Yet more A & L nightmare

[sidspop]

Hello.

 

My wife has today received a letter from A & L, regarding an account that she has, that slipped into the red, by £30 or so.

A & L added their charges, at their standard fiver a day rate, and they now reckon she owes them £413.

 

The letter appears to be a standard letter.

Some of the wording is this.

 

"When we received your complaint about your bank charges we temporarily placed our collections activity on hold. Now the test case has concluded, we are resuming our collections activity and would ask that you contact us within 10 days......etc"

 

I am reading that as they were not charging a fiver a day, but now the test case is over, they are going to start again. Would I be correct in that assumption?

 

Also I find it interesting that they have added charges for an account that they have made inaccessible, via statement, or internet, but may or may not be adding charges to.

 

I have no objection to paying off the original debt, and a token sum for them to make a few quid, but I object strenuously to paying £400 for a £30 debt.

 

If this has been covered elsewhere, perhaps somebody could provide a link. I would also welcome any advice, as to next step.

 

Thanks

[midge61]

Hi

Write back to collections and ask for a statement of the account. That's what i did as I have several different amounts as the final owed. My account was put on hold in Oct 2007 and i know they did not add any further charges. It may well be that this figure is the amount from the dated they stopped her using it but you need a statement to show this.

[jaykerr]

i have a similar issue with A&L asking for £775.50 apparent my account is OD by this amount,

 

they use the same wording on the letter and my query is why they havent asked for this 26 months ago when it was outstanding.

 

i am going to contact them tomorrow to get a list of transactions during thi speriod which was until nov2007

 

ill keep you posted

[sidspop]

Well the saga continues. I have written to them asking for statements, as the wife sent hers back, (with a request that they were retured, ignored) and they wrote a very nice letter asking if we really wanted copy statements, and I quote here .

"It may be helpful if I explain that copies of statements are available, however, due to the work involved there is a charge of £5 for eaach monthly statement, payable in advance"

 

£5 for typing a customers number in a computer, and pressing print. Sounds like good work if you can get it!

 

I have since written back, asking them to return the statements sent to them.

 

We will see what happens.

 

A question for anybody who may know please, if I ask them for the data they hold on the wife, which i am happy to pay a tenner for, will this show all details of letters they sent to her. We don't recall any letter telling her she would be taken OD.

Thanks