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Monday, March 19, 2012A LEGAL RIP-OFF (in my case, NOT)Shortly before leaving South Africa in October last year, I received a message on my cellphone, from an alleged group of attorneys, threatening me with legal action over an unpaid clothing account. I found it rather strange, firstly because I wondered how the hell this company had got my cellphone number & secondly, because I haven't had a clothing account since the dead sea was sick. I showed the message to my good friend Lady & asked her what did she make of it. "Ag, ignore it! These bloody people are fishing for clients!" came her reply. So I ignored the message & 2 seconds later, deleted it. Fast forward; yours truly takes the great trek up the Dark Continent & finds herself in Lovely Lagos (note my index finger pointing down the depths of my throat), whereupon, some 3mths later, I get another message on my cellphone*, from the same firm of alleged attorneys, threatening legal action over an unpaid clothing account - but with a different clothing shop this time. Hmmmm thinks I. I don't have an awful lot to do nowadays, so I thought I'd give this company a run for it's money. I looked them up online & saw many, many websites for them, proudly displaying their company logo & various branches throughout South Africa. I found an email address for 'complaints' & swiftly knocked out an email, basically telling them they have the wrong person. A couple of days later, I got a call on my cellphone, with the caller ID stating 'number withheld'. Normally, I wouldn't take the call, but instinct told me to this time. A short conversation ensued with an historically disadvantaged female of stunted grey matter. She told me who she was calling from & then started to no doubt read off a script regarding my 'debt'. "Is this phone call being recorded?" I enquired.** "Ummm.........iyes" came the reply. In no uncertain terms, I told her that I hadn't had a clothing account with any store for nigh on 20yrs & seeing as I had to pay R10.00 per minute to receive her call, she must kindly ensure that she does NOT phone me again. A few days later, I received an email from the attorneys in question, stating that I owed nearly R2000. I asked my own in-house lawyer (whom I have the pleasure of going to bed with - huzzah!) what was my next course of action. "Ask for a copy of the signed contract you're alleged to have made with this store." he advised. I sent the attorneys an email, requesting just that. The reply came back that they could not provide me with it, but had attached a statement & I should kindly pay the outstanding amount before further action was taken. Hmmmm...............no signed contract of agreement between me & the clothing company, how strange, yet I'm being pressurised into paying a wad of dosh for an untitled & un-named 'statement', which gave NO original date of purchase (it merely stated 'Feb 99) & offered nothing more than a heap of interest accumulating figures. I sent another email, requesting AGAIN, a signed copy of the contract (i.e. credit agreement) with the store, a signed copy of the invoice of my alleged purchase & finally, a copy of the judgement against my name, which I would have had for an unpaid debt, especially outstanding since 1999. About a week went by, when I received another email from this bunch of fucking extortionists, which informed me that the matter between themselves & yours truly was now closed. No excuses. No apologies. Just closed. What they should have done is send me an email stating they well & truly fucked up, by trying to extort money from someone who often admits to being a dumb blonde, but definitely isn't stupid. They should furthermore, provide me with details as to where they got my cellphone number & whom they're employing to create ficticious invoices, which they then use to extract money from innocent people. This company gives the legal profession a very bad name & if I were one of their directors, I would be downright ashamed to have my name linked to such a disgraceful practice. I genuinely hate to think how many innocent victims they've conned so far. Labels: Lovely Lagos Not, SA lawyers in money making scams  
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