Letter from Zinc

[MoonHawk]

I am helping someone with an account of theirs which has been running for quite a while.

 

They have just received a letter from Zinc Collections which states:

 

"It would appear from our in depth desktop investigation into your financial position that you may have access to sufficient equity, contained within your current domestic residence, to repay this outstanding amount. We wish to alert you now to our intention to resolve this outstanding debt forthwith."

 

Is this not effectively asking that they should borrow to pay them? If so is this not against section 2.6b of the OFT Debt collections guidelines?

 

Any views or advice on a reply would be most welcome.

 

Thanks

[alfwithhair]

I am helping someone with an account of theirs which has been running for quite a while.

 

They have just received a letter from Zinc Collections which states:

 

 

 

Is this not effectively asking that they should borrow to pay them? If so is this not against section 2.6b of the OFT Debt collections guidelines?

 

Any views or advice on a reply would be most welcome.

 

Thanks

 

Who are this Zinc Collections collecting for.

Have you got an address/phone number or company registration number.

I can't find any record of them.

[Bazooka Boo]

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA please scan and post that up on here, just to give everyone else a really good laugh!

 

It would appear from our in depth desktop investigation into your financial position that you may have access to sufficient equity, contained within your current domestic residence, to repay this outstanding amount. We wish to alert you now to our intention to resolve this outstanding debt forthwith.

 

You really can't make these idiots up, "Our in depth 'desktop' investigation"

What you mean you had to move your pencil case from the left of the desk to the right, and put your rubber and pencil sharpener back in your pocket, to be abel to fabricate this little gem of a line!

What total total imbeciles!

 

I have so many ideas on what letter I would be sending back to them right now! It would most certainly contain the line "following my in depth wallet investigation, I could find only moths, I then proceeded to do a more thorough in depth rubbish bin investigation, and could ony find your hilarious pre school department letters, I then went back to my 8 bedroom mansion, bade goodnight to my chauffeur, and sat back with a bottle of 1938 dom perignon to watch the footy on my 88inch plasma, rather upset not being able to find all of this money you have found during your imaginery in depth desk investigation"

 

What complete morons, but yes, I shall stop being flippant, and you must send a 'copy' of their hilarious letter to the OFT, and TS via Consumer direct.

 

However read between the lines and you can see the usual 'May have' so clearly they have absolutely no idea otherwise they would have made reference to it.

 

Formal complaint to them also.

Do you need any help helping your friend out?

[Bazooka Boo]

Ultimate Credit Services

 

111 Union Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire G1 3TA

p: 08454566703 f: 08454566704

http://www.ultimatecreditservices.com

Email Ultimate Credit Services

 

That is the other name they trade under.

 

As for Zinc Recoveries there is no trace of them that I have been able to find, and searching on other sites there might be a suggestion that this 'Zinc' company could be rather fraudulent, lots of spelling mistakes and poor grammar in their threat letters.

 

Have you got a number for them on the letter they sent your friend? I can give them a ring tomorrow, oh the joys of TrueCall:D

[Bazooka Boo]

Just a thought, were they initially paying Ultimate Credit Services, and this Zinc Recoveries came out the blue asking for money, and you had to change the account money was being paid into??

Any truth in that?

[alfwithhair]

Ring consumer direct, and maybe OFT. Zinc is not listed as a data controller so I have a feeling this maybe an unregulated DCA and hence is acting illegally. These two organisations might be able to shed some light on them, but for now i would not trust Zinc at

[Bazooka Boo]

Yes your right Alf, looking at other money forum websites, it does appear they are acting illegally, although they say that they used to be UCS (glasgow) Doesn't ring true at all, and definitely need to be extremely wary of them.

[alfwithhair]

has your friend ever had accounts with Welcome Finance or been made Bankcrupt?

 

a few money forums are reporting this Zinc contacts people about debts that were previously included in bankcruptcy petitions

[MoonHawk]

Who are this Zinc Collections collecting for.

Have you got an address/phone number or company registration number.

I can't find any record of them.

 

As it is not my own account, I do not wish to put any details up, in case there are anyone from the company looking at the thread.

 

My understanding is that Zinc is effectively the new name for 'Ultimate Credit Management' who went bust.

 

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA please scan and post that up on here, just to give everyone else a really good laugh!

 

....

 

However read between the lines and you can see the usual 'May have' so clearly they have absolutely no idea otherwise they would have made reference to it.

 

Formal complaint to them also.

Do you need any help helping your friend out?

 

Glad to provide entertainment for you there I noticed the "may have" as well, but I am going to put a complaint in on the basis that it is worded to mislead any who do not know the law and put undue pressure on them.

 

And thanks for the offer of help. I am quite happy with handling this. I am however a little rusty as I have been inactive for 8 months or so, and wanted to make sure nothing has changed in the regulations while away.

 

That is the other name they trade under.

 

As for Zinc Recoveries there is no trace of them that I have been able to find, and searching on other sites there might be a suggestion that this 'Zinc' company could be rather fraudulent, lots of spelling mistakes and poor grammar in their threat letters.

 

Have you got a number for them on the letter they sent your friend? I can give them a ring tomorrow, oh the joys of TrueCall:D

 

If you wish to ring them then the number on the letter is 0330 100 0850 and 53 (51 is down as a fax).

 

Company registration number on the letter is 6450797 which is for "COMPLETE CREDIT CONSULTANCY LIMITED".

 

Just a thought, were they initially paying Ultimate Credit Services, and this Zinc Recoveries came out the blue asking for money, and you had to change the account money was being paid into??

Any truth in that?

 

No they were not paying UCS, nor have they had dealing with them before.

 

Ring consumer direct, and maybe OFT. Zinc is not listed as a data controller so I have a feeling this maybe an unregulated DCA and hence is acting illegally. These two organisations might be able to shed some light on them, but for now i would not trust Zinc at

 

They are probably listed under the actual name, whereas I think Zinc is just a trading name. Also if they are acting on behalf of someone else, I believe they do not need to be registered and can act under the registration of the other company.

 

Yes your right Alf, looking at other money forum websites, it does appear they are acting illegally, although they say that they used to be UCS (glasgow) Doesn't ring true at all, and definitely need to be extremely wary of them.

 

They have the proper details and account number so I imagine they are legit in that respect, but their practices may be suspect, as it was with UCS.

[chicago1234]

I too have had the Zinc Experience - please read the following on this company

Ultimate Credit Services went into administration in 2009 – but one of the directors of that company has set up another debt collection agency (along with some other people) called the Zinc Group – and many of the letters they send out are headed Zinc Collections. They are effectively all part of and connected to a company called Complete Credit Consultancy. All of this is confusing and makes it more difficult for those being contacted by this company to know who it is they are dealing with. Zinc are based in and operate out of Glasgow and Complete Credit Consultancy is registered at an address in Stratford on Avon – though I understand that this is simply a registered address and no one from this company actually operates from there. So the people calling and writing to members of the public are Glasgow based.

 

I have had experience of these companies harassing my family for debts which they do not owe. They are in my opinion a very dodgy outfit and having a look through various websites suggest that they may have upset many people. I believe that they break many of the Office of Fair Trading guidelines, but appear not too worried – after all, these guidelines have no legal status – i.e. they are not (necessarily) breaking the law by not following these guidelines and breaching these guidelines can only really be used to revoke their operating licence – this would appear at first to a major deterrent for debt collection agencies not to transgress these guidelines. But, it is often difficult to prove that they have been breached (these people know every trick in the book) and in any case I believe that last year only two debt collection agencies actually lost their operating licence. A tiny amount when you consider that these guidelines are widely flaunted and broken.

 

Most people being chased by debt collection agencies probably do genuinely owe money. But I have evidence that Zinc chase people who are innocent and do not owe debt. I don’t know if they do this to try and flush out the real debtor (should that be a relative of the innocent party) or if they simply try to harass people into paying in order to bring an end to their torment. As it stands, the law does not appear to adequately protect people from companies such as Zinc. By challenging their behaviour in these forums it may be possible to build up support to have them properly dealt with. The current law and regulation can work sometimes – but it needs people who are determined to bring a case that will stand.

 

Please post a reply if you or anyone you know has had problems with this company.

[kirstyandmark01]

last week zinc left a message on my answering machine so i called them back un-knowing of this information it is concerning car finance although the car was collected in time and no money was owing also it was over 6 years ago and it is now statue barred i am in the process of writting to zinc following the advice of consumer sevices direct (08453454345) we will see what happens i will expect a responce from zinc in 14 days.

[Joshd]

Chicago 1234. I have had dealings recently with Zinc Recoveries(formerly UCS). I know they wound up UCS owing money to inland revenue amongst others. They also laid off employees of the company. The Directors of UCS then started up again as Zinc Group/Recoveries etc. On 8th August 2009 a request for a CCA along with payment was signed for by UCS. I sent this request after receiving calls regarding an alleged debt I was supposed to be responsible for. I had no knowledge of such a debt and had never heard of the company the debt was owed to. Needless to say, I have to this day not had a reply. Months went by, then I again started to get calls. This time it was Zinc Recoveries. I again gave them my normal response, being, please put your requests for information in writing. A week later I received a very amateur looking letter containing the normal threats etc, and it was unsigned. I have since written to these cowboys putting everything down in black and white fully comprehensively. That was 2 weeks ago. I have not had any calls since and have also not received a written reply. Companies such as these rely on intimidating people and frightening them into arranging to pay a debt over the phone not even knowing whether the debt is that persons or not. I would suggest to all, that you should ask for details in writing and under no circumstances whatsoever, give any information via the phone. All written correspondence is evidence you can use at a later date should it become necessary. And please don't be afraid if a letter contains a phrase such as ( we may take further action) or similar wording. Remember, these people have been doing this work for a while, it's how they milk a living from the rest of us. They know how to intimidate people. Don't let them win!

[mancdude]

Just had a letter from Zinc this morning, exactly the same as the initial one posted on this thread. They say I'm a homeowner etc - though I'm actually a lodger in this house lol!

 

It's from Welcome finance - MaKenzie Hall sent me two letters last year regarding a very old debt, which I ignored entirely and it seems it's now been sold on to these guys. The debt becomes statute barred next month so I'm not going to contact them and shall file the letters sent accordingly, so as after the debt is statute barred I can report them to the OFT. Am I right in thinking this is the best course of action?

[Joshd]

Hi mancdude, don't take any notice of Zinc they are a bunch of cowboys, literally! Take a look at my contribution from March 2010. Since I wrote to them I have not heard a murmur from them. I sent them a well composed letter stating the action I would take against them should they pursue me further. No phone calls and no threatening letters since. People need to take a hard line with companies like these and under no circumstances speak on the phone to them, don't be intimidated, don't worry, and don't let them control you. They rely on fear, don't be afraid.

[Bazooka Boo]

The debt becomes statute barred next month so I'm not going to contact them and shall file the letters sent accordingly, so as after the debt is statute barred I can report them to the OFT. Am I right in thinking this is the best course of action?

 

Even if you wrote back to them with the No Debt acknowledged letter, by the time they had managed to read the letter and compose a reply, the debt would be SB, so you have no danger of them Fast Tracking this to the courts.

 

But agreed it won't hurt to ignore them until their next threatogramme, which can be seen off with the SB two fingered salute. If they have failed to do anything about this in the preceding six years, then tough cheese.

[ukmarc31]

I have also had a letter from this company saying I have money tied up in my property to pay off a debt that I didnt know existed. I did get a similar letter from another company called ruthbridge and I wrote to them asking for proof but never had a reply. Should I do a similar letter for this company or should I ignore this letter.

 

Ps I have never owned a house and have always rented

[mancdude]

Even if you wrote back to them with the No Debt acknowledged letter, by the time they had managed to read the letter and compose a reply, the debt would be SB, so you have no danger of them Fast Tracking this to the courts.

 

But agreed it won't hurt to ignore them until their next threatogramme, which can be seen off with the SB two fingered salute. If they have failed to do anything about this in the preceding six years, then tough cheese.

 

I don't even think they know for certain It's me living here. I've never spoken to any DCA nor the original creditor (Welcome Finance) since 2004. I've moved properties 3 times during that time, and my credit report doesn't link me to my old addresses for some reason, so the chances of them pursuing this further without concrete proof I live here are quite slim. I gather they'll probably do the typical DCA thing and send me another letter in about a month stating they're going to visit/take me to court etc, to which I can finally send a SB letter back

[Bazooka Boo]

And of course make the relevant complaints to all concerned. Including your local MP.

 

UKmarc31, if you can start your own post then others will be able to help you, but, in the meantime, you can either ignore them until they come up with something a bit more tangible which is probably the best bet, otherwise, enter in to a game of letter tennis with them, and send them the no acknowledgement letter, but this will only encourage them to start harassing you.

[fkofilee]

Closed