Good morning! Please could you advise me on the best way to deal with a situation which arose yesterday? I have a Choice catalogue, have done for years. A customer ordered a sat nav from me, decided that it wasn't what he had expected, I returned it. Three weeks later, on Bank Holiday Monday, Choice phone to tell me that they are returning the product to me, as the supplier says that there are "marks" on it and that it has been used. It costs £229, which they will be charging to my account, and will also be charging me £3.99 for returning it to me! My customer had NOT used the item, I have not had these "marks" explained to me, and I would also like to know how they can prove that these "marks" were not on the product when it arrived with me. I did not examine the sat nav at all, it was handed over to my customer in all its packaging, he examined it out of the packaging, obviously, determined that it was not what he had expected, and asked me to return it. He gave it back to me fully packaged. The guy on the phone from Choice yesterday insisted that they had to return it to me, despite my protestations as to what on earth I was going to do with it, that my account would be charged with £229 and £3.99, and that if I wanted to dispute this action, I had to do so in writing to a bod called L Lofthouse at Shop Direct, for whom I have an address in Chelmsford. I have drafted a letter, of course, but this looks as though it will be my word against theirs. Do you have any good tips as to how I can ensure a happy outcome for me and my customer? The £229 has already appeared on my account, despite the fact that I've not got the sat nav back yet, so they don't even know whether or not it's been safely received. Very many thanks in anticipation!

Hello, Oojamacallit! Don't even entertain this lot - you clearly don't owe Eon the money - what a load of nonsense they gave you regarding "not paying enough" with a pre-payment meter - do they realise how stupid this sounds? How on earth could anyone not pay enough??!! Never, ever speak to them on the phone, as previously advised. I'd be tempted to just bung any further letters they might send in the bin, and do nothing. My partner keeps getting letters from another DCA regarding an alleged debt to T-Mobile. As he's never had any account with T-Mobile, ever, they go straight in the bin. Interestingly, these letters state "the reason we have written to you is because we have noted from your credit record that you have similar arrangements" - in other words, they are fishing, in the hope that he'll panic, and assume he must owe the money, and cough up. I don't think so! He's complained to the OFT about this. It really is up to the DCA to prove that someone owes a particular alleged debt, not yours to prove you don't.

Lowell are the utter pits! They've started sending my partner letters about debts with Capital One and T-Mobile, with neither of whom he's ever had accounts, but, to my disgust (and I've already complained to them about it) they say that they've been looking at the credit record for this address and note that "he" has been paying monthly amounts for "similar" accounts, hence them sending their sh*te to him! Needless to say, all the letters have been binned - he doesn't want to get into lengthy paper ping pong over alleged debts which aren't his anyway. I think I've posted before about the fact that Lowell searched my credit record fourteen times in around eight months, clearly without any reason, and certainly without my permission. They've been reported for this, but whether that does any good remains to be seen. Not holding my breath!

Good morning! I wondered if any of you wonderful people could advise me on how to approach the latest outrage received from these swine? My partner has two repayments left to make on his car finance with this shower - it was a four year agreement from January 2007. In April last year, because of a sudden reduction in his working hours, he realised he was going to have problems meeting his repayment that month, and immediately contacted Park to seek their advice. Of course, they were as nice as pie, and arranged for him to pay 50% of his normal payment amount for four months. As from September, he has paid his normal amount plus £50 extra to cover the arrears from April, May, June and July. He has always had a direct debit arrangement, coming out on the 20th of each month, and has never, ever defaulted, either at the full amount orthe temporary 50% amount. So neither of us was impressed when they sent him a letter, received yesterday, saying that they were charging him £8.71 "late payment penalty", and they said that this was active as from 31 December 2010. He phoned them right away, and was told that they have been charging him this since October 2010 (even though this is the first time he's received any notification of such a charge). He asked them to explain why, as he's always had the direct debit arrangement, which comes out on 20th of each month, and why on earth 31 December was mentioned. They had also seen fit, just after Christmas, to send him a Default Notice, which referred to the period of reduced payments - how this can be justified, I have no idea, since he's always paid, and has always kept them informed. When he phoned them about that, they gave him some guff about it being "routine", and they are "obliged by law" to do so, as he didn't pay his "contractual amount" for four months. We have confirmation, in writing, of the arrangement to reduce payments, and besides, why leave it another four months before sending a Default Notice if it's "routine" in such cases? They told him that the £8.71 relates to the fact that he hasn't yet paid the arrears off for the four months' reduced payments (he knows that, he's paying them off at £50 per month) - so they appear to be adding this charge every month as a punishment for him keeping them informed of his situation and making an arrangement they agreed to, for a very short period, and when he's paying off the arrears monthly as agreed in any case. Can we fight this? It seems to be totally unjustified, and, to be blunt, very sneaky.

Hear, hear - I've learnt so much from this site - they're brilliant.

Tee hee, revenant! They think they're so "big" don't they?

Oh, yes! I also think that they get some kind of weird satisfaction from their actions, too!

Quite, Teaboy. These people obviously feel it is worth their while to hound people until they pay up because they're terrified of being declared bankrupt, or of having someone turn up on their doorstep. I had a huge issue with 3, four years ago, after I'd cancelled my contract with them. It seemed impossible to clear my account, as they kept on sending me invoices for apparently insignificant amounts, months after my contract ended, telling me when I queried them that they were cancellation fees, or the "final payment" or whatever. It amounted to over £90 in the end, but the final straw came when they set a DCA on me for alleging that I hadn't paid the "remaining" £17.60 on my account. Because I knew no better then, I paid it right away, and vowed to fight them afterwards. The next thing I knew, I had a statement of account telling me I was £17.60 in credit!!!!!! I flipped, finally, and sent a majorly strong letter to the director of 3 UK, and got all my money back and a very humble apology. It just isn't right to treat customers like that, even if you have cancelled your contract. It simply ensured I'll never, ever use 3 again.

Teaboy - yes, i know exactly where you're coming from. Their implication is always "well, you would say that, wouldn't you, to get out of paying?" which enrages me! And as for saying you accepted the terms and conditions by putting the sim in the phone, well, really!! You still have to sign an agreement, which is what you're asking them to provide a copy of, and they know they've got to supply that copy if you ask for them to do so. Not that they care about that, of course - who are they to let the law get in the way of a good [problem]?!!!

Thank you coledog and silverfox - I didn't realise they were one and the same! I have written to Lowell, back in October, about the searches on my credit record, for seemingly no reason, and I spoke to Experian and Creditcallcheck to ask about whether the searches are visible to kosher searchers - both have assured me they aren't, but I'm afraid I'm an old cynic!! Funnily enough, Lowell haven't given me the courtesy of a response. I have also reported their searching to OFT, for whatever good that will do. If my man receives any further letters or phone calls, we'll do the "Prove it" letter. We know they can't, of course, but that means diddly squat to these numpties.

Good morning! My partner received a letter from Red on Saturday, saying that, as he'd not responded to Lowell Portfolio 1 (he's never received anything, mail or phone call, from Lowell), Lowell had sold them his debt of £200 and they were now going to ensure that he paid it, blah,blah,blah. It shows the original creditor as being T-Mobile. He's never, ever had any contract with T-Mobile, he's always been with Orange, so we know it's cr*p. In your very experienced opinions, are we better to just bin this nonsense? Purely as a matter of interest, I have posted on here recently about Lowell endlessly searching my own credit record, at least 14 times in the space of nine months. However, despite this, they have not contacted me or my partner, whatever what Red say in their intimidation-o-gram. Thanks very much!

Hear, hear, oilyrag. When us regular chaps are being squeezed right, left and centre financially, how any of the banks can justify any bonuses to anybody is quite beyond me.

They'd never cough up, though, NailPost!! My other half is still waiting on a reply from CRS to a letter sent in October 2010 putting an alleged debt into dispute, demanding a copy of the original credit agreement etc. It's just laughable.

Agreed, Bazooka Boo - most of the DCAs I've come across have a great deal to answer for. My partner continues to be bombarded by CRS for a debt that has never existed, and a colleague is being hounded by LCS for another non-existent debt sold to them by British Gas and dating back three years, all pertaining to a property owned by our employer. I do wish they all had effective research departments, and effective liaison with the companies who sell the alleged debts on before the alleged debtor even knows about them. Grrrrrr!

Hello! Re DCAs putting stuff on credit reports. I had occasion to check my report recently, and went on to Experian and Creditcallcheck. On both, there were more than 14 occasions on which Lowells had looked at my report over a six month period. As I've nothing outstanding on any of my credit agreements, I was stunned by this apparent obsession with my credit record, and queried with both credit reference agencies as to whether legitimate checkers would see these numerous enquiries. They both assured me no, no one but myself would see these, but I'm so cynical, I'm not convinced! I wrote to Lowell to ask for an explanation, but unsurprisingly, I've not had any response from them. It's like they're just lurking in the background, waiting to pounce.

Southern Electric is a trading name of SSE, Colin - if not, then they are telling filthy black lies on the reverse of my electricity bill!!

Dear Lord Tiger - yes, SSE and Southern Electric etc are all the same company. I always think it's funny that Southern Electric covers the most southerly point of the UK, and its parent company is almost as far north as you can possibly go - a good old local service!!!! I'm in the process of disputing an "administration charge" with another DCA - all the best with that!

I've just realised that "CRS" actually seems to cover several companies! Please could someone confirm to me the debt collection agency's address? I've spotted "Churchill Recovery Solutions" "Credit Resource Solutions" and "CRS Debt Collection Solicitors" - I'm bothered that we've sent our letter to the wrong one!!! Thanks very much.

I thought I would just update this thread. Whilst my partner was away in Germany (strangely, he wasn't lying to "Claire" when he phoned her number), I had two further landline text messages, so they clearly ignored the message he left on "Claire's" ansaphone. He was delighted with the letter I typed up for him, and we have sent it off first class to CRS. Just as he left for work on Saturday morning (2nd Oct), the phone went, and it was them again, wanting to leave a dratted text message!!! I simply hung up. We now await their response to the letter. If it's really exciting, I'll post again!

Jimbo - thank you so much for your reply. Thankfully, the account is now closed, so I'm hoping that the Horrible Swindly Bank Corporation will be kept out of this performance. I have to say I'm still not sure why he opened this account, as he already had one at Natwest (and still does), where his wages are paid in. I may be able to prise that information out of him when he gets back from Germany!

Thank you, unclebulgaria - I will add in the bit about the no additional charges - I wouldn't put it past them to bung on a few more hundred, either! I've also put in my letter that we will not be responding to any contact other than that put in writing from now on. I want proof of everything!

Good morning everyone! My partner has had recent contact from this shower, who are acting on behalf of HSBC. A while ago, my partner opened a bank account with HSBC. He admits to running into an overdraft of £200, and, because he panicked, has ignored a number of letters from them trying to resolve it. He realised he couldn't ignore it any longer when a text message came to my landline for him, and I happened to pick this up, and asked him about it. he did telephone them, and spoke to the ethereal "Chris", who said that, if he coughed up instantly (there's no way he can), he would only have to pay £240, and not the £308 that they'd quoted (£108 being the "penalty" for not paying back the original £200). He has never denied that he owes the £200, but trying to set up an arrangement to pay in instalments is proving difficult. He telephoned "Chris" again about a week after the original call, and got his ansaphone, on which he left a message asking to be called back. That hasn't happened, at least, we've not had a call from "Chris". Another text message came to my landline last Saturday morning, from the equally ethereal "Claire", saying that no payment had been received, and they couldn't hold off further action any longer. He immediately phoned the quoted number, and found that the office was closed, even though someone somewhere had triggered off the text message, and so he left another message, saying that he was going to be out of the country until 4th October (he's a continental coach driver, and often away for more than 7 days at a time), please would "Claire" phone him back then, as he wanted to make arrangements to pay. I am typing a letter for him to send to them, as I think we should now deal with this only in writing - I'm sick of having to deal with text messages, and tw*ts who don't phone back. I have already suggested that he offers to pay £10 per month - this is what I would like your views on. Should this be agreed, what would be the best way to make payment each month? Neither of us is keen on trying to set up a DD or SO - I've read too many horror stories on this site! I've offered to write a cheque for him each time, but he's worried that they'll then have MY details, too, and try other nefarious things. He likes the idea of a postal order. Your opinions would be very gratefully received. Thank you all in advance.

Hello! I've recently obtained my credit history from Experian Credit Expert, following a loan application being unexpectedly declined (previously excellent credit record) and am now trying to resolve this. It's quite painful! Unwittingly, and just trying to find out what my options might be other than a bank loan, if my credit rating isn't resolved, I pressed the key for "further information" and explanation of the results of this little investigation. Oh, I wish I hadn't! An outfit called Aspire are now hounding me to apply for a loan with them - they are shown as being Experian's "advisers" on loans. They've phoned me five times today (at work, I put them off) but I know they'll phone me again. I don't want to apply for a loan, I thought I'd get some advice online from them. I really should have known better - they've texted me twice as well as phoning. Is this really what Experian are supposed to be doing? I have become completely disillusioned with CRAs as I've tried to resolve my credit position in the last few weeks. No one will do anything quickly, either. They seem to hold differing information about me, too, which hasn't been very helpful.

Ha ha! I had forgotten that, Bazooka!!

I have just sent off a letter of complaint to Lowell, asking why they have searched my record 14 times in the last 7 months, and asking them to stop doing it, or I will report them to the ICO (I've done that anyway!). I've asked them if they've confused themselves with a credit reference agency, and to reply within 7 days. My partner's not convinced that they'll cause us hassle, but I'm afraid I know better, so I'm prepared for some flak!