Any legal recourse for harassment by a courier

witnessmenow

Hello,

Firstly, I'm not sure it meets the legal definition of harassment, but I want to know if I have any options here.

Basically I got a VAT bill from a courier company in March, the amount they charged me on was incorrect (as confirmed by revenue), so I engaged in their process to get it corrected.

To cut a long story shorter:

• I emailed them and got a reference number.
• They eventually responded to me almost 60 days later and I did what they asked, I then was waiting for them to provide an updated invoice.
• In May I received a final notice by post, I rang them asking why when the ball was in their court and they said had no history of the original query or reference number, so a new one was created. I was told I would be contacted about it.
• In July, still having heard nothing from the courier, I get rang by a debt collection agency working on their behalf. I rang courier asking how this was possible when I was still waiting for them and they said they would call off the "DCA"
• I was later emailed by the DCA, again I rang courier and they said they would call them off.
• I received a letter from DCA threatening legal action last week. I tried to ring courier today, and after holding for 20 minutes I got cut off and now their phone system seems to be down. (this is one of the big global couriers btw)

The original invoice was for €153, It should be maybe €30 less than that, so If I had any idea this would become such a mess I probably would have just paid it.

Do I have any legal recourse here? How can a company invoice me the wrong amount and then set a debt collection agency after me while I'm waiting for them to provide a corrected invoice?

I am not technically a customer of the courier afaik, so I can't got down a SCC route or anything.

I am just an individual in this situation, not a business or anything (not sure how to word it)

Thanks

Credit Checker Moose

DCA has no legal authority. Ignore them and only deal with the original company.

Allinall

What I would do is:

Pay the correct amount to the courier company.

Notify DCA that you have done this.

Ignore any further communications.

witnessmenow

Allinall wrote: »

What I would do is:

Pay the correct amount to the courier company.

Notify DCA that you have done this.

Ignore any further communications.

Thanks. And thanks Credit Checker Moose.

I'm happy to pay what I owe, but I am still waiting for the courier to tell me what that is. I would have paid it months ago if they just told me what it is!

I sent the details they asked for to them on the 30th of April and again on the 14th of July.

I have an email from the invoice department on July 21st saying they have received the details and they have been "passed to one of the our agents to complete the amendment to customs", I have received no communication from them since.

I feel like I am in the right here, and I understand the DCA don't really have any power anyways. But it still bothers me every time they contact me. I feel really helpless by the situation.

seagull

Next time DCA contact you, tell them that there is a dispute over the amount owed. If you send them a copy of the email supporting this, they will probably kick it back to the courier company.

witnessmenow

Update on this.

Courier finally sent me a revised invoice yesterday, a €50 reduction (I was wrong earlier when I said original was €150, that was the number the DCA was looking for, the original invoice was €130) I rang and paid the balance.

The person asked were the DCA still contacting me, I said they were, she said I'd be best ringing them to let them know it is resolved. (The DCA seem to be a company specifically set up for this courier, or maybe its just a dedicated line, I don't know exactly how it works, but when you ring the number they announce themselves as "DCA working with COURIER")

I probably should have insisted the courier sorted it out, but I was happy to just have this over and done with. I rang them and the guy said he could see that the original invoice was adjusted so now I only owe €100, I told them I had it paid off with courier and they asked me to send on proof , so I sent on the payment confirmation.

Hopefully it's the end of it, I certainly am not paying the DCA anything else.

iwillhtfu

witnessmenow wrote: »

The person asked were the DCA still contacting me, I said they were, she said I'd be best ringing them to let them know it is resolved. (The DCA seem to be a company specifically set up for this courier, or maybe its just a dedicated line, I don't know exactly how it works, but when you ring the number they announce themselves as "DCA working with COURIER")

Most companies do the same thing and the debt collection agency is used as the bogey man where in reality it's likely the office next door or a floor above them, outsourcing for such a small figure would make no sense. Never have any dealings with a collection agency fear and intimidation are usually all they have going for them.

L1011

The actual outsourced DCAs will generally (there are exceptions) refuse to handle a file that's in dispute and just sent it back to the provider; which is often how you can ID an in-house "agency"