Carphone Warehouse/SRJ Debt Recoveries

[pdb30uk]

Hi can anyone help.

 

I took a renewal 18 month contract with CPW and after a few months couldn't continue to pay the bill due to financial problems. I contacted them in June 08 to explain my current situation as I had credit cards that I couldn't pay as well. I offered to send the phone back as it had hardly been used. Then they chased me in September 08 which I responded to but they never replied. Then in October I was chased by Commercial credit services acting on CPW behalf. I again responded by letter and fax and also sent my Income/outgoings to show I was in a negative financial state. Again neither CPW or this DCA responded. I received a letter out of the blue dated 23/2/09 from SRJ Debt Recovery saying that CPW have constantly been tring to contact me (a complete lie) and also they were charging me £15 for finding me when I hadn't gone anywhere. i have also received a letter threatning a doorstop collection..Please could someone advie the next step. I have written a letter to SRJ explaining my situation but is there any other way I should respond i.e to CPW direct?? Thanks:confused:

[BankFodder]

I don't think that there is anything at all which you can do.

 

Of course, you shouldn't have got yourself into this position and you are in breach of contract.

However, you have tried to act reasonably with them. You have communicated with them. You have tried to discuss the position with them.

 

Believe me, they don't care. They are prepared to spend money to get you. They think that by hounding you and smashing you and smashing you that eventually they will get money out of you.

There is no regulation of these people. There is no scrutiny and no reasoning and they excerise no reasoning in what they do.

 

Your only hope is that they decide to sue you so that you can then admit your breach before a judge and argue that you should only be obliged to cover their administrative losses which is all that is required by the law of contract when one party is no longer able to carry out their side of the bargain.

Unfortunately, although they are entitled to sue you, they probably never will. They prefer to spend years of effort making your life hell instead of getting their minimum losses back, going on about their business and hoping that you'll return to them as a good paying customer again when you have sorted your problems out.

Unfortunately this kind of sensible long-term approach is not part of their business model.

They probably wouldn't even understand the English of it if I explained it to them very slowly and slapped them around the head while delivering the message.

[pdb30uk]

Thanks Bankfodder

 

Is it worth writing to CPW again as well to see if we can come to some agreement? At the mo I am trying to juggle all my other credit card debts as well so life is pretty stressful!!

[buzby]

Sadly, they don't care. There are now a load of service companies who will 'purchase' your debt from CW (at a discount) and then pursue you, as they plan to make a profit on their dealings with you.

 

It is a sad reflection on the way firms do business and treat customers, but your misfortune is someone else's gain - and CW still get paid - as they see it, a reduced amount is better than nothing at all.

 

Unless your debt is over £400, I really doubt that you will be taken to court - you'll just be harassed constantly to pay up.

 

They are not interested in a 2nd hand phone, it has little value and bears no relation to the cost of the contract you agreed to, where the real money is made from you.

[pdb30uk]

Thankd Buzby

 

The debt is less than £400 so not sure what I should do to hold them off?

[BankFodder]

I think that the only thing you can do is to make sure that you have lots of copy letters showing that you have done everything to try and come to an agreement so that in the unlikely event that they do sue you, you will be able to show a judge that they haven't mitigated their losses and that they should not pass on unnecessary costs of collection to you.

[buzby]

Yep - that's a good move.

 

However, be prepared for the long haul as the debt gets sold on to a long list of firms each convinced they have what it takes to make you pay up. I'm sure I'll get shouted at for this next irresponsible advice, but you need to realise the 'damage' has already been done.

 

There is NOTHING a debt collector can do to make your credit file worse, so whilst what is there will stay in place for 6 years, if you paid it would only change from showing as 'owed' to 'satisfied'. The issue would still sit there until it became time-barred. Which begs the question, assuming you won the Lottery and could pay it all off - why should you bother, as it won't help matters in the slightest.

 

The industry has only itself to blame for making this type of a decision a no-brainer.

[GBRH]

......

Edited March 12, 2009 by GBRH
paranoid

[buzby]

I think court action would be unlikely, because the original debt was about £200, it is their inflationary charges (where they make their profit) that is the issue - and I don't think they would want this scrutinised by any court.

 

If you can, pay the original money you owe to the firm that supplied the service. Keep proof of payment, and if chased by the DCA, say the debt as been paid and you have no reason to deal with them.

[GBRH]

Thank you for the re-assurance. I have tried to contact CPW but the customer services could not help me and cited that the debt had now been passed on to the collection team. I have received a letter when I come back tonight that says ' Notice of Litigation Proceedings ' This made me feel very sick and now I am very worried. I do not want to end up in court, and it could all lose me my job as I have a trusted position. I am very scared and don't know what to do. All I know is that I do not owe 1000 pounds for a mobile phone that I never used because i couldn't. It has taken me such a long time to get life straight and now I am very worried.

 

I have read that whatever I should do I should not contact S R J by telephone but I am scared and need to sort something out otherwise I could go to court. Please if you have any further advice anyone I would really appreciate it .

 

Your's very worried

 

GBRH

Edited March 12, 2009 by GBRH

[buzby]

There's a BIG difference being taken to court, and you seem to overlook the fact tat people who are innocent of the demand made of them get their chance to tell an independent arbitrator (the judge) the complete story, and a decision can be made on that basis.

 

Even taking the worst case scenario - let's say you lose, Who's going to know? This is an action for civil debt, not criminal wrongdoing (there IS a difference, in case you hadn't noticed!) - if you lost the case, you would simply be asked to pay up. You gave it your best shot and stood up to the bullies. You now have 28 days in which to pay them. Again, no criminal record, and not even a CCJ on your credit file - as they can only request this 28 days after the case is lost... and only if you refuse to pay.

 

Stop worrying needlessly. If you are taken to court (and that's a big IF) you get to tell your side of the story, but it is far FAR easier to threaten and scare you witless - and it looks as though they're doing a fine job of that already.

 

Fight these bullies - it makes you stronger in the long run!

Edited March 14, 2009 by buzby

[GBRH]

Thank you once again for the re-assurance.

 

I contacted CPW to discuss that this all seemed wrong as previously noted, and explained the position, the representitive in Credit Control was rather kind and helpful, but still said that this had been handed over, which left me very worried. I am a little calmer now. This morning I phoned S R J Debt Recoveries at 1045, they notified me that the Balance had been written off and that I do not owe anything to S R J.

 

I feel a massive weight has been removed after whatever this mistake that was made had been recognised. And I fully appreciate the support / guidance from both CPW and this forum.

 

I guess it is possible the disputed debt hasn't been sold on to a company that might harass me in the future. But I feel that I can deal with that when the time comes.

 

If you clearly explain that there is something wrong, then remedy can be found, and there is a chance to move on.

 

Thank you, and this shoud be the last time I should write on any such matters.

[buzby]

Now, go and lie down in a darkened room with a glass of wine and say to yourself; "I musn't worry needlessly...." 100 times!

[buzby]

The problem here won't be going to court, that's most unlikely. What will happen (if it hasn't already done so) is your credit file has been trashed. As you'll need to repair this as part of the negotiating process, the first thing to do is get a copy of your file (£2) and take it from there.