you are a god among men ! i did not know that. I will push this to the end if I have to. Financial Ombudsman wrote to them on my behalf explaining what happened - I have sent your letter explaining what WILL happen !

thank you so much slick ! much appreciated i will send that now, just a quick thing - would Harlands come under that high court ruling or only ashbourne? I just want to be prepared thank you again

Thanks slick, I don't want to settle at all, if you could help id really appreciate it. They keep quoting the written notice cancellation term to me, I'm not happy I wasn't made aware of this debt until now.

I have been doing more digging and found that Harlands group has agreed terms with OFT in September 2013 (coincidently) stating very clearly that their: 'Suite of standard debt collection correspondence and staff training materials used to communicate with consumers in arrears revised in line with the standards published in OFT guidance, for example the Debt Collection Guidance, the Irresponsible Lending Guidance and the CSA/DBSG guidance on standard letters. ' They are in breach of a number of key things: Irresponsible lending guidance - failing to inform the borrower when he has gone into arrears (as set out in 86b of Consumer Credit Act) 86b - withing a period of 14 days they should give notice if payments are missed and b) after giving notice shall further give notices under this section at intervals of NOT more than 6 months. I have had this debt building secretly since Sept 2013 and they sent their 1st letter making me aware 8 months later. Surely I have some grounds on this ?

I used to work for Sky upgrades. Online is not only in India they have an onsite team in west london where it started. Most of them deal with customer service queries as in India they obviously have a hard time. In regards to your cancelation, the reason they ask for the phone is because of key security questions that they must ask to access or change the account. For example the Password, they will ask you for certain characters. If they dont have such questions answered they are not legally allowed to change your account. Now I am not sure about writing in as I never worked in cancellations, they are the cream of the crop of Sky's sales advisors. Cancellations team normally based in Scotland (nicer accent) have WAY more deals to offer customers than any other department, for example, you could call to upgrade to movies and I may offer you half price for 3 months. If u called to cancel they would offer you half price EVERYTHING for a year. depending on what promotions are available. This is how you handle a cancellation call - get past your security and state 'i do not want to know any information on any promotional offers, I do not want to be with Sky, I would like to cancel my contract immediately please process this for me' If they try say again ' I am not interested in any deals please do not pressure me' they arent allowed pressure selling once you indicate on a recorded call that you feel pressured the advisors ass is on the line.

HD packs work as a service rather than an upgrade, just how it is on the systems. Chordiant - ancient and slow. Anyway, that may be why they ask you to call in. I used to work in call centre, i dont know about your online rights but I know that HD pack works differently to upgrading packages such as sports and movies. And yes the account holder is the only one with permission to make this change - maybe thats where online becomes a bit grey.

whatever happens is a joke. I am a former currys employee. The managers will force this sell on to the sales advisors and thus on to you. It is number one priority to get a WH on major products. Laptops are KEY as their profit margin is ridiculously low, this is why it is a rare instance you will ever get more than 10% discount - and even that is if they admit a fault. The common method of [causing problems] is offering you 3 months free insurance (thus putting you on a monthly plan which is always more expensive than 3 or 5 year plans) , they will discount your product by say £9 if the insurance is £3 a month. In reality, they have signed u up for a direct debit payment, and the idea is you will most likely forget to cancel it after 3 months !!!

I used to work for Sky mate, ALL calls are recorded. They work in teams who are lead by a CEL (customer experience leader) . this is usually the person they put on the phone when you ask for a supervisor. They have access to all recordings and it is their job for 'escalations' complaints. U need to either speak directly to a CEL and get that phonecall listened to - SAR should get you it if this doesnt. They have all dates of contact, they have dates of letters (and scanned copies) sent to you, they have all history of everything. Hope you sort it mate.

Thank you so much slick132, In reply to your questions I joined the gym in March 2011, my last attendance at the gym was Jan 2013. I called the Gym to cancel in August 2013 and the last DD payment was taken in September 2013. I was told my membership was cancelled on two occasions by Gym staff, I went back to America, not knowing they were building up my debt behind my back. I only realized when i got a letter this year on April 2014 asking for £400 (£100 charges) from CRS. I told CRS I am disputing the debt with Gold's and they put my account on hold for 10 days, but that is now over. Just received another letter from CRS today, saying 'we are disappoined your account is still in arrears' They say they have two options 1: legal action - write a formal letter explaining the demand and give you final chance to pay 2. Outsource to external collector I may have to settle for a reduced sum if they are willing to do so...what do you think?

Your team's invaluable advice and slicks letter has got me so far now I am stuck and forced to make a thread about my very unique situation. Here the key points: I had been paying monthly to Gold's after initial 12 month fixed period, I moved to USA temporarily last year in Jan 2013. I returned for 1 month to UK and called to cancel (big mistake) in August 2013. I was told my membership was cancelled. I cancelled my DD and a month later i get a £25 admin charge on top of usual bill, I called again (big mistake i know) to tell them I had already called to cancel a month ago so I was AGAIN told my membership was cancelled and i did not have to pay anything. I get back to the UK and this year I get a letter in April 2014 from CRS demanding payment of £400, that's 8 Months later. The letter says 'despite previous letters sent to you' but i have not received any, if i did i would have paid an extra month off last year. OFT Consumer advice said i should speak to Gold's not CRS as the contract was with Gold's. I wrote a letter via recorded delivery requesting a true copy of my contract within 7 days and explained to them the situation: that their advisors had told me on TWO occasions that my membership was cancelled and i was never notified about the cancellation process when they sold me the contract nor the TWO times i called to cancel. I mentioned that Harlands Group that handles the payments and CRS as well signed an OFT agreement with the following terms saying they in breach if : 2. Failing to contractually require its clients (i.e. Golds Gym) to notify prospective members in the sales process, whether ORALLY or in writing, key features of the membership including but not limited to length and cancellation rights. The scanned true copy of that doc is here(this may help others): w w w. oft . gov. uk / shared_oft /consumer-enforcement /Harlands-undertakings . pdf Now, Gold's Gym have written back ignoring everything. Simply stating "please refer to t&C 10a for more infomation' they have quoted the part that says they require 30 days written notice. They also say management contacted me but after no response they referred me to CRS and said any documents with reference to your membership please contact CRS. No copy of contract and no reply to my allegations. I am stuck now. Legally I should have a written notice because i signed. But since this new agreement with OFT isn't there some way I can sort this out ? Also they have not sent any previous letters, I am unemployed since returning from USA and they let the debt build up before telling me 8 months later. In addition I called Golds twice and they still didn't inform me of the process and lied. Golds gym have also told me my membership is not cancelled until I pay my account balance with CRS, then they require a written notice. I am ignoring that and doing it right now. Please help if you can.