Help Needed - Studio Catalogue and my apparent debt!

KittyKate · 14 December 2006 at 3:50PM

I am getting very irritated and worried about a terribly dodgy and very rude company called Studio 24 (or 24 Studio as their website puts it). I have never ever heard of them, much less ordered anything from their site, but I got a red invoice for £35 2 weeks ago.

I called them, quoting the account number on the letter and told them I had no idea who they were or why they were sending me an invoice. I was told 'you've just quoted your account number but you've never opened an account with us? Pull the other one'. (Seriously!) I have never been spoken to so rudely.

Apparently I ordered (and apparently recieved) a £7 towel bale. I pointed out I don't order from catalogues and as I live in private apartments there is no access to delivery drivers without being physically buzzed in by me or my OH, and we are at work within the delivery times. I was pretty much at this point called a thief and a liar.

Studio refused to close the account and said they would send out forms for me to fill in (they haven't.) They would help no further, wouldn't put me onto a manager (they don't speak to the public!!) and wouldn't even freeze the account - the guy on the line said 'I've never heard of such a thing!' (Erm, identity theft anyone?!)

Just checked on the Studio website and you can literally open a credit account to ANYONE'S name with a few simple details! There are NO security checks or verification whatsoever. Someone has clearly opened an account in my name - it's so easy to do, I could open one for everyone I know and get everyone in the sh*t! (I have reported the website to the information commisioner as being so unsecure it makes fraud child's play. They took my complaint seriously and are investigating).

But what do I do about Studio? They are adding charges of £20 every time I don't pay! Will this affect my credit rating? What can I do? They refuse to help!

climbgirl · 14 December 2006 at 3:58PM

Ask them for a signed copy of the credit agreement that you would have had to sign to open the account. No debt is enforceable without one and most catalogues don't require them anyway.

Send it in writing by recorded delivery, search for some template letters on this site - make sure you put "I do not acknowledge this debt" at the very start of the letter, that's most important.

First things first - they have to provide written proof that this debt is yours.

KittyKate · 14 December 2006 at 4:26PM

climbgirl wrote:

Ask them for a signed copy of the credit agreement that you would have had to sign to open the account. No debt is enforceable without one and most catalogues don't require them anyway.

Send it in writing by recorded delivery, search for some template letters on this site - make sure you put "I do not acknowledge this debt" at the very start of the letter, that's most important.

First things first - they have to provide written proof that this debt is yours.

I've asked for this - apparently I opened the account online and there are no security measures in place (apart from asking what your last address was, like no-one knows that!).

I asked them for their complaints address and they 'don't have one', nor will they let me speak to a manager, I've spoken to 3 people now and they all but called me a liar and thief. They even suggested 'maybe one of your friends opened it in your name..you can't trust everyone you know'... but surely the point is NO ONE but me should be able to open a credit account in my name!

I'm getting worried they'll do nothing and I'll suddenly end up with a £100 demand or a summons

black-saturn · 14 December 2006 at 4:31PM

If it were me I would give the office of fair trading a ring. They have helped me with umpteen things in the past. Even if it is not their department they will give you advice as to what to do next and the relevant contact details. I would also go to the CAB (depending on how good your local one is).

I used to shop with Studio 24 and had loads of problems with them like sending me stuff I hadn't ordered, not sending stuff I had ordered and charging me for stuff I never ordered. Very annoying.

Hope you get it sorted out.

in-trouble_3 · 14 December 2006 at 6:04PM

studio are a pretty bad company, charges are horrendous for late payments, i was with them about 5 years ago, i paid mine off but my friend has had a bad experience with them.

in-trouble_3 · 14 December 2006 at 6:05PM

forgot to say i hope it gets sorted.

climbgirl · 14 December 2006 at 6:10PM

KittyKate wrote:

I've asked for this - apparently I opened the account online and there are no security measures in place (apart from asking what your last address was, like no-one knows that!).

I asked them for their complaints address and they 'don't have one', nor will they let me speak to a manager, I've spoken to 3 people now and they all but called me a liar and thief. They even suggested 'maybe one of your friends opened it in your name..you can't trust everyone you know'... but surely the point is NO ONE but me should be able to open a credit account in my name!

I'm getting worried they'll do nothing and I'll suddenly end up with a £100 demand or a summons

That's absolute garbage, they're just trying it on. If they tried to take you to court and said to the judge "maybe one of her friends opened it in her name", they'd be laughed out of court. They cannot take you to court without any paperwork showing that this is your debt.

If I were you I'd write a letter stating that

you do not acknowledge the debt
that you have requested a copy of the signed credit agreement, without which it is not possible to enforce a debt (there's some trading standard that backs this up, search for templates on this site)
that to proceed any further they must produce a copy of the signed credit agreement
and maybe something to the effect of "if you cannot produce this and continue to harrass me about this debt you'll be hearing from my lawyers"

I'll try and search for some of those letter templates for you. Contact CAB or Fair Trading for some advice, they sound like a*sholes!

climbgirl · 14 December 2006 at 6:21PM

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....html?t=309647

THis link is the best I can find at the moment, sorry need to work again! It's a letter more about the 6 year statute barring of debt but you can adapt it to suit your purposes here.

PM Rog2 and CLAPTON - they're very knowledgable about this kind of thing and I'm sure they wouldn't mind pointing you in the right direction if they don't spot this thread!

If the link doesn't work it's from a thread called "Know nothing about this apparent debt" by Kels, it's a current one so you should find it easily enough

monkeycowboy · 14 December 2006 at 6:40PM

I remember Studio doing something 24 doing something along these lines to me some years back, it was something to do with free chocolates/socks which they charged £3.99 for p&p but didnt declare it, instead they opened an account on your behalf. I binned the letters as junk, until they added £20 for late payment. I rang them requested a copy of my signature on the credit agreement, they appologised, cancelled the account and sent me some vouchers/cheque for my inconvienience. I tried to search for it on here, but I think it was from a nother website, happenened around the end of 2004.

Jewel_2 · 14 December 2006 at 7:50PM

I had a 'search footprint' on my credit file from Studio 24. I have sent them an email asking them to remove it, as I had never agreed to a credit check. Needless to say I have heard nothing since, this was about 4 weeks ago.

Help Needed - Studio Catalogue and my apparent debt!

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