Debt collectors chase couple of charity ‘donation’

A COUPLE claim they are being harassed by debt collectors over a small donation to a charity they have already paid.

Dun & Bradstreet debt collectors have written two letters to NSW couple Phil and Roslyn McLaren threatening to report them to the Credit Reporting Agency unless they paid a promised $19.90 for a NSW Guide Dogs Association calendar.

The McLarens- who regularly donate to various charities – claim they had already paid for the calendar and have BPAY receipts to prove it.

A spokeswoman for the Guide Dogs association conceded the account had been paid and the latest debt collector letter was sent in error, but claims the payment was more than four months late.

Phil McLaren said they have made continued efforts to settle the account and contact Dun & Bradstreet, but have had no response and just received another letter threatening legal action.

“We demand that you make full payment directly to our client … your failure to comply can result in legal action for debt recovery (including costs) being taken without further correspondence. You must settle this account now,” the letter said.

“Outstanding amounts can be listed with a Credit Reporting Agency and any such listing may effect future requests for finance.”

Mr McClaren denies it took him four months to pay the invoice and now fears his credit rating will suffer as a consequence.

“I just looked at the invoice from the Guide Dogs … (and there) is less than three months delay in paying, not over four months as you mentioned was told to you,” he said.

“In any event a written threat of legal action plus legal costs as well as a bad report on the CRA (Credit Reporting Agency) from Dun and Bradstreet for a charitable donation-purchase of a calendar is more than a bit off-putting.”

The spokeswoman defended the use of debt collectors, saying they were forced to track down a “small minority” who never paid up.

She said the McLaren’s payment was “missed” because staff were “busy” and offices shut down for Christmas.

“They purchased something from us – a calendar – so it wasn’t actually a donation,” she said.

“They didn’t pay the account for four months which is why we gave the account to Dun & Bradstreet.”

According to Mr McLaren, the transaction was a donation.

“We called it a donation …. I wouldn’t be buying their calendar otherwise,” he said.

Odd. But then again it is news.com.au so take this with a grain of salt.

In other news, we’ve moved hosts, and probably will experience about 99.99% – 100% uptime compared to about 99.5 – 99.9% uptime.
Great, isn’t it? Because 99.9% uptime allows 40 minutes of downtime per month (I think) and 40 MINUTES REALLY MATTERS!
No but really, it’s just more bang for my dollar, and I’m looking for a good deal, and I got one.