Mackenzie Hall. Do any of you know of them?

[Seminole]

I would suggest that you enter into no further correspondence with MH. Make a full and detailed complaint to your local Trading Standards department stating that they have failed to supply a copy of the signed agreement when requested. If you think the debt isn't yours or if you think it's statute barred then include this in the complaint as well. Follow up with TS and demand a response.

 

If MH attempt to make any further contact refer every instance of them doing so to TS and say that they are harassing you for payment of an alleged and unenforceable debt.

[Gaz Webber]

I would suggest that you enter into no further correspondence with MH. Make a full and detailed complaint to your local Trading Standards department stating that they have failed to supply a copy of the signed agreement when requested. If you think the debt isn't yours or if you think it's statute barred then include this in the complaint as well. Follow up with TS and demand a response.

 

If MH attempt to make any further contact refer every instance of them doing so to TS and say that they are harassing you for payment of an alleged and unenforceable debt.

 

Okay

Will do.

I've already fired off an explanation about this to the Kilmarnock TSO, and will send similar to Coventry.

Many thanks

[jamesrouse]

shame there such a shooking company they offer good pay

http://http://www.jobsincredit.com/credit-job/Sales_Executive/28421

[Gaz Webber]

Reply today from the Kilmarnock Trading Standards Office.

Something of a result, perhaps.

I need now to consider further what else to do. Personally I am thinking I shall ignore them from now on, and just contact the OFT as rquested here.

Email reply follows:-

 

 

 

Dear Mr Webber,

 

I refer to your complaint concerning Mackenzie Hall and would advise that this service is aware of the company and their business practices. At present the Office of Fair Trading are dealing with this company and I would be obliged, therefore, if you would forward details of your complaint to them. Please be aware that the OFT will not deal with individual complaints but are monitoring the company and will take account of the number and type of complaints received in determining whether any action is recquired.

 

The action you have taken in requesting further information about the debt is correct and under guidelines issued by the OFT the company should investigate and/or provide details as appropriate when a debt is reasonably queried or disputed. It is unlikely there has been an offence under section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act, however, as that section applies to creditors and Mackenzie Hall is not regarded as the creditor where they are acting on behalf of another company. I will be discussing a number of items with Mackenzie Hall in the near future and will clarify this with them to determine whether they are buying in debts themselves, in which case they would be regarded as the creditor.

 

With regards to the debt itself the fact that you have disputed the debt and made a reasonable request for further information on the debt is as much as you can do. It is unlikely the company will have the information requested but the onus is on them to provide it if they want to take further action.

 

I hope this information has been of some assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further advice.

 

Regards

 

Alan Stewart

Enforcement Officer

 

Trading Standards Service

14 London Road

Kilmarnock

KA3 7AF

[chrismc]

Reply today from the Kilmarnock Trading Standards Office.

Something of a result, perhaps.

I need now to consider further what else to do. Personally I am thinking I shall ignore them from now on, and just contact the OFT as rquested here.

Email reply follows:-

 

 

 

Dear Mr Webber,

 

I refer to your complaint concerning Mackenzie Hall and would advise that this service is aware of the company and their business practices. At present the Office of Fair Trading are dealing with this company and I would be obliged, therefore, if you would forward details of your complaint to them. Please be aware that the OFT will not deal with individual complaints but are monitoring the company and will take account of the number and type of complaints received in determining whether any action is recquired.

 

The action you have taken in requesting further information about the debt is correct and under guidelines issued by the OFT the company should investigate and/or provide details as appropriate when a debt is reasonably queried or disputed. It is unlikely there has been an offence under section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act, however, as that section applies to creditors and Mackenzie Hall is not regarded as the creditor where they are acting on behalf of another company. I will be discussing a number of items with Mackenzie Hall in the near future and will clarify this with them to determine whether they are buying in debts themselves, in which case they would be regarded as the creditor.

 

With regards to the debt itself the fact that you have disputed the debt and made a reasonable request for further information on the debt is as much as you can do. It is unlikely the company will have the information requested but the onus is on them to provide it if they want to take further action.

 

I hope this information has been of some assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further advice.

 

Regards

 

Alan Stewart

Enforcement Officer

 

Trading Standards Service

14 London Road

Kilmarnock

KA3 7AF

 

That looks like quite a positive response from TS.....I think you can ignore them from now on and you could always quote TS and state you have forwarded a complaint to the OFT, that should quieten them down a bit!!

 

About time someone got the better of them!! Let us know how you get on.

[ladycal]

I received a letter from Mackenzie Hall on 19th June stating that it was the Final Notice(funny it was the first communication I received from them!)and requesting I send just under £1500 by 29th June. I telephoned their offices (which having read messages on this site I think was perhaps a mistake) and was informed that it was a debt owed to Barclaycard dating back to 1998. :o I made no admittance, kept the conversation brief and they said they would look into it. Today I received a second letter with the heading Reduced Settlement Offer (dated 11th July) stating they would accept payment of approx £900 in settlement of the account. Can anyone advise on a course of action. Should I respond?

[thewifeandI]

When did you last make any payment or communication on this debt?

[ladycal]

No communication or payment since Feb 1998

[thewifeandI]

In that case it's statue barred and they have no rights to force repayment. There's a standard letter knocking about that starts with "I do not acknowledge any debt with your company" (or words to that effect) that you send to the DCA, they'll soon back off. There's a fair chance of a copy of that letter in this thread or the one titled "Debt Collection Agencies".

 

DON'T ENTER INTO ANY PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS WITH THEM NOW, AS THAT WILL UNDO THE STATUTE BARRED STATUS.

[ladycal]

Thanks for the advice, will have a look for the letter and send it off to them.

 

Ladycal

[Gaz Webber]

Thanks for the advice, will have a look for the letter and send it off to them.

 

Ladycal

 

 

See my thread here:-

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bear-garden/16222-me-win-mackenzie-hall.html?highlight=MAckenzie+Hall

 

 

 

The letter I used was this one.

 

 

Reference:- M******

In response to your letters, dated the 15 of May, I need you to clarify the particulars of your claim before I can discuss this matter further.

 

I do not acknowledge any debt to your clients, [companyname] PLC and have never received any correspondence from them. I require you to supply the following documentation before I will correspond further on this matter.

 

1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee. A copy of this agreement should be supplied within twelve days of the above date.

 

2. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced agreement that you allege exists.

 

3. You are notified that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not under S189 of the CCA 1974.

 

Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities.

 

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

 

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested.

 

I would also like to point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 “an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.” Therefore, you must also show that any debt you require payment of has been acknowledged by me in writing within the last six years.

 

I request that once you have provided this information, all other contact be through letter, and that any further letters have dates which accurately reflect the date on which they were sent. I will not discuss this matter over the telephone as I find your staff to be rude, pushy and unhelpful..

Sincerely

 

 

Forward details to [email protected], as this is the person who is dealing with this bunch of cowboys. If the letter does not help, then his intervention may well do.

 

Hope this helps, and don't stand for any of their nonsense

 

Gaz

[ladycal]

Thanks Gaz, will send it off and await a response from them with anticipation! I'm so glad I discovered this site!

[boudicca]

Hi all, I was contacted this time last year for a debt that I ran away from. I was CCJ'ed over 7 years ago but MacKen$ie tracked me down. I was obviously shocked that someone was still pursuing the debt and that it "exempt from the 6 years" due to being a 1stCredit (Natwest) debt.

 

I don't dispute the debt but yet they had stuck at least £500 on top of the debt and offer me to pay monthly,

 

I was hassled and stressed and I agreed to pay, since I can actually afford to pay it off over time and I did agree to pay monthly.

 

However reading this thread and the fact last month they tried to harrase me by phone into upping the monthly payment...I refused. Since then I have received a Settlement Offer which is still way more than I actually was i debt for in the first place.

 

My concern is that I am paying, and I am affraid that this debt has been restarted under false pretenses, will this debt ever be settled truly or is it all a "Con" to get me to pay money to clear a debt that they won't clear or never free me from, will they just do a runner as I did.......will I end up paying for years and pay nothing ?

 

Cheers

 

Boudicca

[ladycal]

Gaz,

 

Quick update - posted copy of letter (details amended accordingly) on 19th July enclosed £1 postal order. To date have had no reply. The 12 days would have expired a couple of days ago. So I guess no news is good news!!!

 

ladycal

[gizmo111]

I would dearly love to do that Unfortunately, I made the mistake of ringing them, and was told that they had made a mistake and that I still owe the outstanding debt *doh* Nasty tactics or what? I could still send them a cheque for £0.00 of course but would be worried about doing so as it would mean that I would be admitting the debt in writing, removing any statute barring. They wouldn't have to accept it either (unless I can find some way of forcing them to!), and so then they could persue me for the whole debt.

 

Eeeek!

 

If a debt is statte barred then nothing can change that - any payments coul be classed as goodwill. SB doesn't mean you don't owe it just that they cannot enforce it.

[Carl40]

I received my first letter from these parasites 2 weeks ago, basically it was a letter asking if I was the person who the letter was addressed to, and that I urgently had to telephone them as it concerned a "personal matter". I had no idea who these people were initially and my other half was badgering me to telephone them. Fortunately I listened to my inner voice which told me to check out who and what they are and boy was I relieved I did'nt call them!

 

Having completely ignored this letter (if they can't be bothered telling me what they want, why should I bother increasing my phone bill to talk to them?), I have now received a red postcard with the following written on it...I am sure this will be familiar to many here.

 

IMPORTANT:

 

PLEASE CALL 01563 XXX XXX NO LATER THAN 6th August 2006

 

THIS IS NOT A CIRCULAR OR JUNK MAIL

 

WE NEED TO SPEAK TO YOU URGENTLY

 

QUOTE REFERENCE NUMBER MXXXXXXX

 

THANK YOU

 

 

As I understand it, they are already guilty of unfair business practice on at least 2 counts, in that they have failed (on 2 occasions already!) to make clear the purpose of their contacting me, and of not making clear to me who they were.

 

As I have no intention of responding to this little red "love-note" I would be interested to hear from anyone who has experience of these people as to what their next move is likely to be.

[Deeken]

Hi Carl40,

I am in the same position,having received the same communications as yourself,I have no idea what to do,also received call on my mobile no idea how they got the number,do I just ignore them and if I do will bailiffs turn up on my doorstep,any advice is greatly appreciated,as I have no idea which way to turn.

[gizmo111]

Hi Carl40,

I am in the same position,having received the same communications as yourself,I have no idea what to do,also received call on my mobile no idea how they got the number,do I just ignore them and if I do will bailiffs turn up on my doorstep,any advice is greatly appreciated,as I have no idea which way to turn.

 

Bailiffs can only turn up if there has been a CCJ - you need to establish what the debt is , and take it from there. Send the CCA letter and £1 asking for an original copy of the credit agreement.

[NailPost]

"do I just ignore them and if I do will bailiffs turn up on my doorstep,any advice is greatly appreciated,as I have no idea which way to turn."

 

You should ignore the red postcard and certainly not call these scumbags. It is pretty likely Mackenzie Hall don't know for certain they have "traced you" using their super-dooper tracing techniques. Your call or letter will simply confirm that they have.

 

Their next move, phone call or not, will be to send you a letter which suggests you owe money to their clients whoever that is. If and when that arrives send them the S77/78 letter along with a £1 postal order, recorded, and tell them, or their client, to prove the debt.

 

Mackenzie Hall never, ever respond to letters. Their system appears totally incapable of dealing with the written word so it would seem likely that they cannot respond properly to your perfectly legal request. Any further letters they send should be filed but ignored until they, or their client, provides you with the correct documentation.

 

Oh and by the way, as soon as they default (30 days) report them to the OFT, Trading Standards and the Information Commissioner.

[Carl40]

I know for a fact I have not run up any debts post 1997, and I would presume that statute barring comes into play with the debt I have being so old. I will run a check on my credit record to see if there is anything there re CCJ's but one thing is for certain.

 

I am not going to stand for any bullying tactics from these cowboys, and would suggest that those in the same position as myself do the same. It's high time Mackenzie Hall and all the other low life **** that call themselves Debt Collection Agencies were taught that their scare tactics are not going to work anymore. Gobsh*tes

[Ultraviolence]

Got the same old "personal matter" rubbish letter. It wasn't signed personally so smelled a rat straight away. Evidently an automated mailing system if they can't even put a human signature on it.

Thank God I found this site. I was never going to respond to any letter so dodgy in the same way that I don't respond to the tempting requests for "PenI S ENLar gment" in my SPAM folder, but this site has confirmed my suspicions. They didn't use the name "Mackenzie Hall" have now adopted the rather more dynamic name of "J2 Solutions Ltd".

Thanks for putting my mind at rest everyone...

They are evidently a bunch of 's and I'm so glad they contacted me rather than my Mum or someone else trusting and vulnerable who may have believed their !

Play nice everyone!

[NailPost]

quote - "They didn't use the name "Mackenzie Hall" have now adopted the rather more dynamic name of "J2 Solutions Ltd"."

 

J2 solutions is part of the MH "group of companies" and is the tracing arm of the little empire. One of the directors of J2 is also a director of MH. Run from a boiler house in Blackburn J2's busy bees use the telephone directory, a pin and a large jigsaw map of the UK in futile attempts to track people down.

 

The letter you received, had you responded to it, would have led to you been passed onto MHall, probably their call centre in Ayrshire where more busy bees try to bully you into paying money you don't owe and at rates which you cannot afford.

[salz]

hi, i recieved a red card a couple of weeks ago and rang them as it kinda freaked me out!

they said that i had a lloyds tsb account that needed a debt paying off. they also had an address that i have never lived at!!

then today i have recieved a standing order mandate that states i have a debt of £1771.66 to pay off. and if i dont then there will be the usual - seizure of assests etc...

i was just wondering if this has happened to anyone else or if you have any advice?! i think i have been a victim of idendity fraud but its a pain in the arse!!

[NailPost]

I heard a good story at work today that captures what Mackenzie Hall are all about.

 

What did the testicle say to the other testicle?

I don't know but whatever it was they were talking b******s!

 

You should have ignored the red card and you should certainly ignore the standing order form you have received from this company. They will not take any further measures as they suggest because that would mean taking legal action - and legal action they do not take because anyone disputing their claims would lead to a court hearing. And a district judge is going to laugh their claims out of court!

 

If Mackenzie Hall start calling you or bombarding you with more threats get back onto this forum, Start your own thread for instance. But until then ignore them.

[mark333]

2 years ago i lived in yorkshire and had a lot of debts ,barclay card etc.

i then had the chance to move back to scotland to live to which i did,

then yesterday my next door neighbour got a call from j2 saying he was my friend and he was looking for me and asked my neibour if i lived there,

i got my friend who i share a house with to phone them to see what they wanted,

they were very arrogant on the phone and said we will send the letters to you,

now my house mate is worried that the baliffs might take there possessions.

also i am the registered owner of a car which my friend has been paying for 4 yrs (because they could not get finance, and i could) the last payment is this month,

can anyone help me please