I'm being harassed by debt collectors when I don't owe any money! The letter I've just written gives the details - sorry for the length of it, but I was wondering whether any of you guys could throw some light on this stupid situation?
Letter follows:
COMPLAINT
Your reference xxxxxxxx
Dear Mr Jones,
Having been unable to contact you by telephone as you requested, this is in response to your letter dated 30 May 2006. I would be grateful for your considered response to this rather lengthy account as I am treating this as a serious matter.
I received your letter this morning and immediately telephoned your office to be told you were unavailable, as you are a very busy man. The first person I spoke to was unable to deal effectively with my query and tried to transfer my call to his supervisor after listening to the ringing tone for a considerable delay, I rang off and redialled. I then spoke to a second person and explained to I was anxious to resolve this matter without delay and he certainly understood my reasons for this. Indeed, he informed me that if I failed to make payment to you immediately, my details would be passed on to a company called Experian. Furthermore, this would undoubtedly have a damaging effect on my credit rating (not to mention my reputation) and this would make it impossible for me to arrange loans, mortgages and so on in the future. Your colleague understood me when I said this was causing me some considerable distress and told me making a payment was the only way to avoid these consequences.
I then described to your colleague the following sequence of events:
15/5/06
I received a letter from you, dated 10th May, claiming that you had been instructed by Paypal to recover from me $192.55 US. During a lengthy telephone call to your office I explained to one of your colleagues that whilst I have a Paypal account, I dont owe them any money. I was told that it was necessary for me to contact Paypal to resolve the matter, as you were unable to do so. This I did, via the Paypal website. I received a very prompt email response from them agreeing that my account was in perfect order and suggesting that you contact them to confirm this. I telephoned your office again. I was told to email to you the response I had received. Unfortunately the email address you provided was incorrect and my message was returned. This necessitated another telephone call to get the correct email address. (I should point out to you that each call I make to your office entails me rehearsing all the facts of the matter as your system apparently doesnt record any progress already made on a particular case and your operators always have to start from scratch, as it were.) I then sent the message to you again (attached). It included the message from Paypal to myself (agreeing that my account was in order and suggesting NCO contact them to confirm this), and also a statement to the effect that I was very unhappy about receiving correspondence of this nature from yourselves. I received no response.
18/5/06
I sent another email to you, including the text of the first one and a reminder that I had yet to receive a reply. This wasnt responded to either.
26/5/06
I received mail from you informing me that your representative, a Mr. P. Brown, would be visiting me at my home on Tuesday 30th May between 9 AM and 9 PM. I telephoned your office again and in another lengthy conversation explained that I was unhappy with the way your company had handled this situation, that I was concerned about the possible effect on my credit rating and reputation and that you hadnt responded to either email that I had sent to you. I also asked why you hadnt contacted Paypal directly to ascertain the facts of the matter and was again told that this wasnt possible, for reasons that werent specified. I was assured, however, that some efforts would be made to investigate further how this situation had occurred.
30/5/06
I took a day off work and waited at home between 9 AM and 9 PM in the hope of discussing this with your Mr. Brown. He never arrived. By this point, I was extremely angry and upset about the distress and inconvenience you had caused me, but refrained from telephoning you again, mainly because I had no confidence in your ability to resolve this or even respond appropriately. I doubt whether a telephone call at 9 PM would be answered anyway, despite your expectation of me being available to discuss this with your representative at this time.
2/6/06 (today)
I received a red letter dated 30/5/06 from S. C. Leatham-Locke LL.B threatening me with legal proceedings unless I paid you $192.55 US in full within 72 hours. I note that this is part of your company. I immediately telephoned your office again (twice), which resulted in the conversations noted in the second paragraph of this letter.
Please be aware that I believe the way you have handled this matter is unacceptable and unprofessional to the point of being negligent. Not only have you failed to respond to my communication on the occasions noted and caused me to take a day off work for no reason, but as far as I am aware no attempt has been made by you to contact Paypal (who are your client, after all) to find out whether or not you should be proceeding with your course of action. You have caused me considerable distress, inconvenience, time and trouble, not to mention the very real possibility of damage to both my credit rating and my reputation.
I now require you to respond appropriately to this situation without further delay. In order to do so, I insist that you carry out the following actions.
1) Act immediately to ensure that your company causes no damage to my credit rating or reputation.
2) Provide documentary evidence to my satisfaction that such damage has not occurred.
3) Make what I consider to be appropriate financial compensation for the distress, inconvenience, time and trouble caused to me by NCO Group.
Please note that unless this letter is responded to without delay, I will be pursuing this matter further with the Financial Ombudsman. My telephone numbers are at the top of this letter, which you will notice I am sending by recorded delivery.
Letter follows:
COMPLAINT
Your reference xxxxxxxx
Dear Mr Jones,
Having been unable to contact you by telephone as you requested, this is in response to your letter dated 30 May 2006. I would be grateful for your considered response to this rather lengthy account as I am treating this as a serious matter.
I received your letter this morning and immediately telephoned your office to be told you were unavailable, as you are a very busy man. The first person I spoke to was unable to deal effectively with my query and tried to transfer my call to his supervisor after listening to the ringing tone for a considerable delay, I rang off and redialled. I then spoke to a second person and explained to I was anxious to resolve this matter without delay and he certainly understood my reasons for this. Indeed, he informed me that if I failed to make payment to you immediately, my details would be passed on to a company called Experian. Furthermore, this would undoubtedly have a damaging effect on my credit rating (not to mention my reputation) and this would make it impossible for me to arrange loans, mortgages and so on in the future. Your colleague understood me when I said this was causing me some considerable distress and told me making a payment was the only way to avoid these consequences.
I then described to your colleague the following sequence of events:
15/5/06
I received a letter from you, dated 10th May, claiming that you had been instructed by Paypal to recover from me $192.55 US. During a lengthy telephone call to your office I explained to one of your colleagues that whilst I have a Paypal account, I dont owe them any money. I was told that it was necessary for me to contact Paypal to resolve the matter, as you were unable to do so. This I did, via the Paypal website. I received a very prompt email response from them agreeing that my account was in perfect order and suggesting that you contact them to confirm this. I telephoned your office again. I was told to email to you the response I had received. Unfortunately the email address you provided was incorrect and my message was returned. This necessitated another telephone call to get the correct email address. (I should point out to you that each call I make to your office entails me rehearsing all the facts of the matter as your system apparently doesnt record any progress already made on a particular case and your operators always have to start from scratch, as it were.) I then sent the message to you again (attached). It included the message from Paypal to myself (agreeing that my account was in order and suggesting NCO contact them to confirm this), and also a statement to the effect that I was very unhappy about receiving correspondence of this nature from yourselves. I received no response.
18/5/06
I sent another email to you, including the text of the first one and a reminder that I had yet to receive a reply. This wasnt responded to either.
26/5/06
I received mail from you informing me that your representative, a Mr. P. Brown, would be visiting me at my home on Tuesday 30th May between 9 AM and 9 PM. I telephoned your office again and in another lengthy conversation explained that I was unhappy with the way your company had handled this situation, that I was concerned about the possible effect on my credit rating and reputation and that you hadnt responded to either email that I had sent to you. I also asked why you hadnt contacted Paypal directly to ascertain the facts of the matter and was again told that this wasnt possible, for reasons that werent specified. I was assured, however, that some efforts would be made to investigate further how this situation had occurred.
30/5/06
I took a day off work and waited at home between 9 AM and 9 PM in the hope of discussing this with your Mr. Brown. He never arrived. By this point, I was extremely angry and upset about the distress and inconvenience you had caused me, but refrained from telephoning you again, mainly because I had no confidence in your ability to resolve this or even respond appropriately. I doubt whether a telephone call at 9 PM would be answered anyway, despite your expectation of me being available to discuss this with your representative at this time.
2/6/06 (today)
I received a red letter dated 30/5/06 from S. C. Leatham-Locke LL.B threatening me with legal proceedings unless I paid you $192.55 US in full within 72 hours. I note that this is part of your company. I immediately telephoned your office again (twice), which resulted in the conversations noted in the second paragraph of this letter.
Please be aware that I believe the way you have handled this matter is unacceptable and unprofessional to the point of being negligent. Not only have you failed to respond to my communication on the occasions noted and caused me to take a day off work for no reason, but as far as I am aware no attempt has been made by you to contact Paypal (who are your client, after all) to find out whether or not you should be proceeding with your course of action. You have caused me considerable distress, inconvenience, time and trouble, not to mention the very real possibility of damage to both my credit rating and my reputation.
I now require you to respond appropriately to this situation without further delay. In order to do so, I insist that you carry out the following actions.
1) Act immediately to ensure that your company causes no damage to my credit rating or reputation.
2) Provide documentary evidence to my satisfaction that such damage has not occurred.
3) Make what I consider to be appropriate financial compensation for the distress, inconvenience, time and trouble caused to me by NCO Group.
Please note that unless this letter is responded to without delay, I will be pursuing this matter further with the Financial Ombudsman. My telephone numbers are at the top of this letter, which you will notice I am sending by recorded delivery.
Thanks for that link very much!
