Connect

[nonymouse]

Does anyone know who Connect are or any more about them other than that they're annoying b******ds and that they seem to be related to Mackenzie Hall?

 

I've had two postcards from them in the last couple of days which had McKenzie Hall references on them (and were bright red, stating in full view of my postman and my housemates that I 'have an outstanding debt' and to call them 'urgently' before 21st January - which was LAST week...) and then today I've had a call at work.

 

I'm hard of hearing even with my aids in so I had to ask the caller three times who he was as I couldn't hear

- he had a thick Scottish accent and was clearly in a really noisy room (a callcenter, I assume?),

and then when he said he was from 'Connect' I said 'I'm sorry, I don't know who that is'

(as I'd assumed it was a work-related call - I work in magazine publishing so get lots of people trying to sell me advertising etc).

 

 

Then he YELLED down the phone at me that I 'owed him a debt' and gave me a mouthful of ranting

about how it was important that I confirmed my personal details as they were preparing to take me 'to the courts' to reclaim the debt.

 

 

At this point I said that I was not prepared to talk about personal details and that I was terminating the call.

So he YELLED 'well, I'll just call again then'.

So I put the phone down and immediately it rang again.

And then it rang again.

And then it rang again.

 

 

And it rang 15 times in the next 5 minutes (I'd put it on silent by that point...) before he finally gave up.

 

I'm more annoyed than anything. Why do they have to be so RUDE?

[dx100uk]

sadly, this red card thing has been going on for years..

 

do you know what they are about & a bit of history of the debts?

 

you could fire off the telephone harrassment letter, but these could well be phishing letters on a ficticious or statute barred debt and silence might be a better option.

 

dx

[nonymouse]

Thanks for your reply.

 

TBH I have a fairly large number of debts, and they're all either very recent payday loans

(all of which I thought were under control and sorted with payment plans) or pretty old (a year or less away from being stat barred).

 

 

Neither the card nor the caller said what the debt was for, just that I had 'a debt'..

 

 

. So I think you may have a point about it being phising for the stat barred timeclock approaching.

[comebackjimmy]

May I put forward the following advice:

 

1. Never talk to them on the phone.

2. If you accidentally pick up the call, put it down without answering.

3. If they ring again, leave it off hook for a while.

4. All communications in writing only.

5. Keep everything you receive, including the envelopes

6. Send everything recorded delivery and don't sign it.

 

With regard to this case if they prove to be a nuisance send them the harassment letter.

 

Whatever your obligations may or may not be, their obligations are to behave properly and within the guidelines, which they are not doing either on the phone or by written means and in my opinion have cast away any expectation they may have had that you will not challenge them to prove the debt and their rights to collect, and they should write to you nicely while they are doing it!.

 

Good luck.

[Revenant]

Does anyone know who Connect are or any more about them other than that they're annoying b******ds and that they seem to be related to Mackenzie Hall?

 

I've had two postcards from them in the last couple of days which had McKenzie Hall references on them (and were bright red, stating in full view of my postman and my housemates that I 'have an outstanding debt' and to call them 'urgently' before 21st January - which was LAST week...) and then today I've had a call at work.

 

I'm hard of hearing even with my aids in so I had to ask the caller three times who he was as I couldn't hear - he had a thick (In more ways than one ) Scottish accent and was clearly in a really noisy room (a callcenter, I assume?), and then when he said he was from 'Connect' I said 'I'm sorry, I don't know who that is' (as I'd assumed it was a work-related call - I work in magazine publishing so get lots of people trying to sell me advertising etc). Then he YELLED down the phone at me that I 'owed him a debt' (Hmmm bit of moonlighting eh ) and gave me a mouthful of ranting about how it was important that I confirmed my personal details as they were preparing to take me 'to the courts' to reclaim the debt. At this point I said that I was not prepared to talk about personal details and that I was terminating the call. So he YELLED 'well, I'll just call again then'. So I put the phone down and immediately it rang again. And then it rang again. And then it rang again. And it rang 15 times in the next 5 minutes (I'd put it on silent by that point...) before he finally gave up.

 

I'm more annoyed than anything. Why do they have to be so RUDE?(A/ Training . . B/ Commission driven survival instinct . . C/ Interbreeding at the various backslapping DCA awards events )[/quote]

 

As stated . . desperate phishing as the Stat Barred is nearing but there's many a letter that can be said to help pass the time away

Good luck

R

[platinum]

There is a template letter here. The Financial Ombudsman Service will investigate it as a personal complaint and far more effective than the OFT.

 

They also publish details if they get more than 30 complaints about a firm in 6 months.

[nonymouse]

Thanks for your advice and help, all.