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There
are some revealing comments about Oxford Servicing here: http://www.thisismoney.com/20020929/si53669.html
Check the first reader's letter article.
Alex Ayli... 6 January 2003
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Ah - the Oxford Servicing Club! I
too have experienced the same as soo many others it would seem. The most
recent episode in my saga is a letter with a STATEMENT identifying monies
I allegely owe for Sky TV. The leter states that if they don't hear from
me within 7 days, they assume that I accept the statement, and proceedings
against me will continue.
Well, I couldn't resist! I know I dont owe the money, so I called them
to say simply that Im not satisfied with the statement, but I havent ignored
them! Apparently i will see them in court. Bring it on! These allegations
are preposterous. I hope everyone keeps their coments coming to this site
though, just incase I need to use case studies in court!
Simon Robinson....9 January 2003
update on 12 March 2003:
Update to my Oxford Servicing situation. Since January, I've received
a couple more of their scare-mongering letters, but nothing has come of
it. The last time I spoke to them, I was going to be taken to court. That
was back in January. They seem to have lost interest in their pitiful
£18 or whatever it was. My advice to anyone is to just ignore any
letters you may receive.
It is clear this is some type of extortion, and Patricia Jones hit the
nail on the head. These guys have bought the alleged debt from SKY, this
has even been confirmed to me by SKY themselves. They are nothing more
than chancers. If you ignore them from the start, they will go away. Don't
be scared, they cannot hit you with a CCJ without the court contacting
you directly first.
Simon Robinson
------------------------------------------
Several months ago my digibox died. As the
contract was almost over and subscritions were becoming an unnecessary
expense we decided not to renew.
We were contacted by a Sky representative who said if we reconnected we
could have a free replacement box and 3 months viewing for free. In good
faith we accepted. However we have since recieved several bills totalling
approx. £120. We have contacted Sky Customer Services(surely a misnomer)
and ,with one or two exceptions, have been met with nothing short of arrogance.They
flatly deny such an offer was made and insist the bill is paid.When I
suggested it would be foolish to lose a customer and their goodwill over
£120 I was told the issue was whether I was prepared to lose Sky
tv over £120.
That is just one example of the appaling customer 'service' I have recieved.They
have shown absolutely no interest in resolving the issue.The 'team leader'
I spoke to refused to allow to speak to a manager insisting he was the
most senior person available.No alternative telephone number or e-mail
address was made available. I would be grateful for your input. Thank
you. Gillian Lightbown... 11 Jan 2003
--------------------------------------------
I am getting harrassed by Oxford (servicing)Ltd,
who seem to have bought an alleged debt from Sky T.V.They say that I owe
the sum of £38 and without any debate they demand to be paid or
they will proceed with court action. When I phone them they were only
concerned about settling the alleged sum. I informed them that I have
no intention of paying monies that I do not owe ,their reply was to ask
me if I knew the result of being refused credit from anyone in the future,
this implies that they have already found me guilty without any right
to put my case and evidence to a court of law. I find this is is a form
of blackmail that must be sanction by Sky or otherwise they would not
deal with such a thug of a company. Mr. T. McAlpine.....15 Jan 2003
-------------------------------------------
REF: Oxford Servicing Ltd.
"Well knock me over with a feather duster". It looks like the
trend continues.This morning 18/01/03 I had the pleasure of receiving
a green envelope with a Portsmouth postal mark on it....click
here for more details
I am sitting here totally stunned, I,m actually lost for words,what I
did not see with the Green Envelope in the post was a special offer from
SKY cutting half the price of a standard installation Addessed to my wife.
:O) No thankyou SKY. NEVER again. Ged Edwards.. 18 January 2003
---------------------------------------------
Ref : Mr Lopez
How would Mr Lopez feel If I sent out an unpaid Invoice to him and told
him to prove that he did not owe it.
How would he go about proving it if it was 6 yrs ago, I suppose Mr Lopez
is a good citizen and saves all his receipts and bills.!!
Ged Edwards.. 18 January 2003
---------------------------------------------
This grasping tactic by Sky TV is very typical
of them, they allways seem to try and ring out another
payment when you cancil, its happened to me and other people I know, that
is why I will have nothing more to do with them.
Mr. P. Vertigan...19 January 2003
---------------------------------------------
I too have had a letter claiming that I
owe sky £13 from 1998. I would suggest that a search
on the net for a company called EJI Plc shows what I think is happening.
I feel that somebody has done a course on debt collection with a company
called CSA and following a change in the law in around 1997 are using
this to target 'sales'. As all the debts seen to be low, unless you keep
extensive financial records, like I do cos I am self employed, you are
unable to prove you do not owe the money without resorting to expense
greater than the debt claim so it is cheaper to pay a debt you dont owe
rather than defend it!Unless like me you get your principles involved
and fight them.
I appreciate we are not all in a financial position to do this but if
enough do then it would be uneconomic to continue their business in this
way.As far as I know if you go to court to disprove their claim and you
win you can only claim travel expenses off them. does anybody know otherwise
cos a few big expenses claims may stop this scam in its tracks. Good luck
to us all I will let you know the final outcome, cheers, Gerry
Speechley....20 January 2003
---------------------------------------------
I cancelled my sky ac 5 weeks ago by telephone
and 2 weeks after cancelled my direct debit I still had a bill for £40
which I have paid today 21 1 003 it will be interesting to see if I get
another bill!!
B BRAY...20 January 2003
---------------------------------------------
I too have this morning recieved the green
envelope yellow card inside "give me a call Pat"
I found this site by searching for "oxford servicing" on the
net.
I cancelled my subscription in 1997 as I went to work overseas. I left
a house sitter in the house and when I returned 2 months later he said
sky had phoned about my canceling but hadn't turned it off. I am being
hounded for £60 even though they acknowledge reciept of my cancelation.
Until today I thought I was the only one. It looks like you cannot cancel
your subscription with this bloody company no matter what you do! Sean
Beesley...23 January 2003
--------------------------------------
I can't believe my eyes I myself received
a letter demanding 6.87
Threatening court action when I called them I was told that I was going
to Court unless I provided proof that this was paid when I advised that
after 5 Years where would I find that I was told tough luck Tania..
25 January 2003
--------------------------------------
Today I too received a threatening letter
from oxford servicing,
And after getting through to various foreign operators who kept hanging
up on me I was told to get my proof for my day in court.
I am gob smacked that they can demand £31.86, which dates back to
June 1997, 5.5 yrs ago how do these people get away with it I will be
going to the Office of fair-trading and the C.S.A. about these ridiculous
people.
Julie Ashby..25 January 2003
--------------------------------------
I received a 'hand written' green envelope
containing a yellow
card from PAT of Oxford Servicing Ltd, postmarked Portsmouth. Being
somewhat curious and suspicious (who has an extension number with 8 digits?)
I rang them - 01707 XXXXXX.
The lady I spoke to asked for my name, dob and address, as if they didn't
have them already. She then said in an automated voice that I owe Sky
TV £70+ from 1999.
I have never had a Sky Account in my name, although my ex-wife did. Before
our divorce she used my bank account to make the monthly payments, and
this is presumably how Oxford Servicing have obtained my details.
Two days later a letter from Sky TV addressed to my former wife appeared.
I
have therefore emailed Sky TV requesting they cease to send her
correspondence to me and to inform Oxford Servicing of the situation.
I await their response with baited breath.
K W Amers...26 January 2003
---------------------------------------
I too have been contacted by Oxford Servicing
re: £63.62 dating
to 1999. No correspondance from Sky and no explanation as to
why they didnt
take the amount owed from a direct debit I had set up. I have paid the
amount after having some threatening letters suggesting court action and
bailiffs !!! Seems im not the only one.
Colin McDonald...28 January 2003
---------------------------------------
Many thanks i recived a green envelope with a
yellow slip asking me to phone "pat" i tried but
no answer just a msg so typing in oxford servicing ltd the only clue on
the slip i found this page and so at least i know what its meant to relate
to. I too have not had sky for about 6yrs and as far as im aware owe them
nothing so i guess i await a followup letter from this company now
Debbi...1 February 2003
--------------------------------------
I am so glad I found this site ! I too
am being harrased by Oxford Servicing. Since Christmas last year I have
received several letters.They say that I owe £45.90 for an account
I had with SKY 5 years ago.I know that this bill was paid.They have threatened
me with legal action and have also said if I dont pay " a collector
may call to my home" I will not let them bully me.Yes do get in touch
with Trading standards, if there are enough complaints hopefully something
will get sorted.........Not a good advert for Sky is it!
Ellie Boxer.... 7 February 2003
-----------------------------------------
A letter has just been received by me today. It
was opened inadvertantly which is understandable as you sent it to my
house. it is in the name of mr D Batey. My house is quite big but I would
have noticed if he lived with me. He doesn't sing for your money. The
letter has the customer ref 10446649. I have taken a copy of this for
my records. If any bad debt is registered against my address I will take
legal action. If you check your records I have sky registered to this
address in my name and have had for over two years. Rang your telephone
number. the music's poor and I don't do the hold thing because it wasn't
as the recorded message said"in my interests" !
Sean... 14 February 2003
---------------------------------------
I have just recieved a give me a call signed Pat
letter, how do I get rid of them, and this fictious bill for
£125? Rob Willis...17 February 2003
---------------------------------------
Same Here! Contacted by Oxford Servicing
Ltd about a debt that they say I have had since 1993!
I don't understand why I have never heard of this debt before. I have
written and called them and asked for some evidence. Is this just some
sort of scam? How can we protect ourselves against this sort of thing?
It really is outrageous. Emma Wolstencroft.. 17 February 2003
--------------------------------------
I have received two threatening letters from Oxford
Software. I have told them to go ahead and sue and I will
then sue them for distress and defamation of character! Bully boy tactics
will not work with me. I do not owe Sky TV anything, the account was closed
in 1998.
Nora Murphy...17 February 2003
--------------------------------------
Now I really am getting wound up.
I too had the same "Yellow Card" from Oxford Servicing Ltd for
a Sky debt which was cleared in 1999. Luckily i still have the receipt
for this "debt" I paid (to a company called Scot Call). However,
when i sent faxed details of this receipt (no response back from OSL when
i stated specifically on my fax to them that i wanted confirmation that
they had received my responce) all i got was a letter back from OSL saying
that they don't see my receipt of the debt as proof of payment !!!
Today i have just received the letter from OSL saying that someone may
be coming round in a couple of days to collect the debt in full. I have
sent letters to OSL (again, surprise surprise no responce back from them)had
telephone calls with there "staff" promising me calls back which
never materialised. I have also asked to speak to or get Mr PG (the bloke
who is supposed to be sending me the letters) to get in contact with me
only to be told by the staff at OSL "He doesn't take or make any
telephone calls" and now i have to spend money on my solicitor sending
them letters.
To be honest at first i thought it was a complete misunderstanding and
that the matter would clear itself up after they had realised they were
making a mistake, however this clearly doesn't look to be the case.
I am also in the throws of buying my first house and if this isn't cleared
up soon i have a horrible feeling that the sale could fall through. But
i'm NOT going to give up as a matter of principle. Dan Hills...20
February 2003
-----------------------------------------
I too today recieved a letter on yellow note paper
and hand written to phone pat. If this is related to sky
tv , i cancelled my subscription over 5 years ago , and now with my new
partner i am subcribing again to sky. I tried to ring the number and got
put thou to a reception the extension number was 10472610 , if i owe sky
anything which I doubt , considering i have heard nothing about this ,
this company is certainly dealing underhand and from mailign lists , i
am sure. Stephen Archer...22 February 2003
-----------------------------------------
Your not alone on this count. I
think there are hundreds if not thousands of people who have fallen foul
of sky and their illegal cronies. I have called their bluff many a time
since 1997, after cancelling my subsription and giving them their one
month letter and cancellation fee. A month after they charge me again
and say i owe them another month for not giving them a full written cancellation
letter, of which i did.
Since then all manner of cronies have tried to coerce the poxy £25
out of me. but i flatly refused every time and if you know you dont owe
it do NOT pay it, the talk of courts is bullshit. their court summons
are fake and they sky are scaremogering hardworking honest people out
of their cash.
There are currently 1.5 million owners of SKy and that is a conservative
estimate. if you count the average amount of wise people who cancel their
50 channels of utter mindless crap, you could end up with I cant be sure,
maybe a couple of thousand people at least. meaning if the average debt
is £25, £50,000 is ilegally trying to be taken by Skys, kangaroo
courts, and cronies. I wonder if the national ombourdsman, and department
of fair trade has wind of this. As for the trauma of being bothered by
these arses, might just make me claim damages for harrassment.
Andrew Deeks... 24 February 2003
TOP OF List | Bottom of List
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I am being constantly inundated from Oxford Servicing
who are chasing the previous occupant of my house who left 5 years ago.
I work in London and I am constantly having to pay for redirected mail,
infuriating when it comes for someone else.
I have told Oxford Servicing Ltd a number of times, each phone
call costs me money, little that they care.
When I demanded to speak to a manager today, I was told to "ask nicely"
who do these people think they are?
The recent missive from them was aso a blue/green envelope with with a
yellow card asking for the previous occupant to give them a ring and signed
Pat, this is a new scam which debt collectors are trying out to get people
to respond to, it is highly unlikely that a Pat exists as despite the
fancy font it is a print out.I would also point out to everyone who is
having problems that they cannot take you to Court for amounts below £50,
the Court will not accept the case under the Civil Justice Rules.
The only option they have is to registar a default against your name and
address. Should they do this then you can have 'disputed' lodged against
it and you can have a notice of disassociation if it is for someone else.
It has to be said that I do not believe they are acting as debt collectors,
from the way they are behaving and carrying on chasing some pathetic amounts
I would guess that they have bought this debt which is why Sky is just
not interested! Patricia Jones....24 February 2003
-------------------------------------------
I too have just received a green envelope
with a note asking me to call Pat. Sky want £48.00 dating
back to 1997. They are nasty, unhelpful and downright rude. Hang in there
and don't give up - I don't intend to.
Sharon Bell ...25 March 2003
-------------------------------------------
I have been receiving calls from Oxford Servicing
Ltd. I have rung back trying to find out what they want.
I would not give them my address and I am glad that I didn't. I shall
be ignoring any future calls. I had two today asking to ring back quoting
two seperate numbers. I have never had Sky so I have no idea what they
are trying to claim for.Lisa Parke..25 March 2003
------------------------------------------
I have just read all of your comments and I must
say that I am impressed by your resilience. Faulty billing
is something that I can only hope to look forward to. I paid for installation
in November 2002 and so far (April 2003)I am still not connected. In February
they passed me over to Cobra installations LTD, an elusive sub-contractor
who only ever seem to pick the phoneup in order to take it off the hook.
I pray for the day when I will be able to complain about billing charges.Best
of luck to you all.
John Wild... 1 April 2003
-------------------------------------------
I received a letter from OSL a few months
back saying that I owed £77 to BT Cellnet. This came as a shock
to me as I have never had a mobile phone.
I e-mailed OSL to inform them of this and urged them to investigate the
matter and also to inform them that if I continued to be accused of owing
this debt, I will take legal action for defamation and harassment. I recieved
a reply saying that the matter will not be taken any further and the file
is now closed. RESULT...so I thought!!
I've started receiving phone calls from OSL insisting I pay this debt.
I told them that I've been told the matter is settled and they said they'll
call back in a few days! What shall I do? Kasar Ayub..2 April
2003
--------------------------------------------
I've just got a green letter with a yellow
card from Pat! Its 16/4/03 and the last time I had Sky
TV was pre 2000. I must admit to being a little confused as there is nothing
on it to suggest any debt. Only doing a search on the web enlightened
me to what is going on. Any suggestions because I feel like ignoring it.
In fact lets all go to court and find out if its legal! Reading more that
is written here it seems that Sky has pulled a fast one on Pat as no one
seems to owe the money, he he. Graham Steggles..16 April 2003
--------------------------------------------
I too have recieved letter from oxford servicing
ltd demanding payment of £548.35 for a BT Celnet
phone bill, I have never had a contract with BT, Celnet or O2. This is
the first letter I have recieved from oxford servicing ltd,prior to this
i have recieved letters from four other debt collection agencies, it would
appear if you ignore them they just keep selling the debt to other agencies.
Tom Attwood.. 26 April 2003
--------------------------------------------
I too have been a victim of Oxfords underhanded
tactics. Over five years ago I sent seven, yes seven letters
to Sky requesting them to cancel my account. The last four letters were
sent recorded delivery. I even send the ‘sky card’ in via
recorded delivery. I cancelled simply because I was moving to Germany
for a month or two with work. When I got back I found that Sky billed
me for an extra month & then wanted the following month’s payment
too. So it wasn’t enough that they stole money, they actually wanted
more, two months extra after giving them 30 days notification of cancellation
over three months ago.
Sky then phone my wife & gave her hell, why wont she pay etc, which
she explained that we cancelled, the Sky operative, then said to her ‘are
you stupid, if your still watching channels then you have to pay’
my wife explained that we gave them 30 days notification for cancellation
& sent in the card over 2 months ago.
So still no cancellation & they wanted payment, eventually my account
was closed & two years later Sky pursued claiming the £40 that
they alleged was owing to them. I challenged this & told them that
I would take them to a small claims court for my £40 for that they
stole the month earlier. They apologised & said that this matter is
closed.
Now low & behold Oxford Services are futilely attempting to take another
£42. I too had the green birthday card. Plus they constantly harassed
my wife, eventually she broke down in tears on the phone, (when I was
in work), as the Oxford Service rep explained how CCJ would destroy her
life!!!!
I will not be paying this ever!!! I would love a day in court with this
scum. I could pay this £40 a 1000’s time over, but I don’t
owe them nothing & in fact Sky owe me £42! Luckily my brother
is an excellent solicitor. I am currently writing to Sky regarding this
harassment & I am considering legal action. However I will not be
corresponding with Oxford Services, who have bought the Sky debt believe
it is a panacea for Tony Heatherton’s past business failures. I
hope we can all put a stop to this. All the best Phil
Phillip M Griffiths... 21 May 2003
-----------------------------------------------------
I too received a green envelope with
a card inside saying "Give me a call, signed Pat".Wich i did
She said that I owed sky money I told her to send me proof I have had
no proof just two threatening demands for £30 they say I owe them
from 1998. There must be something very wrong here.
Terry Murphy..21 May 2003
------------------------------------------------------
I received another letter from Oxford (Servicing)
Ltd trying to collect a £27.99 on behalf of Sky Digital. The
former occupants of our house had the same last name as ours. We have
pointed this out to them in the past. Today I tried contacting them all
day and the telephone line has been busy. This is starting to annoy me
in the extreme.
RAYMOND N. BROWN..21 May 2003
-----------------------------------
I too have recently received 2 letters from OSL
for £32 outstanding from 1997 after I terminated my Sky
subscription following poor service. After several letters to Sky they
accepted I owed nothing. Seven years later I have thrown away MOST of
my proof. OSL couldn't answer my query last week as their systems were
down! They promised to phone back but didn't. I will wait for them to
pay for court costs to issue a summons, produce my letter, then they lose
their money. Ian Parry...21 May 2003
-------------------------------------
I am another ex-customer going through the same
problem. Sky turned off my decoder and continued to bill
me. Oxford (servicing) are now trying to bully me into paying the bill,
which I do not owe. I have had a final demand and today received a final
final demand. I will see this to the small claims courts if needed and
find the whole issue very annoying. I believe the defendant can convert
any legal proceeding to a small claims court and ask for it to be held
at their local county court. I wonder if they know where Keighley is?
G Herbert ..21 May 2003
-------------------------------------
I received a rather blunt corre@ocggroup.com letter
from this company last week telling me that i owed sky
tv a grand total of £6.29 from july 1998.Although i know this is
not the case i rang your office and after being on hold for over half
an hour,i spoke to an advisor and reluctently proceeded to pay the amount
in full over the phone,and i believed this to be the end of the matter.i
have now received another letter telling me that i have not yet paid!
After looking you up on the internet i find that i am not the only one
with a complaint about your rather bogus company,and my solicitor informs
me that he has also had complaints about your company.I look forward to
getting the conformation from you that my mysterious debt has been paid
and we will not have to come into contact again. J.Howard...29
May 2003
-----------------------------------------
Oxford Servicing Ltd have excelled themselves with
me. After bullying me into settling a bill from BT/Cellnet
from three years ago that I am convinced I paid, they then proceeded to
debit my account twice for the money. Needless to say I have made numerous
phonecalls complaining and I still don't have my money back nearly two
weeks later. Dan Cook ... 3 June 2003
-----------------------------------------
I too am a victim of Oxford Servicing. It
seems to me debt collectors are passing around lists of old debts around.
I had a Box with Box Clever for ITV and returned it nearly two years ago.
Six months later they claimed £200 against me for the box. I had
to prove on three separate occasions that I had returned it ad they kept
'forgetting'. I have now, another 18 months later got Oxford Servcing
n my back for the same amount. I do not have the old paperwork. They do
not answer their phones from which they earn money on 0870. Surely Rogue
Traders or such like should be looking at these scammers
Andrew Bell...1 July 2003
---------------------------------------------
I have received a final demand from Oxford (Servicing)
Ltd. to the previous owner of the property I purchased
in August 1999. I have been unable to get through to the number on their
letter to explain this to them.
Steven Leaver .. 29 September 2003
---------------------------------------------
After around a year of threat letters from OSL,
I have today received a letter (unsigned) from Blatchfords Solicitors
advising me that they have been instructed to "consider" legal
action against me for the princely sum of 41. Has anyone actually had
any action taken against them by this load of jokers? Incidently, I run
a business and subscibe to a credit checking agency. I ran a check on
OSL and guess what - their credit rating is suspended......talk about
hypocritical. Ralph Hyslop ... 12 November 2003
----------------------------------------------
Reading all the complaints on this site assures
me that I am not alone in fighting sharks like SKY, Intrum
Justitia, Wescot, Oxford Servicing, and Blatchfords. I too have been harassed
by the above to pay 30.16 that I do not owe. I requested on many occasions
for them to show me the proof. All I get back is some dates and amounts
owed. Surely it is time for the authorities to get involved in this shambles.
I have been advised to take the matter to the police to bring criminal
charges against OSL and Blatchfords. Is the OFT aware of the magnitude
of the criminal activities?K. HANNA ... 12 November 2003
------------------------------------------------
I have had my first letter from Oxford Servicing
in March 2003, demanding 32. (outstanding debt to BT cellnet,1999).
The demands kept coming, now they have sent a letter saying that they
(OSL) have instructed Blatchfords Solicitors to take legal action against
me. Claim plus costs have come to 115. I rang the number supplied and
the operator took my details and said she would ring back, though she
HAS NOT.
There has never been monies outstanding and i have been in touch with
BT/Cellnet who say "that the account was closed in 2000 with a balance
of NIL".
Looks like a scam to imtimidate people in to paying up!!.
Alan Thomas .. 12 November 2003
-------------------------------------------------
I have also dealt with this company oxford
servicing and they are totally unprofessional, they are
playing with peoples money, i did a telephone card transaction and they
took 5 days to take the money out. i depise them, someone should do an
audit, just because they are debt collectors, does not instinclively mean
that they are horrible, THEY REALLY ARE CRAP!!
sabrina jones .. 14 November 2003
------------------------------------------------
I found this page after searching OSL. I have had
a similar experieance with Sky and up to now I thought it was only me.
The problem I have dates form 1998 and I've had letters
from Nelson Guest and Partners, Westcot Credit Services, Debt Enforcement
Agency, Scotcall Debt Collecting Agency, Intrum Justitia Consumer Collection
and of course, OSL/Blatchfords. I realised early on that it was best to
ignore all these stupid demands and this I do as a matter of policy.
I got involved in this saga because I originally paid for my father inlaws
Sky Service for him. After cancellation and the, what I now know to be
common, 'you owe us money' letter. I did enter into correspondence with
them [silly me]. I have also got in my file a letter from Sky dated 4th
January 2000 telling me of their mistake and what happened to the 'missing'
subscription.
As I said I did this search after the latest theatening letter to him
which was opened by his wife. My only hope now is that they will hurry
and take this matter before a court. I am confident that I can prove all
payments were made but in reality it won't matter cos he's been dead 5
years.
Mike Edland ... 18 November 2003
------------------------------------------------
Update on 26 January 2003.... I have reported
Oxford Services to Trading Standards and they have placed
their name on file. I notified Oxford Services that I had done so. All
went quiet for a while but now I have received a letter from Blatchfords
solicitors of South Harrow (no phone number or partners names on their
letter head) threatening me with court action.
Surprisingly enough I wasn't able to find them on the law society web
site, but if you search msn.com for Blatchfords you will find some interesting
information and reports about them ..... I'm not sure what to do next,
perhaps ignore them and wait for an official court letter. I'm delighted
to say I know I have no debt to Sky, I have never had a contract with
them, and even possess an email from sky confirming that... so the outcome
could be interesting.
K W Amers...2 Deember 2003
-----------------------------------------------
Did you know that Blatchfords do not actually
send the letters? My husband has been experiencing similar
problems with Oxford Services Ltd for the past 4 years on behalf of BT
Cellnet (now 02),however because my profession is a credit controller
I am aware of the sharp practices some Debt Collection Services operate.
Annually OSL threaten legal action to recover a debt not owed. Once a
period of six years has expired unless the debt has been actively pursued
it is not recoverable.
I and my husband have telephoned this company on many occasions. Two weeks
ago another letter was received claiming county court action if not paid
within seven days however this was not received until a week after the
expiry date! They also claimed that my husband would incur court costs
etc. I sent a lengthy e.mail to the number on the letter (thinking I was
writing to Blatchfords) in which I pointed out the alleged debt was too
small to incur court costs and they would not be recoverable. My closing
line was 'see you in court'. Two days ago we received another letter from
Blatchfords claiming they had been instructed to begin court proceedings
and again claiming we would incur costs.
At this point I realised there were no contact telephone numbers for Blatchfords
on the letterhead. I obtained numbers from Directory Enquiries and contacted
them direct. The secretary who answered referred my to OSL. I explained
that we were getting nowhere with them and needed to discuss the matter
with the solicitor handling the case. She told me that Blatchfords do
NOT send the letters. When I pointed out that their name was on the letterhead
and asked her to explain her statement she confirmed that these letters
are sent directly from OSL - they are not directly involved which is why
they couldn't discuss with me. I immediately realised that the e.mail
number on the letter belonged to OSL and not Blatchfords as I had been
led to believe.
I immediately sent a second e.mail to OSL complaining of this practice
and that unless they see fit to close the matter we will see them in court.
I also pointed out that I will complain to the Law Society with reference
to Blatchfords allowing them to use their letterheads and claim for solicitors
costs when there is in fact none. I have given them forty eight hours
to respond and if no reply is received we will take the matter as closed.
Lorraine Bingham ...4 December 2003
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I to have just recieved a demand for payment
from oxford servicing on behalf of sky. They say from
1997 for £55.98 they say is unpaid yet i have never had any correspondence
from sky. Oxford servicing when approached by phone were very arragant
and said if you cannot prove you have paid this you must pay it in full
or court action will commence they said it is my problem to prove i have
paid this but this is the first i have heard of it since leaving sky in
1997 five years ago. If someone owed me money I would`nt leave it five
years to contact them. Maybe we should club together .
Kevin higgins bolton.... 2 November 2002
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Folks, I am 'glad' to hear I am not the
only one experiencing problems with OSL/Sky. From reading
your comments I note that most of you have been able to make contact at
some point - I have not, despite continually telephoning the number provided.
If it is of any interest to anyone I have been advised to contact Trading
Standards in relation to this matter. Perhaps this may be the best approach
to solving the problem. ...
6 November 2002
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I too have received a demand for a so called
outstanding payment to SKY of £27.96 from Jan 1998.
As far as I am concerned I sorted this out with Sky at the time and received
no further communications until the demand from Oxford Servicing. I have
phoned them but get no help just saying have to pay or they will take
me to court. They now are threatening to send someone around to collect
the money as I have apparantly ignored their letters!!!! What can we do!!
Carole Hall Plymouth... 6 November 2002
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My email to SKY's agents copied to clik2complaints...click
here
Mr. B. Ahmed , 12 November 2002
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It is worrying to see that this appears to be a
trend in Sky's accounting system. I cancelled my subscription
back in May, knowing I had to give a full month's notice for unsubscribing.
I moved out of my flat mid-June (it was being sold by the landlord and
I moved out 2 days before the new tennants were due to move in).
Come July I had found that Sky had automatically deducted £65 from
me as a re-subscription fee, even though I had never requested it. After
unsuccessfully trying to reason with their customer service department
(SSSL) I am now being harassed by Robinson Way & Company Ltd, who
insist on calling me on my mobile about it.
I am taking legal advice from my solicitor on this matter and am prepared
to go to court for this. The suggestion of going to the Trading Standards
in relation to this sounds like a good idea to me!
Reza - London.. 21 November 2002
---------------------------------------
I have been receiving the same harrassment from
Oxford Servicing over an alleged debt of £32.56 from April 1998!
It is usually impossible to contact them by telephone and they
just do not want to listen to the facts.
I have written to Sky as they have wrongfully submitted this information
to Oxford, but as yet have no reply. Today I was informed by telephone
that Oxford will begin the legal process to recover this 'debt'!
There was an internal communication problem when I terminated my subscription
in 1998 following the purchase of a European Satelite system, but this
was corrected by customer services - or so I thought! and if it wasn't
why did they not contact me until these 'bully boys' were involved?
See correspondance from Oxford and my letter to Sky which remains unacknowledged
at www.m-j-d.co.uk/sky-tv-demand
Mike Dack...5 December 2002
update on 12 December 2002
I had some good news today - Gen Mangr
at Oxford Sevicing phoned & admitted there had been a mistake, confirmed
by Sky and the matter is dropped - (I have known this for over 2 months!
So anyone sure of their facts contact Sky - The address is on my previous
link)
Mike Dack...12 December 2002
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I've just joined the club of people receiving a
letter from Oxford Servicing Ltd, they say i owe £67.78
from a sky anolog service although i have not been with Sky since 1997,
I contacted Oxford Servicing and they gave some story about sky clearing
out old debts from when they changed from anolog to digital? I actually
tried to pay over the phone but they could not accept a visa card, only
a debit card, I thought that was a little suspicious, when i refused to
give a debit card they were insistant that i sent a cheque the very next
day!. Is this a legitimate company? can sky claim a debt 5 years old.
I've sent an e-mail to sky and i don't intent to pay this until it is
confirmed by them. Alan Haigh, 9 December 2002
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My self Mr Lopez works for oxford servicing ltd.
I feel that i will help in every way i can think possible to resolve
these problems but what can i do to help you if you can't provide us "oxford
servicing ltd" with proof that you don't owe this amount of money?
MR LOPEZ..9 December 2002 (email address supplied to the editor)
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I received the letter saying 'phone pat' from Oxford
Servicing yesterday morning, having had no prior correspondence from them.
I immediately thought this somewhat suspect, so searched the net
and came upon this site. I called them this afternoon and was informed
that I had an outstanding debt with BT Cellnet from 1999. Fortunately,
I still have all my documentation from the time and can prove that all
due payments were made.
It does seem that these people are 'chancers', insisting people owe money
and hoping they pay without putting up much of a fight. I intend to withold
my documents in the hope that they are stupid enough to take the claim
to a court, where I will make them look very silly indeed.
Anthony Cox...11 December 2002
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I got a letter from oxford servicing ltd saying i owe sky money £29.99
, I have never had sky tv in my life
...... they say i will have to contact oxford servicing ltd by phone
on 0870 742 7033 which costs £1.00 a minute...
John H.W..12 December 2002
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After sending a letter to Sky and to Oxford Servicing
requesting details about the alleged debt I received a nice christmas
present today (24/12) in the form of a letter from Oford Servicing
saying they had been instruced by their clients to stand down on my case
an it was now closed. To think I very nearly paid this without question,
i wonder how many more have. Alan Haigh...24 December 2002
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I received a letter from Oxford Servicing dated
16 12 2002 demanding £6, I responded by e-mail immediately.
I received a further letter dated 20 12 2002 stating that as I had not
responded they would take legal action. I received a letter today, 31
December, no date on letter,from Blatchfords,threatening to take me to
court.
What do I do now?
Greta Archer....31 December 2002
Newcastle upon Tyne
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