[spycka]

Hi
Thanks for this forum and help you are providing.
I have received a debt collection letter on June4, 2009 from bluestone international USA at my home address in Pakistan. It states I owe 96$ plus interest to their creditor HSBC. I had a student account with HSBC UK in 2007, meant for a period of 1 year and they were charging me 5 pounds a month. I stopped using my account after 3-4 months but could not arrange with HSBC to close my account at that time (I was back to my country Pakistan and I am still here). I think it is that amount 5£/month for the remaining 8-9 months they are charging me with. I called my bank yesterday and they say the matter is with Metropolitan Collection Agency UK and did not provide me any info on debt. I contacted the agency and the debt amount they mentioned was 59£ that they refused to accept as the case was referred to Bluestone. BS, the collector who sent me this debt collection letter, in which they threat me of legal action and other stuff like informing credit agencies in my country. I have not responded to it yet. Please suggest me the next step and how to deal with this issue? Please also let me know if I can communicate with this agency through email or I should send them a registered mail and dispute the their claim or simply ignore the demand letter?
Thank you for your time.

[trmpldonagn]

And I'm sure you are most welcome by everyone here.

First, don't ignore it. Secondly, no, don't communicate through email with them. Registered or certified mail even if you speak to them on the phone. Just whatever you do, don't ignore it but don't pay anything yet until you get more information from them. You can send them a letter asking to validate the debt. As long as you stay in contact with them, they won't suddenly come after you in other ways that can cause you a lot of stress. You want to be civil with them and keep it out of court. At this point, it sounds like it has not gotten to that stage yet. Sit tight here and some experts will be along. Just don't ignore the letter.
If I can find an example of the letter you would send them before someone else does, I will post it here. I have to surf around the internet to find it again as I have once used it myself. Just don't ignore it. Best of luck to you!

[spycka]

Thank you so much for your swift response and guidance. Holding my breath and waiting for an expert as you suggested. I wonder how far they can go for such a small amount! But I don't want to give any penny to someone who does not deserve it.