Fredrickson International Limited - pipex limited/bulldog broadband

[sine]

hello good people of the forum.

I received a letter from my old address saying that FIL has been instructed to

collect 149.99 on behalf of pipex limited who were bulldog broadband. This is

after 3 years of silence. at the time i was going through a dispute with them where i told them they owed me money because instead of the 22.00 a month i had been paying 35.00, and after numerous phonecalls and promises of credited accounts nothing happened. they said that i had to provide them with

a copy of the original contract agreement or something but i dont have that or any documents from back then, i just signed up over the phone after i saw an advert in the paper.

 

I would just pay the half price fee of 78 quid to get them off my back because

this is out of the blue, but i dont want to pay money just because they cant setup there accounts properly. ive tried getting in touch with bulldog, now pipex, now talktalk and its just a mess of dodgy lined lithuanian call centres.

 

morally they owe me money but i dont have any paperwork to prove it

so how do i go about this. i am CRB checked at work regularly and i dont

want a court summons to effect my file (if it would do that...)

 

ive just finished my last a 7th night shift and i thought i would post before

i hit the sack. i only have a few days left on the fredrickson letter and they

keep sending me text messages and phoning me. sorry if im in the wrong section.

 

im beginning to hate these impersonal companys that take your money like

you were put on this earth to pay them, they offer a crap service and every

call/support centre is located in another country on bad lines 0845 numbers with people who dont speak english properly

 

many thanks for any advice

 

sine

[harrassed senior]

Good Morning - I would suggest that you send the 'prove it' letter to Freds and put the ball back into their Court.

 

Dear Sir or Madam

 

You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves.

 

I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (insert company name).

 

I am/we are familiar with the CPUTR 2008 and the Office of Fair Trading's Guidance on debt collection, which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

 

I/we would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. AND in not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

 

I/we would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my/our liability for the debt in question.

 

I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to Trading Standards and also inform the Office Of Fair Trading of your actions.

 

I/we look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

[NailPost]

A civil claim made by these idiots against you would not show up on a CRB check. They would be playing a very silly game if they put something on your credit file with the Credit Reference Agencies (CRA) because without any paperwork they can't proove you owe them anything.

[Chris_C]

Hi Sine,

 

I have received the same thing from FIL this morning. Bulldog are claiming that I left them with a debt of £79.08. I left them in 2007 and as far as I'm aware the account was at NIL at the time.

 

I called FIL and asked them to provide me with further details. They said that the only details that Bulldog had given them was an amount that is due. I kept repeating the fact that they cannot contact me out of the blue and expect me to settle a supposed debt that they believe I owe without advising me further but all I got back was 'I can do you a deal at £60 to clear the amount if you do so today'.

 

I am going to place my dispute in writing and ask them to provide with all the details. I suspect that they are just hoping that people will settle without and argument and if they don't pay I can't see them taking it any further.

 

About 6 years ago I had another ISP try the same thing and that one I didn't even bother to contact and never hear anything after that.

Edited June 18, 2010 by Chris_C

[Guest Cartaphilus]

'I can do you a deal at £60 to clear the amount if you do so today'.

Oooh, very professional of them. Frankly I'd report that purely for attempting to barter with you like someone down at the local kebab shop!

And for a debt you don't owe to start off with.

 

Also, I am wondering after reading the first post in this thread if Fredericksons are available or could be contracted out to tell bedtime stories.

[sine]

im a bit worried because i have phoned them allready and spoken

with them, they could have this recorded or on file etc and i would

be lying by saying that i dont know what its about. also the 2 letters

they have sent were to the wrong address. for e.g i live at number

10 and the letters are addressed to number 20.... i wonder if that

could be significant?

 

sine

[NailPost]

Ignore their text messages and if they call you refuse to answer their security questions. Tell them to remove your number from their systems and then back that up in writing. Log calls and messages so you have a record for any complaint of harrassment yo may make.

 

Don't worry about Freds time limits. They mean nothing and you are under no pressure to comply with their demands at all.

 

If you haven't already write to Freds at the address they use and tell them to send the proper proof this debt exists and they have the right to collect. Letter writing isn't something Freds do very well and as can be seen from another post they rarely have anything more than an address and a sum to collect. That's not sufficient proof. If that's all they have you tell to go away and bother someone else.Ask them for their complaints procedure which will (should) force thm to write to you.

 

In the meantime you might like to write to the original creditor (wrong wrong really in this case) and ask them for an explanation. Remind them they are responsible for the actions of their chosen agents and will be named in any complaint.

[moneymaker™]

I got a letter from this company late last week with a reference number not dated just basically saying saying they have made some tracing enquiries as to my current address and i was to contact them immediately i ignored it as i thot it was some [problem] or joke.

 

but this morning i received a letter from them again stating Letter before action saying that i owed this company called pipex uk just under £300 so i made a call to them this morning saying that i was never with a company called pipex the woman told me it was for a company bulldog. i told the woman that i had service with bulldog years ago but not at the address they are claiming it at and as far as i recall i had a clear balance with this company.

 

she said i would need to prove this i asked her what period it was for and she said it didnt tell her that information she said she would pass the information on to her supervisor and they would get back to me.

 

my problem is i only keep bills and statements for a 2 year period then i shred them as i dont think i need them after that but i still dont recall oweing this company money.

 

i did find it weird tho im sure she said between the conversation that if i could pay something like £150 and that would close it.

 

anyone got any advice ?

[alfwithhair]

Firstly YOU, do not need to prove anything. it it FRED's who need to prove the debt exists.

 

Under no curcumstances send them anything.

If they are unable to substanciate their claim that you owe this money then there is nothing they can do other than keep sending their begging letters. No court action can be taken if they cannot supply any paperwork substanciating the debt.

 

They use these intimidating tactics to force people to pay, many who don't even owe anything. Don't fall for their cobblers and pay them nothing unless they can send you proof this debt is outstanding and owed by YOU.

[sine]

after basically ignoring everything and telling fredrickson on the phone that

bulldog owes me money and that im going through a dispute with them,

when i phoned back after the date fred gave me to final pay they said that

pipex had taken back the debt and that they were no longer dealing with it

and could not get off the phone quick enough, i tried to ask for more information

but it seemed like they were just not bothered with me any more. its ok for them

to pester me when they want me to pay money but when i want answers the minimum wage school leaver phone operators just want rid of you.

 

sine

[lord_tiger_putin]

They tried to harrassed me and the they decided to send them a PIL (prove It Letter). Here is the story:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=20063&d=1279541270

[Paige1979]

I received a letter from FPC this morning, addressed to me,totally out of the blue, saying that I have failed to reply to previous correspondence (I've had nothing or even heard of them!) It further states I must contact them immediately, or pay at www.Fredpay.com.............

The letter doesn't tell me what I owe or to whom I owe it. I make sure all our household bills are paid on time, and recently checked my credit with experian and scored 999...so I'm confused by this, and thought I'd search the company on the net, finding this site in the process! So hello to everyone, and should I contact the company, as I'm dubious?

 

Paige

[Bazooka Boo]

No definitely DO NOT contact them, your on a phishing list and as soon as you respond toone of their letters, they will put a 'mug' marker on your file and attempt to fleece money from you.

 

Make a copy of the letter, file it under ignore, and begin a diary of events in relation to this, also make a formal complaint to the OFT/TS via Consumer Direct - Contact us

[moneymaker™]

Thanks for your information since my conversation with the them i havent heard anything since or had any letters from them so far lol

[Bazooka Boo]

The calm before the storm as it were, don't be surprised if you start receiving more missives from another DCA further down the food chain..