My wife ordered some goods from a catalogue type of company some 3 years ago or so, and when the goods arrived some were faulty, and the rest were not even the same as in the brochure / leaflet. These goods were put in the post to be returned and my wife (partner as she was then) heard no more from this company, no statements or anything ever arrived and so we forgot all about it.
Some 18 months later, whilst living at another address, we received a letter from a debt collection agency demanding payment that was owed to this company. We called the agency up and they couldn't provide details as to what this debt was for, and when they checked my wifes details against what they had on record, they didn't even have her correct date of birth.
I then wrote to both the debt collection agency and the catalogue company explaining that any goods we had received had been returned and asking for a breakdown of what this supposed debt was for. The catalogue company never ever responded to our letter, and every so often the debt collection agency would send a letter stating that they were still trying to retrieve this information from the company. The last letter from this agency must have been received over a year ago and so we once again forgot about the subject.
Unfortunately we have just today received a letter from a different agency demanding payment for this supposed debt to this company.
I would just like any advice as what to do now, as this agency is chasing us for a debt of roughly £250, when the original goods that were returned would have had a value of certainly less than £100, and probably only £50-70.
Can the agency even demand payment when they cant even give an explanation as to what this supposed debt is for, and can they expect payment for goods that were returned?
The problem we face is that if this debt is for the goods we returned then we have no record of posting etc, as it took over a year for the first agency to start chasing this debt, and very few people would keep certificates of posting for that long.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Some 18 months later, whilst living at another address, we received a letter from a debt collection agency demanding payment that was owed to this company. We called the agency up and they couldn't provide details as to what this debt was for, and when they checked my wifes details against what they had on record, they didn't even have her correct date of birth.
I then wrote to both the debt collection agency and the catalogue company explaining that any goods we had received had been returned and asking for a breakdown of what this supposed debt was for. The catalogue company never ever responded to our letter, and every so often the debt collection agency would send a letter stating that they were still trying to retrieve this information from the company. The last letter from this agency must have been received over a year ago and so we once again forgot about the subject.
Unfortunately we have just today received a letter from a different agency demanding payment for this supposed debt to this company.
I would just like any advice as what to do now, as this agency is chasing us for a debt of roughly £250, when the original goods that were returned would have had a value of certainly less than £100, and probably only £50-70.
Can the agency even demand payment when they cant even give an explanation as to what this supposed debt is for, and can they expect payment for goods that were returned?
The problem we face is that if this debt is for the goods we returned then we have no record of posting etc, as it took over a year for the first agency to start chasing this debt, and very few people would keep certificates of posting for that long.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
