Hey there, I have recently closed my account with VM by telephone for my broadband services, they told me at the time that I would receive a bill for 44 pounds only (the remaining amount until the end of my contract). I then received a bill with some additional charges bringing the final bill up to £74. As I thought this was unfair, I sent them a settlement letter: "Dear Virgin Media, I am writing to settle my final bill for my account: 838107205. I believe there have been some accounting errors on my bills which I will outline below: Bill date: 3rd Aug 2009 Description Date/period Amount Payment Handling Charge 01 August - 31 August £5.00 Broadband Size: M 01 August - 31 August £20.00 I do not believe that a payment handling charge can be added to my account when no payment for this period was made directly. Also, when I contacted you to cancel my account by phone in early August, your representative told me that there would be no further charges other than the quoted £12.17 charge that I would incur by cancelling my account early. Furthermore, in the initial stages of my account during December 2008, I was forced to pay £11.00 for my service instead of the advertised £10.00, as e-billing could not be set up on my account until the following month. As this constitutes an increase in charges under your service agreements (please see “Terms and conditions for your residential customer service agreement” article J5) and was greater than the advertised amount, I refuse to pay the 30 day notice fee as detailed below: Description Date/period Amount E Bill Discount 11 August - 31 August £0.00 30 Day Notice Fee 11-Aug £24.00 Contract Termination Fee 11-Aug £12.17 Given that my final bill was £73.97, taking into account the deductions above, I have included a cheque for £44.97. I hope you will accept this as settlement of my final bill and account. Yours faithfully," (The terms and conditions I mention can be seen at Virgin Media: Company Terms and Conditions (On Cable)) Virgin media cashed the enclosed cheque, I assumed that meant they had accepted. I have just received a letter from Moorecroft collection agency for 23.53 pounds outstanding on the account. It looks as though they agreed to my deduction of the £5 for the handling charge, but sent through the disconnection charge to be recovered. I have had no correspondence from VM directly on the matter at all. Can the recovery agent purchace debt with a dispute outstanding? Should I send another letter to VM and ignore the agent? Cheers for any advice, Gavtheman