NCO PayPal

[mdcdeve]

Hi, just this morning i received a letter from NCO Debt Collectors apparently sent by PayPal, to my knowledge i have no outstanding debts with paypal. I have received no emails or anything from them and this letter from NCO just came out of nowhere, the last time i had any slight problems with PayPal was well over a year ago. What should i do?

[mdcdeve]

Sorry for double posting, i thought i may as well add the letter (censored) for reference, i noticed they also mentioned a "payment slip" attatched, but as you can see there is no such thing.

 

http://www.mdcdeve.com/NCO.jpg

[ccs3]

If you still have your Paypal account sign in and see if you are in a minus figure.

My husband who very rarely used Paypal had a credit card chargeback against him through Paypal for £42 this took his balance to -£21.

There were lots of spoof Paypal emails going round at the time and he thinks he must have ignored the emails from Paypal thinking they were spoofs because he only realised what had happend when he signed into his Paypal account a couple of months later to pay something.

 

If you go onto the Paypal website there is a phone number. I would phone them first and see what is going on, if there is no debt tell NCO that, not sure if they would beleive you (most seem not to believe anything you say) and where you would go from there though.

[mdcdeve]

Hi ccs3, thanks for the reply.

 

As soon as i received the letter i did check PayPal online, as i do still use them occasionally and everything seemed to be in order. As you can imagine i was surprised with this letter as i had received no prior contact from PayPal at all, i didnt think Debt Collectors was the first option before even a simple email to me.

 

I will take your advice and call PayPal along with NCO and report back here what happens, any further advice in the meantime is welcome.

[anotheruser]

yes... i had exactly the same letter this morning... looks like NCO have just got the job - bless 'em.

 

thing is, i probably do owe paypal the £18 they're asking me for (paypal were being a pain over some transaction last year and i refused to cough up).

 

 

failing to print the payment slip at the bottom may be simple incompetance, but my cynical mind thinks that maybe the 0870 number they want us to ring might actually provide them with a small additional income... something to bear in mind.

 

i tried it for one minute today, but was immediately put on what sounded like being a long 'on hold'.

 

later, i found the 'normal' number on the NCOgroup.com website given for the Preston address - it is 01772 765000, but have not yet tried it.

 

 

i was just going to make the cheque out to someone and post it!

[iwannabedebtfree]

Yes sadly NCO do love their 0870 number, of which you will be on hold for long enough for them to make some more money out of you! there was a link on google last year i think relating to NCO taking on paypal debt which were in fact not debts, and their payment slip is never available...they like to get you on the telephone so they can harass, sorry advise(!), that they will only accept the total outstanding! what a lovely company!

[miniconverter]

Try SAYNOTO0870.COM - Non-Geographical Alternative Telephone Numbers for an alternative number if you really want to ring them

 

I also believe the use of 0870 by dca's is considered an unfair practise by the oft so go to there web site and grass the **** bags.

 

I complained to the oft about Geoffrey Parker Bourns use of 0870 number a couple of weeks ago and it turns out they have no consumer credit license. This is currently being investigated by consumer direct and trading standards see my other post

 

Go on complain it's easy on line. Do you think they would let it go if they thought they had something on you.

[mdcdeve]

Thanks for the info guys, i had no idea about 0870 numbers, so now i know which number to use when contacting them.

 

I couldnt get PayPal on the phone but i did email a complaint and this is what they said in regards to the debt collectors.

 

Dear **,

 

Thank you for contacting PayPal in relation to the negative balance on

your account.

 

Mr. ** We have reviewed your account and it shows you have a negative

balance on your account of -£** GBP.

 

This is due to a Payment on your account from "email here". that was reversed on March 30th 2006.

 

We will be unable to review the limited access on your account until the

balance is brought to zero or a positive balance. In order to secure

your account and to have the limited access quickly reviewed, please

complete these two simple steps:

 

1. Reimburse the negative balance amount to PayPal by sending a

banker's draft or postal order in Pounds Sterling or US Dollars to the

following address:

 

PayPal Europe

P.O. Box 9473

Dublin 15

Ireland

 

2. Make your payment payable to PayPal. Please note the email address

of the account that is to be credited.

 

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We apologise for any

inconvenience.

 

It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing PayPal.

 

Sincerely,

Aisling

Resolution Services Department

PayPal, an eBay Company

 

my account balance for reference.

 

http://www.mdcdeve.com/paypal.jpg

[lookinforinfo]

Email them back suggesting they have the wrong person as your account

balance is £0, and there is no mention of a chargeback on your history record.

Also you have no record of ever dealing with the person who claimed the

chargeback. So tell them to call off the dca.

 

pS I am assuming that there is nothing on your history, and you do not recognise the name of the guy who they paid money back to.

[miniconverter]

If you are having problems talking to someone at paypal ring there number then instead of trying to use there imposable call routing system which just takes you round in circles press 0 and this will connect you to a real person not just another list of options

[mdcdeve]

Hi thanks again for the replys. Yes my account does not have a history of any chargebacks, its this account that i sent the correspondence from so i dont know whats wrong with their records, my account also is not limited in any way though they say it is.

 

I will try this number to call them "+353 14369001" which the website you offered me suggests as PayPal only offer me an 0870 number.

[LondonPam]

You do realise that the number you've listed is in Ireland don't you ? I think it would be cheaper for you to use the 0870 one!

[mdcdeve]

Would the "0870 7307191" number be cheaper? i didnt think calls from england to ireland would be that expensive.

[mdcdeve]

Had further correspondance from PayPal, they say they cant do anything and talk to NCO

[lookinforinfo]

The problem is that Paypal are based in Eire, so don't appear to be able to

be sued in this country for defamation of character etc. Write to NCO

stating that Paypal are wrong, and that they have libelled you. If NCO

continue to insist that you are a debtor without providing concrete proof,

you will take them to court for libel and harassment. Confirm that you will

NOT pay a penny to them as you owe nothing.

[mdcdeve]

Hi, thanks again lookinforinfo. I will go through the processes you have described and hopefully all will be well, ill be sure to report back any further happenings. I do have a form of auitsm and i would never use it as an excuse but it has led me to be taken advantage of in the past, its nice to know exactly what to do in situations.

[anotheruser]

hopefully you're on your way to sorting this matter out with NCO.

 

as for the 0870 / Eire issue... the thing is that we don't actually *know* how much an 0870 number would cost... that's the problem; it may actually be cheaper than a (semi) international call to Eire, but how to find out. In their case, i suspect they're not doing it for nefarious reasons... unlike NCO.

 

 

it was mentioned that 0870 numbers have been considered unfair by the Office of Fair Trading, and that it would be an idea to make a complaint.

 

it took me a while to find the online complaints form... but it is here: Consumer Direct: Consumer complaints form

 

 

i have complained that there was no printed payment slip, as they stated, (as this is obviously a 'device') and that they were forcing me to ring their 0870 number to find out what they wanted.

 

might suggest others do the same.

[mdcdeve]

Thanks will do so

[fairclaire]

It's interesting that there have been so may complaints about paypal on here just lately. i think I've read 3 in the last few days.

 

I used to have instant bank transfer service set up on mine. It suddenly stopped working for no reason. When I emailed and asked why they told me to remove the bank account and set it up again. i did this and it still wouldn't work.

 

My answer to the email concerning that was 'sometimes we may remove this service from customers who do not conduct their account properly'???? I have never had any problems/negative balances/chargebacks...or anything else! This completely baffled me and the replies to my emails were even more baffling. I gave up and just pay through paypal using debit card if I have to now.

 

They are certainly not the easiest company to communicate with.

[mdcdeve]

Seems PayPal are ignoring my complaints now, funny thing is last email they sent me was a "customer satisfaction" form.

[mdcdeve]

I Have a clearer picture now, my balance went into negative a while after i had closed my account with PayPal 9 months ago.

 

Someone did a chargeback on an item they brought from me, ive heard PayPal dont contest these chargebacks.

 

Also the item in question was intelectual property.

[mdcdeve]

Consumer Direct responded with some sound advice.

 

Dear Mr **

 

Thank you for your enquiry to Consumer Direct dated 11th December. Your reference number for this case is ** and should be quoted in all further correspondence regarding this case.

 

From the information you provide, if you are disputing the fact that any money is owed, you have the right to receive full information concerning the alleged debt.

 

If the company have failed to provide sufficient information, you are not obliged to make any payment or ring any number given by the company.

 

I have notified details of your complaint to the relevant Trading Standards office for their information.

 

If you require any further advice or information about this case, please do not hesitate in contacting Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 quoting your reference number.

[anotheruser]

Hope that's sorted for you Mdcdeve.

 

I hadn't heard anything from NCO since writing back to them for details of debt and a payment slip... anyway, got a little call this morning...

 

First off I could hear a call centre ambience, then a guy asked for the name of some one else, I told him he had the wrong number, he told me it must be right as the system had generated it, I asked him what number (me: feeling unusually friendly today), he gave an area code I didn't recognise, then he gave a road name, and I told him he'd got the wrong town etc.

 

It was when he told me, with unbelievable arrogance, to "wait there while I sort it out"... that I put the phone down on him.

 

Anyway, at some point he *had* let slip he was from NCO Europe... he was obviously having system problems, but I did eventually realise he wanted me, but didn't know it.

 

Once my phone had unlocked (!), 1471 revelaed it was the 0121 698 2500 call centre... small victories...

[mdcdeve]

Hi again, im not sure if its sorted or not really lol

Since their original letter telling me to pay within 7 days which i received 6 weeks ago, i have not heard anything from them since.

[hillards]

... the thing is that we don't actually *know* how much an 0870 number would cost...

 

For information - 0870 numbers are charged at UK National Rate, which is 7.91p per minute peak rate, 4p per minute evening and 2p per minute weekend.

 

Calls to Eire are charged at 14.9p per minute peak, 9.9p per minute evening and weekend. (Taken from BT's website, look for Call Pricer)

 

So, it is actually cheaper to call the 0870 number than direct dial to Ireland.

 

I used to deal in 0870 numbers quite a lot so did check out the costs involved. For most UK based companies you are advised to call the proper 01 or 02 prefixed number, as this can be a quarter of the cost of using 0870. OfCom have announced some changes to come into effect soon, so the costs of 0870 may come down in some cases.