Can a company do this

oholly121

Hi everyone

Looking for advice and opinions on this

Recently I was with a certain well known tv and broadband provider for 2 years never missed a payment always on time and recently decided to move to another provider as they had a better package

Gave my notice to leave returned equipment and when my final bill came I quiried it as I thought it was quite excessive as I only had the equipment for two weeks before returning them

I was told that a manger would call me back in ten days after reviewing my complaint and question fast forward a weeks later no call from a mananger but instead a debt collector letter insisting on immediate payment of monies owed

Phoned up straight away and paid the bill opened up a complaint about the lack of phone call and follow up and releasing my informations to debt collector pre maturely

Now given the fact that I did not state that I was not paying the bill but questioning it legally speaking I don’t think under the data protections act that they can while the bill was being questioned escaclte this to a debt collector ?

What’s your opinion?

davo10

This is a little hard to follow, whose equipment did you only have for 2 weeks? Did you follow the instruction in t&cs when cancelling service?

oholly121

davo10 wrote: »

This is a little hard to follow, whose equipment did you only have for 2 weeks? Did you follow the instruction in t&cs when cancelling service?

Sorry I only had the service providers equipment for 2 weeks and yes I gave my months notice as per TandCs

NinjaTruncs

Why did they give you new equipment? Last time I got new equipment from my tv/BB provider it resulted in a new 12 month contract.

oholly121

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

Why did they give you new equipment? Last time I got new equipment from my tv/BB provider it resulted in a new 12 month contract.

No they never gave me new equipment I had the same equipment for the whole 2 years but as per contract when cancelling service you have to return the equipment which I did

piplip87

There's no data protection aspect to this. They can send your info to collectors once they see it as a default.

I would check if they received the equipment.

I would however request a full brake down of the charges and a copy of the original contract.

Did your price go up or down in the last year ? Sometimes a rate change mid contract can enable customers to walk away but they can also have "acceptance of rate change will kick in a new contract".

Did you make any changes to you package during the past year ? That would also kick in a new contract.

oholly121

piplip87 wrote: »

There's no data protection aspect to this. They can send your info to collectors once they see it as a default.

I would check if they received the equipment.

I would however request a full brake down of the charges and a copy of the original contract.

Did your price go up or down in the last year ? Sometimes a rate change mid contract can enable customers to walk away but they can also have "acceptance of rate change will kick in a new contract".

Did you make any changes to you package during the past year ? That would also kick in a new contract.

I don’t believe they can automatically release your information to a debt collector if your disputing your bill that’s the crux of my question

I was waiting for them to get back to me with their findings on my escaclation they never did blandness them a debt collector letter arrives

So I’m essance where they not wrong in not coming back to me as promised before sending my alleged debt to a collector and thus outside the data protection act?

They did receive the equipment and I was well out of contract when I cancelled

Sleeper12

oholly121 wrote:

Sorry I only had the service providers equipment for 2 weeks and yes I gave my months notice as per TandCs

oholly121 wrote:

No they never gave me new equipment I had the same equipment for the whole 2 years but as per contract when cancelling service you have to return the equipment which I did

I don't follow. Did you have the equipment 2 weeks or 2 years?

oholly121

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I don't follow. Did you have the equipment 2 weeks or 2 years?

I had the equipment for the full 2 years I returned the equipment two weeks after cancellation of my service

Sleeper12

oholly121 wrote:

I had the equipment for the full 2 years I returned the equipment two weeks after cancellation of my service

Sorry. That makes sense now

piplip87

oholly121 wrote: »

I don’t believe they can automatically release your information to a debt collector if your disputing your bill that’s the crux of my question

I was waiting for them to get back to me with their findings on my escaclation they never did blandness them a debt collector letter arrives

So I’m essance where they not wrong in not coming back to me as promised before sending my alleged debt to a collector and thus outside the data protection act?

They did receive the equipment and I was well out of contract when I cancelled

No I wouldn't say there is case with DPA here. As long as they company and collectors have a data protection contract and your data was only used to collect the balance.

If you read the contract it usually has a bit about debt collectors in it or third parties who work for the providers. Essentially the collection agency is working for the provider.

No company would send details to a collection agency unless they where 110% sure it was compliant as the fines are just too much.

oholly121

piplip87 wrote: »

No I wouldn't say there is case with DPA here. As long as they company and collectors have a data protection contract and your data was only used to collect the balance.

If you read the contract it usually has a bit about debt collectors in it or third parties who work for the providers. Essentially the collection agency is working for the provider.

No company would send details to a collection agency unless they where 110% sure it was compliant as the fines are just too much.

But that’s my point:

As my final bill was in dispute and I received no correspondence as promised about my dispute other than immediate escalation to a debt collector

Thus have they handled my data inappropriately in that instead of coming back to me with their own findings they didn’t and sent my details to their debt collector without giving me an opportunity or chance to make good the final bill instead of immediate escalation?

Cerco

Review the terms and conditions of your contract.
IMHO :You are moving to another provider. The current provider sent you a bill and you failed to pay it. They are entitled to pass it over to debt collectors. From their perspective you are cancelling the service and refusing to pay the outstanding balance.
The fact you disputed the amount does not entitle you to non-payment. You can dispute the amount both before and after payment.
Their failure to call back is appaling customer service but nothing else.
The data protection issue is moot.