THE SAGA OF ME Versus ORANGE PLC (cont.)

I filled in a form on the Internet last week to get a free credit score and to join the site for a month for free, after which it costs £5.99. "OK," I thought, "It costs nothing." I didn't expect much to be on there but I thought, "Its free and I can cancel any time in the next 30 days." So I filled it all in and went to look at my credit record.
Imagine my surprise when I found not just one, but two default notices, neither of which should have been there. One was for a firm I had never heard of called International Collections Group Limited and the other from my old 'friend' Orange. I was angry about Orange but at least I knew what it was. The other bugger was a complete mystery to me. I rang Credit Expert / Experian and they gave me a number to ring and a reference number for the supposed debt. I rang the number and got a BT automated voice telling me the number had changed and giving me a new number which I duly rang. A man answered and I asked about International Collections.

The man said, "It's not us. We are always getting these calls, the numbers must be very similar."
"No," I replied, " BT are giving this number out as the new one for International Collections. You'd better get on to them."

I then tried Google and it came up with The Motley Fool UK. I looked at the site and there was a letter from a chap asking about this same company - they had put something on his credit card and he couldn't get hold of them either. When I looked at the date it was 2005!!! My 'debt' was put on in 2007, it is now 2010 and no-one knows who these guys are.

So, I rang Credit Expert again and told them what it was all about- again - and the girl told me it was mail-order from the Littlewoods Group that International Collection were employed by. I was rather annoyed as I did once have a problem paying Littlewoods a few years ago but I had paid it off in instalments. I got out all my paperwork, glad that I tend to hoard this stuff and went through it. No, I owed nothing, it was definitely paid up. In fact, I now have another Littlewoods account which is in credit.

"It must be a mistake or a clerical error," I thought.

I rang Littlewoods and, after being passed back and forth through several of their offices, I found out that it wasn't Littlewoods as such but Marshall Ward, a subsidiary of theirs. After several explanations and other bullshit the guy finally found the record of my payment and cancelled the 'debt'. The chap promised me that by lunchtime tomorrow it would be gone. Great! One down and one to go. Orange PLC.

Anyone who read my blogs on the band and solo sites will know the saga of Orange, but for those who don't, I shall give a brief precis. in November of 2008 we decided to get a dongle from Orange and go online. We had finished an album and wanted to set about publicising it. Off we went to Barnstaple - 13 miles away and the nearest town with an Orange shop - and took out a contract. Before the contract was signed we discussed at length what we wanted to use it for and the proposed costs. We were very vehement about NOT wanting to pay more than the monthly amount as we were both on benefits and could not afford any unexpected bills. We were assured not once, but three times that for MySpace the contract we had would be fine. Okay.

The first bill was for the last three days of November 2009, when we had started the contract. It was a couple of pounds over the twenty we expected but we assumed this was the three days in November and advance payment for December 2009 so we paid it. In January we got our next bill.

ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE POUNDS AND EIGHTY-SEVEN PENCE!!!

I immediately rang Orange PLC and asked them what they were playing at. I spoke to several people as my call was passed around and, eventually, I was told that it definitely was a mistake and I would receive a new bill in a few days. We carried on using the Internet the next month waiting for the new revised bill. We got February's bill, expecting a revised amount for January to be included. January's bill was included alright!

THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN POUNDS AND FORTY-FOUR PENCE!!!

I phoned again and was told this time that I had to pay. NO CHANCE! I asked for an itemised bill and was told they couldn't do an itemised bill - a blatant lie, and one they stuck to. Then my service was cut off. I got back to them and was told it was all a mistake and my service was put back on. Over February, every couple of days I was cut off, I rang and the service was put back on. By this time I was too scared to use the damned dongle. I barely went onto MySpace except for half an hour a day to do my update and answer mail. They began to write to me.

"Give us the money or else." was their basic thread.

"I don't believe I owe it and want an itemised bill." was my reply each time.
"We don't do itemised bills." they insisted, "We'll take you to court."

This went on for all of February. I even took everything to the police station because I thought either someone was stealing my airtime or Orange were trying to rip me off. The desk sergeant took copies of everything. He said it looked very suspicious and he would pass it to the computer fraud squad in Exeter. Then I got the bill at the beginning of March 2009

SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN POUNDS AND FIFTY-THREE PENCE!!!

I cancelled my dongle account. Luckily, I had a rolling monthly account that could be cancelled with a month's notice. Letters went backwards and forwards and every month Orange sent me a new bill, each one for a slightly different amount. The law states that you have to query the amount and as long as the amount is in dispute it cannot be taken further or passed to a debt collector. Orange were being very sneaky; by changing the amount slightly each month they were hoping I wouldn't notice and not write and dispute it. This went on all year until October 2009. Finally, Orange had to agree that they were overcharging me per non-inclusive unit (I did have a written contract which plainly stated what I would be charged, but they were adamant that British law didn't apply to them!) and they took four hundred pounds off the bill. As a gesture of goodwill, I paid the three months rental I had signed for which came to sixty pounds. This left nearly two hundred still in dispute. Orange wrote to ask when I was going to pay the rest and I rang them and said I'd pay it as soon as I got an itemised bill, providing I had actually used that much. The man on the phone became quite nasty so I wrote and complained about him, too.

The next week I got a letter from a collections agency demanding the money! I went to see my solicitor about it and he said that referring me to a debt collection agency while the amount owed was still in dispute was not legal. I rang the collections agency and they took my details and said they would get back to me. They started sending emails, demanding the money. I emailed back telling them they were acting illegally. Back and forth the emails went. Eventually, the collections agency rang me and threatened me with taking possession of my personal belongings. I told them they were acting illegally yet again and the chap said, "Well, we will see what our doorstep collector says about that!" Having checked with my solicitor by telephone that hour, I said the doorstep collector would get nowhere unless they had been to court, won their case and had a court order which I was refusing to pay. The man was angry that I knew my rights and hung up. Later that day I got an email saying the account had been passed back to Orange. They obviously checked with their lawyers and found out I was right.

We never heard anything else from Orange PLC and so we thought it was over. Then I checked my credit score last week and found that the Orange guy who had passed it to the collections agency in the first place had also put me on Experian as a default and non-payment. This too is illegal!

I was told by Credit Expert to ring the Information Commission (01625 545745) which I did this afternoon. They want copies of everything and I hope they will kick Orange PLC's arse for me. I am also sending copies of everything to Ofcom so Orange can get it from two quarters. Wish me luck and watch this space!