Would you Adam 'n' Eve it?

[PeteCC]

Hi, All,

Looking for some advice on a topic I can't seem to find a thread for. (Mods, please move if necessary.)

I recently discovered I have been defaulted by One tel, (£16.00), when I received my credit report from Experian.

The story goes; I signed with One Tel for my telephone charges, used their services for a month and then stopped.

I used on-line billing, racked up £1.38 in call charges, to be paid via DD.

I received email notification of my bill(s), and this stated that the bill would be paid via DD. (I have a copy of this email.)

I got a couple more bills from them, which I suppose I ignored as I hadn't been using their service, and anyway, DD would be paid. (As stated in the emails.)

I then received notification that as the bill had not been paid, I then owed £6.38, then £11.38, and finally £16.38. (Monthly notification.)

I emailed back to say that as I had set up a DD, I expected them to bill me through that, and that I would only pay £1.38 as the remainder were charges applied to the account and as there was a DD could not be expected to pay those charges which were due to their error. I checked on their website and confirmed that they had my banking details. (High expectations! The reply was that the DD had not been activated.I was told that had I gone to my FULL online bill, linked from the email bill I received, that would have shown I was NOT set up for DD. (Huh?))

After a few email conversations, more than one of which from me showed a screenshot of the bill(s) which clearly showed that the sum(s) would be taken by DD, I received a letter from a DCA asking for payment.

I replied to them, explaining the circumstances, and received a reply to say that they were no longer dealing with the account. Case closed, I thought.

Apparently not. I have never received from One Tel notification that a default was going to be applied to this account, and have never received notification that one HAD been applied.

Finally, we get to the 'advice required' bit.

I have not paid anything towards this account, although I made it clear I was happy to pay the call charges, but not the penalties. I can't therefore see how I can action this to reclaim those charges. I do, however, need to have the default removed, and that's the bit I can't seem to get information on.

I don't know where I stand, legally. Common (sense) law would suggest that this default is unfair, and I think there is some legislation regarding notification of intent to default, or notification of a default having been issued, but I'm unclear about this.

Anyone got any ideas, please?

Regards,

PeteCC

I have composed a polite letter, no really, it IS polite, to their Credit Controller regarding this, asking for the default to be removed, but I'd like to know where I stand for any arguements which may later arise.

[PeteCC]

The letter.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have just received my credit report from Experian, and I am disgusted to find that you have defaulted me on 13th February 2006 for the sum of £16.00.

At no time did I dispute the call charges I had incurred, and I offered to pay these, I simply repudiated the penalties which I found on my account.

As you can see from the copies of the emails I sent, they clearly show that the bills sent to my email address state that the sums would be taken via direct debit, this, coupled with the fact that my banking details were held on your system, would make it reasonable to expect that would be the case. However, not so, penalties were simply added.

You then proceeded to instruct Moorcroft Debt Recovery Ltd to pursue this alleged debt.

They wrote to me requesting payment, and I replied on 7th March 2006 (copy enclosed) detailing the circumstances, whereby they replied on 23rd March 2006 to say they were ‘no longer dealing on the above account’. (Copy enclosed.)

I took this to mean that no further action was to be expected.

At no time after this have I received any communication from you that this account was still being pursued, or that a default was to be placed against me. Furthermore, I received no notification that a default HAD been filed.

I therefore request that this default be removed from my credit file immediately. Please note, an amendment or an adjustment to the entry will not be satisfactory.

Yours faithfully,



Me

[PeteCC]

Hi, All,

I've sent an email detailing the above to National Debtline, but any ideas from forum members would be much appreciated.

Regards,

PeteCC

[PeteCC]

Just to keep you posted.

I received a reply from Debtline advising me to try the Onetel complaints procedure, so.................

Dear Sir/Madam,

Last year I had signed up with you for my call charges to be billed via Onetel.

I received an email bill for the charges, which stated that the sum was to be taken by direct debit.

I received a second bill which was a little more than the first, again stating that the amount would be collected by direct debit. As I had stopped using the service I assumed that these charges were for the phone calls which had been made during the second billing cycle.

I did not check any further bills as by then I knew that no calls had been made through Onetel.

I then received an email notification, some weeks later, saying that my outstanding account stood at £16.38.

When I queried this I was told that as there was no direct debit set up on my account, I had incurred penalty charges (£5.00 x 3) and that the bill would have to be paid.

I disputed this, and checked if my banking details were held on your system and they were.

After some more email exchanges, with Vandana Bhagat, Jitendra Sharma and Elvis Karat, Senior Customer Services Advisers all, I stated that I was willing to pay the call charges, but not the late payment charges.

I then received a letter from a Debt Collection Agency, and I replied to them outlining the situation above. They wrote back to say they were no longer dealing with the account, and at that point I thought the matter closed.

I subsequently discovered that a default had been entered on my credit file for the sum of £16.00.

I feel that this is an unfair and unjustified action to take in the circumstances. My bills CLEARLY stated that the amounts were to be taken by direct debit, (I have maintained copies of these), and at no time did you indicate that a default was to be filed, or that one HAD been filed.

I would therefore ask that you remove the default from my files with the credit reference agencies. I would be happy to pay any and all charges made for my calls routed through your system, and will pay this when I receive a bill from you, and written notification that the default will be removed. Please note, an amendment or correction to the entry will not be sufficient.

Yours faithfully,


Oh, well, it's a start.

PeteCC