CRS Credit Recovery Services chasing

[Hallahn]

Yesterday, I receive a letter from CRS (It was a slightly soggy letter, what with all the rain lately.) informing me that an amount of £463.65 has been passed from Springslite gym to CRS. I admit fault on that part, I lost my job, and not long after my house (rented, also had my partner leave, so suddenly the rent and bills were a bit too much. Got to laugh at it all.) and paying my gym membership got relegated to the bottom of the list. Anyway, I have no issues admitting that debt, but do take issue with the £202.91 charge they've added to it! That's nigh on a 44% increase, seemingly because they want to! I've already spoken to them via the phone (May have been a mistake?) saying I'm willing to offer £40 a month, the most I can afford, and yes, okay, you'll be taking a percentage of that as your cut, and yes, alright, there's a one off fee. Fine, take all that. I did state that I would not pay their added charge however, and it was on this basis that they refused, along with stating that they can't contact me any other way aside from mail (I asked if they can use email, as I'm back with my family for the time being and don't want to get them involved in this, they've got enough on their plate), nor could they even use telephone!

 

Is there any advice anyone can offer for this situation? I've made my offer to them via the phone, and I'd rather not drag this out any more than I have to and chance letting anyone else in the household know (As I said, they've all got enough going on.) Thank you in advance!

 

Also, while I'm thinking on it, I'll copy the letter they sent me here, too! Please try to keep in mind that I received this letter -yesterday- when noting the date on it!

 

-------------------------------------------------

 

29th December 2011

 

(Name, address etc here)

 

Dear Mr Campbell

 

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY

 

Re: CRS Ref No: (Number here)

Springslite Ref. No: (Reference here)

 

An amount of £463.65 with Springslite has now been passed to us for collection.

 

In accordance with the terms and conditions of your contract with Springslite, you have now also become responsible for our fees in recovering this amount. Our standard charge of £ 202.91 has therefore been applied bringing the full account balance to £ 666.56.

 

You can now only speak to use about this balance. Springslite will simply refer you back to us if you contact them.

 

Please call us on 01444 449 165 to arrange payment of your balance over the telephone.

 

If you are unable to settle the balance straight away, please still call us as we will help you resolve any problems you have in paying.

 

A collector will be used to recover your balance if you do not call us by 5 January 2012, which may lead to you being taken to Court.

 

We want to help you clear this balance but failure to address the matter may result in further fees being applied, so please call today.

 

Yours sincerely

For Credit Resolution Services

 

(Signature)

 

Charlotte Edwards

Collections Department

 

-------------------------------------------------

 

I've tried to keep the format of the letter intact, and the typos (Spaces between pound and amount) intact. I don't mind admitting, I'm feeling more than a little worried here : /

Edited January 4, 2012 by Hallahn
Removed the Springlite ref. number, and edited the title.

[Bazooka Boo]

What a childish letter!

 

Er, IMO only pay the GYM, not these clowns, and as for their charges, they can forget those, where did they think up the figure of £202.91??

 

Keep everything in writing, stay off the phone, this is not a priority debt, and I very strongly doubt these fools will go anywhere near a court!

[42man]

Forward their letter to the OFT.

d. 'threatening' to refer the debt to a third party debt collection business, with potential cost implications for the debtor, under circumstances in which the evidence suggests that, in reality, the creditor has, or can be reasonably concluded as having, no current intention of doing so.

 

Charging for debt recovery

3.10 Charges should not be levied inappropriately or unfairly.

 

a. misleading debtors into believing they are legally liable to pay recovery charges when this is not the case

 

b. claiming recovery costs from a debtor in the absence of express contractual provision to be able to do so

 

c. not giving a clear indication in credit agreements of the amount of any charges payable on default

 

d. applying unreasonable charges.

[slick132]

Hi Hallahn - you've posted this in the right place this time !!

 

First off, do not speak to CRS or anyone else about this by phone. Keep everything in writing only. If they call you, tell them to put anything they have to say in writing, and hang up.

 

Just to see if they have a right to collect anything in respect of your gym membership, please confirm how long your initial membership period was.

 

If it was 12 months or less, then you probably owe them for unpaid fees.

 

However, they have no right in law to make any penalty charges, admin charges, late payment fees, etc.

 

Therefore, all you will have to pay CRS is the amount of outstanding gym m/ship fees that you failed to pay.

 

Once you've told us about the initial contract length, I will probably suggest you write to CRS saying :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

Do not attempt to discuss this matter with me by phone. I require all communication to be in writing only.

 

I have taken advice in this matter and now understand you have no contractual right in law to make any admin or penalty charges in respect of my gym membership.

 

I acknowledge that I owe £xxx.xx in membership fees but I will pay you nothing more than this amount.

 

I require your written confirmation that you will accept the amount of £xxx.xx in full and final settlement of all monies owed by me to Springslite gym.

 

Until this is resolved, you must consider the matter to be in clear dispute and you should not make any further demands, nor should you pass the matter on to any "solicitor" for collection purposes. If you do, reports about your conduct will be made to the OFT and to Trading Standards without further warning.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

But don't send anything off until we've clarified the contract length position please.

 

[slick132]

I should have also said that CRS will argue the hind legs off a donkey, saying all sorts about why you DO owe their stupid admin fees.

 

They will threaten to take court action, to pass the matter on to solicitors, etc, etc. But they will NOT take court action as they have no legal basis to do so !!

 

Once they agree to accept the amount you are prepared to pay, you can then decide if you can settle it in one go, or in instalments.

 

[dx100uk]

theads and links tidied

 

dx

[Hallahn]

Hi again! Thank you very much for the responses and assistance, all of you. Alas, sadly, it was a 2 year contract (We both took one out at the same-ish time - it worked out as a better deal, and getting healthy seemed like such a good idea!) so I've honestly no idea where that stands me. Should I go ahead with that letter, now?

[slick132]

No, if the initial or minimum contract period was for 2 years, it is considered to be be unfair to the consumer. See the case of the OFT -v- AMSL in the High Court last year. The contract is not enforceable and you pretty much owe the gym nothing.

 

Read more about this here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?320766-Ashbourne-Management-Services-Ltd-Contracts-longer-than-12-months

 

If you read other threads here, you should find letters which you can adapt to tell CRS. If I come across one, I'll come back here and give you a link to it.

 

[Hallahn]

Edit: I've spoken with my ex, who has also been contacted by a DCA and has begun paying them back. Turns out we took out 36 month contracts, not 24! Ho hum.

 

That... is... marvelous news, Slick, thank you!

Edited January 5, 2012 by Hallahn

[slick132]

36 months !! You won't have to pay them a penny more. The Judges rulings in the AMSL case will apply for sure. Get reading and follow the links through to the OFT site.

 

Also read the ruling itself - http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2011/1237.html

 

Tell your ex she can stop paying immediately. If she wants help, she can start her own thread or you can tell her the same advice that we give to you. Even though she started, or resumed, paying them, she has done so in error and can stop.

 

CRS will whinge like babies but, with a 36 month contract, the haven't a legal leg to stand on.

 

[slick132]

Any letters that you find and want to use should always be adapted to reflect your own case.

 

See here. Take the time to read this all the way through - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?291124-Ashbourne-management&p=3453336&viewfull=1#post3453336

 

Another post here that applies - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?325854-Ashbourne-24-Month-Contract&p=3607025&viewfull=1#post3607025