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Boom in bullying
• DOUGLAS Cape is not a lone victim of ill-informed debt collectors (Bailiffs turned up at 6.15am over bill I’d already paid, May 8)
There appears to be a growing trend among suppliers to treat customers and former customers like criminals and to label us as guilty until proven innocent. This situation will inevitably deteriorate during the current recession as the rot sets in, while customers struggle to make ends meet and companies employ desperate measures to save face in front of their shareholders. As fast as law-abiding citizens lose their jobs, new career opportunities are emerging for compulsive bullies.
Mr Cape’s experience was unrelated to the recession because it transpired there was never any debt to collect in the first place. It was probably the result of woolly procedures and poor communication between council departments or between the council and bailiffs. If I were Mr Cape then I’d want more than an apology; I’d want a full explanation for the mistake and an assurance that procedures were being tightened as a matter of urgency. I, too, am a victim of harassment by ill-informed debt collectors, but unlike Mr Cape I am also a victim of consumer choice and am at an earlier stage of harassment. I have yet to be intimidated at my doorstep.
My perceived crime is that I had the audacity to switch to a different internet supplier after nine years’ loyal custom. I cancelled my service via an amicable telephone conversation and after nine months’ silence I started to receive threatening letters from a third-party organisation. Why the silence? Are internet suppliers incapable of corresponding by post? Are they so insecure they are incapable of recognising that email and “snail” mail must co-exist in order for either to survive?
In the good old days I knew where I stood with my suppliers. I never needed to change supplier unless I moved house, and if I missed a payment they would send me a red bill in a brown envelope, and the key facts were never buried under a stack of advertisements. Sadly, the modern short-termists feel it is unfashionable to rely on the Post Office; they prefer to use unestablished methods and when things inevitably go wrong their first priority is to find a scapegoat, not a solution.
Mr Cape has hit the nail on the head with his assessment. He believes the root cause of his bad experience is that he opted to pay his council tax over the internet; and I’m sure he’s right.
No doubt there are countless other residents who are being bullied unjustifiably by debt collectors. What they need is a medium where they can speak out and share experiences. The Tribune should seize this opportunity to give these people a platform and to expose these bad practices before we all start closing the doors on our own friends and neighbours.
IAN SHACKLOCK
Monsell Road, N4
via email
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