Hello everyone, I am new to this site today and am hoping someone on here can help me. I started receiving text messages from a company called Mackenzie Hall about two weeks ago. I ignored the texts as I assumed they were spam but two days ago I received a letter from them as follows: "We are attempting to contact the above named person regarding a personal matter. We have been provided your address as being the possible residential details for our subject. Therefore if you are the person named above, then please contact our office immediately on telephone number 0844 411 5655 quoting the above reference number, whereupon further detailed information can be provided." I Google'd this company and discovered they were a debt collection agency who deal in very old debts and are generally not very nice people to deal with. I have absolutely no idea what this debt is as in 2007 I had a massive brain haemorrhage and have virtually zero memory of my life before that date, I went to the local CAB today who advised me to write a Without Prejudice letter to them asking what the claim is for etc. I am not very good with things like this so was hoping someone on here would be able to help me write this Without Prejudice letter so I can send it to these people recorded delivery and find out what the heck it is all about. I have made no contact with Mackenzie Hall as yet. I do not want them sending me anymore text messages or phoning my house phone and leaving automated messages which they have also started doing . Yes I do feel a bit harassed by them and quite frankly it's causing me lots of headaches which, after having a brain haemorrhage I could do without! Any help from you wonderful people would be extremely appreciated Thank you in advance x

hi there. this is my first post and i am very worried. I ordered a set of headphones from Very catalogue recently and when they arrived, they were not in a sealed box as one would expect. When i opened the box everything seemed as it should but when i picked up the headphones they were clearly not right. the extendable ear part would not click into place and they looked flimzy. I packed them back up and called the catalogue immediately and arranged a return collection straight away. i thought that was the last of it until i received them back stating that they were old and used headphones and not the ones sent out to me. i immediately called and explaind exactly what had happened and the young lady on the phone told me to put it in writing, which i did. the letter i wrote explains everything clearly and i have enclosed it on here below. dear Very I have received a parcel back today containing headphones that I ordered last month from you. There was also a covering letter with an incorrect account number on it. It states that they are ‘used old and not supplied by you’ and you would not be crediting my account and would charge me for return postage. The words USED AND OLD IN CAPITALS, I am actually glad that you accentuated these words, as this is how I explained them to the girl on the phone when I called to arrange a return! This is exactly how I received them. Upon receipt I opened the package and found a box that had no plastic wrapping or security seal at all. The outer box slid off the inner box which then opened and there was a black zipper packet on the right and another compartment on the left, as is the case in the returned item. I opened the black zipper and inside was a plastic bag with the white headphones inside. I immediately thought that they were very small for the £170 odd pounds that I was paying. I took them out of the packet, which I believe I would have to do to inspect the item that I am buying. I immediately found one problem which was that one of the adjustable sides did not work in the same manner as the other side, by clicking onto place and staying there. They were very flimsy, and I didn’t even bother to open the other side of the box, I was not happy with the product and so I immediately put them back exactly as I found them boxed up and back in a return bag. I then went onto the web page to arrange a return and found that I could not do this online and I had to call to return this item, which I did immediately. I spoke to a girl and explained the situation and that I was not happy with the product and that they looked flimsy and faulty. She said that she would arrange the return and that was that. I returned them straight away; as soon as humanly possible, in fact. I thought that was that until this morning when a neighbour, who took the parcel in yesterday, brought the damn things back to me with the covering, and I might add, offensive letter. If by capitalising the words ‘OLD USED DR DRE BEATS’ and adding that ‘you did not supply this item’ that you are insinuating that I have had any part in removing, replacing, stealing, in fact, your headphones, then I hope you have strong evidence to support this accusation. I am grossly offended by any such insinuation and deny categorically, any interference with the headphones other than already stated previously in this letter. In fact I had never seen, in the flesh, as it were, a pair of these headphones before I took delivery of yours. There was no security seal, no outer packaging (as the young lady asked me this morning when I phoned her about the sticker on the side of the box that was ticked, ‘broken seal’) I returned them exactly as I found them. One would have to open a package to inspect goods when buying from a catalogue, as I have been doing for years and have never had a problem before. I behaved exactly as I was supposed to, and returned them as soon as humanly possible. I urge you to sort out this as a matter of urgency and credit my account as soon as possible. If you do not, then I will have no choice than to take further action against your company. Regards Again, i thought that would be it until this morning i have received another letter stating that 'Unfortunately, as explained in our previous letter, we cannot accept these goods back. it is for that reason that you are required to pay for the goods and any applicable charges. if you wish to have this item returned to you please call and arrange for this and a charge will be made for this of £3.95. we will hold the item for 6 weeks and dispose of them if no contact made and no refund given.' can anyone please help me as these headphones are £170.00 i am not going to pay for something that is not right. i dealt with the situation immediately and as one should. where do i stand please? any help very much appreciated regards angi

Hello, i'm new to this forum so i'm not quite sure where i should post this! Me & my partner have littlewoods & next catalogues, & i'm really struggling to keep up with all the payments! is there any way i can reduce the minimum payment with any of these if so anyone done it before & how did you manage to get them to agree! I'm starting to worry about this now as i don't want to get a bad credit rating but just can't afford the minimum payments they are asking for! I'm a stay at home mum and my partner works but we have lots of bills to pay and these ones haven't been my priority! Any help would be highly appreciated! Thankyou

hi i wonder if someone would be kind enough to give me some advice regarding the above.i fell into debt with marshall ward catalogue and received letters from lowell requesting payment.i sent off asking for the original credit agreement which they requested from MW.i have received an agreement which was about a month outside the 12+2 days allowed.also the agreement they have sent isnt the original catalogue agreement but an agreement that turned the catalogue debt into a fixed loan debt which was signed by me after falling into arrears with MW.please could someone advise me the best way to proceed,many many thanks in advance

Hi, I returned 8 items of clothing back to Littlewoods on 17th November in the same bag. They have only refunded my account 7 items. I have contacted them about this, and the only reply im getting is "Thanks for contacting us about your return. I'm sorry but we have not yet received the returned items. If the return was collected/sent more than 14 days ago, please let me know the catalogue number, the date you sent the parcel back and the bar-code number, which you'll find on your proof of return" I threw out my receipt as Littlewoods sent me a text message saying that they have recieved my parcel. Regardless of that, even if i did have my receipt it would still say delievered, as all other items in that parcel were recieved and refunded! The receipt does not list individual items, just one barcode for the one package. I am not happy about this, and i will refuse to pay the £32 for jeans i did not keep! Any suggesions or help will be appreciated!! Many thanks Sarah

My Mum's a customer and bought some things on Buy It Now, Pay Later. Her October 2012 statement showed a balance of £0.00, but stated that £394.00 was due before 14th DEC 2012, or interest would be applied. Mum paid the full amount of £394.00, which reached them 21st NOV and was shown on November's statement. But this same statement showed they took the payment off the amount of £705.03(!) (which I presume is the full interest price of all the Buy It Now, Pay Later goods,) which left £311.03 as the new balance! But she doesn't owe anything now! The amount owed, £394.00, was paid in full BEFORE the due date of the 14th DEC 2012! And to add insult to injury, they've even added a £12 missed minimum payment fee to her account too, even though the balance should have been zero on the 24th December 2012 when it was applied! I've written 9 emails to them now, explaining this to them, but their latest email says, "I can confirm that we have now removed the interest and your outstanding balance is £157.80. However, if you pay the offer satisfaction of £87.00 by 10/06/2013, the interest will be removed." WTH?! I just can't seem to get through to them that she doesn't owe anything! My poor Mum is worried sick about all this, and it's sure to have affected her credit rating. Do you have any ideas of how to resolve this please?

Hi, my partner had a catalogue about 5 years ago and fell behind on the payments. The debt is currently at about £1040 because of all the interest added on each time she didn't make the minimum payment they were demaning (about £500 a month). She has received a couple of letters from CapQuest saying they have purchased the debt. The latest one says they are able to obtain updates from the credit reference bureaux regarding her current financial position to be able to evaluate what steps should be taken to get the account onto a paying status and help repairing her credit file. She needs to contact them in the next 12 days to clarify her position and avoid possible legal action etc etc Her only correspondence with the catalogue in about 3 years has been a letter last month offering them £10 a month as at the moment it's simply all she can afford, the catalogue ignored it and then she received the letters stating it has been passed to CapQuest. Now my question is now that CapQuest has purchased the debt, can interest still be continually added on each month by the catalogue for 'insufficient minimum payment', or is the debt settled at that figure now the catalogue have passed it to them? Also, what is best to do next? She has been advised by family to send the same letter she sent to the catalogue offering a payment of ten a month to CapQuest. Any help is appreciated

Hi, my apologies if this is the wrong place for this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Around a year and a half ago my son was living with me and had an account with a catalogue (Premier Man I believe it was). He ordered around about 70-80 pounds worth of stuff and against me knowing a great deal, never paid it back. He's since moved out and for some time now letters have been arriving regarding the debt. It was eventually passed on to another company and another etc etc. Most of the letters eventually had the usual 'WARNING' stuff and how he had a certain amount of time to pay it off. I opened one of these letters the other day which was from Fredrickson (Fredpay.com). It said how it was a letter before action and: "The DEBT MUST BE PAID IN FULL TO THESE OFFICES WITHIN THE NEXT 7 DAYS OTHERWISE WE WILL TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION. There remains a balance outstanding on this account and legal action is now being considered. Should it be necessary to issue proceedings in the County Court (or the Sheriff Court as may be appropriate), further additional costs will be added to outstanding balance." It then says the balance is now at 275 pounds after interest, court fees, solicitor costs etc. It then says if a judgement or decree is obtained and remains unsatisfied a bailiff or sheriff officer may be instructed to recover assets to discharge the outstanding debt. Of course then goes on to say how they accept debt cards etc and to go to their site. Of course the bailiff part is the part that's got me worried. I'm worried stiff of getting a knock on the door around Christmas to find bailiffs on my door threatening to take away my own belongings. Of course my son no longer lives with me and hasn't for a while, but I'm still worried that once they're here, they'll have none of that. Am I right to be worried and is there anything I should do? The last thing I want is anything like this happening over Christmas. Any help would really be appreciated.

Hi I hope someone can advise. My daughter has been living with me for past 3 years and in that time she has signed up to a catalogue in my name without my permission online. I have had no knowledge of this until she has now moved out. She has intercepted any post from the catalogue and seems to have been paying it. I found out after she left on bad terms, questioned her as to whether she is going to continue paying it and she is refusing. I have no permanent address for her. Where do I stand with getting this debt out of my name? Thanks

I'm after some intial advice about claiming back payment insurance on a now closed Catalogue credit account. I cannot find a reference or indeed an agreement from me and I thought that little payment added to the account each month was just there or compulsory. I have at times struggled with the finances on that account and paid alot of money out over a very long time. I did manage to get it all paid and close the account. What would be my next course of action into looking at claiming back all the monies I didnt need to pay.

Hi, I purchased a cooker from my mums catalogue around 9 years ago. About 6mths after my husband had a mental episode and was hospitalised and i had to give up work to look after him and our children. As i couldn't afford the repayment each month to my mum the account was passed to me. The debts started mounting up so we seen a debt specialist at the CAB office who sorted out all the debts and offered them all £1.00 each (apparenlty we had to offer all debt companies the same amount). Empire catalogue accepted the £1.00(shop diect) payment and everything was fine. Then the debt was passed to droyds debt and collections services who accepted the £1.00 payments. The on the 14th july 2008 i receieved a letter from NDR saying that they had took over the account and to keep on paying the amount offered of £1.00. On the 21st march 2009 i received a letter telling me they were adding on £12.00 as payment not receievd even though it has always been paid by standing order every 28 days and that they require the full amount - does state on letter £1.00 received. This was the start of my problems with them. I sent them a letter stating that they had accepted the £1.00 offer, and a copy of the letter, to which they responded that that was now out of date and they now require £40.00 per month. I wrote to them explaining my situation which now included the fact that i couldn't work as our son was diagnosed with a life threatening illness so i have become his fulltime carer and included income/expenditure form. I received a letter telling me that they were not going to accept the £1.00 but would hold interest on the account for 6mths, if i paid the £40.00 per month. Since then they keep on adding £12.00 to the account which now stands at £800 - all the other debt have now come off my credit file and most were paid off when we had to sell the house 8 years ago, but it was the large debts we paid off. NDR will not accept my £1.00 offer, nor will they accept a settlement arrangement, as i asked them if i could settle the amount for a lower figure and they have turned me down. This debt is still on my credit file as they never defaulted the debt but shows up late payment each month. I did send them a letter asking for copy of my credit agreement which they sent me a blank credit agreement, but this was back in 2011. I have had phone calls to them to try to lower the amount since and letters but they always turn it down, lowest amount they will take is £39.00. I haven't had time to deal with this debt until now due to personal reasons beyond my control but now i want to try to resolve the matter but i am getting nowhere with NDR, told by them to speak to a debt advisor and get letter off them saying i can only afford £1.00per month, which i did last week and three companies weren't interested due to the amount owed only being small. Any help will be much appreciated. stacey

Hi, I need some advice about a purchase I made from Very catalogue. I purchased a washing machine and paid for fitting, their delivery company Yodel, arrived, fitted the machine and left. After they had gone I tried to use the machine only to find the water hadnt been switched on, when I turned the water on my kitchen ended up flooded because the hot water tap hadnt been connected and i hadnt been informed, I also noticed they had dented the machine, it rocked badly and my lino had been ripped and warped by the fitting. I got straight on the phone to Very and after being passed from pillar to post was told to take the matter up with Yodel, but Very said they would send someone else to re-fit the machine. The second fitter was appalled at the fitting and damage, took photos and made a report, and refitted the machine. I took up my case with Yodel and twice they rejected it, supporting their fitters lies that it had been fitted with no problems, I then wrote to Verys complaints dept, writing about all the damage and problems, enclosed copies of Yodels letters and my letters and after 2 months have recieved nothing in reply despite me emailing 4 times and being promised my case was being looked into and I should be patient. My last email was 20th August. I have the machine on a buy now pay later, I want to know if I have the right to hold that money until they sort out the damage to my floor, the machine and acknowledge the appalling service of the delivery company, Please help, I just feel like im being ignored and dont know how to get their attention and make them take responsibilty. Im long term sick and am in and out of hospital and really dont need this stress but I dont want to withold payment and damage my credit rating either but cant see any other way to get them to sit up and take notice!

Hi Everyone! This is my first post but i have been perusing since my own bailiff visit 2 weeks ago. The short version: 2 weeks ago they came knocking, I paid the council directly the next day, the bailiff wasnt happy... ..I then called rossendales to see what was left on the accound and there was £15 to pay.. ...so i waited until i received their letter dated 14th August. ...and it said please make payment with the next sevendays so wecan close our file... ...so this gives me until tomorrow to pay? Well they came again today and i gave them £105 just to get rid, i was panicking and very distressed and i have twin babies and a 4 year old crying :/ So the amount was for £15 pound and then the £24 levy fee and £60 pound van fee. ...he levied my partners car, the bbq in the garden and the table and chairs. ..i didnt let him in. They said they needed proof that the car wasnt mine, and i have since read that this is not my obligation at all... .Im pretty sure that they cannot levy on fees? The council said i had paid them in full. Im thinking of writing to the government ombudsmen.... .I receive council tax benefit and housing benefit as my partner has a low wage and i am self emplyed not earning a lot.. Will this go in my favour. What should I do? Any advice greatly recieved ...Apologies i have a rubbish keyboard and Twins hence the quickness of this post so i hope it makes sense. Im going to call the council tom and get a receipt for my payment.. .surely if its paid in full they have to include the fees? Surely also the bailiffs should have tried to get this £15 under a separate order? Thanks in advance

I have a debt with J D Williams and it has been passed to Lowell, then to Advantis. I sent a letter to Advantis with £1 requesting a copy of the CCA. I have now received a letter back from them stating that a catalogue account is not covered by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and therefore a contract is not required to open the account. Is this correct? If not, how can I reply to their letter saying that they are wrong? Thanks in anticipation of assistance

avoiding catalogue chaos 2 August 2012 the latest issue of Disability magazine features the ombudsman's money tips on avoiding problems with catalogue credit

Who do I sar for a catalogue debt to get copies of statements the OC or the DCA? Thanks

In feb, I purchased a mobile phone from very. After approx 4 weeks, the screen was glitching and it kept turning itself off. I was told by VERY that I could not return it as I was out of the 28 day period. It would have to be repaired. It kept happening in the following week, so I parcelled it up as a return and a letter explaining and sent it back, as I felt a repair after this time was not acceptable. We received a call stating they had received it and a few days later it was credited back to my account, so I got a cheap replacement. In may we received a package and to my shock it was the mobile, with a letter stating they had found a fault but it had been repaired. The sim card and memory card was missing. I rang them and said I now had a replacement and did not need it and that if I had wanted a repaired phone I could have got one down the market. I was told that I could not send it back and that if I did, they would keep it for 6 weeks and then destroy it but I would have to pay for it??? I have written 2 complaints which have not even been acknowledged and I have been told they do not have to reply to my letters as they have spoken to me about it on the phone. The customer Service team are in serious need of training because the attitude was that bad, it reduced me to tears. after 3 days of switching the mobile back on, it is switching itself off again and I cannot turn it back on without dismantling it. I have been told that it has to be repaired AGAIN (up to 3 times) yet it has been added back to my account and I am being charged for it although I cannot use it. I am stuck with 2 phones and cannot believe I have to keep a phone which was faulty and still is faulty and have the hassle of keep sending it in for repair. It is 3 months old and I have used it about 5 weeks in total. What are my rights please???

Dear Mr Neild, after reflection and the fact that I feel so betrayed after years of loyalty I have posted this on the consumer forum and will continue on different forums throughout the U.K. If I can prevent just 50 from shopping with it will have been a success. I have already stopped 5, and will continue with my campaign, this is what I sent: Unfair kandco rewards system - long term Customer I was a empirestores agent for many many years with 15% commission on all goods. They merged last year with kays & gt universal and became KandCo. I have paid into my account over the past 14mts between £3000-£4000 and received only £5 commission. I complained and have been given a further £75. I have not been given anymore as they do not give rewards on goods that are reduced because of a sale and a whole new bunch of reasons. if you buy a piece of furniture that is normally £1000 and you get £50 off due to a sale you will receive no rewards. if you do not order something every month your rewards will stop even though you are still paying on goods over £2000. I shall not be ordering any large or expensive from this company again, only a small item at minimal cost of £5 so I get rewards for the money on the items I still owe. I feel utterly betrayed because of the loyalty I have shown through the years. an absolutely disgusted disgruntled customer

My partner has received a few debt collection letters for an alleged debt with jd williams. The amount is quite substantial. I have followed advice previously given on this site and requested a signed copy of the credit agreement using the template letters, they have responded by admitting there is no signed credit agreement. I followed up by sending them an 'account in serious dispute' letter I found on here and they have now responded by saying that, although they cannot take the matter to court they can continue to chase the debt and it does exist. We have had financial problems a number of years ago but we have no recollection of this debt, without a signed credit agreement I cannot prove or disprove the debt but they are claiming that they can continue to chase my partner for it. The account is on my partners credit file as defaulted in 2006 but I don't want them harassing us for another year until it is statute barred. I need some advice on a letter to send them to basically say prove we owe the money or back off because I have no intention of paying a debt I do not recall and cannot be proven. Also, if they cannot prove the debt is my partners do they have any right to keep the default on her credit file? I would be grateful of any help with this matter.

I have a bit of a strange situation whereby my mother opened catalogue accounts in my name with Freemans, Oli, Next, Littlewoods, Great Universal and Empire. Some I knew about some I didn't. Any CCAs were signed by her in my name. At the time she had a good job but payments fell into arrears on all accounts when she couldn't keep up with payments (sometimes due to medical reasons and my dad has been very poorly since around 2005). I have taken over control of all the accounts from my mum although initially she was making total payments of around £400+/month into payment plans that I had set up over the phone with each creditor. Eventually this became too much money and we went to the CAB who said they couldn't really offer a liaison service because I earned too much (I am only on £17k/yr and have my own bills to pay). In November 2010 I called and requested a copy of the CCA for each account. No response as of January 2011. I realise at this point I should have put the request in writing. However, in December 2010 we wrote to each creditor, requesting that the account name be changed to my mum's name, explained the circumstances and I also referenced that they hadn't responded to my initial request for a copy of the signed CCA, which would prove I didn't sign the agreements so I again requested a signed copy from each creditor. No response. I followed this up with two further letters in January 2011, all sent recorded. No response from anyone except Moorcroft on behalf of Next who sent a holding letter saying they were looking in to it and had passed the letters/info back to Next to look at, but I haven't heard anything since then. The other creditors refused to acknowledge receipt of any of the three original letters and continued to try harass me by telephone. I have no requested my phone number be taken off the accounts. I had a conversation with Littlewoods today who said they don't deal in letters only telephone calls and they have no record of me sending anything. I said tough I have proof of delivery and you manage to send letters when you want money! Basically this went no where and I refused to be drawn out in to the details over the phone. Littlewoods moved my complaint up the chain to a 'manager' who said they would get in touch. We'll see. The woman at Littlewoods also said that it was entirely in their right to pass the debt on to a third party or keep charging me missed payments fees because as far as they were concerned the account wasn't in dispute, which I rubbished with a response of the letters acting as the start of the dispute and it was a criminal offence to take actions on an account in dispute, whether they thought it was or not was irrelevant and I reference the Consumer Credit Act etc. So basically now I'm left having requested the change of account (which is legal according to CAB who suggested it - it is down to the discretion of the creditor), and also sent two follow up letters re: the CCA and I'm getting no response. I'm a bit at a loss. I'm wary that they could threaten legal action against my mum for fraud and try and push me into making payments with this threat hanging over my head, but as yet this has not happened (I feel like it's only a matter of time). I could claim my mum had reduced capacity when opening the accounts due to undue mental stress as there is a history there of manic depression but legally I'm not sure where that stands. My credit file is almost unrecognisable to me, missed payments, late payments, lots of debt that's not mine but is. Any advice on next steps and moving forward with this would be much appreciated. Is it time to give them one last chance to send me a copy of the signed CCA. Do I have a leg to stand on if I can prove this wasn't signed by me? Any help appreciated.