Hi,
Would be great to get some advice - I bought an Orange dongle in oct 2010, then deactivated the account in April 2011 as I moved into a house with broadband. In June 2011 I realised I was still being charged for the dongle, called up Orange and they apologised and refunded the money...and deactivated the account...or so I thought....
Fast forward to June 2013 and I start getting legal letters from a debt collector company called Buchanan Clarke and Wells telling me I owe orange 20 quid and they are chasing it on Orange's behalf. I was totally shocked as I haven't had an Orange account since 2011 - so had no idea what this debt might not be for.
Long story short, Orange didn't deactivate the account and they have agreed to waive the debt I owe them which arose because they failed to deactivate my account.
BUT Buchanan Clarke and Wells are still chasing me for a debt of £14.86 - which Orange say is BCW's admin fee.
Orange are refusing to pay that fee on my behalf and say they can't instruct BCW to stop chasing me for this debt. All they can do is waive the debt at their end (which is because of their mistake anyway) - but the BCW debt is still outstanding.
What they have suggested is that I pay the BCW debt - and then they will subsequently credit my account to the tune of £14.86 in Sept. They have said this is the only option available to resolve the issue and stop the threatening legal letters.
I am really livid about this and I wanted your advice ...
On principle I don't think I should have to pay the BCW debt at all - I think Orange should have to pay that fee because it was their mistake. They should have to pay BCW's admin fee because they were the ones who hired the debt collection company to come after me for this money. I know I won't be out of pocket because Orange will refund me the money i pay to BCW, but on principle, I think it's wrong that I should have to engage with BCW on this when it is Orange's mistake in the first place.
Do you think there is any way I can make a principled stand on this and not pay the admin fee? are there any actions I can take or is there any regulatory body I can flag this to?
Or should I just suck it up and grumblingly pay the £14.86?!
Cheers
Would be great to get some advice - I bought an Orange dongle in oct 2010, then deactivated the account in April 2011 as I moved into a house with broadband. In June 2011 I realised I was still being charged for the dongle, called up Orange and they apologised and refunded the money...and deactivated the account...or so I thought....
Fast forward to June 2013 and I start getting legal letters from a debt collector company called Buchanan Clarke and Wells telling me I owe orange 20 quid and they are chasing it on Orange's behalf. I was totally shocked as I haven't had an Orange account since 2011 - so had no idea what this debt might not be for.
Long story short, Orange didn't deactivate the account and they have agreed to waive the debt I owe them which arose because they failed to deactivate my account.
BUT Buchanan Clarke and Wells are still chasing me for a debt of £14.86 - which Orange say is BCW's admin fee.
Orange are refusing to pay that fee on my behalf and say they can't instruct BCW to stop chasing me for this debt. All they can do is waive the debt at their end (which is because of their mistake anyway) - but the BCW debt is still outstanding.
What they have suggested is that I pay the BCW debt - and then they will subsequently credit my account to the tune of £14.86 in Sept. They have said this is the only option available to resolve the issue and stop the threatening legal letters.
I am really livid about this and I wanted your advice ...
On principle I don't think I should have to pay the BCW debt at all - I think Orange should have to pay that fee because it was their mistake. They should have to pay BCW's admin fee because they were the ones who hired the debt collection company to come after me for this money. I know I won't be out of pocket because Orange will refund me the money i pay to BCW, but on principle, I think it's wrong that I should have to engage with BCW on this when it is Orange's mistake in the first place.
Do you think there is any way I can make a principled stand on this and not pay the admin fee? are there any actions I can take or is there any regulatory body I can flag this to?
Or should I just suck it up and grumblingly pay the £14.86?!
Cheers