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I hope this is in the right place. I've tried searching but can't find anything that is similar to this.
Today I received a debt collection letter from Roxburghe acting on behalf of Hutchison 3g (orange mobile, I presume) demanding a debt of over £270.
I honestly have absolutely no idea why!
Is there a standard letter template I should respond with???
The only things I can imagine this referrs to is a recently cancelled Orange mobile contract where I cancelled mid term due to a change in their T&C. They confirmed cancellation, took a final bill and sent me a cheque to credit adifference!
There is also a possibility this relates to an old debt which was settled on a 3 mobile over 5 years ago!!!
I too received a letter from Roxburhge yesterday for £325.95. I have never held a 3 mobile account (I work for orange with a fully expensed mobile!!!!) I have also never received any bills or letters from 3UK.
I wonder how many other people are waking up with letters from Roxburghe today. I for one will be asking Roxburghe to prove the debt is mine before doing anything (send me copy of bills, account info, contract etc etc)
Clearly trying to speak to 3UK directly is a waste of breadth, they are based in India and believe me (I've just come off the phone to them) you might as well tell them you've baked a cake for your grandma's dog for all the sense you get out of them.
Questions like - "could you give me the mobile number of the account" - er no, I don't have a mobile number because the ACCOUNT ISN'T MINE!!!
"Could you give me the previous address you used to set up the account" - so I did..." I'm sorry that address does not match what we've got on file" - NO SH*T that's because I DIDN'T SET UP THE ACCOUNT!!!
"you'll have to ring the debt collection agency as we can't help you! - WHY CHANGE THE HABIT OF A LIFETIME 3UK!!!!
Anyway, something clearly has gone wrong somewhere, I'll see them in court before I hand over a bean!
I don't think it would be a [problem] - more often incompetence.
Since you are in a better position than most you can tell the DCA as an orange employee, the last thing yuu would have was a handset from a competitor. You've probably been linked incorrecctly with someone who has a similar name and they've been using 'inelligence' to match old addresses with you, and you have come up as a close match.
TWO things you need to do -
(1) Check your credit file from the two 'E's' to verify there is no default from 3UK showing. Armed with this, my summation above will be what has happened.
(2) WRITE to the DCA denying knowledge of the debt, and confirming your credit file is clear - which it would not be if their suspicions were correct.
You COULD also ignore them, and also refuse to provide any information, but this just elongates the problem and makes a speedy resolution impossible.
I've received a letter too... demanding £693.14 off me!! They also got my name wrong on the letter (I'm apparently "MISS" rather than actually being a bloke... hmmm...). I thought I'd phone 'em up and give 'em hell.
It appears that HFO Services bought a load of accounts off 3 in 2007 but it's taken them 2 years to do anything. The weird thing is, I did have a mobile (for which I served the terms of the contract) and they are trying to bang with with another bill. And this for a contract phone that I had back in 2003... so, VERY close to being Statue-Barred, I beleive?
I'm sending the "no knowledge" of debt letter and have demanded all the details they hold verbally, and have advised that I'm disputing this. I think it is absolutely DISGUSTING that they hit a load of people with this - less than a week before xmas - and expect us all just to pay up.
I received a letter from 3 following an account that I cancelled nearly 6 years ago. They admitted in the letter that I may not have had any contact from them requesting payment BUT the debt had been passed to a DCA.
When I called 3 agreed to withdraw the claim from their DCA and make sure any advers comments were removed from my credit file.
Sounds like they are trying to claim as much back as possible before it becomes time barred.
Incompetance. Theys why I left them in the first place.
I received a letter from 3 following an account that I cancelled nearly 6 years ago. They admitted in the letter that I may not have had any contact from them requesting payment BUT the debt had been passed to a DCA.
When I called 3 agreed to withdraw the claim from their DCA and make sure any advers comments were removed from my credit file.
Sounds like they are trying to claim as much back as possible before it becomes time barred.
Incompetance. Theys why I left them in the first place.
I'm still not quite sure what they are trying to charge me for though, as my account was paid, on time almost every month and cancelled properly!
Since then I've had absolutely no correspondence from them, although I did move addresses 3 1/2 years ago! How and why they would be chasing me for anything is absolutely beyond me!
I've sent the template letter so I'll hopefully have a response in the next few weeks
Well today I received a response to my initial letter, along the lines of they are collecting for HFO Capital, who bought the debt in 2007 from 3G Hutchinson.
There is then a balance Breakdown on Roxbourgh headed paper:
On the final page there is what looks like some internal computer style statement on 3 headed paper with an account number and my name on but no telephone number in the number box.
I'm confused. This simply isn't my bill!!!!! Any ideas what I should be writing in my next letter to Roxbourgh?
Thanks in advance - and a Happy New Year if I don't get a reply tonight!!!
OnlyYOU get your 'bill' - it is laid out specifically for your to see the various elements that make it reach the final total. These days, firms do not keep copies of the actual bills (as they have no need or requirement to do so). However, even if you HAD got a bill, how would this have helped? Since you are disputing ever having entered into any contract with the network, the bill aspect is pointelss, what you are looking for is a copy contract or confirmation of your name and address confirming that the debt is indeed yours. As you know it isn't, it will be might difficult for them to provide it.
I'd tell them you cannot assist in their enquiries, that you have never taken out a phone with this network, and will assist the network in resolving this should THEY wish to contact you. In the meantime, you are unable to assist the DCA.
I had a very upsetting experience with 3 and Roxburghe. In November 2006, I terminated my contract with 3, to take effect as from 6th January 2007. I had paid up to that date, in full, via direct debit and one final invoice. I continued, however, to receive accounts from them, well after 6th January, and queried each one. Every time I was told by someone with a strong accent at their call centre that this was a balancing account, and that once I'd paid it, all would be cleared. This carried on into April, and I received a bill for £17.60. I couldn't fathom what more I could possibly owe them by this time, and once more phoned them. They actually told me that they'd been trying to contact me via my 3 mobile phone (which was no longer in use and hadn't been, of course, since 6th January!!), but as they'd had no response, they'd sent me the account. I asked what it was for, as I'd already paid, I reckoned, well over anything I had ever owed them. They couldn't tell me, in fact, and I told them that I'd paid accounts received in January, February and March, despite the fact that I had a letter from them stating my account had been closed on 6th January. I faxed copies of all of these through, along with a covering letter, and I was told that I could safely ignore the account. So I did. That's when I got the letter from Roxburghe, telling me that if I didn't pay up the £17.60 within 48 hours, they'd send someone round the following Saturday and collect belongings from me up to the value of the "debt". Being totally naive, then, to these debt collection agencies, I was terrified, and my partner telephoned Roxburghe for me to tell them that I'd paid the amount, in person, at the bank, that day, and had a receipt for it (which I had), and that if anyone showed up on Saturday, he wouldn't be responsible for his actions. Ten days later, to my utter outrage, I received a "statement" from 3, telling me that my account was now £17.60 in credit!!!!!!! I had had more than enough by this time, and had worked out that I had paid them at least £70 more than I actually owed, so I found out who was their UK managing director, and wrote directly to him, enclosing the copies of their own letters to me confirming the cancellation of my contract, which they seemed to have happily ignored on the occasions I'd forwarded copies in the past, copies of the endless "balancing accounts" they'd sent, which I'd paid, and the Roxburghe letters. To my amazement, I had a letter by return, with a cheque for £76, and a very humble apology for the shocking way I'd been treated. I've since found I was far from the only one to be treated this way. Even forwarding copies of their own letters to me did no good - I truly felt like I was banging my head against the proverbial brick wall.
Well today I received a response to my initial letter, along the lines of they are collecting for HFO Capital, who bought the debt in 2007 from 3G Hutchinson.
There is then a balance Breakdown on Roxbourgh headed paper:
On the final page there is what looks like some internal computer style statement on 3 headed paper with an account number and my name on but no telephone number in the number box.
I'm confused. This simply isn't my bill!!!!! Any ideas what I should be writing in my next letter to Roxbourgh?
Thanks in advance - and a Happy New Year if I don't get a reply tonight!!!
180
Any update? Did you make a deal or manage to get rid of it?
Any update? Did you make a deal or manage to get rid of it?
I responded saying although the name on the "bill" was the same as mine I have no idea what the bill is for!!! I've checked my credit file and there is no adverse history or record of dealing with 3.
I explained that I would help the original company where I could and expected this to be concluded
You have to admire their persistence, if nothing else! My local Trading Standards told me that these companies operate by "phishing", in other words, sending a letter on the offchance that some poor soul will be so terrified of their threats that they will pay up regardless. As you'll see from my last post, I did, as I'd never received such a letter in my life before. Bear in mind, too, that the alleged "debt" of £17.60 was only a month old when they set Roxburghe on to me. I had already told 3 that they had told me themselves my account was clear, and I felt I was vindicated by them sending me a statement telling me I was £17.60 in credit. How could I have owed them £17.60 in the first place?
I've recently had two "letters" from another DCA (literally one line across a page stating that I must call such and such a number urgently), which I have completely ignored, on Trading Standards' advice, but I have wondered whether the £17.60 might have reared its head again!! I'm certainly not going to start responding to them to find out!!
Roxburghe/Hutchison 3g Debt Collection - Confused!!!
letter from Roxburghe acting on behalf of Hutchison 3g (orange
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Originally Posted by kiptower
