Vodafone has sent Debtworks after me

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Rusterstuster

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#2923342 6-Jun-2022 20:40

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@Rusterstuster email Jason Paris and he will act on it

jason(dot)paris(@)vodafone(dot)com

Will absolutely give that a go, thanks for the email address.

xpd

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#2923344 6-Jun-2022 20:44

Rusterstuster:

Tomorrow I will make sure to contact debtworks via email and let them clearly know that I am disputing the debt.

I will also look into the process of making a claim at the disputes tribunal. "If the debt is $30,000 or less, you can take a claim to the Disputes Tribunal, where you ask them to make an order that you don’t owe the disputed amount (see the chapter “The Disputes Tribunal”)." - from the community law website

Getting information out of vodafone will be an uphill struggle for sure. Would I have any luck going into a store to talk face to face with someone?

I may actually look into emailing fair go, any help would be appreciated.

Email them, send copies to other email addresses you have so you have multiple copies of the email headers in the rare case where they say it was never sent or you faked the date or anything.

Don't bother with disputes until you know what its about.

Going into a store to talk to someone probably wont get you anywhere, they can only see your current account status I believe.

Again, don't bother with Fair Go until you've given the debt co a chance to reply etc. I'd suspect FG get flooded with such cases and when they go back to the sender, its already been sorted.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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networkn

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#2923346 6-Jun-2022 20:53

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@Rusterstuster email Jason Paris and he will act on it

jason(dot)paris(@)vodafone(dot)com

Be polite and be clear on facts do not go in guns blazing

This. Whilst I can totally understand the shock and concern around this, it will be resolvable. Be calm and provide any information requested and I am sure they will sort it out.

Ideally, you'd never end up in this situation, but stuff happens.

Rusterstuster

9 posts

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#2923348 6-Jun-2022 21:01

networkn:

Linux:

@Rusterstuster email Jason Paris and he will act on it

jason(dot)paris(@)vodafone(dot)com

Be polite and be clear on facts do not go in guns blazing

This. Whilst I can totally understand the shock and concern around this, it will be resolvable. Be calm and provide any information requested and I am sure they will sort it out.

Ideally, you'd never end up in this situation, but stuff happens.

I am more level headed now thankfully. Had time to cool off and accept the situation for what it is.

Thank you both very much for the advice.

richms

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#2923350 6-Jun-2022 21:11

A friend advised me to send a notice that you are disputing the debt to them by signature required courier, and video you putting the letter in the courier bag and show the tracking number clearly because they will just deny receipts of things, and if you have tracking deny what was in it. Just like an aliexpress parcel arriving but in reverse.

Richard rich.ms

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#2923359 6-Jun-2022 22:14

Linux:
@Rusterstuster email Jason Paris and he will act on it

jason(dot)paris(@)vodafone(dot)com

Be polite and be clear on facts do not go in guns blazing

Thought they had all switched to Vodafone.nz - perhaps try both in case he no longer checks the old one.

I've heard he personally responds to each and every customer email - which is impressive in this day and age, but equally sad that he has to..

I'm guessing the billing specialist was only looking at some newer billing system and not one of the previous ones from prior acquisitions that still appear to be live and kicking.

DeroyBoy

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#2923360 6-Jun-2022 22:18

I used to work in collections for a telco (not Vodafone) and used to investigate disputes on referred and sold debts received via the agencies and where appropriate recall or buy-back debts. I used to deal with a number of debt collections agencies and in my experience Debtworks are one of the more professional agencies to deal with.

I would recommend, as others have already that you call or email Debtworks to dispute the debt and request proof of debt. A debt collections agency can not just say they have no idea what the debt is for and leave it to you to figure it out. If they want to collect on the debt then they need to be able to prove it is valid.

There is not much more you can do until you know what it is for. Collections actions will be put on hold while a dispute is investigated. Once you know the details you can raise further dispute on the actual charges, file with TDR/disputes tribunal, or file a fraud claim depending on the specifics of the situation.

I would recommend against being abusive and rambling about threats of legal action. People who did that used to make me laugh because it had no influence on the outcome, all disputes that contained the necessary information were fully investigated. When disputing a debt it is important to clearly state the basis of the dispute. If you just scream it is disputed without stating an actual reason why it is disputed (people do this) there is nothing they can investigate and therefore nothing they can do to help you.

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richms

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#2923366 6-Jun-2022 22:47

Also for the amount it is, there is a good chance its a phone that was sold on finance at a store with your name on it.

Anything show on your credit record at all for unexplained checks of it? Doesn't take much information to satisfy most places application processes and most of it is either publicly available or else very easy to come across.

These phones then get sold off on facebook marketplace or trademe as "unwanted gift" or "work gave me a phone so I dont need this one I just bought right before work gave me a phone" - by the time the account goes into arrears enough, sent to collectors, debt disputed, and the IEMI blocked (if they will even still do that because some whiners were unhappy that it happened) then the profiles are long gone and was probably a fake one or stolen one anyway.

Richard rich.ms

Rusterstuster

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2923697 7-Jun-2022 18:32

UPDATE!

Looks like I'm the victim of identity theft.

My best course of action so far has been filing a complaint with Telecommunications Dispute Resolution. They gave vodafone a kick in the butt and got them to investigate the issue. I received an email from vodafone today stating that someone had opened an account in my name earlier this year..

I have filed a police report and Debtworks is now aware of the situation and looking into it.

A good outcome to this looks highly likely now. Thanks for all the support!

DjShadow

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#2923699 7-Jun-2022 18:35

Rusterstuster:

UPDATE!

Looks like I'm the victim of identity theft.

My best course of action so far has been filing a complaint with Telecommunications Dispute Resolution. They gave vodafone a kick in the butt and got them to investigate the issue. I received an email from vodafone today stating that someone had opened an account in my name earlier this year..

I have filed a police report and Debtworks is now aware of the situation and looking into it.

A good outcome to this looks highly likely now. Thanks for all the support!

I strongly recommend getting a copy of your credit files from all agencies in case there are more surprises out there with other companies

Rusterstuster

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#2923700 7-Jun-2022 18:39

Yes I will do that. Hopefully this is just a one off thing.

Delorean

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#2923707 7-Jun-2022 19:11

@Rusterstuster

Get your Drivers License cancelled immediately, as this is the most common ID used to validate with the government to open accounts with any credit provider.

I worked in the Banking / Finance industry, I designed the automation systems that the credit providers use for ID, and 9/10 it was the DL number that was copied.

We always argued the DL shouldn't be used for those purposes.

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Rusterstuster

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#2923711 7-Jun-2022 19:34

Delorean:

@Rusterstuster

Get your Drivers License cancelled immediately, as this is the most common ID used to validate with the government to open accounts with any credit provider.

I worked in the Banking / Finance industry, I designed the automation systems that the credit providers use for ID, and 9/10 it was the DL number that was copied.

We always argued the DL shouldn't be used for those purposes.

Well... I guess an updated photo would be nice

raytaylor

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#2925242 11-Jun-2022 13:42

xpd:

Once a debt has been passed onto a collection agency, the original company pretty much has nothing to do with it after that. So asking Vodafone wont get you anywhere for now.

This isnt usually true.

There are typically two types of debt recovery

1) Most common is where a company acts on behalf of a creditor to collect money owed by a debtor. The collections company usually charges a fee and percentage of money recovered.

2) A debt collector my "purchase" the debt off a creditor. Thats where the debt collector will buy the debt typically for cents on the dollar then go and chase it themselves. In this situation the original creditor will relinquish any relationship with the debtor but because of the privacy compliance implications this can be a risky move for a creditor.

To clarify what I mean by the privacy compliance, Vodafone may have violated the human rights act by sharing a customers private and confidential contact information with a third party if the debt didnt actually exist. They would be very interested in resolving this matter before it got to court as previous cases have not gone well for the telco.

Taylor v Orcon is a typical example (no relation to myself)

Although its really good to see some sort of a solution.
I myself have been a victim of identity theft and its not a nice situation to be in. Because of that, I watch my credit report like a hawk. Creditsimple.co.nz is a really easy way to watch anything through the Illion database and i typically check it monthly. You can also request a lock to be put on the file or a file note to state you have been an identity theft victim and require xyz forms of verification before any further credit applications are approved.

Ray Taylor

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