Mackenzie Hall. Do any of you know of them?

[pollythedog]

Found this very intersting forum after searching mackenzie hall like so many others after getting a first letter.

 

Interstingly in my case, I have never had any debt or owed anyone any outstanding monies, I would love to call them and see what I am "supposed" to have done but don't really want any stress in my currently happy and virtually stress free life.

I do go along with the above suggestion about stuffing as much rubbish as you can into their envelope so they have to pay to receive, even tape the envelope onto a box of rubbish, I have been doing this for years , you would be shocked at some of the things some companies have received!

 

Anyway back to the thread, why would they contact someone with no debts? Surely not trying to gain from possible ientity theft?

[rodtrotter]

Guess what, I got a "Personal matter" letter from macthievingshizie this morning i smelt a rat and googled them thank god i found this site the only thing i can think of is a 20 year old debt they cant make me pay can they well anyway i will no phone them or answer any letters but will be sending them lots of junk mail

[ODC]

This is a typical MH fishing excercise. You probably have a similar sounding name to someone who owed someone money 10 years ago. Return the envelope to them sans stamp

[andrew1]

These people have me living on my nerves..................

I too also got into debt with a credit card. To cut a long story short my marriage fell apart I moved away.................it was our joint debt ......(which I foolishly thought it was being sorted). 8years later just the day after my father died and I was in the midst of arranging his funeral I received a letter from MH I contacted them and low and behold was bullied into paying them £54............extremely stupid I know but my head was all over the place at the time. I have sent them the letter with the £1 postal order in return for any signed paper work that they have but all I received back from them was details of the debt ie with whom, where I lived the date the credit card agreement was made , but I never received a copy of any paper work with my signature from them. Yesterday I received a final demand notice from them to pay in full with in 7 days in the enclosed business reply envelope ( which was not there) or they shall be taking further action against me. I haven't the money to pay in full and I'm truely sick with worry.......please can anybody help me!!!!!!!!!!! What do I do next?

 

ScattyAnnie - take a read of something which another poster put here a while back..read it and take heart, it's only a part of the post, but it's the relevant part. There's so much support here, you're never alone and advice is always here for the asking. Enjoy:

 

"The experience of opening the parachute account helped me to realise something. It's a commercial relationship, nothing more (or less). But it was much more than that. Much, much more than that. It's about the relationship I've had with NatWest.

 

Psychiatrists, or maybe psychologists - counsellors and therapists, anyway - have a term for what's been going on between me and NatWest. It's called a co-dependent abusive relationship. The submissive partner - me, in this case - has feelings of worthlessness, and comes to depend on the abusive partner - the bank. The feeling of worthlessness is such that you become grateful for anything, no matter how humiliating it is. They have all the power, you have none, but they are prepared to notice you and pay some attention. They treat you with contempt - which, from their point of view, is no more than you deserve: you're a useless, submissive worm. But you are grateful: after all, no-one else will give you anything, you know that. You know it and believe it, deep in your heart.

 

Wrong.

 

Other people, outsiders, wonder why you stay in such an abusive situation. They wouldn't, they tell themselves. But you might. You might be gradually ground down, as I was. You might feel, or even believe, that you deserve the abuse. So you accept it, and you effectively beg for any attention you can get, no matter if it reinforces the appalling, negative image you've built up of yourself. You accept the refusals, the dismissals, as just, and no more than you deserve. You embrace each positive reaction as a huge favour. But it's all an abuse. As the introduction to the site says, the banks play on our innate feelings of morality, of equity and of justice and fair play. We have been brought up to believe that the banks are pillars of society, that they are above mere trade and commerce, that they are something Other. But they aren't: they're in business, like your mechanic, the market trader, the sandwich shop, Tesco's, anything. They are no more than traders and they actually produce: nothing. Not a damn thing. They add nothing of value, they merely facilitate transactions, nothing more.

 

So, opening the parachute account was a big step. Actually deciding to do it was, in fact, the Big Step. I have decided to be abused no more. Not only have I decided that, I've taken a real, positive and concrete step to do something about it, to do more than just talk about it or fantasise. I have decided to move away from the situation where I've been abused.

 

Yes, I've been lucky in the credit scoring and not everyone will get the same. But the Big Step was the decision to do it. My next tranche of income is going in to the new account. The standing orders and DDs will be transferred shortly before the next lump of income. The NatWest account will be in dispute and probably over the overdraft limit but I no longer worry about it. I'm not worried about the charges they'll levy because I now know they're illegal. I'm looking forward to finding out what my life will be like when I'm no longer putting up with someone looting my account to the tune of £300 or £400 a month.

 

NatWest isn't my children, it isn't my car (which needs to be repaired); it isn't the updated computer I would like to have in order to do my work, it isn't my wife's birthday present and it isn't my mother, who lives over 200 miles away and I haven't been able to get to see for over a year because I couldn't afford it. It isn't the heating oil company, who'd threatened to close my credit account - leaving me without heat this winter - because the DDs had been bounced - and while there was money available. It isn't the local authority, whose DD was bounced yet again this month, because of the charges. NatWest doesn't deserve any respect from me: it hasn't shown me any. It deserves neither consideration or fear from me".

 

you see?

[eyeofhorus]

I had a letter today from them dated 30 July 2007. I called to see what it was about. Is about a Vodafone bill from 1998. I said i knew nothing about it and they asked me if i wanted to pay it now! I said i didnt know what it was about and they said it was for Singlepoint £119 owed. I said i didnt know who they were and how did i know that that was owed?

 

The lady offered to send me details of what it was all about. Having read all the posts about this company and with the debt being 9 years old and now contact at all since then, not to mention ive been on voters roll since at least 2000 and lived at my address now for over 4 years that the best course of action is to ignore any letter from them or send them 'The Limitation Act' style letter and that should be the end of it.

 

Like many i cant help wonder why after all these years out of the blue a letter arrives. Im guessing this is a numbers game and they are trying it on as some people will pay.

[bab13jasmine]

Had my first letter from Mac K today myself also dated the 30th July, Im a debt collector by profession, and this letter screams.. DODGY!! It just asks me to contact them regarding a personal matter!! As soon as I read that the alarm bells started ringing, I phoned my mum who said to call them lucky enough I didnt get through as it had gone 6pm but it was strange how when I did phone there was no voicemail or pre-recorded message with opening hours stated!! weird if you ask me.. So here I am looking up the company on the the net.. No website.. Ummm wierd again!!! I assume they have bought bad debt from other companys and are trying there luck at collecting it!

 

Just like to say a huge thanks for all the info on this site though, I wont be calling them again Ill be passing the forum links and my letter to my uncle whos a barrister. If the forum wasnt here I would have been rining em and no doubt encountered alot of the hassle Ive read about on here tonight

 

Once again thanks

[ODC]

Had my first letter from Mac K today myself also dated the 30th July, Im a debt collector by profession, and this letter screams.. DODGY!! It just asks me to contact them regarding a personal matter!! As soon as I read that the alarm bells started ringing, I phoned my mum who said to call them lucky enough I didnt get through as it had gone 6pm but it was strange how when I did phone there was no voicemail or pre-recorded message with opening hours stated!! weird if you ask me.. So here I am looking up the company on the the net.. No website.. Ummm wierd again!!! I assume they have bought bad debt from other companys and are trying there luck at collecting it!

 

Just like to say a huge thanks for all the info on this site though, I wont be calling them again Ill be passing the forum links and my letter to my uncle whos a barrister. If the forum wasnt here I would have been rining em and no doubt encountered alot of the hassle Ive read about on here tonight

 

Once again thanks

Surely you should be aware of the tricks your fellow ''professionals'' get up to

[bab13jasmine]

Surely you should be aware of the tricks your fellow ''professionals'' get up to

 

 

LOL!! you think that I could work for a shoddy company like that! My actual job title is "credit controller" and I work for the biggest telecommunications company in that industry. I dont chase consumer debt THANK GOD!!, I tried it once for a credit card company and hated it tbh! Ringing ppl in there own homes is just not me. I chase other companys/businesses that havent paid for installation of telephone systmes, line rental, telephone bills etc etc; blah blah blah!! lol

[ODC]

LOL!! you think that I could work for a shoddy company like that! My actual job title is "credit controller" and I work for the biggest telecommunications company in that industry. I dont chase consumer debt THANK GOD!!, I tried it once for a credit card company and hated it tbh! Ringing ppl in there own homes is just not me. I chase other companys/businesses that havent paid for installation of telephone systmes, line rental, telephone bills etc etc; blah blah blah!! lol

Glad to hear that but Britains biggest Telecomms outfit still pass their''debts' to an equally unscrupulous shower of shine call Wescott who use similar collection procedures to MH

[The Gof]

Hmm, I received a letter this morning from MacKenzie Hall for a debt of about £1,900 which I didn't even know I had! I only moved house a few months ago so it is a mystery how they got my address. The letter offers a reduced settlement of £0.00, which I only have up until the 14th to pay...which is very strange. Do you think they are just trying to get me to agknowledge an old debt, so then even if I pay them £0.00 they can chase me? It dosn't say "full and final settlement" for whatever debt it relates to. I am slightly worried about identity fraud.....

 

Help please!

 

Don't settle at £0.00! I've seen this trick before, by paying it you're acknowledging the debt. They'll then go on to claim that the offer was a typing error or something, and the whole thing starts over again. I'm not sure how legally binding the offer of settlement is, but hardly worth the risk is it?

[sea-sidelady]

This is a typical letter.

 

It is so you will call them, then they will say it is an error and you actually owe £xxxxxxx

 

Another one they use a lot, is to say the debt is from a certain compay like 02.

You call to say you have never had an account, and they say it is an error.

 

They will use every trick they can think of.

 

Please dont be fooled into contacting them!!

[lollie73]

hi just joined this site

as i was searching information for this mackenzie collector

i recieved a personal matter letter this morning saying they had

information of me possibly living at my address.

i will not phone them i have written a letter from along the lines

of what somene else wrote but i shall wait and see if i get any more before posting it.

yes ive had a few ccj in the past and the only two known outstanding debts i have are from 5.5 years ago at another address..

funny though i read about a post with merit force and 3 weeks ago my partner had a call from them he wasnt in and not heard from them since then i get letter from mackenzie..

 

am i right to wait before posting the letter and i need to send £1 postal order....

[bab13jasmine]

Glad to hear that but Britains biggest Telecomms outfit still pass their''debts' to an equally unscrupulous shower of shine call Wescott who use similar collection procedures to MH

 

 

Our company write off bad debt that is over 3 years old, and If one of our customers goes legal then we have our own solictors and take it through the courts our selfs. We dont use debt collection agencies as its not consumer debt.

 

Im so tempted to call Mc K and give em some abuse I cant honestly believe they swear at ppl and hang up on em... If they did that to me and Id send em dog s**t in the post!!

 

[bab13jasmine]

hi just joined this site

as i was searching information for this mackenzie collector

i recieved a personal matter letter this morning saying they had

information of me possibly living at my address.

i will not phone them i have written a letter from along the lines

of what somene else wrote but i shall wait and see if i get any more before posting it.

yes ive had a few ccj in the past and the only two known outstanding debts i have are from 5.5 years ago at another address..

funny though i read about a post with merit force and 3 weeks ago my partner had a call from them he wasnt in and not heard from them since then i get letter from mackenzie..

 

am i right to wait before posting the letter and i need to send £1 postal order....

 

 

They cant take legal action on you, I wouldnt send them anything at all, they are just bullys.. its the nieve, stupid and elderly ppl I feel for that will fall for it and end up paying without asking any questions!

 

[lollie73]

thanx

[mika99]

Hi all I was wondering if anyone could give my girlfriend some advice she received the red card from Mackenzie hall last month asking her to contact them but with the wonders of Google search I come across this site and told her just to ignore it as advised on these forums but today she has received another letter explaining were the debt was from and it was from a TV rental company and to avoid further action the standing order must be set up within7 days for the reduced settlement. Now I know for a fact this debt is over 6 years old as I have been with her for this long and she says the debt is around 7 and half years ago. What do you think we should do pay up or just ignore them as from reading this forum this seems to be the right thing to do?

Many Thanks

[tiglet]

If your GF thinks it's over 6 years old, send MH the statute barred letter you will find in the templates section. If tehy think it isn't, they'll get back in contact. if so, do post again.

 

One bit of advice for your GF - DO NOT EVER PHONE THEM. Just stick to writing.

[ODC]

MH are well known chasers of Statute Barred debt. Do as Tiglet says and send them the Statute Barred letter. You may wish to add a bit on the bottom stating that any further demands from them will be reported to East Ayrshire Trading Standards

[mika99]

Thank you could you send me in the right direction for the statute barred letter as I can’t seem to find it in the template section and is this the one I should send registered post and with a one pound postal order

Many thanks for all your help

[ODC]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/show-post/post-162366.html

 

Here you go

[bettyboop123]

Hi all

i received a letter about a month ago from mckenzi hall, etc etc, I stupidly rang them thinking it would be a debt for my ex husband, it turns out it was a snall debt that was in my name. The debt is over 7 yrs old and is originally from sky from when we had sky, I wrote to them and told them I was no longer the account holder and my ex husband closed the joint bank account without closing the direct debits correctly, thus resulting in this underpayment. This is the 1st correspondance that I have had until yesterday when thay sent a final demand red letter for payment in 2 days. It has a reference no. who the pursuers are; original creditor; clinet ref; and the total owed. Should I pay this even though I cancelled everything in approx 1998 when I left my ex husband I have no proof of this, but looking through the posts on this site, I can quote the 1980 limitations act and administration of justice act and just not pay this debt; do I pay or not and the threat of them taking me to court etc can this happen? Please help me

[mika99]

Thanks ODC

[moneyhelp]

ScattyAnnie - take a read of something which another poster put here a while back..read it and take heart, it's only a part of the post, but it's the relevant part. There's so much support here, you're never alone and advice is always here for the asking. Enjoy:

 

"The experience of opening the parachute account helped me to realise something. It's a commercial relationship, nothing more (or less). But it was much more than that. Much, much more than that. It's about the relationship I've had with NatWest.

 

Psychiatrists, or maybe psychologists - counsellors and therapists, anyway - have a term for what's been going on between me and NatWest. It's called a co-dependent abusive relationship. The submissive partner - me, in this case - has feelings of worthlessness, and comes to depend on the abusive partner - the bank. The feeling of worthlessness is such that you become grateful for anything, no matter how humiliating it is. They have all the power, you have none, but they are prepared to notice you and pay some attention. They treat you with contempt - which, from their point of view, is no more than you deserve: you're a useless, submissive worm. But you are grateful: after all, no-one else will give you anything, you know that. You know it and believe it, deep in your heart.

 

Wrong.

 

Other people, outsiders, wonder why you stay in such an abusive situation. They wouldn't, they tell themselves. But you might. You might be gradually ground down, as I was. You might feel, or even believe, that you deserve the abuse. So you accept it, and you effectively beg for any attention you can get, no matter if it reinforces the appalling, negative image you've built up of yourself. You accept the refusals, the dismissals, as just, and no more than you deserve. You embrace each positive reaction as a huge favour. But it's all an abuse. As the introduction to the site says, the banks play on our innate feelings of morality, of equity and of justice and fair play. We have been brought up to believe that the banks are pillars of society, that they are above mere trade and commerce, that they are something Other. But they aren't: they're in business, like your mechanic, the market trader, the sandwich shop, Tesco's, anything. They are no more than traders and they actually produce: nothing. Not a damn thing. They add nothing of value, they merely facilitate transactions, nothing more.

 

So, opening the parachute account was a big step. Actually deciding to do it was, in fact, the Big Step. I have decided to be abused no more. Not only have I decided that, I've taken a real, positive and concrete step to do something about it, to do more than just talk about it or fantasise. I have decided to move away from the situation where I've been abused.

 

Yes, I've been lucky in the credit scoring and not everyone will get the same. But the Big Step was the decision to do it. My next tranche of income is going in to the new account. The standing orders and DDs will be transferred shortly before the next lump of income. The NatWest account will be in dispute and probably over the overdraft limit but I no longer worry about it. I'm not worried about the charges they'll levy because I now know they're illegal. I'm looking forward to finding out what my life will be like when I'm no longer putting up with someone looting my account to the tune of £300 or £400 a month.

 

NatWest isn't my children, it isn't my car (which needs to be repaired); it isn't the updated computer I would like to have in order to do my work, it isn't my wife's birthday present and it isn't my mother, who lives over 200 miles away and I haven't been able to get to see for over a year because I couldn't afford it. It isn't the heating oil company, who'd threatened to close my credit account - leaving me without heat this winter - because the DDs had been bounced - and while there was money available. It isn't the local authority, whose DD was bounced yet again this month, because of the charges. NatWest doesn't deserve any respect from me: it hasn't shown me any. It deserves neither consideration or fear from me".

 

you see?

 

What a fantastic post - really opens up your eyes - thank you for sharing - excellent!

[ODC]

Hi all

i received a letter about a month ago from mckenzi hall, etc etc, I stupidly rang them thinking it would be a debt for my ex husband, it turns out it was a snall debt that was in my name. The debt is over 7 yrs old and is originally from sky from when we had sky, I wrote to them and told them I was no longer the account holder and my ex husband closed the joint bank account without closing the direct debits correctly, thus resulting in this underpayment. This is the 1st correspondance that I have had until yesterday when thay sent a final demand red letter for payment in 2 days. It has a reference no. who the pursuers are; original creditor; clinet ref; and the total owed. Should I pay this even though I cancelled everything in approx 1998 when I left my ex husband I have no proof of this, but looking through the posts on this site, I can quote the 1980 limitations act and administration of justice act and just not pay this debt; do I pay or not and the threat of them taking me to court etc can this happen? Please help me

Send them the template letter ion my post 396 above your post

[Marks33]

Hi all, I'm a newbie on here. Couldn't resist joining as the info seems to be very good on this site...wish I had been able to check it before my tale of woe!!

 

I have also had a contact from Mackenzie Hall, unfortunately I contacted them as I had no clue what their 'contact letter' was about. It turns out it is about an old Singlepoint 4U debt. The thing is this has already been dealt with many years ago bu Singlepoint and another Debt Collection Agency (can't remember their name). The debt is supposedly from 2001, I had many problems proving the debt wasn't mine and that Singlepoint had made a mistake. Basically I had canx my contract with Singlepoint due to getting a company mobile..my final payment to Singlepoint being made by cheque for about £8 something. They agreed they had made a mstake however it took many phone calls by me to them to sort out, very poor administration by them almost had me paying someone elses phone bill. Anyway, I always disputed the account, to be fair the Debt collectors I spoke to all those years ago were actually quite helpful.

 

Now MacHall have written to me, I have nothing to hide and have written to them stating this has been resolved previously and disputing the debt saying it is not legitimate against me. I also asked for them to check the detailed account..they said they can't as they don't have them!! They also stated that all they need is confirmation I lived at an address years ago and something stating I owe money and that that would be enough for a civil action based on the 'balance of probabilities'!!

 

I now have a final payment letter, they have not acknowledged my letter to them explaining the situation (no admission of owing the debt at all in the letter), their phone line goes dead when answered and their complaints dept haven't responded to my emails.

 

So, between Singlepoint and MacHall it's proving to be an intersting week so far!!! :o

 

I had a letter today from them dated 30 July 2007. I called to see what it was about. Is about a Vodafone bill from 1998. I said i knew nothing about it and they asked me if i wanted to pay it now! I said i didnt know what it was about and they said it was for Singlepoint £119 owed. I said i didnt know who they were and how did i know that that was owed?

 

The lady offered to send me details of what it was all about. Having read all the posts about this company and with the debt being 9 years old and now contact at all since then, not to mention ive been on voters roll since at least 2000 and lived at my address now for over 4 years that the best course of action is to ignore any letter from them or send them 'The Limitation Act' style letter and that should be the end of it.

 

Like many i cant help wonder why after all these years out of the blue a letter arrives. Im guessing this is a numbers game and they are trying it on as some people will pay.