Train fare debt not mine.

[mintygit]

Good morning one and all.

 

My wife opended a letter yesterday that arrived at our address but was addressed to someone we have never heard of before.

 

The letter is from First Credit Management and they are chasing a debt of £68.00 concerning a non-payment of a a train fare during July 2008.

 

I do use the train line concerned but do not travel between the train stations they indicate, I am a seanon ticket holder on the train line so there wouldn't be any need for me to dodge a fare in the first place, so this is not me. My wife does not use the trains she drives so this has nothing to do with us.

 

They have also spelt the name of our road wrong at the end with a 'p' instead of a 'd', the name on the letter is so different to my surename that there's not even one letter in it that's in my name!

 

So what's the best course of action here? I was going to send them a letter explaining they have the wrong person, indicate how stupid they are for not checking records to see if the person lived here or not and indicate that I will complain about them etc etc. Any good letters I could use?

 

Or do I just ignore them?

 

Thanks

[Revenant]

Hi mintygit

I would keep the letter for future reference but do nothing, wait and see what happens next

This is more than likely no more than a phishing trip looking for somone with a similar name

[mintygit]

Hi Revenant

 

Thanks for that, that's what I thought, shame the name they indicate looks nothing like my surename! How wrong can these mugs be!?

[Revenant]

Hi Revenant

 

Thanks for that, that's what I thought, shame the name they indicate looks nothing like my surename! How wrong can these mugs be!?[/quote]

 

There aren't enough hours in a day to contemplate that one mintygit

[UnmoderatetheNet]

is it me or are we seeing much phising than normal.

 

I think the correct response should to report these cretins

[NailPost]

It could be someone who knows your name and address and who gave some of your details to the ticket gripper when challenged about the missing fare. Send the letter back to the firm of chancers who wrote to you and also to the train operating company concerned and tell them in n uncertain terms this has nothing to do with you and any further action on their part will be met by a counter claim for damages and costs. Demand a response confirming the matter is closed and that your details have been deleted from their records.

[dx100uk]

TBH: i'd do nothing.

they dont know your correct name and it prob got deliverd by the post man trying to help.

 

put on the envolope

return to sender

 

not at this address.

 

dx

[itsamomentintime]

smacks of desperation to me - seems some DCAS will try to collect on anything these days

 

wonder if CAG had anything to do with that

[palomino]

You should not have opened this letter - it is unlawful to open other people's mail.

You should send it back as 'addressee not known at this address'.

[Revenant]

You should not have opened this letter - it is unlawful to open other people's mail.

You should send it back as 'addressee not known at this address'.

 

This is from the Postal Services Act 2000 . .

 

84 Interfering with the mail: general

(1) A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he—

(a) intentionally delays or opens a postal packet in the course of its transmission by post, or

(b) intentionally opens a mail-bag.

(2) Subsections (2) to (5) of section 83 apply to subsection (1) above as they apply to subsection (1) of that section.

(3) A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.

 

As I read that no offence is being committed or it would be very hard to prove if you believe that you were acting to protect the integrity and safety of yourself,your family or your household/property

 

I open any envelopes that come through my door with the address side facing away from me, that way I don't know who the letter's for until I turn it over and read it

Edited January 19, 2010 by Revenant
Text change

[babybear39]

Subscribing...

[mintygit]

ok, I did complain, both to firstcrud and the train operator, I'm not one for just ignoring it and waiting to see what happens next.

 

I wrote a letter of complaint to firstcrud, basically calling them a bunch of idiots. I have reported them to office of fair trading

 

I also emailed the train operator, they replied very promptly and apologised for a debt collector chasing the debt that did not belong to me. They have instructed firstcrud to not contact me again and have written off the debt.

 

So a good days work all in all.

[Revenant]

Nice one mintygit

[babybear39]

You need to get it in writing that the train co has agreed the debt is not yours.

[NailPost]

An e-mail has the same authority as a letter if it has the name of a person on it. that is its not from [email protected]. Send an e-mail back to acknowledge receipt.