Issues with a previous Orange telephone.

[jojonlp]

Hi,

 

I am writing to seek some advice regarding an Orange/EE problem with an entry on my partners credit file. A few years ago she changed her mobile telephone at Phones 4u in a large shopping mall. They infomed her that Orange was being integrated into the new brand of EE and so she asked the Phones 4 u guy to be sure and call orange to cancel the old contract when the new one was activated, this was not a standard upgrade but we both did hear the conversation between phones 4 u and Orange and they did confirm several times that the old mobile phone was cancelled.

 

She ended up keeping her contract with Orange anyway but her number changed. Some 3 or 4 months after this Orange then sent her a bill for rental for the old telephone that had been changed over to the new contract. She refused to pay and she wrote to Orange explaining everything but they just continued to persue what they said was the debt but which we did not agree was a debt we owed.

 

She is not sure what to do here since she is now trying to obtain a loan to get through a few rough months, the only thing stopping her getting the loan is this entry that has been added to her credit record.

 

We called Orange a few days ago and at first they said they had no record of the telephone contract but in speaking with them yesterday they informed me that the contract had now been passed to some debt collection agency and that they had put the charge on my credit file. We did move house in the middle of this and therefore if someone else had tried to contact us we would be unaware of that.

 

Is there anything she can do to take some sort of action against Orange/The debt collection company to get this un warranted entry removed from her credit card?

 

Your comments/advice would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks,

John.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi John,

 

 

You say a "charge on your credit file"?

Is this on your wife's file or yours, in who's name is the contract.

 

 

The debt collection agency did not place the default the phone provider

will have done this and you will have to take this up with the company

concerned directly.

 

 

The problem here is that the matter has been dealt with verbally always a bad

thing when dealing with phone contract customer (dis) service has no real authority

to make decisions.

 

 

The refusal to pay the alleged debt or attempt to challenge it will make it more

difficult than usual to do anything about the default.

 

 

The way forward is a formal complaint to EE ( look up a senior exec and send it to that named person) this will not be quick or easy.

[jojonlp]

Hi BRIGADIER2JCS,

 

Many thanks for your reply, the issue was in my partners name (Paula) and the telephone in question was also in her name, so its her credit file that has been damaged.

 

Sorry for the confusion I should have made that clearer.

 

She did complain because I wrote the letter for her but it was some time ago so may have to route around for the letter but I do have it somewhere.

 

The EE operator yesterday said the entry on her credit file would have been made by a debt collection letter, I will call them again tomorrow and a) Ask for contact to someone senior in customer services (you never know they might give it to me) failing that I will try and find an email online for someone senior in EE.

 

By the way mate I really appreciate your fast reply especially on a Sunday, thanks its great to know knowledgeable people are out there and will help.

 

 

 

Many Thanks,

John.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi BRIGADIER2JCS,

 

Many thanks for your reply, the issue was in my partners name (Paula) and the telephone in question was also in her name, so its her credit file that has been damaged.

 

Sorry for the confusion I should have made that clearer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She did complain because I wrote the letter for her but it was some time ago so may have to route around for the letter but I do have it somewhere.

 

The EE operator yesterday said the entry on her credit file would have been made by a debt collection letter, I will call them again tomorrow and a) Ask for contact to someone senior in customer services (you never know they might give it to me) failing that I will try and find an email online for someone senior in EE.

 

By the way mate I really appreciate your fast reply especially on a Sunday, thanks its great to know knowledgeable people are out there and will help.

 

 

 

Many Thanks,

John.

Happy to help John,

 

 

The entry on the credit file will have been made by O2/EE, it will have sold the debt (alleged) on to a debt purchaser/Debt collector.

 

 

Which debt collection agency is involved here, it will help us to advise on the best way to deal with this.

 

 

I would advise putting all communication in writing, or record phone calls. You could e-mail requesting confirmation of receipt.