ISP is threatening to bring Wife to court over unpaid Internet bills from over 6 years ago?? SCAM or REAL?

[DE Land]

They sent letter via a third party company (attached) asking to pay 1700 baht (such a petty claim I know). But I'm ready to dispute it since we didn't use that service that time. They even said that they will charge us with their legal advice fee... Now I think they are just Bluffing and can't actually do this, or can they??

 

Don't think we are wrong in this case.

Ignore it or submit to the bully and pay up because we will lose and it's not worth it?

[OneMoreFarang]

7 minutes ago, DE Land said:

But I'm ready to dispute it since we didn't use that service that time.

Even if you didn't use it the question is if you had that connection and were supposed to pay for it.

Did you/her i.e. subscribe to a service for a year and then you didn't pay it after a month or two or three and then it was cut?

I have no idea about your legal situation but the first question should be: Why does that invoice exist? Maybe talk to them why they want money from you.

[bunnydrops]

What service is this? I would think that if it was not paid in advance they would have turned it off long ago.

[blackcab]

Generally speaking, claims for breach of contract in Thailand become time expired after a period of 2 or 5 years. In this matter the statutory limitation on time was more than likely 2 years. Section 193/34 of the Civil and Commercial Code states that:

 

The period of prescription is two years for the following claims:

 

a. Claims of merchants, industrialists, manufacturers, artisans and those who practice industrial arts, for delivery of goods, performance of work and care of others' affairs, including disbursements, unless the service was rendered for the business of the debtor.

 

In this matter the merchant or their assignee would be suing your wife for non-payment for the delivery of goods (provision of an internet service).

 

It is highly likely that their lawyer would not take this matter to Court, no matter what the debt collection agency says. Doing so would cost the merchant or their assignee both time and Court fees, with an extremely high likelihood that the Court would find the matter outside of the period of prescription.

 

It is important to understand that if your wife pays the merchant or their assignee any sum of money at all, even 1 baht, then the debt can come back to life and the 2 year time limit can start all over again from day 1.

[ezzra]

Why don't you call them and find out what is it all about and if it is legit and you indeed overlooked paying said bill try to settle it amicably...

Edited August 7, 2021 by ezzra

[Whale]

Is it True? I got a lawyer's letter from them after not paying for 6 months (I was locked outside Thailand).

[CharlieH]

I dont get this type of post. You call the company concerned, you talk and ascertain if the debt is real or legit. If its real and valid, pay the damn thing, not gonna break the bank is it. If its not tell them where to go.

As Clarkson would say "how hard can it be" ?

 

[impulse]

2 hours ago, CharlieH said:

I dont get this type of post. You call the company concerned, you talk and ascertain if the debt is real or legit. If its real and valid, pay the damn thing, not gonna break the bank is it. If its not tell them where to go.

As Clarkson would say "how hard can it be" ?

If it's a collection agency, do you figure they're going to come clean when you call?  Collection agencies the world over are notorious for their illegal and intimidating methods.  Chances are, they purchased a huge package of defaulted debt from the original company and are now trying to get paid even if the debt isn't real, or has long passed any statute of limitation.

 

 

[CharlieH]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

If it's a collection agency, do you figure they're going to come clean when you call?  Collection agencies the world over are notorious for their illegal and intimidating methods.  Chances are, they purchased a huge package of defaulted debt from the original company and are now trying to get paid even if the debt isn't real, or has long passed any statute of limitation.

 

 

Anyone can play "If it's" ,

If its real .?

If its a scam ?

If its....whatever you like, either way you CALL and ascertain the legitimacy of any debt with company the debt is claimed by, regardless of who is trying to collect it, in this case the ISP as stated.

[Sparktrader]

Ask for paperwork

[KeeTua]

There's a related discussion on Pantip, maybe your wife can get some details there. Looks like the ISP is True.

https://pantip.com/topic/40650384

[DE Land]

It IS True. The weird thing is that my wife is still a True Internet customer until today. We have a running internet package under her name, has been active for years. You'd think that if there's an unpaid balance under her name they would not allow her to continue service (like, hey we disconnected your internet,so you must pay up first! we will open after) As was the case for my own True account with my phone bills I forgot to pay a few months ago, they disconnected, I paid and then all good.

 

For my wife's case it's a stabby stabby in the back to a paying customer. And they came back with this debt collecting company after 6 years... so they can squeeze more money from us, rather than settled that long time ago with proper management.

 

From my point of view they messed up big time. I'm not sure if I will pay or not (will see details). We have 3 services under True (wife and me). I will likely terminate all of them after this whole debacle.

[DE Land]

3 hours ago, KeeTua said:

There's a related discussion on Pantip, maybe your wife can get some details there. Looks like the ISP is True.

https://pantip.com/topic/40650384

It's EXACTLY this! Thanks very much for the link! Some people in that discussion seem to claim that they Did not actually have that service at all or service was terminated and completed years before they received the letter in their mailboxes.
Wife called the number there already a few weeks ago, someone picked up just asked us to pay without providing more details. I will asked for details from True instead and will tell them if this is their deed, it's very stupid and they will definitely lose customers this way.

[DE Land]

9 hours ago, blackcab said:

Generally speaking, claims for breach of contract in Thailand become time expired after a period of 2 or 5 years. In this matter the statutory limitation on time was more than likely 2 years. Section 193/34 of the Civil and Commercial Code states that:

 

The period of prescription is two years for the following claims:

 

a. Claims of merchants, industrialists, manufacturers, artisans and those who practice industrial arts, for delivery of goods, performance of work and care of others' affairs, including disbursements, unless the service was rendered for the business of the debtor.

 

In this matter the merchant or their assignee would be suing your wife for non-payment for the delivery of goods (provision of an internet service).

 

It is highly likely that their lawyer would not take this matter to Court, no matter what the debt collection agency says. Doing so would cost the merchant or their assignee both time and Court fees, with an extremely high likelihood that the Court would find the matter outside of the period of prescription.

 

It is important to understand that if your wife pays the merchant or their assignee any sum of money at all, even 1 baht, then the debt can come back to life and the 2 year time limit can start all over again from day 1.

Thanks for the information. She is still a paying customer and we have a True Internet package under her name at the moment, and has been for few years. So this is weird that True is stabbing a paying customer in the back. They probably could argue that it's a different internet package, but hey, people always change and switch between packages even within one ISP. They could've detected the user/ customer's name and asked her to settle literally years ago.

[DE Land]

11 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Even if you didn't use it the question is if you had that connection and were supposed to pay for it.

Did you/her i.e. subscribe to a service for a year and then you didn't pay it after a month or two or three and then it was cut?

I have no idea about your legal situation but the first question should be: Why does that invoice exist? Maybe talk to them why they want money from you.

It was so long ago, right after I came to Bangkok to settle here, and because of that we don't remember the exact details or even have any proof or paperwork to defend ourselves. We just remember that we moved in between condos at some point. Wife is also still a True internet customer until today, they never asked her for that specific "outstanding balance" through the usual means, via True Call Center, or via disconnecting current internet package, or not allowing her to sign up to a new package before paying the outstanding balance of the previous package - if that's the case. And that makes that effort from them feels very dishonest if after 6 years they came back through a debt collecting company and suing a paying customer while providing service at the same time.

[Liverpool Lou]

8 hours ago, Whale said:

Is it True? I got a lawyer's letter from them after not paying for 6 months (I was locked outside Thailand).

True continued to provide you with a service for 6 months without your paying for it during that time?  Really?   What was the service?

[DE Land]

We also have had a bad experience many years back in Bangkok... water bills @ DCondo Ramkhamhaeng. We paid every month, luckily wife kept the receipts. but someone came and claimed that many condo owners in the same building haven't paid water bills for a number of months, including us, and contacted wife to ask her to pay. Wife sent the proof via Line (or showing evidence of paid receipts in person - don't remember exactly). The person left, and then after few days/ weeks, came back to us again, asking for us to pay again. So they came in TWO separate occasions asking us to pay something that we paid already.

So that was a total mismanagement disaster or was an intended Scam or corruption... Since then I've always been more cautious about these kinds of things.

Edited August 8, 2021 by DE Land

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, DE Land said:

I'm not sure if I will pay or not (will see details). We have 3 services under True (wife and me). I will likely terminate all of them after this whole debacle.

What if they're right?    Will you refuse to pay your obligation and terminate your accounts with them over a debacle that, if they are right, your wife caused by not paying her bills?  Does your wife know that, regardless of the amount involved, there are credit reference agencies in Thailand that will happily add her name and address (it's your address also) to their lists? 

[blackcab]

I have to say that True is a very reputable company and they do not make false claims.

 

On the other hand they do vigorously follow up their accounts receivable.

 

In the first instance, you might consider asking the debt management company for details of exactly why the amount is owed.

 

A company can continue to ask for payment of a time barred case. If the debt is legitimate then it is still owed, even if the matter can not be taken to Court.

[worgeordie]

If its TRUE, tell them to take it out of the 4K they owe

me, from years ago when they didn't return my deposit .????

 

regards Worgeordie 

[Liverpool Lou]

32 minutes ago, DE Land said:

after 6 years they came back through a debt collecting company and suing a paying customer while providing service at the same time.

They're not suing her, they're asking her to pay an outstanding bill, that's all.  Hardly unreasonable if it's accurate.

[Liverpool Lou]

15 minutes ago, DE Land said:

We also have had a bad experience many years back in Bangkok... water bills @ DCondo Ramkhamhaeng. We paid every month, luckily wife kept the receipts. but someone came and claimed that many condo owners in the same building haven't paid water bills for a number of months, including us, and contacted wife to ask her to pay. Wife sent the proof via Line (or showing evidence of paid receipts in person - don't remember exactly). The person left, and then after few days/ weeks, came back to us again, asking for us to pay again. So they came in TWO separate occasions asking us to pay something that we paid already.

So that was a total mismanagement disaster or was an intended Scam or corruption... Since then I've always been more cautious about these kinds of things.

Odd that you, or your wife, seem to have issues with alleged non-payment of bills from different utilities at different locations at different times.   

[DE Land]

7 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What if they're right?    Will you refuse to pay your obligation and terminate your accounts with them over a debacle that, if they are right, your wife caused by not paying her bills?  Does your wife know that, regardless of the amount involved, there are credit reference agencies in Thailand that will happily add her name and address (it's your address also) to their lists? 

No we are not convinced that they are right, as I've stated, in previous post via the Pantip link, that many people are claimed to be wrongfully charged, so we are not alone in this. And they could've asked us to pay via usual means via True Call Center or Terminating current service under her name, since She is still a customer until today.
If at the end of the day they have anything right, It's also my right to terminate accounts for no reasons if I choose to, but in this case I will tell you that it is based on that it's a TERRIBLE Customer Service (if it's their deed to settle the unpaid amounts via Debt Collector rather than other means.. after 6 years of us not knowing/ being informed via usual means like most other services from other companies).

[DE Land]

1 minute ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Odd that you, or your wife, seem to have issues with alleged non-payment of bills from different utilities at different locations at different times.   

The D Condo water bills issue were finished. Many people were wronged in the same building. But we proven all paid bills every month. So they left and never came back anymore. Thanks for all the negative assumptions on us though. Glad to have a friendly bloke like you around.

[DE Land]

4 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Odd that you, or your wife, seem to have issues with alleged non-payment of bills from different utilities at different locations at different times.   

We also almost had scammed multiple other times, not related to any bill payments. Such as a restaurant scam and some mobile app scams, tourist site scam, that we thankfully didn't come out harmed. Do I have to report to you all other scams that came our way? 

[jvs]

28 minutes ago, DE Land said:

We also have had a bad experience many years back in Bangkok... water bills @ DCondo Ramkhamhaeng. We paid every month, luckily wife kept the receipts. but someone came and claimed that many condo owners in the same building haven't paid water bills for a number of months, including us, and contacted wife to ask her to pay. Wife sent the proof via Line (or showing evidence of paid receipts in person - don't remember exactly). The person left, and then after few days/ weeks, came back to us again, asking for us to pay again. So they came in TWO separate occasions asking us to pay something that we paid already.

So that was a total mismanagement disaster or was an intended Scam or corruption... Since then I've always been more cautious about these kinds of things.

They asked you to pay,if you think they did so wrongly ,i would advice you not to react and see what happens.

 

[DE Land]

We called the call center, and record on my wife account is clean, since they don't have any record beyond 2 years. and the person advised us to go to a branch. Hopefully we will be able to find one that still opens during the pandemic.

[Whale]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

True continued to provide you with a service for 6 months without your paying for it during that time?  Really?   What was the service?

Internet (cable)

[impulse]

9 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Anyone can play "If it's" ,

If its real .?

If its a scam ?

If its....whatever you like, either way you CALL and ascertain the legitimacy of any debt with company the debt is claimed by, regardless of who is trying to collect it, in this case the ISP as stated.

I'm just saying it was good to get feedback from others before you make that call.  If 100 guys got on here and said, "Yeah, that happened to me...  It was a scam", the tone of that call would look very different.

 

 

[MrJ2U]

13 hours ago, Whale said:

Is it True? I got a lawyer's letter from them after not paying for 6 months (I was locked outside Thailand).

Noway.

Blacklisted?

(Note to myself change internet to my wifes name).

Edited August 8, 2021 by MrJ2U