02/Lowell

[dommcd]

got a letter from red yesterday which i am not sure what to make of. they have sent what looks like a screen print of a spreadsheet showing some payments that i made to o2. There are a few problem with this.

 

1, that it looks like it could have been knocked up by anybody with a bit of excell know how in about 5 minutes.

2, at no point have i denied having an account with o2.

3, it shows that the balance was written off in oct 08. red claim that this is just in preparation to sell it on, but if that is the case why was this not done in oct 2006 when the "debt" was originally sold on to moorcroft (there is no ent.

4, the debt was in dispute so should never have been passed on in the first place. I made a part payment to moorcroft in oct 2006 on the understanding that that was it and the matter would be ended, shortly after my credit report showed the o2 account settled and satisfactory. then moorcroft began fabricating payment agreements, i complained and the they closed the account. 2 years later lowells/red show up.

 

Red seem to think what they have sent constitutes some proof that i have to pay them and are demanding that i do so in 7 days (if it goes from the date of their letter that gives me until sunday) its only a small amount of money but that isnt really the point.

 

any ideas on where to go with this would be most helpful.

[babybear39]

Do you have anything to confiem the part payment to moorcr@p and the terms under which it was made? Or do you have a copy of your CRA file showing the account as settled?

[dommcd]

moorcroft sent an aknowlegment that the payment was made but i think it was just a receipt.

 

i do have a copy of my credit report which i printed a couple of months ago showing the o2 account settled and that it was done in either oct or nov 2006. i sent red a copy of this with my last letter to them (i even highlighted it so they couldnt miss it)

[babybear39]

Their playing SBs then. Request their formal complaints procedure, report them to TS and the OFT.

[dommcd]

Just knocked this up to send to red (wont be able to do it till monday) does it look ok or am I giving them too much info on previous dealings with moorcroft they they can use against me.

Dear Lowells/Red

I have read and acknowledge your letter dated 00/00/2009. However I have a number of issues to raise with its contents.

Firstly you have sent what you claim is a document showing my liability to make a payment to yourselves. On the contrary, all you have sent is a screen print of a spreadsheet showing payments that you claim have been made to O2. There is no evidence to support that this is an official document and not just a fabrication by an employee within your own company.

In any case, the document is irrelevant as I have never claimed not to have had an account with O2 so showing a series of payments proves nothing.

You claim that the balance was cleared prior to the debt being sold to yourselves. You may or may not be aware but you are the second collection agency to attempt to collect on this account so why was this operation not carried out in 2006 when the alleged debt was originally passed on?

Furthermore you claim that neither yourselves or O2 know of any reason why this should not be paid. This is not true. The debt that was passed on was in dispute. A payment was made to the original collection agency in October 2006 on the understanding that this be an end to the matter. Shortly after my credit file showed the account was settled. I have evidence to support this and you yourselves are fully aware that the account is settled as you recorded a search on my credit file and I sent you a copy of the credit report showing the entry with my last letter to you.

As such I fail to see why you are still trying to collect a payment on a settled account and feel that you have left me with little choice but to report this matter to the OFT and trading standards. I would also request that you provide information regarding you official complaints procedure as I wish pursue this course of action also.

[drob]

Hi dommcd .... I have exactly the same problem with Red/Lowell and that print out of a Spreadsheet they have now sent me twice!!!.

 

I have asked them to prove my liability on several occasions by providing a copy of a contract that exists between myself and 02 and a full and final statement. All I ever receive is the spreadsheet print out.

[babybear39]

Letter looks good to go

[dommcd]

"Hi dommcd .... I have exactly the same problem with Red/Lowell and that print out of a Spreadsheet they have now sent me twice!!!."

 

Have they been able to prove it is legit? or even what it is they are attempting to prove with it?

As I have said, showing I had an account with a company that I have never denied having an account with proved nothing.

 

As far as I am concerned it was over with in late 2006. I dealt with moorcroft at the time (they were terrible but thats another story) my credit file for the account shows o2 consided it settled back then (about oct or nov i think). If lowells want to buy a load of old debts thats up to them but it doesnt mean they are getting any money from me.

 

In any case I have sent my letter and will await a response. According to thier last letter (with its "cast iron" proof of liability lol) to me I should have paid them by now so they should be coming to get me ha ha

[babybear39]

Don't know if you have but it may be worth sending lowlife a copy of your credit report...Sorry if double posting but I'm too lazy to read through lol...

[dommcd]

I sent a copy with a letter I sent to red. Thats got to have been a couple of months ago now. i know they got the letter as it was signed for. It seems that they may just be following their own letter sending timetable and ignoring anything I send in the meantime. will no doubt receive more threatening letters from red.

[dommcd]

Got home yesterday to find a letter from lowells with some rubbish about despite all their letters to me I have failed to contact them and I need to do so straight away or else. they have put the phone number in large font so I cant miss it.

 

What a bloody cheek. How is it that they can send letters in an instant when they dont get what they want, but have yet to provide an acceptable response to anything I have sent.

 

Also this has come on Lowells paper from yet another employee and yet another PO Box address. Everything recently has been from their red division so who am I supposed to address my letters to and where am I supposed to send them?

 

Just choose one company name and give me one address and one person to communicate with!!!!!

[babybear39]

Got home yesterday to find a letter from lowells with some rubbish about despite all their letters to me I have failed to contact them and I need to do so straight away or else. they have put the phone number in large font so I cant miss it.

 

What a bloody cheek. How is it that they can send letters in an instant when they dont get what they want, but have yet to provide an acceptable response to anything I have sent.

 

Also this has come on Lowells paper from yet another employee and yet another PO Box address. Everything recently has been from their red division so who am I supposed to address my letters to and where am I supposed to send them?

 

Just choose one company name and give me one address and one person to communicate with!!!!!

 

That's just too easy for them

[dommcd]

Too right but it does make me wonder if my letters are getting to the right people.

 

doesnt matter, I have copies of everything they have been sent and the postage receipts.

[drob]

I gave up using PO Box numbers for Lowell and Red and address all my correspondence to -

 

Enterprise House

1 Apex View

Leeds

LS11 9BH

 

Not that it matters much as they fail to respond to my letters and continue to send me their computer generated rubbish.

[babybear39]

At least it shows willing, eh? lol...

[andie_303]

I have the same rubbish screen shot prints that they claim to be "proof" however this doesn't even contain customer details and has a ZERO balance lol

 

Red and Lowells are sending the demands.

 

I wrote to Lowells and Red reminding them that is is against OFT guidlines to pretend to be 2 seperate companies and that as they are one and the same and they should be transparent as such and not try to bully people in thinking it is escalating to other companies.

 

I got a response from Lowells trying to say they are 2 seperate companies but sometimes share debt equity and therefore both can "own" the debt.

 

Ha ha ha don't make me laugh!

[missdpd]

Well since my 'prove it' letter to Lowells a few months ago, I have heard nothing, although they did say they are in the process of retreiving details of this 'alledged' debt.

 

Heres hoping they have seen sense, hmmmmm maybe not, those two words 'Lowells' and 'sense' do not belong in the same sentance!

 

xx

[xx.Morph.xx]

I sent the Leeds loosers a letter recently that contained the following:-

 

"This Account is in dispute

 

 

Re: Your letter dated XX/X/2009 from your “trading style” Red Debt Collection Services

 

 

Firstly may I address that I know full well that Lowell Portfolio I & II, Red Debt Collection Services & Hamptons Legal are all trading styles of Lowell Financial Ltd. Therefore I will only be communicating by letter to Lowell Financial Ltd.

 

Secondly may I quote your letter dated XX/X/2009 “We have been appointed as the authorised debt collection agents by our client Lowell Portfolio I Ltd to recover an outstanding balance owed to them after they purchased your original debt from Capital One, on 01/06/2009.”

 

 

 

Now considering you and your various “trading styles” have been making demands for payment of this account since early February 2009 I can think of only 2 scenarios:-

 

 

• You have been demanding payment with threats of legal action for a debt and account you held NO legal right to, which is a breach of countless regulations and law & if we throw allegations of Fraud, Extortion or Demanding Money With Menaces around we will see what will stick!
  
• Your employees are so confused as to who they actually work for that they become so incompetent they cannot even get the dates right on the letters they send out.
  

 

I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt for now and just put it down to your incompetence and get to the main reason for my letter."

 

 

 

It won't do any good but it made me feel better

 

Morph

 

[sam614]

I sent the Leeds loosers a letter recently that contained the following:-

 

"This Account is in dispute

 

 

Re: Your letter dated XX/X/2009 from your “trading style” Red Debt Collection Services

 

 

Firstly may I address that I know full well that Lowell Portfolio I & II, Red Debt Collection Services & Hamptons Legal are all trading styles of Lowell Financial Ltd. Therefore I will only be communicating by letter to Lowell Financial Ltd.

 

Secondly may I quote your letter dated XX/X/2009 “We have been appointed as the authorised debt collection agents by our client Lowell Portfolio I Ltd to recover an outstanding balance owed to them after they purchased your original debt from Capital One, on 01/06/2009.”

 

 

 

Now considering you and your various “trading styles” have been making demands for payment of this account since early February 2009 I can think of only 2 scenarios:-

 

 

• You have been demanding payment with threats of legal action for a debt and account you held NO legal right to, which is a breach of countless regulations and law & if we throw allegations of Fraud, Extortion or Demanding Money With Menaces around we will see what will stick!
  
• Your employees are so confused as to who they actually work for that they become so incompetent they cannot even get the dates right on the letters they send out.
  

 

I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt for now and just put it down to your incompetence and get to the main reason for my letter."

 

 

 

It won't do any good but it made me feel better

 

Morph

 

 

re send it. mark it for the attention of bob collins,director of compliance.

you will get a response.

 

SAM:pLOWELL DETESTER

[dommcd]

Got another letter from lowells with the usual "we have offered you loads of chances to pay us but you still have not" then giving me 5 days or else (begin legal action, send someone to my house etc...)

 

Then, I get a letter dated the very next day. It reads as follows:

 

We are in receipt of correspondence regarding your account and will respond to you or your appointed representative, where appropriate, as soon as possible.

 

Your account has been placed on hold whilst we deal with the correspondence and during this time you will not receive any contact from our collections team.

 

There is no need for you or your appointed representativeto write to us again regarding this matter, however should either of you wish to speak to someone in our customer service teamplease do not hesitate to call.

 

Hmmmmmmmm.

 

They have been in receipt of communication for a few months now. It seems odd that they take notice now that I advised them of my intention to report the matter to the oft and asked them for their complaints procedure.

 

The account should have been placed on hold the instant they received my fist letter, it would have saved them a lot of usless post from them.

 

And also, what is with that last paragraph. There is no need to write to them but i can call them, WHAT??

I should have put that in one of my letters

 

"dont communicate with me again until you have something useful to say"

 

though technically I have done by advising them to write only to aknowledge that the situation is being dealt with correctly or that the matter is over. Instead they bombard me with threat letters.

[andie_303]

latest reply from the "your spreadsheet is crap letter" goes like this

 

 

Dear XXXXXXXXX

 

Thank you for your email dated 25th July 2009.

 

The information available postively identifies you as being responsible for this debt and our records show that statements to the account were sent to you on 8th July 2009 (the crap spreadsheet that doesn't even have my name or address on it!)

Our collection activities have been placed on hold for 28 days and request that you keep us informed of developments.

 

If you would like to advise us of your preferred contact address we would be happy to update our records I BET YOU WOULD!!

So i'm thinking my repsonse should be something like this

 

 

Dear Ms Barnard

 

I am sure you are more than aware that the spreadsheet sent by Red Debt Collection Services does not constitute proof of any debt.

 

I have previously reported your company to companies house for misrepresentation and now have no alternative but to file a complaint with the OFT as you are continuely breaching their guidelines, I will forward a copy of this for your records.

 

As you are aware I do not live at the address with which you are sending correspondance I give you notice that the next correspondance at this address will be reported to the OFT as harrassment by the property owner. This applies to any correspondance that comes from your 'partner' companies this includes but is not limited to Red Debt Collection Services, Lowel Finanacial and Lowell Portfolio 1 and 2.

 

Any thoughts??

[babybear39]

Quote Furguson V British Gas Trading in the harassment para.

[ODC]

Do what a clever cagger did. Make up your own spreadsheet with her name oir Andy Bs name on it and send it to her and tell her that her spreadsheet is not worth the toilet paper its printed on.

[dommcd]

27th of September and still not a peep from lowells or red or anyone.

I wonder what they are doing with my "account"

[dommcd]

Still nothing, no letters of any kind. Maybe they have forgotten about me lol.