Orange/dlc v son of Gezwee

[gezwee]

Hi

 

Some advice please

 

Son has/had an orange contract (18 months) was 9 months into it and lost his job.

 

Package was at £35.00 per month

 

Been gradually paying off a few quid here and there and contract now cancelled/service disconnected.

 

Last statement (January 7th 2010) showed last months line rental recredited with a final balance of £61.00 outstanding.

 

No mention of disconnection or future line rental/service chargeable.

 

There would however have been a further 5 months left to run (total at £175.00) and he was fully expecting to get a bill for this at disconnection.

 

He's now received a letter from Dlc chasing £1892.00 for the same account.

 

Tried Orange who advised they are not sure but they only show a balance of £61.00 due? and to speak to dlc??

 

Any suggestions or is it just a case of sending the prove it letter?

 

Cheers

 

Gez

[buzby]

That's about it. Worlk out what he SHOULD have paid in termination charges. If not too late, you could ask Orange what amount they'd be prepared to accept to close the matter, and it is iless - pay them and move on. You can then tell the DCA to take a hike.

[gezwee]

Cheers Buzby

 

Kind of what I thought, just hard work getting any sense out of Orange as they confirmed again on the phone today they only show a balance of £61.00 on the account and this ties up with the statement he got last week.

 

Not sure if that means its only just been terminated and theres the balance 5 months to add or thats it in total and end of story.

 

As for dlc ............. not a scooby where they get the additional 1600 odd quid from unless they want him to pay 4 years into the future

 

Gez

[buzby]

Error? Hoping you won;t notice? Deal with the organ grinder, and leave the monkey to chatter aimlessly.

[gezwee]

2 months down the line and getting nowhere with this.

 

Dlc gave up and passed it to Scotcall who are now asking for 700 odd squid.

 

Orange wouldnt and still won't enter into conversation, wrote to them in January asking for a closing statement ...... nothing.

 

Wrote to them again advising that as they were not corresponding perhaps they'd like to reinstate the account so that son had benefit of service if they intended to bill him some time in the future for the 5 months we believed outstanding at termination..... no response again!

 

From the paperwork he's got (including the last statement), he's never had a termination notice or a statement of account showing more than £61.00 due (previously paid).

 

It very much gives the impression that somebody is trying it on but its leaving a marker on his credit file which should not be there.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

 

Gez

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Gez,

 

You may find the email address suggested in this thread of use.

 

In regard to any default which may've been recorded it's difficult to comment on it's validity. Are you able to say what action your son took when he found out that he was about to lose his job? Did he contact them to make them aware of his change in circumstances and request a payment plan?

 

You've mentioned that he made some payments to them. Could you say over what period before and after disconnection these were made over and what they amounted to compared with the balance billed?

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[gezwee]

Hi Lee

 

Thanks for the link

 

Son carried on paying in dribs and drabs with our assistance up until December 2009 by which time he was £61.00 in arrears.

 

Disconnected around the end of December although not sure of the date

 

January 7th received statement showing the 35.00 for December credited back to account leaving a 61.00 balance (part October + November).

 

This was paid but followed by Dlc threatogram on Monday 11th January for a vastly inflated amount.

 

Totally bemused, I could understand if they'd sent a termination notice and demand for the 5 months contract balance but they seem to have washed their hands of it and sent Dlc et al a spurious sum to chase??

 

Gez

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

You're welcome Gez.

 

Hopefully emailing Orange can shed further light on things and in the event that their final balance was paid prior to it referred to the agency then no default should've been recorded.

 

However, Orange will be able to check this for your son and let him know how things are at their end.

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[gezwee]

Evening Lee & Buzby

 

Sent the e-mail and a rec del letter to Orange requesting statement of account and copy of termination notice, no response to e-mail as yet but no calls today either?

 

Fingers crossed they'll sort this out ....... #2 son does actually have the 175 squid put to 1 side for this but without actually receiving a statement or demand from Orange for the correct balance its proving difficult to resolve

 

Thanks again for looking in

 

Gez

[buzby]

Hopefully, your letter will be handled with someone who can provide you with answers. There is no such thing as a 'Notice of Termination' (or of 'default' for that matter). If you don't pay, they simply remove service by invalidating the SIM, and then move on - perhaps selling on the debt to someone willing to pursue the customer.

 

A copy statement.... they don't provide these either - however the last bill will show the final amounts supposedly being owed before the service was stopped. A SAR will provide this and all the other data they hold, but this costs £10. Hopefully they'll provide enough info to settle the matter.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Evening Lee & Buzby

 

Sent the e-mail and a rec del letter to Orange requesting statement of account and copy of termination notice, no response to e-mail as yet but no calls today either?

 

Fingers crossed they'll sort this out ....... #2 son does actually have the 175 squid put to 1 side for this but without actually receiving a statement or demand from Orange for the correct balance its proving difficult to resolve

 

Thanks again for looking in

 

Gez

 

Hi Gez,

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Be sure to keep us posted on the outcome.

 

All the best.

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[gezwee]

Well........... got a 2 line response today, 3 including the dear bit!

 

Dear son of Gezwee

 

Thank you for your recent correspondence.

 

We are looking into the issue and will take any action necessary

 

 

 

Not sure what to make of it to be honest, wouldnt it be simpler to send the bill get it paid and have done with it or am I thinking too laterally here??

 

Enough to make a saint swear

 

Gez

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Gez,

 

Thanks for updating the thread.

 

I suppose all you and your son can do for the time being is let Orange investigate the matter and come back to you with their findings and hopefully with a positive outcome.

 

Let us know what the outcome is when they do come back to him.

 

All the best and fingers crossed.

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[gezwee]

Seems to be going well, silly billys at Snotcall now calling 5 times a day (9 on Monday)......... getting tiresome telling them to foxtrot oscar

 

Its a pity that Orange couldnt put as much effort into providing a statement of account. How difficult would it have been for them to confirm any outstanding sums due when they sent the last correspondence on the 18th April?

 

Gez

[Human Writes]

If Scotcall are calling that frequently after you've advised them the debt is disputed then they are probably acting unlawfully - see the Protection from Harrasment Act and the Office of Fair Tradings Guide to debt collection.

 

Try some of the template letters from the library and amend them as appropriate:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/resources/templates-library/52-harassment/135--harassment-by-telephone-response-letter-

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Gez,

 

I'd maybe get back in touch with Orange again and ask that the suspend action with Scotcall while their investigations continue.

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[2Grumpy]

My son had similar problems - debt collector asking for more than orange.

 

I told the DC that they couldn't use my phone to contact my son and that further calls would be treated as harrassment of me....

 

I let my son use my mobile to call the debt collector & tell them that

 

1. the account has been paid in full direct to orange & that anything else is disputed

2. that you will be treating this as a fraudulent claim if they continue to pursue it & may well report them to the police

 

worked for my son, DC handed it back to Orange, just waiting to see what happens next

 

Also thought they might use my mobile for future calls - introduces a new stick to beat them with, but they asked if it was his mobile. (I could have given them their own (silent) ringtone)