Letter from Debt Collection Agency

[Saldawop]

I subscribed to a magazine for my daughter.She got bored, I cancelled the Direct Debit.No further magazines were sent.

They continued to send a few bill, but I must admit I didnt even open them.
Yesterday I received a letter from CCS Collect,a debt collection agency,telling me I owed £24.86.

Now, Ive never had any dealings with one of these comapnies before, but I have, of course, heard negative things about such firms.Am I safe to pay online using my card ,or should I send a cheque?I dont know why, but I am worried about such a firm having my CC details.Should I be?

[ukdan]

just send a cheque if your worried about using your card. Send it sooner rather than later though otherwise their costs will mount up and you could end up paying hundreds.

[marshall_nathan]

Sound strange who somebody want to hire DC Agency for just over 26 quid.But lke the previous post say is better send a check to this scum company

[eric pisch]

Plus they will have to pay someone to go and bank it which will eat into there profit

[marshall_nathan]

Sorry over 24 quid

[Saldawop]

I must say, I had cancelled the DD previously. Just recieved a letter telling me if I wanted to continue receiving the mag I would need to update payment method. I did so,as my daughter insisted she still wanted to collect the mag.There was no mention of owing them anything so when I decided to cancel again, I thought thats all I needed to do.
Having read the magazine website yesterday, I see I am supposed to give 28 days notice in case any other mags were sent out(none were , but how do I prove that anyway).

If I owe them the money then I cant have any complaint I guess,and I dont want my credit rating affected for the sake of £25...I guess thats what they are counting on

[marshall_nathan]

Thats suond another dirty trick for make you buy this magazine.My idea:stop with them and buy the mag in the shop.Aniway kids change idea all the time,my son is changing 4 diff mag so is better buy in the shop for me

[bosque]

I had a similar letter from a debt collector over a £9 newspaper bill from the local newsagent, which I did not recognise. I rang the debt collector to query the bill and was told they would write the debt off. When I asked what the bill was actually for, I was told "If you complain we'll make you pay the bill."

[contraste]

Usually the debt collection agency has 'bought' your debt from the original company (along with many others) at a very low price.

Many companies see no financial value in trying to recover small amounts and they sell them on.

The letter from the debt collection company should have full details of your alleged debt and show their own fee for collecting it. If it does not and/or you do not believe you owe any money, you should send a registered letter to them that queries the alleged debt, asks for full details of the debt and gives them 14 days to reply.

This puts the onus back on them to prove the alleged debt.

[dejongj]

Cancelling a DD is not the same as cancelling a subscription...You really need to cancel a subscription before cancelling a DD for anything....

[themilkman23]

Your credit rating will already be affected.

I found this out the hard way recently. I cancelled my contract with Orange at the end of the 18 months and was told by them to cancel the direct debit. 4 months later I had a letter from a debt collection agency saying I owed Orange £16 and if I didn't pay within 7 days it would go further. So I rang and paid.

A month later my partner and I went to get a mortgage thinking there wouldn't be a problem as I had a mortgage for 4 years on my own previously and an impeccable credit rating since i was 18 years old, but because Orange had stated that my account with them was in arrears and I had missed 4 months of payments the actual rating was classed as "Very Poor". So many mortgage companies turned us down. I had to print loads of stuff off as proof and contact many companies to prove that I am indeed a good lender.

So because I didn't pay £16 that I didn't know I owed, I get classified the same as someone who is bankrupt!

[neilios]

I have a collection agency after me at the moment for ebay fees ,long irritating story ,changed my email address ,all payment reminders went to the defunct email ,next thing a collection letter pops through the door .

Court threats blah,blah,paid my ebay fee's ,but didn't pay the collectors fee of £8 ,i refuse to pay the fee ,i have had phone calls ,but told them i'll see them in court for harrasment if they continue to ring my house ,during non working hrs .

It hasn't effected my rating one iota ,do not give your details over the phone ,pay by cheque if you want ,but make sure you actually owe the damn money first .

[themilkman23]

Originally Posted by neilios

I have a collection agency after me at the moment for ebay fees ,long irritating story ,changed my email address ,all payment reminders went to the defunct email ,next thing a collection letter pops through the door .

Court threats blah,blah,paid my ebay fee's ,but didn't pay the collectors fee of £8 ,i refuse to pay the fee ,i have had phone calls ,but told them i'll see them in court for harrasment if they continue to ring my house ,during non working hrs .

It hasn't effected my rating one iota ,do not give your details over the phone ,pay by cheque if you want ,but make sure you actually owe the damn money first .

Yours wouldn't have affected your credit rating as it wasn't a credit agreement. Actually, thinking about it, I don't know if the OP's problem would be reflected on his credit report as I don't know whether it's a credit agreement either.

Best advice I can give to the OP is to take advantage of the one month free on creditexpert.co.uk, if it's showing up on there then pay asap as it will be affecting your credit rating, if it's not showing on there - Fight them all the way

[neilios]

Originally Posted by themilkman23

Yours wouldn't have affected your credit rating as it wasn't a credit agreement. Actually, thinking about it, I don't know if the OP's problem would be reflected on his credit report as I don't know whether it's a credit agreement either.

Best advice I can give to the OP is to take advantage of the one month free on creditexpert.co.uk, if it's showing up on there then pay asap as it will be affecting your credit rating, if it's not showing on there - Fight them all the way

Ah, your right ,just so bloody annoying when they pop through the door then some cocky so and so starts ringing up giving it the big one down the phone.

[Saldawop]

I used the experian site to check my record.There is no mention of the sub, and my rating is excellent so no worries there . I paid the money via internet banking.I assume that will be the end of the matter.