Is it legitimate?

[Gurkhaman]

In August 2003, I signed a 12 months agreement for a mobile with O2 . In July 2004, I made enquiries with O2, both by phone and visits to their local shop, about upgrading/updating and was given very misleading information. Being very unhappy with this, on 31 July 2004, I wrote to O2 to terminate my contract with them, clearly stating that this letter was a 30 days' notice to do so, as advised by one of their staff in the shop. And, also on 31 July 2004, I signed a new contract with Vodafone.

I received a letter from O2 dated 11 August 2004 expressing their regrets at the misleading information given to me, and as a "gesture of goodwill", they had added a credit of �16.00 to my next bill (an account, which I had terminated via written notice) . Subsequently, I kept receiving bills for a service that I had terminated and not used since 31 July 2004. I replied enclosing copies of my letter and letter from O2 dated 11 August 2004.

I have now received a letter from a debt collecting firm acting on behalf of O2 demanding payment of �13.17p. Assuming that this is a legitimate claim, I would have thought that it is O2 who owes me �2.83p, after deducting �13.17p from the �16.00 that they stated to have credited to my next bill, in their letter dated 11 August 2004.

I would very much appreciate any advice and tips on appropriately replying to the debt collection company. Thank you.

[Hippy]

There are a number of points in this story to clarify before anyone can give authoritative advice in this matter.

• Is your unilaterally giving 30 days notice of cancellation a provision of the original contract with O2?
• At the point when O2 stated that they would credit your account with the "gesture of good will" payment was the account at zero, or did you owe O2 anything? (If your 30 day notice of cancellation was lawful under the contract given on 31st July, then on August 11th when they dated this gesture to you the contract was still in force)
• During the 30 days from your cancelling the contract (given that it was lawful within the conditions to do so) did you either intentionally or by default accrue charges for service from O2?
• Has the Debt Collecting Firm added any charges of its own to what it claims you originally owed to O2?

 

If the 30 days notice of cancellation was within the contract conditions, then you have to be aware that the contract does not terminate from the date of stating your intention to do so, but 30 days (if that is the case) from either the notice of that cancellation or receipt of the notice to cancel, whichever, if any, is stated in the contract. Your contract with Vodafone is irrelevant to this matter.

The debt collection agency may not hold detailed explanations of how the alleged liability has arisen, although by a process called "factoring" they may have purchased the debt from O2. However, as your actions and the original contract were with O2 then you should ask the O2 Accounts Department for an explanation of the liability. You should also look for and retain all account statements, advices and demands for payment that O2 has sent you, especially those since the expiry of your 30 day cancellation. These will be vital evidence if you are to be able to challenge a mistake or false demand from O2.

.

[Gurkhaman]

Hippy > Thank you for your reply. To answer your questions, I shall try to do so as best as I can:

1. The 30 days notice was advice from O2 staff, not sure if it was a provision of the original contract.
2. I paid via direct debit and as far as I'm aware, my account was at zero, cancelled the direct debit at the end of August 2004 (12 months period)
3. I am not aware of accruing any further charges for the service from O2 because from 31 July 2004, I did not use the service at all.
4. The Debt Collecting Firm has not added any charges of its own. In the second paragraph of their letter, they state: "It is essential that all future payments, correspondences and disputes regarding this account be directed to our Central Recovery Office at the address below. In the event of dispute please ensure you provide full details and contact us at your earliest opportunity to allow time for appropriate resolution".

I hope this is helpful. Would appreciate further advice. Thank you.

[Hippy]

Did you cancel the Direct Debit following your letter to O2 in July? If you did this may well have left outstanding charges. You can't assume paying by DD you zeros your account at any given point without an O2 statement to demonstrate this. You said you entered a 12 month contract in August 2003, so this will have expired during August 2004. Your letter of July 31st 2004 saying you wished to cancel in 30 days time seems redundant.

 

Sending a letter cancelling at some time in the future, does not absolve you of charges until that period has elapsed. Even though you made no calls on the O2 system after sending your letter, O2 may have charged you for some service that, so far as it was concerned, it provided for you during this period. That you did not use the service is irrelevant. O2 may say that the charge is for a service provision. You may have cancelled a payment method to O2 before it was able to collect legitimate charges. That it is requesting payment suggests that the Direct Debit was cancelled.

 

/continued next due to 2000 char limit ...

[Hippy]

... form above/

 

The Debt Collection Agency want your money, as they have probably purchased the debt from O2, and will encourage you to negotiate with them to the exclusion of others concerned. Although in Law you have no contract with this agency this should not prevent you from asking for details of the alleged charges. At the same time contact O2 for their answer to the same question. If you still think the charge is wrong then you must take all your paperwork, including original contract signed by you and the O2 representative, the statements of account, including those sent to you after you served your notice of cancellation, and any other correspondence between you and O2 and you and the Debt Collection Agency to your local Citizens' Advice Bureau. Inform the Debt Collection Agency that you challenge the charge and are refusing to pay whilst seeking Legal advice. You will gain a "reasonable" delay in the proceedings to allow you to take advice. Unfortunately by using Answerbank, you cannot provide any proof as to why you think O2 should not have charged you this money, and alternatively why O2 think they should. Do as I suggest without delay and do not expect long-distance Internet advice to solve your dispute. I'm sorry to sound harsh, but I will make no more comments on this matter.

.

[Gurkhaman]

Hippy - Thanks again for your helpful reply.  It was not my intention to be able to solve my dispute with O2 through long-distance internet advice, it was merely to seek advice as to what action I need to take as this is the first time this has happened to me. I did not cancel my DD in July, I cancelled at the end of August 2004 after checking that August payment had been taken.  I shall do as you suggest and write to both O2 and the Debt Collection Firm asking for details of the alleged charge.  I shall also seek advice from the Citizens Advice Bureaux.  Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Gurkhaman.  

[Curious79]

Hello.  I had exactly the same problem with 02 last week.  They claimed i owed them �45 for a phone that i had terminated over 5 months ago.  They passed my debt onto a recovery agency and despite phoning them for THREE days and speaking to numerous people, i could not resolve the matter.  I ended up paying the money as I did not want a black list against my name.  Even after paying, they still sent me a letter saying I still owed them money.  I phoned them again and they amended their records.  I am going to wirite a very nasty letter to them.  It is interesting to hear that I am not the only one.  Maybe we should write to Watchdog or something.  There must be loads of people out there in the same boat.  Good luck with sorting this out.

[Gurkhaman]

Hello Vittel,

Sorry to hear that you have had trouble with O2 also.  I have heard of other people in similar situation, it seems that these companies like to employ 'bully-boy' tactics when very dissatisfied customer wish to terminate their account because they fail to provide good advice and service in the first place!!  I totally agree with you about writing to a Consumer Rights agency like Watchdog to highlight these companies bad practices, so that other people do not suffer.  If you would like to do this, I shall be happy to do it with you.  I can't see any private messaging facility here, so if you like, I would be happy to provide you with my contact details.  Please let me know. 

[THFCUK]

hey there Gurkhaman, did you watch Watchdog tonight O2 was on there, when i watched it i remembered about you message you posted i does not seem to me that you 2 are the only ones i would forward your complaints and stories to watchdog and let them help you.

[THFCUK]

i forgot to mention their web address is www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog

[Gurkhaman]

Hey THFCUK

Thank you.  Will do and if Vittel reads this, perhaps he would also like to do so.  Thanks again, much appreciated.

[Gurkhaman]

To all those who were kind enough to reply with helpful information/advice, this is to update on my situation.  I have to say that I have had a happy ending to my story.  After consulting with a solicitor friend, I contacted O2 who admitted that they had made a mistake, they charged me for October 2004 when I had written to them in July 2004 to cancel my account.  They are going to credit my account with the amount they alleged I owed them and clear my 'debt'.  I also contacted the Debt Collection Firm to inform them of this.  All in all, a happy bunny here.  I wish all the very best to anyone in a similar situation.