HMO Debt Collectors and my 48 hours of pure Hell (How has the Credit Crunch affected you?)

Member Name: fairdonion

Product:	How has the Credit Crunch affected you?
Date:	27/03/09 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: none at all until someone puts the law right

Disadvantages: Frightening, really really frightening.

Because of the Credit Crunch a lot of firms are looking up old debts and getting debt collectors to get the money.

This has happened to me and it has been a really really really bad 48 hours.

It began when I had a card sent to me saying that there was a parcel waiting my collection as it could not be delivered. Would I please telephone them so they could deliver it.

I thought that this although not the post office but some kind of delivery firm and to be honest got quite excited as I thought that having done a few competitions that I had won something.

I rang the number. Before they could tell me anything they wanted my home and mobile telephone and my full address. Like a fool I told them. I was to bitterly regret this. I then asked them what the parcel was and when would it be delivered. "It is a pack" where from "London" can you tell me who from "mutter mutter" pardon? and after trying to get her to repeat it and spell it I finally got it because I would not give up. HMO.

I thought I would look them up on the internet to see what they did to get a clue of what I had won. That it is when I got a big shock. A debt collection agency and if you look it up on here you will see that they have a real bad attitude and people were almost suicidal with harassement from them and debt going higher and higher. Now I was frightened.

I rang back and told the woman to please cross my telephone number off her system little realising that this was HMO another department.

Then it started. On the mobile phone calling every hour. It turned out that in 2005 I had a 3 phone and not paid the bill and owed £159 well actually it was in my husbands name and yes he still has a 3 phone and monthly calls so you would think that if money was owing they would not let him have another but thinking back I knew I did owe them.

So I spoke to them to ask if I could pay £10 monthly. No. I have just had a huge car bill and said well I can go up to £15 and pay that for 3 months and then more the months after that. No. £18 we want. okay. Right we want £42 now plus the £18. I didnt have it. They then said if I didnt have it by 3pm it would cost me £500 and tomorrow it would be £800 then they rang off.

In the meantime I rang 3 and asked if I could pay them monthly but they said it had gone to a debt collector.

Then I kept getting calls again have I the money.

I was frightened and of course the notes from the internet kept coming to my head.

Anyway my husband said we will just have to pay it and cut down and manage for the next 5 weeks and it would be worth it to stop them hounding us.

Before I rang them to pay I rang our bank to see if they could make sure they only took out the £159 no more as I had heard they do. The bank was great and told me to only have so much in that bank and swop it to another till then - luckily I have an account with them and a savings one. She also told me that on Watch dog they had scams like this going and to ring 3 to make sure I owed it.

I range HMO and paid it and he immediately said we have another here if you want to pay that. When I asked what the phone number was he could not tell me and said oooo awl right then bye.

I am going to be very short this month but to get those people off my back is great.

Please if you have a card saying about a parcel do not give them your telephone number as they really are nasty people.

Oh yes after I paid it I telephoned 3 and told them what had been said to me and they said no you would not have had to pay £500 or £800 when I told them yes they did say they would look on the internet about them so perhaps 3 will stop using them. I dont know.

The Law cannot at the moment do much about it which is so wrong.

Yes I know I owed it but should I have been threatened. No, no way

Thank you for reading and I hope no one else has to suffer at their hands as many might not have been able to pay it in one go as we finally did.

Summary: Get the law changed to close HMO down