Compounded debt (from thin air) in 6 yrs: Sixt> eCollect AG > Themys & Dyke GbR

[juliusprimus]

*NOT A LEGAL ADVICE

Ok guys, I am in the same boat as you. I am ashamed to admit that I am a crown attorney here in Canada and that these people somehow managed to stress me out. Similar to others, my initial 35 Euros infractions (I got two so for a total of around 70) became 187 Euros. I am even more ashamed to say that I paid the actual amount.

Now, the collecting company recently wrote me to thank me (of course) for having made the payment. However, they now contend that there was also another infraction pending (of which I was never made aware nor by Sixt nor by eCollect AG) and that I still owe 211 Euros for this ONE other infraction. Ok, now they have poked the bear.

I totally agree with the post above from Atticus. You should not, under any circumstance, admit to any infraction. Especially if you never received actual evidence of the alleged infraction(s). Like me, you might have paid -but that doesn't amount to an admission. Their recovery strategies appear legit, professional and well... you just got almost forcefully convinced that you owed money in a rather disproportionate and frankly extorting manner. Most western countries have protection against these egregious practices and yet, only us are being taught in law school about consummers' rights. I believe legal protection and remedies for consummers should be taught in high school but hey, that's for another discussion.

Unlike Atticus however, I dont think that ABrain "may live to regret his admissions". One may admit infractions, that doesnt mean he/she consents to the ludicrous method by which the pecuniary penalty for these infractions are enforced. Rather, I believe that it will be these companies who will live to see the consequences for jacking up administrative fees of fines that, it seems, were often not even disclosed to the consummers. eCollect or Sixt or whoever the defendant would be are causing ridiculous stress to people while we are all impacted by the cost of living and trying to be good law abiding travellers.

I will contact class action lawyers (and friends) and repost here.

Sincerly,

[Alethea]

Hi This thread may have saved me sending these fraudsters money! The exact same thing happened to me and we went to Italy in 2018. I constantly emailed them back asking for evidence it never came. Then they finally sent me a picture of when I reserved my car so I thought it's valid. I said I won't pay the fees because noone ever got back to me on my emails for years they deflected.
I am going to take people's advice and submit this to Action Fraud and send them a case number.
This is obviously a fraudulent scam.

Finally at the weekend I tried to pay before I read this thread and the account details didn't verify so I thought that was suspect and left it.

I'm glad it didn't go through!

[Jakeostin]

Hi, i am also sick of Ecollect and Themys & Dyke. My case with them: in 2021 i joined some sort of dating site which i had to pay 2-3 EUR then I cancelled the subscription immediately (used the site for only 10 minutes ) Months later my debit card was charged with 40€ and then returned and emails start flowing from Ecollect claiming i have to pay them 100 € or legal action will start, So i paid but it didn't stop there, they started sending more mails with more charges which i decided to ignore till now SEP 2023 I received 4 mails from Themys & Dyke presenting themselves for Lawyers and debt agency (not really sure what they are)

They want me to pay immediately to prevent further claims and action i guess this mean pay or we sue you. Im kinda worried but kinda not that much cuz i used fake email and address its just my name + plus i closed the bank account that i used for Registration year before Thymes & Dyke to contact me, cuz I think if you close your account they cant go and ask the bank for your details names numbers etc. My question is Should i pay them and maybe this all will be over or should i continue ignore them after all im not scared of bad credit score and etc. if only this will happen, but can they actually put you in jail for this kind of small amount of money 300€ ? I was in Netherlands when this started but now im in UK and i dont know to which authorities to turn and ask for help.




A small light in the dark situation.

Lot of Foreigners that came to work in Germany are getting loans from the banks which they dont return like 10K € Then they go back the their country and never come back. Apparently no one is actually in trouble if they dont go the Germany anymore. My polish friend told me that he did it 4 years ago and no one actually tried to scare him like Ecollect is doing for such a small amounts so i think to ignore them

[PallasAthena]

but can they actually put you in jail for this kind of small amount of money 300 ?

You cannot be put in jail for private debts in the UK. It is only a civil dispute, not criminal law.

[Jakeostin]

Well then i will ignore them, they dont even have my real address or my details only a email and name

[Dogspods]

Exact same story here, I've just ignored the email up until now, Themys & Dyke have also tried contacting me via letter. Have registered with Action Fraud and will continue to ignor. Also agree on class action against such a blatant scam.

[Mori]

Regrettably, my experience mirrors yours. Post my car rental in Italy in November 2022, I was contacted by Sixt in March 2023 via email for UER 35 administration fee. I responded within a 2 weeks (as their email was in spam), requesting evidence of the alleged violation, but my outreach returned no communication from them. Surprisingly, in the following three weeks, I received a demand of €93 from eCollect.




Despite my willingness to settle at €35, contingent on receiving proof of my violation, such evidence has yet to be presented by any involved parties. Instead, I was recently confronted with an additional demand - this time, for EUR 262 from Themys & Dyke Rechtsanwälte GbR, with the attached threat of impairing my credit rating and repossessing my assets, including my residential property.




Such business conduct is unequivocally inadequate, especially from a reputable company like Sixt. I am prepared to participate in a collective lawsuit against Sixt, eCollect, and Themys & Dyke Rechtsanwälte GbR.

[Jakeostin]

Hello, guys im posting update on my situation with them their last email towards me says : if i dont pay till the date they provide they will start a legal enforcement and threatening me with this enforcement order that a possibility of commence for 30 years this may include a possibility of a wage garnishment a issuance of arrest warrant, a forceful disclosure via affidavit of assets, and enforcement via bank accounts levy . What you guys thing about that should i pay then or continue to ignore them if this is just a scare tactic..

[echat11]

Hello, guys im posting update on my situation with them their last email towards me says : if i dont pay till the date they provide they will start a legal enforcement and threatening me with this enforcement order that a possibility of commence for 30 years this may include a possibility of a wage garnishment a issuance of arrest warrant, a forceful disclosure via affidavit of assets, and enforcement via bank accounts levy . What you guys thing about that should i pay then or continue to ignore them if this is just a scare tactic..

It sounds like nonsense to me, if they want to take legal action, they will need to follow CPR protocols, i.e. Letter Before Action etc. I would make a counter claim for Harassment etc, keep the emails they send you.

[PallasAthena]

a issuance of arrest warrant,

You cannot be arrested for debt in the UK. It isn't a crime. They are talking nonsense.

[Jakeostin]

I think so too.. cuz as i said before when everything started the only thing that i gave is my name but not valid address or other information they may send letters but to the fake address that i gave when registered on the website + i dont live in Germany or Netherlands and not planning to go there even if they do a issuance of arrest i think it will be only in Germany or Netherlands but i'm still a bit worried cuz the debt collectors ECollect gave everything to Themys & Dyke, i think they are only a Law Company eg lawyers mostly.. i think to contact a lawyer and will update the situation here

[c0nfused]

I also have a similar situation of (old) rental in italy > eCollect > Themys

My situation is below. In my case, all the emails went to my junk folder, which, I never ever check.
Its also, at least in my view, an insanely long time between the initial rental and contact from Sixt. Let alson the fact they then passed to a debt collection agency so quickly without trying to contact me by post or phone.

aug 2018 - rental in italy
7 Jun 2023 - email from sixt (went to my junk email and I have only seen now)
- saying that I owed EUR 333.87 for 'traffic violation) with an attachment (in Italian only) which seems to show a toll fee of €165.30
24 Jun 2023 - reminder from Sixt (also went to junk)
21 Jul 2023 email from eCollect (again - in my junk email) saying the fee is now €474.81
5 Aug 2023 2nd email from eCollect (in junk)
20 Aug 2023 3rd email from eCollect (in junk)
29 Oct 2023 email from Themys & Dyke (not in junk so my first time to see any of this)
- saying I now owe them €667.32
- absolutely no detail on how this increase has happened
- nor any detail on exactly what the offence was
11 nov 2023 letter from Themy & dyke
- stating I had to pay by 11 Nov 2023 (yes - the same day as the letter has been received)
- threatening legal action (but with no detail on grounds, or jurisdiction)
- threatening to ruin my credit rating

So
My questions are (in line with previous posts)

1. As I have no detail on what the original offence was and so prrof of validity - should I contact Themys & dyke for this or Sixt?

2. I am a UK resident and citizen. Given then the offence was in Italy but now with a German law firm
a. are there relevant laws governing reasonable time periods to claim for traffic violations etc, ie can Sixt really wait nearly 5 years and still have the right to reclaim monies?
b. are the relevant laws governing the charging of fees. This has I believe gone from a €165.30 toll fee (if that is what this is) to €667.32 or a 400% increase which seems (from a layperson perspective) excessive.

3. am I correct to conclude that I essentially have 3 paths
a. be scarred and cough up (does not seem the 'right' thing to do and rewards what I consider to at best be poor professional conduct)
b. ignore it until there is something sent with UK court jurisdiction
c. contact Sixt or Themys to challenge validity of the initial violation and any additional fees

4. Are there established paths here to remove records from your credit file in the event that it is a contested matter / fee?

many thanks for any advice / views in advance. Not sure if this is making me more stressed or angry!

[Jakeostin]

By my experience, i still haven't paid them after their threats. I think they try to scare us all, they will not go further i think ( i can be wrong but im 90% sure its scam) they threatened me with court, bailiffs, arrest, assets claiming and more, for like 320 EUR.till today nothing happened they still send mails asking for payment a friend of mine in German said ignore them they will not go to court and sue you for this small amount court proceedings cost a lot there and lawyer told me to wait and if they start doing something then we act. So either ignore then or contact a lawyer

[Hibatullah]

It’s a scam. Got an email with a bill for a dating site I never signed up to. Themys&dyke arent even registered at the German chamber of commerce and they don’t have an office. They also do business with Ecollect.online which is a scam too since Ecollect.org is the real one. They use scare mongering tactics and some fall for this disgusting scam. Furthermore any company cannot directly forward it to debt collectors, without sending the original bill first and they should remind you at least once or twice you have an outstanding debt or whatever before escalating the matter. If you check the site with webparanoid it also shows as suspicious. The website is made with Wordpress, there are some language errors in German and they claim to have many international offices and customers, none of these can be verified. Don’t pay, and change your email address. I also reported this to ECC and ACM.

[VictimofSixt]

Just received yet another email from them giving me the opportunity of a debt free Christmas, I sat there with my wife chuckling at their email.
Merry Christmas everyone, dont let their latest email ruin it for you.