Another NCO Question!

[Ripper_BD]

Hi there!

I'm hoping I've put this in the right place - apologies if I haven't but I'm a bit rattled at the moment; thanks to our lovely friends at NCO.

 

Basically Orange decided to pass me over to NCO (without warning or informing me that they were doing so) and because I knew the debt was mine and Orange flatly refused to discuss setting up a payment plan; I thought that agreeing to pay in installments of £50 a month to someone that actually seemed reasonable was the way to go.

 

The direct debit was set up and two months went by with the payments going through absolutely no problem.

 

Fast forward to today and I get a phone call from the lovely NCO people regarding the "£2000+ on your account that you'll be paying off today"...

My face looked a little like this for a moment while I wondered what on Earth this woman was talking about.

 

I finally got a word in edgeways and asked her what was going on - the £50 had been taken at the beginning of the previous 2 months and I'd not been contacted at all to say it hadn't come out this month so I was a bit floored to hear that I suddenly owed over £2000.

 

Apparently NCO has *tried* to take the £50 and it failed (I don't know how, as my account had plenty of money for them to take it...) so they decided to cancel the direct debit completely and then wait for about 3 weeks before telling me.

 

They are now telling me that it's my fault that the payment wasn't made, it's my fault that the direct debit "had to be" cancelled and it's my fault for not checking my bank account every single day to make sure they were paid.

The man I spoke to then went on to tell me:

"It's your debt, it's your fault for getting into it in the first place and it's your responsibility to make sure we get our money. So don't give me excuses about being disabled; it's all on you."

 

(I am disabled, I'm unable to leave my flat unassisted so I can't just go toddling off up the road to check my bank balance every day; which I explained to NCO...Their response was to laugh...Charming.)

 

Anyway, when I asked why I hadn't been contacted sooner; either by phone or by a letter in the mail the man became a bit more aggressive towards me and wouldn't (or couldn't) answer me.

I then asked him if the direct debit had been returned; why hadn't I been notified by my bank (I get email alerts about this type of thing) about a returned direct debit charge and he couldn't answer that either.

 

I was then told that if I wanted to reinstate the payment plan I would have to pay £50 using my debit card and then pay another £50 by direct debit on June 1st.

I do not feel at all comfortable giving them my card details and my bank has told me categorically that I should not pay them over the phone as it sounds a bit (in their words exactly) "dodgy".

They also told me that the way NCO told me that the direct debit was reinstated is totally wrong - NCO have to contact the bank and ask for a new code and it's set up from there.

My bank have also told me that if the direct debit was returned, I would be charged and they looked as far into the future as they could on my account and guess what...?

NO upcoming charges at all.

 

So my question now is what on earth do I do?

The way that NCO have done things just seems really dodgy and very poor business practice; the way they spoke to me is just ridiculous and even my bank have said that it doesn't sound right at all.

 

Any advice would be great as I'm a bit stumped and quite annoyed with the whole situation.

Come back Orange - all is forgiven!

[renegadeimp]

What do you do? Ignore the DCA and dont talk to them on the phone again.

 

Then contact the ORiginal Creditor and set up a repayment that way. Remind them of their legal obligations. If they try to say they cant do anything and speak to the DCA, remind them that this will NOT be happening as a DCA has no legal rights at all, and you WILL be repaying the creditor without dealing with the DCA.

[Ripper_BD]

Hi renegadeimp (LOVE the user name btw, brilliant!)

 

I've tried contacting Orange before when I first realized that they had passed on my information to NCO (I'd heard such awful things about NCO that I didn't want to deal with them at all) and Orange have flatly refused to let me pay them directly.

 

I really feel like a bit of a pillock for agreeing to pay NCO the installments to be honest; but I didn't know what else to do - I feel like I've been well and truly backed into a corner now.

[renegadeimp]

They cant refuse. A Creditor is not allowed to refuse ANY valid method of payment. Period.

[starman59]

Hi ripper just a quick one never set up a DD to a DCA as the things I have read on here about that they can do is shocking. Just set up a standing order as then you have control of your money.

[Ripper_BD]

They cant refuse. A Creditor is not allowed to refuse ANY valid method of payment. Period.

Can I have that in writing? On a very large bat? To hit Orange with?

Seriously though, what is the procedure if Orange keep refusing?

 

Hi ripper just a quick one never set up a DD to a DCA as the things I have read on here about that they can do is shocking. Just set up a standing order as then you have control of your money.

I really wish I'd known that before, lol

However I won't be reinstating the direct debit now. If they can cancel the DD (which they told me they did)without my being aware of it, can they reinstate it without my knowing?

[starman59]

I have a feeling they can. My wife used to work in a bank and I am sure she has told me they can. I would ask her but she's gone to bed knackered from running about after our toddler. So sorry about that ripper.

[Bazooka Boo]

The best way to ensure they can't steal your money out of your account is to contact your bank and ensure that this DD is cancelled immediately, also inform them that under no circumstances are they to allow any money out of your account to these con men.

 

Again, never ever speak to DCA's on the phone, they only ever tell you lies, try to intimidate you, and feed you all sorts of ridiculous nonsense only they believe, the fact that they are unqualified uneducated commission based children, is the sole reason why no-one ever believes them anymore.

 

If Orange don't want you to repay them the money they say you owe, then you don't owe them anything!

Make a formal complaint to Orange and exhaust it.

[daverules]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?339140-overpaying-the-debt-company%282-Viewing%29-nbsp

 

Take a look at post 8

[havinastella]

What was this debt for??

 

And how much roughly?

 

Jogs

[Ripper_BD]

The best way to ensure they can't steal your money out of your account is to contact your bank and ensure that this DD is cancelled immediately, also inform them that under no circumstances are they to allow any money out of your account to these con men.

If Orange don't want you to repay them the money they say you owe, then you don't owe them anything!

Make a formal complaint to Orange and exhaust it.

I've checked my bank online and it's definitely showing as cancelled.

I will call them on Monday to make sure they don't allow any further payments to go to NCO.

Take a look at post 8

Thank you!

What was this debt for??

 

And how much roughly?

 

Jogs

The debt was to Orange (mobile phone) and with the money I've already paid it's just over £2000.

 

I have a feeling they can. My wife used to work in a bank and I am sure she has told me they can. I would ask her but she's gone to bed knackered from running about after our toddler. So sorry about that ripper.

Oh bless her! I hope she managed to get some sleep

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it - I'll double check this with my bank when I talk to them.

Edited May 26, 2012 by Ripper_BD

[Bazooka Boo]

Look, inform the bank that no money should go out of your account to these clowns, if it does you can reclaim it back.

 

You need to get onto Orange and lodge a formal complaint, enter into their complaints procedure and exhaust it, it really is not good enough for any corporation to fob anyone off by giving us the party line that "It's been passed to XYZ, you need to contact them" Er NO!, If you clowns want the money you say I owe, then you grow up and take responsibility for it, otherwise you can stand all day urinating into the wind for all I care.

[Ripper_BD]

you can stand all day urinating into the wind for all I care.

:lol:LOVE IT!!!

I have a list of people to call on Monday morning - my bank is top of the list, closely followed by Orange.

 

If Orange do still refuse, do I send a complaint to them about it; or would that go somewhere a little higher than the dancing monkeys - sorry, customer service agents?

[havinastella]

How on earth do you owe Orange £2000?

[Ripper_BD]

I moved house and ended up with zero reception on Orange - I had to actually stand a few paces from the front door to get one bar.

I called them and asked what I could do to boost the reception and got no help at all so I decided to terminate early.

I had two phones on my account; one for me and one for my husband; so early termination fees and buying out both lines added up pretty quickly.

[Jasper1965]

I would write to Orange reminding them of this Public statement they made to BBC Watchdog and asking them just exactly how their total unwillingness to resolve the problem of zero coverage in your new home followed by their aggravated pursual for £2000+ in charges for a service they were not able to provide was in your best interests.

 

"In terms of Mr Prescott's contract, while we do not offer an option for customers to break their contract for moving house, in exceptional cases where a customer clearly has no network coverage at a new home of residence and has been unable to make calls, we will look to resolve in their best interest".

 

Source http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/03/mobile_charges_but_no_signal.html

[Ripper_BD]

Jasper that is a fantastic bit of information - thank you!!

 

Not long to go until I start kicking some stupid peoples backsides...I will update this once I've contacted the bank and Orange...wish me luck, lol

 

 

[Ripper_BD]

**UPDATE**

 

I spoke to Orange just now and the first person I talked with kept insisting that they couldn't take any payment from me if my details had been passed to NCO.

I persisted (and "gently" reminded them that they aren't allowed to refuse a valid offer of payment) and after about 15 minutes, I was passed to a different department and as of the start of June I will be paying Orange.

 

I also spoke to my bank who assured me that if Orange have taken responsibility for the payments again, that NCO could not take money from my account.

The Direct Debit is cancelled, which has been double and triple checked with the bank, so hopefully I will never hear from NCO ever again.

 

Watch this space though - knowing NCO they'll find a reason to annoy me...

 

Thanks for the help, guys, I really appreciate it.

I would've been totally clueless and stressed out without this forum!

 

[Jasper1965]

Good for you this is a positive start.

 

Now you must get onto Orange, remind them of the pledge they made when under investigation by Watchdog, spell out to them that there was zero reception in your new home and that you tried to resolve this with them but were reduced to cancelling the contracts as Orange simply were not interested in helping you.

 

Exactly what pay monthly contract were these two phones taken out on?

 

This makes for interesting reading:

 

"terminating your Contract because Orange is no longer able to provide access to the Network

4.4 If, for reasons beyond our control, we are no longer able to provide the Services, we will at our discretion either:

4.4.1 make arrangements for you to be supplied with equivalent Services by another network at no extra cost to you, or

4.4.2 accept written notice from you that you wish to terminate your Contract. In such cases we will refund any pre-paid Charges that have not been used up."

 

http://www1.orange.co.uk/terms.html/pdfs/PAYM-terms-and-conditions-for-the-supply-of-Orange-Network-Services-20110215.pdf

[Jasper1965]

ps 19.11 from the above t&c's looks like it could be useful to your predicament:

 

19.11 If either party delays or does not take action to enforce their rights under this Contract this does not prevent either party from taking action later.

[Jasper1965]

Sorry no edit button any more....

 

Was going to continue to say that to me this term implies that you are still within your contractual rights to serve them the notice of cancellation as per 4.4.2.

 

You have after all given them enough time to remedy the lack of service by the alternative method as per 4.4.1

[renegadeimp]

Wonder where the edit button went... :/