Lowell chasing old Tesco Mobile debt - **Resolved**

[louisiana]

  

Hello, 

I had a tesco mobile monthly contract and accidently broke the phone beyond repair. I phoned tesco and asked if they would consider letting me pay off the remaining balance of the handset and waiver the remaining minutes as they wouldn't be used. 

 

The lady on the phone said yes that's fine we will send you a final invoice to pay. Received invoice which was £68. Called, paid, account closed no further monies owed all good.

 

Until a while later I get a letters from Lowells DCA saying I owed Tesco £269, and to my absolute horror there is an unpaid default of £269 on my otherwise good credit rating, and now destroyed it.

 

Tesco say the staffing should have told me I'd get a default for settling this way, and they can see I was not told.

I said no i wasn't and if I'd been given that choice I'd have carried on paying monthly.

Tesco say there is nothing they can do now, 

i just can take on board that they agreed to let me close the account early which they had no obligation to do and be grateful (got this in writing).

 

Furious, i write a letter of complaint and get a phone call from a member of staff who promises to sort it out with Lowell and ask themselves to remove the default. Months later the default is still there, unpaid.

 

Every time I speak to Lowell they say they have heard nothing from Tesco and can't do anything until they hear from them and will continue to send me letters chasing payment and will leave the unpaid default on my credit rating until they hear otherwise.

 

Tesco are saying there is nothing they can do as they HAVE told Lowell and they are not actioning the request.

 

I am stuck in the middle of these 2 companies pointing them finger at each other whilst my credit rating is wrongly sat there ruined.

 

Please can someone help as clearly I need to complain higher about both companies and someone higher needs to tell them to get their act together but who?

 

I've seriously contemplated contacting Martin Lewis!

This has been going on for 2 YEARS now,

 

please can someone help?

 

Thank you so much. 

[BankFodder]

Welcome to the forum – but please would you avoid making your posts in unbroken blocks of text. It makes it very difficult to read on a screen and it discourages people who might otherwise be enthusiastic about you the help you need.

Well spaced and punctuated will help enormously.

[BankFodder]

I suppose one of the problems is that you have never recorded your calls and that means you have no evidence of what you are saying.

Start off by sending Tesco's an SAR. Do it straightaway. Come back here when you have received the disclosure.

[louisiana]

I have a online chat with tesco that I've kept and that is where they say yes they can see I should have been advised about the default and wasn't but can I take on board that they let me close my account early instead. Does that help? 

[BankFodder]

It all helps – but careful preparation and gathering of evidence is extremely important. Send the SAR.

Then we can have a look at what you have got – and the correct action to take – which will probably end up being an action for breach of contract and breach of data protection rules

[louisiana]

Also I didn't space it like that, I don't know why that's happened.Thank you for your reply. 

[dx100uk]

1stly stop talking on the phone to the fleecing DCA

they make all the right noises but could care less.

 

2 hours ago, louisiana said:

Tesco say the staffing should have told me I'd get a default for settling this way, and they can see I was not told.

 

have you evidence of this?

 

[louisiana]

Yes this is on a messengers chat which I have kept 

[dx100uk]

3 hours ago, louisiana said:

get a phone call from a member of staff who promises to sort it out with Lowell and ask themselves to remove the default.

 

 

3 hours ago, louisiana said:

Tesco are saying there is nothing they can do as they HAVE told Lowell and they are not actioning the request.

 

have you also written evidence of these two statements?

[louisiana]

No unfortunately not, What should I specifically ask for in the SAR please? 

[dx100uk]

how long ago were the above phonecalls?

 

dx

[louisiana]

About 4 months ago. I received a letter from lowells yesterday advising that my account had been on hold and now that had expired and it was time for me to get in touch to discuss a repayment plan. That was the final straw and when I knew I was just going round in circles 

[dx100uk]

get that sar in.

add, that you wish telephone and chat window transcriptions or recordings too.

you might be lucky.

 

with these you'll be better placed to move toward ICO involvement.

 

there is nothing stopping you ringing or raising a complaint with the ico on their website now.

but i warn you, don't put reams of waffle.

 

keep to the facts. briefly.

 

i had a mobile phone contract with tesco mobile from xxx date

i damaged my phone beyond repair xxx date.

Tesco agreed to cancel the contract for a cancellation fee payment of £XX dated  xxxx,

this was paid and Tesco acknowledged so.

on xx date i received a threat-o-gram from lowell dca requiring payment of the outstanding contractual months.

i did a credit search and discovered not only had tesco sold on a non existent debt to Lowells, but i now also had a defaulted registered xxx date for the sum. this has trashed my credit rating since.

upon contacting tesco they acknowledged i was not informed my credit file would be or was defaulted.

Tesco indicated they would contact lowell to resolve my issue. requiring the default be removed and the balance Zero'd

lowells are refusing to remove the default and balance as they state tesco did not ever contact them.

 

 

 

 

 

[louisiana]

Ok will do.

Can I ask how the ICO will assist?

I'd never heard of them before and looking at their website they deal with breaches in security/data etc.

What has been breached that would give them cause to review my case please?

Thank you 

  

[BankFodder]

Data protection obligations include an obligation to keep accurate data and to process your data accurately and lawfully.

If they have failed to record properly the arrangements they have made with you and they are not keeping your data accurately or processing it lawfully.

However, please send the SAR and then we can see where you stand. There's not a lot of point speculating at the moment. We need to see what evidence you can gather together.

[dx100uk]

defaulted date 

data breach which should never have been registered.

 

have you actually threatened lowells with the ICO in writing yet?

 

 

 

 

[louisiana]

No, so should I write to Tesco and request an SAR and tell them why, and also write to Lowell and advise the action I'm taking? 

[BankFodder]

You don't need to tell them why. You have a statutory right to your personal data. Simply send them the SAR and require that they comply with your request. Keep the request as wide as possible so that you don't limit anything. You want everything – phone calls, screenshots, correspondence internal and external. Read the template at SAR <<<<

Don't bother to write to Lowell's. Keep us updated if they send you anything else

[louisiana]

Ok, thank you both BankFodder and dx100uk for all your help. I shall keep you posted. 

[louisiana]

Well thank you for your help, I sent the letter to Tesco asking for an SAR and received a voicemail from them saying they were looking into it. Lo and behold I check my credit file this new month and the default has gone and the account says paid and closed. After 2 long years back and forth suddenly its done just like that!. 

 

Thank you for your time 

[BankFodder]

Well done – and thank you for updating us.

It seems to me that if you have had a blighted credit file for two years and you have even been hassled by their DCA, that you are entitled to some compensation. Would you like to follow that up?

Also, if you sent the SAR than they had 30 days to comply and that must mean that the SAR disclosure is due about now. If they failed to make the disclosure to you than they are in breach of the data protection act and you could claims and compensation for that as well.

You started this thread at the beginning of October saying that you are furious. If you are furious enough, we will help you get compensation. It will be fairly straightforward and once they realise that you are serious, then I expect there won't be much difficulty in getting £100 or so.

Also, you say that the default is gone, but don't count your chickens. It is entirely possible that Lowell will not have been told or will not have amended their files and you may easily find that somebody still going to come after you.

I hope you realise that it is the kind of assertive action we've been advising you to take which has caused this to happen. I have to say that it's pretty good of Tesco to respond so quickly. If you have been dealing with other companies such as Npower or Vodafone – it would have been a long drawn out process and you would have had the impression that it was a matter of pride that they wouldn't buckle.

During your two years of blighted credit file, have you experienced any inconvenience or loss as a result?

[unclebulgaria67]

Wait until a letter is received confirming there is no debt, before you think this is over.

 

As Bankfodder advises, make sure the SAR is complied with and go after appropriate compensation.

[louisiana]

they offered me a £50 tesco gift card as a final settlement and have confirmed in writing that they have instructed Lowell to leave me alone and change my credit file.

 

Am surprised they can only provide up to 12 months of notes for an SAR though? 

tesco letter.pdf

[unclebulgaria67]

They should supply the data they have access to, which if more than 12 months, should be whatever they hold.

 

It may be that Tesco only retain data for the periods they mention in their letter, which is perfectly acceptable, as they would have advised the ICO, that this is the period they hold data for.  There are rules on how long data can be kept for.

[louisiana]

To be honest I'm happy to accept the offer of £50 and finally draw a line under it all. Thank you all very much for helping me resolve a long drawn out battle.