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Hi,
Sharing my experience of dealing with a whole lot of agony, harrasing emails, and a compounding debt, all stemming from a bogus charge by Sixt rent a car Italy.
**2017 - Car Rental, Original parking charge, dispute ignored by Sixt**
So a long time ago (summer of 2017) we had rented a car from Sixt in back in Sicily. A while later we received a parking ticket notice from Sixt (which oddly at the time of renting we do not recall having any affixed to the car window) of a mere EUR 15 which we immediately paid and did not think twice. A year goes by and we then receive an email from from Sixt (2018) claiming that we owe them handling fee, having compounded from an initial EUR 15 to circa EUR 65 by then. We object, replying that we never received any prior notice and highlighting that we paid the original fine promptly during which time having received no ask to pay a handling fee. Our email is not responded to and being busy with life as everyone else, we forget about it.
**2019 - Debt sold to eCollect; Our initial (in)action**
We do not hear anything until Dec 2019 when we receive an email saying that the 'debt' is picked up by eCollect, who send emails with annoying language, asking us to pay upwards of EUR 110 (with detail charges look as if making fees out of thin air). We did some research at the time including on this forum around eCollect: 1. On whether they have been flexible with other people's disputes/experiences (answer:they are not), and 2. On whether they have jurisdiction in the UK (which they seem not to have). Charged with anger towards and feeling wronged by Sixt in that all this is due to their utter lack of communication and terrible bureaucracy, and knowing that we have paid the original fine, we then decide to ignore eCollect (may not have been the best decision in hindsight, but anyway...).
**2023 - debt resold - new company, threat of litigation***
Fast forward past COVID years and to 2023 (last week), we receive an email from this DE based collection agency called Themys & Dyke who claim to have bought the debt from eCollect who in turn had taken it on from Sixt, charging us north of EUR 210, filled with standard bs 'collection fee' line items, and threatening litigation if not settled by end of month.
Other key points: we are based in England but the collection companies (originally from Sixt) only have an outdated/former non-UK address from us, a phone number plus an email address, and no other UK contact detail whatsoever.
**our question/ask**
We are quite new to (and shocked by) this industry's practice of compounding charges from nothing. Hence would highly appreciate thoughts/advice on the scenario whereby we choose to continue to ignore/not pay the new collectors. Is there a statute of limitation applicable here? Do they have jurisdiction in the UK etc? Essentially if the debt somehow has the risk of getting into the UK legal system we'd rather pay now and get it done with vs assessing the strength of our case vs theirs.
Thanks a ton!
Sharing my experience of dealing with a whole lot of agony, harrasing emails, and a compounding debt, all stemming from a bogus charge by Sixt rent a car Italy.
**2017 - Car Rental, Original parking charge, dispute ignored by Sixt**
So a long time ago (summer of 2017) we had rented a car from Sixt in back in Sicily. A while later we received a parking ticket notice from Sixt (which oddly at the time of renting we do not recall having any affixed to the car window) of a mere EUR 15 which we immediately paid and did not think twice. A year goes by and we then receive an email from from Sixt (2018) claiming that we owe them handling fee, having compounded from an initial EUR 15 to circa EUR 65 by then. We object, replying that we never received any prior notice and highlighting that we paid the original fine promptly during which time having received no ask to pay a handling fee. Our email is not responded to and being busy with life as everyone else, we forget about it.
**2019 - Debt sold to eCollect; Our initial (in)action**
We do not hear anything until Dec 2019 when we receive an email saying that the 'debt' is picked up by eCollect, who send emails with annoying language, asking us to pay upwards of EUR 110 (with detail charges look as if making fees out of thin air). We did some research at the time including on this forum around eCollect: 1. On whether they have been flexible with other people's disputes/experiences (answer:they are not), and 2. On whether they have jurisdiction in the UK (which they seem not to have). Charged with anger towards and feeling wronged by Sixt in that all this is due to their utter lack of communication and terrible bureaucracy, and knowing that we have paid the original fine, we then decide to ignore eCollect (may not have been the best decision in hindsight, but anyway...).
**2023 - debt resold - new company, threat of litigation***
Fast forward past COVID years and to 2023 (last week), we receive an email from this DE based collection agency called Themys & Dyke who claim to have bought the debt from eCollect who in turn had taken it on from Sixt, charging us north of EUR 210, filled with standard bs 'collection fee' line items, and threatening litigation if not settled by end of month.
Other key points: we are based in England but the collection companies (originally from Sixt) only have an outdated/former non-UK address from us, a phone number plus an email address, and no other UK contact detail whatsoever.
**our question/ask**
We are quite new to (and shocked by) this industry's practice of compounding charges from nothing. Hence would highly appreciate thoughts/advice on the scenario whereby we choose to continue to ignore/not pay the new collectors. Is there a statute of limitation applicable here? Do they have jurisdiction in the UK etc? Essentially if the debt somehow has the risk of getting into the UK legal system we'd rather pay now and get it done with vs assessing the strength of our case vs theirs.
Thanks a ton!
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