Ah, Link Financial, I know them. Have you sent them a CCA request? Pound to a penny they will reply saying they don't have to supply one as the agreement is terminated. Keep everything in writing with them, start every letter with "I do not acknowledge any debt", and don't be tempted to pay them a penny. In fact, when sending them payments for CCA and SAR I've included: "Please find enclosed cheque number 012345 for payment of the statutory fee. Under no circumstances should this be set aside any alleged debt. Should you be unable to supply the required documentation you are required to return my payment." Otherwise they could claim that your quid or your fiver was a payment, and re-start the statute bar clock. Hope that helps.

For a SAR, 40 calendar days from them receiving it. The ICO then recommends a follow-up letter before making an official complaint. For a CCA, 12 working days then a further calendar month before they commit an offence.

Two DCAs, hey? Naughty naughty. The OFT guidance on unfair business practice includes: http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf (PDF document). Not illegal, but would be frowned on in any court action.

Could you clarify: is this The Link (the former mobile phone chain) or Link Financial (desperate DCA)?

One tried that line with me, saying they did not have the facilities to send letters. "Have you got a pen?" I asked. "And some paper? And is there a post box near your office? Then you do have the facilities, please do not lie to me." They managed to send me some letters after that.

What would your "on hold" music be? Money's Too Tight To Mention? Money For Nothing? The Wonderstuff's "It's Yer Money I'm After Baby" Or my personal favourite suggestion: Bros' "I Owe You Nothing".

Don't phone them unless you're able to record the conversations. If so, let them know they're being recorded otherwise you might have trouble using the recordings in court. Best stick to writing. I know it takes longer, but it's far far better. If they own the debt then they must conform to a CCA request. But as (a) they almost certainly don't have a credit agreement and (b) it would be statute barred anyway; let them default and then see how far they get if they tried to take you to court. You're right. They're wrong. If they "take legal proceedings" then the very best of luck to them as they'd be wasting their time and money - it won't come to that.

I used to have one of those from Callsure / Redstone Telecom. On the surface it was excellent because I only had to give out one 07050 number, but it cost my mates and family nearly 50p per minute to call me! Shame, as luckily I got rather a nice phone number....

Stick 0870 into Google and you'll get a few ads at the top. Many of them are free to set up but you share the revenue. I'm liking that idea...

Don't feel stupid. You did what most of us did before we gained the confidence and knowledge to tackle these companies. It's a learning process. And don't worry about their delaying tactics. There's a statutory timeframe which is their problem, not yours.

12 working days, don't forget. Then a calendar month after that they're committing an offence.

A fiver says that when you pay them £30 they'll say you agreed £78. That's why it's so important to only deal with them in writing. Please don't give in to the temptation to talk to them, they've not even proved that they have a right to be chasing the debt yet.

Another week has passed, did they ever send you anything?

If it's been 8 years since you were last contacted, made a payment, or acknowledged the debt; then it would be Statute Barred.

Drop me a PM and it's yours

Have a look at my thread, I had no joy with them http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclays-bank/76080-trying-negotiate-over-phone.html

Thanks for the advice. The tone of my phone call wasn't desperate, just formal and offering them the chance to avoid court. Honest truth it'll be another week before I've got the spare money to pay the MCOL fee, even though I'm 100% confident I'll get it back, so no harm done really! It is frustrating though, knowing I'll win but having to follow such a protracted process.

Already done Now I'm trying to get them to remove a default. I'm using the DPA, stating that they acted unlawfully and unfairly by processing incorrect data and passing to a third party (the CRAs).

I signed an "agreement" but don't honestly remember the details. I sent Ashbourne a CCA request but they returned my £1 cheque and never supplied any documents. This was back in November '06, so there's no danger of them getting any money out of me.

I've got a claim being handled by Barclays at the moment, they've been sent the LBA. Having seen the Whistleblower programme last night I thought I'd try my luck negotiating with them over the phone, using the angle that now I was even more likely to win so why don't we save each other the time and expense of going to court and just settle this now. I was even prepared to concede that £2 was a fair charge and deduct it from each charge claimed. It took about 10 minutes to get through "due to the high demand for this service", but they wouldn't budge. My claim is being looked at and Barclays say they've got 8 weeks in which to respond. I stated that my timescale was such that they'd got until the 23rd to reply before I lauch court action, but as a goodwill gesture I would give them a further week. Hopefully by doing so it will strengthen my case in court that I've tried to act reasonably with them at all stages. The poor woman sounded up to her eyeballs, she'd seen the programme last night and it seems to be causing Barclays some grief! So it's not really a progress report, and if anything I've delayed my case by a week, but I feel it was worth a try.

Fantastic, I've got this on my Sky+ and will be making several DVD copies today for my own use

Damn, missed it. I've had problems with Ashbourne Management Services after I developed a medical problem which has put me out of work for 18 months. They initally said (in writing) that I could cancel my membership with a doctor's letter, which I duly sent along with other supporting documentation. Then the demands started.... At least one letter per month, to which I always sent the same reply referring them back to the doc's letter. I eventually shut them up by telling them that any further such letters would be treated as harrassment. Now they've appeared on my credit report so I've sent them a Statutory Notice to stop processing and storing my data without my express written consent, and to contact any person or organisation to whom they supplied my data and withdraw it. In fact, they've only got until Tuesday to comply with the Notice, and as I've already sent them a reminder I feel a complaint to the ICO coming on

I remember from another thread you and I had requested CCAs at about the same time. One of mine has defaulted, one has said they don't need to supply one as the agreement "is no longer current" and the third has sent a template letter. It's good here, isn't it?

I don't see the harm in the full letter. Agreed that only the red bits are strictly necessary, but if it ever goes to court the full version would demonstrate that you're trying your best to be reasonable with them.

That's a classic. Maybe you should have kept a copy, maybe you shouldn't. But that doesn't alter the fact that they have a legal obligation to supply a true copy on request. The fact that you paid them some time back doesn't change a thing, apart from resetting the clock for statute barring.