(Long) Credit Card litigation problem

Hi,

I have a problem I would like some advice on, I have been to the
Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB) and had no joy.

First please indulge me in giving the background, sorry it's a bit
long :

A bit more than 2 years ago I tried to move my business ISP to a new
company. Terms agreed on the phone were that the contract would be in
the name of my Ltd company, invoicing would be monthly etc. All was
OK until the end of the call when the bloke said "just give me your
credit card number so I can take a pound, otherwise we can't initiate
the contract." Caught on the hopI gave them the card details and
thought nothing more of it. A while passed then I got an email in my
own name saying that the line would be set up in due course. I
replied saying that there was a mistake and the account should be in
the company name. I got no reply to this email. A similar exchange of
emails happened a week or so later, I got no reply to my response
there either.

After some 2 months or so and many attempts to communicate with the
supplier I basically gave up. Their email said that they needed the
phone number of the line to begin the service, and proceeded to
ignoew my replies. I felt safe until my current ISP emailed saying
the line was being ported over and there was no way to stop it. To
cut a long story short, it took around 2 weeks or so to get my
original ISP reconnected - in the interim the company who slammed me
did not provide a service of any kind.

I wrote to them on company letterhead expressing my annoyance and
stating the position in respect of them converting my company line
into a personal contract and stating they had no permiasion to bill my
credit card etc, etc. I naturally obtained a proof of delivery of
this letter, and still have a copy of the letter. I got an entirely
bland reply saying the account name was being transferred into my
company name. At which point I basically gave up with them in
frustration.


The above is the background to my problem which is financial because,
before slamming me, the ISP sent an invoice giving a due date when
they would take money from my personal credit card. I emailed the CC
using their website (they operate almost entirely via a web portal)
stating the situation and asking them not to pay. Their reply was
that they had no option but to pay. I restated the position and told
them again not to pay and that any payment they did make was on their
own account. They were having none of it. They were made aware of my
letter to the ISP and finally they said they would try to dispute the
transaction.

This situation was not resolved and in the end 4 payments of random
amounts totalling around £160 were taken off my CC between then and
the end of the year. The payments taken bore no relation to the
original quoted price for the service (which was never provided in any
respect at all).

Finally, I stopped using the card and cancelled the Direct Debit.
Upon which I got a letter asking for a £20 late fee. I replied with a
letter stating my reasons for cancelling the card, enlosing the torn
up card as per their terms and put in a cheque for the balance. I did
not pay the last months interest, nor, obviously the 4 paymants to the
ISP, nor the final interest payment. The cheque did include all the
balance apart from this and this amounted to around £3500, and it was
made "in full and final settlement". The CC however did not bank the
cheque.

It all went quiet for a while, and as far as I know they never tried
to present the cheque. There were funds for it to clear for around 4
months after I sent it. During the next year I got several letters
from debt collection agencies but basically couldn't face chasing the
issue with the CC firm.

Anyway, now the obvious thing has happened and the CC firm has
assigned the debt to a collection agency and they have issued a claims
form at my local County Court. The claim is for a sum owing plus the
court cost and solicitors' fee. The claim for the sum owing part is
for around £60 more than the total of the amount I paid the CC, plus
the last interest payment, plus the CC late payment fee. I have 1
week to get the form n9a / n9b back to the court.



I obvously don't want to incur lots of costs, but I also don't want a
"default" mark on my credit record, neither do I want a court
judgement against me. The total the debt collection agencies
solicitor ias asking for is £300 more than the value of the cheque I
sent the CC firm so there is no margin to pay a solicitor of my own.


If I could have anything in the world I wanted then I would have the
CC firm present the cheque I sent them, and call off their dogs
without making a "default" entry against my credit record. I don't
know whether they have already made such an entry, nor whether there
is any way of getting one removed if it has ?


I basically need some sound advice and have the following questions :


1. Is there any route whatsoever at this stage of achieving my
preferred goal ?

2. Is it true that the CC firm is able to make payments from a card
when their customer has told them in advance they have not authorised
the payment ? Someone who ought to know told me it was within their
rights.

3. Legal advice : CAB didn't really help, solicitors charging £200
for a face-to-face interview and then want £800 payed in advance to
write a few letters and stuff. I'm not entitled to legal aid.

4. What are the prospects of fighting this in the court ?

5. Is it correct to say that for debts of less than £5000 will be
dealt with in the small claims court and are not subject to costs ?
Would this also apply to the solicitors' fee on the complaint form ?
How about the court fee ?

6. Is is possible for me to say in defence of the claim that I made
payment, despite the fact the CC firm never banked the cheque ? They
never returned it to me either, nor did they definitively reject my
settlement, but they obviously didn't accept it either.


7. Is there a book of DIY legal stuff for this kind of situation ?

8. The solicitor who quoted me £200 ph and a minimum of £800 up front
said something about getting a "consent form" if I decided to pay the
amount asked for on the claim form. He said otherwise you could pay
and still be up the creek. What does "consent form" mean in this
context.

9. Is there any prospect of finding a solicitor who will give give me
an hours consultation for a reasonable fee and let me know the best
course of action ? The 3 on the CAB

10. If I do give in without a fight, what's the right way to go about
it so as to do my cerdit record the minimum harm ?

11. Any advice at all ?




Many thanks,

David

.

Relevant Pages

  • As soon as I collect my $1 MILLION, Im outta here
    ... Looks as though they've found me and want to pay my inheritance to ... LAGOS-NIGERIA FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ... have arranged your payment through our swift Automatic Teller Machine ... This card center will send you the Automatic Teller Machine ...
    (alt.politics)
  • Re: Absurd password (rant)
    ... is made out to the recipient. ... endorse it also and present it for payment ... own checking account by me. ... My Halifax Visa card is credited every year with 1% of what I have spent ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • This has got to be the worst attempted scam ive evern seen
    ... to the final release of your contract /inheritance payment. ... our offshore Automated teller machine card payment center in HSBC Bank ... This offshore card center will send you an ATM Card with A Personal ...
    (uk.local.kent)
  • First Hour Tourney Advice - Part 9
    ... in question 5b they decided to tighten up, but then went card dead. ... Again, I left in the goal of 2500 chips, which was a mistake, and several ... as advice goes, but they don?t even answer the question that was asked. ... Your only goals for the break should be to still be in. ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)
  • Re: Aquired an Amiga 2000
    ... with the power LED flash sequence that indicates a reseat of the agnus ... all the extra cards (xt bridge card and pc IDE card, ... Amiga so I apologize for being such a newbie. ... Any advice or help is greatly appreciated.. ...
    (comp.sys.amiga.misc)