Society & Culture Final Demand Notice

[daddy_4_eyes]

Just received a notice from debt collectors on behalf of Video Ezy. Apparently I have a $65 late fee which needs to be paid by today.

Here's the story.
I borrowed 4 weeklies and returned all 4 within the week. Next time I go to rent a movie they tell me one of those 4 weeklies is overdue, but I insist that I had already returned it. The dude working says they will check their stock to see if it slipped through their system. I never hear from them again in regards to the movie, and naturally I assume that they found the DVD after all. So I go on renting movies as per normal.

2 weeks ago (and 4 months after the above incident) while I'm about to check out a movie I am told that I have a $32 late fee because of that supposed overdue movie. I tell the girl working there the story and she says she'll get the store manager to give me a ring about the matter. A week passes and I hear nothing, so while returning the movies I enquire about the matter again. Same girl as before, says she will remind the manager again about the matter.

Yesterday, I get a letter from debt collectors informing me I now owe $65, and if its not paid within 7 days (i.e. today) they will launch legal proceedings against me and I will be liable for all court and legal costs.

wtf?

A company f*cks up, slaps a fine on me, and when I try to resolve it they instead ignore me and refer the matter to debt collectors.
Since when are businesses allowed to issue fabricated fines?

Do I fight this? Is it worth fighting? Is there a government department (ombudsman?) I can contact regarding it?

Its not the $65 (which is about 5 times what the DVD itself costs), its the principle. I have done nothing wrong and now am being threatened with fines and legal proceedings.

 

[hilly]

Yesterday, I get a letter from debt collectors informing me I now owe $65, and if its not paid within 7 days (i.e. today) they will launch legal proceedings against me and I will be liable for all court and legal costs.

I'm not a legal person but I thought that was for the court to decide (not the plaintiff).

I'd look for an ombudsman (consumer affairs?) and present your side of the story. Make sure you write every detail down before doing so.

 

[iffstarz]

Looks like you got ripped off in this situation.

More the reason why Torrents FTW!!

 

[nicky]

Do video stores have the power to give you a bad credit ratiing?

 

[Kerrby]

Do video stores have the power to give you a bad credit ratiing?

That's..... good.... nicky.

 

[PowerKat]

Send a letter or email with your story to both the store and the debt collector, and refuse to pay accordingly. I seriously doubt they'd proceed with any court action for $65, even if they 'expect' to get legal/court costs. It's rare for total costs to be awarded, even if you lose the case.

 

[JimDocker]

I can tell my cautionary tale.

I moved out of an apartment years ago and had my post and phone calls transferred for a period of 3 months while I changed them over. Sounds easy.

About 3 years later, I got a call from a debt collection agency who said I owed Telstra $75 ? I cannot remember the exact amount. I said that was bollocks and could he pass on the bill that I supposedly owed. No, he could not because Telstra had sold him my debt. Shove it up your arse then, I said.

He called again a week later. (Now, when he called, he called my work which I had been at for over 10 years at the same number. Telstra had that number and had passed it on to him, but never called me about this overdue bill.) He had contacted Telstra and asked for the details and they said it was for the cost of transferring my calls from house A to house B. I paid all of my phone bills before I left, so I asked if I could have an original copy of the bill.

I received a copy of the bill the next week. Telstra had sent it out to house A 4 months after I had left. They had my new address and phone number as I was with Telstra there too. I called them and asked why would you send a bill for transferring calls to the house that I had left. I obviously did not live there anymore. You had my new address. Why did you not send it there. Also, why did you refer this to a debt collector and give him my work number instead of calling me yourself?

They could give no rational explanation for any of it so I called the Telecommunications Ombudsman. They said, Telstra were clearly in the wrong, but it would cost me more money to fight it than it was worth.

I called Telstra, told them I would not be paying the bill as they were the ones at fault and that they should call off their hound.

About 6 months later, I went to Optus to get a mobile phone and applied for an account. It was rejected. They gave me a number to call regarding this and it was a credit agency that said I had a poor credit rating on account of this $75. It was now too late to do anything about it and I had to go for 3 years paying all my bills and it would be cleared.

Thankfully, by that stage, I was living with my girlfriend who is now my wife and she put everything in her name in the meantime.

It made life very difficult and I would suggest just paying it but making a point to the Manager at Video Ezy that you are going to let everybody that you know about the situation and that it could cost him in the long run.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Just called the collection agency. They offered to discount it to $57 Whoop dee doo.

I told them the story and they suggested two options:
1. Pay now and the account will be closed - But I'm $57 out of pocket for something I didn't even do.
2. Dispute it and the agency will refer the matter back to VideoEzy. However, if VideoEzy stick to their guns I will be liable for costs incurred by the debt collection agency in investigating the matter. Also, as its due by the end of today, they will still start legal proceedings against me to claim the amount while the investigation takes place.
If VideoEzy withdraw the claim, I won't be liable for any costs. But the debt collection agencies costs will be forwarded to VideoEzy instead.
So, do you reckon VideoEzy will withdraw their claim if it means they have to pay the bill?


Seriously, what is stopping businesses from sending out bogus bills to people? The risk of having a $65 fine explode to possibly thousands of dollars far outweighs actually paying the fine itself. Nobody in their right mind would fight this through the courts.

 

[HarryTiger]

Sign an affidavit saying you returned all 4 of them.

Try and get the date and time right, nearest you can.

It would be best if you returned them all at the same time as you are less likely to have forgotten one that way and the fact that 3 were returned confirms that the action was made.

Present that as your first official response.

They provide the return facility that you have to use and they have to incur responsbility for what happens to them after that. They admitted to you that it's possible it was returned but got lost in their system after that.

I think that would be the end of it.

 

[bresker]

Just ignore it

The debt collection company won't take you court for $65, and I believe it has to be above $90/100 to credit list you. But I doubt if hire fees come under credit blacklisting anyway.

Just brazen it out. Every time they phone you, pretend that you are the CEO of Blockbuster and this is your way of f**cking over a rival.

 

[PowerKat]

Just called the collection agency. They offered to discount it to $57 Whoop dee doo.

I told them the story and they suggested two options:
1. Pay now and the account will be closed - But I'm $57 out of pocket for something I didn't even do.
2. Dispute it and the agency will refer the matter back to VideoEzy. However, if VideoEzy stick to their guns I will be liable for costs incurred by the debt collection agency in investigating the matter. Also, as its due by the end of today, they will still start legal proceedings against me to claim the amount while the investigation takes place.
If VideoEzy withdraw the claim, I won't be liable for any costs. But the debt collection agencies costs will be forwarded to VideoEzy instead.
So, do you reckon VideoEzy will withdraw their claim if it means they have to pay the bill?


Seriously, what is stopping businesses from sending out bogus bills to people? The risk of having a $65 fine explode to possibly thousands of dollars far outweighs actually paying the fine itself. Nobody in their right mind would fight this through the courts.

I smell BS - They will say whatever they need to in order to get you to pay something because they get a % of whatever they manage to collect.

Very few agencies work on a fee basis and especially not when they are contracted by a reasonable sized business to collect their debt.

 

[bresker]

It might not be a contract, they may well have bought the debt for anything from 1 cent to 10 cents in the dollar.

That means if you owe $65, they buy the debt for $6 or $10.

Anything they get above that amount is a win. That's why they offered $57. That would be a golden win for them. They'd have made a 1000% increase on their investment.

 

[WALL-e]

Scare Tactics.

Refute the claims to the debt collector saying Video Eze ate at fault. The debt collector most likely already owns your debt after purchase from VE, unless they have an ongoing arrangement to split cost and recoveries, they'll not take you to court for that rubbish, it isn't worth it.

If they do take you to court or a tribunal, your story will likely end up with you having to pay for the video at worst. I can't imagine, after having you enquire to resolve it several times and receiving no responce, that you'll be incurred the expenses or their ignorance.

But if you believe $57 if good to get it off your plat do it, though that's how debt collectors make money.....sounds very scarey.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

I smell BS - They will say whatever they need to in order to get you to pay something because they get a % of whatever they manage to collect.

You were on the money.
Called up Video Ezy and spoke to a duty manager there. She said that the debt collection agency gets the information off their database automatically and there is no involvement whatsoever from the store itself.

She duly deleted my debt and said I can expect a letter from the debt collection agency notifying me that the notice has been withdrawn. No mention of anyone paying any debt collection agency fees.

She claimed that she was never notified of me wanting to speak to management, so I can only imagine there is a serious breakdown of communication within the store itself.

 

[Hawk Dork]

Did you ask for free video rental for compensation?

 

[bresker]

Based on her voice, do think she may have been hawt?

 

[St 07]

Based on her voice, do think she may have been hawt?

Pics or that post didn't happen.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Based on her voice, do think she may have been hawt?

When talking to her I had the impression she was early 30's, overweight but not obese, blond and probably one of those managers that desperately tries to be "one of the guys" but is actually seen as a push-over by her staff.

 

[Dawson]

When talking to her I had the impression she was early 30's, overweight but not obese, blond and probably one of those managers that desperately tries to be "one of the guys" but is actually seen as a push-over by her staff.

So, I'm in with a chance then?

 

[GPW1]

cant for this thread to be bumped in 6 months when daddy4eyes finds the dvd under his couch.

 

[Papa Juggs]

I've been pinged for returning the cases without discs in them before or with something else from my personal collection in the case.

Just sometimes you are running late and you think "I'm in a hurry and I hate late fees" so you neglect the quick check.

After that I check before I leave home and before I deposit the DVD cases at the store.

 

[PowerKat]

quickflix ftw

 

[red+black]

She claimed that she was never notified of me wanting to speak to management, so I can only imagine there is a serious breakdown of communication within the store itself.

Just playing devil's advocate for a second, you probably should have followed up with the manager at the time. Get their number, organise to meet them in person, rather than rely on a store clerk to follow a simple request (ie. pass a message on).

 

[Dont be a lemon]

Did you ask for free video rental for compensation?

Then when he returns them late... BAM new fine

 

[Plogs]

When talking to her I had the impression she was early 30's, overweight but not obese, blond and probably one of those managers that desperately tries to be "one of the guys" but is actually seen as a push-over by her staff.

Based on your description, i'd tap that.