not.

I dissable my modem in device manager, then activate it when I want to use the dialup modem.