Hi,

I’m a longtime Ricardo user and last week I was really disapointed (and a little bit angry) at them and wanted to aks if anyone has any suggestions or would handle the situation diffenrently.

The story: I got in a hasle with an inkasso compamy (Intrum AG) beacause I forgott to pay the fees of an item I sold on Ricardo some time ago. Ricardo did send me a ‘Manung’ per mail (which is aparently legal) and the mail was flagged as spam. After not paying (my fault of course) they sold the bill to an inkasso company (Intrum AG). The inkasso compamy send me an mail, which wasn’t flagged as spam, aking to pay the requested amount + an handling-fee as large as the Ricardo fee. I payed the Ricardo-fee via Ricardo and called Ricardo asking if they could contact the inkasso company saying the issue is solved. They responded that they can’t do anything and I have to talk with the inkasso conpany.

I send the inkasso company an mail saying that the fee was payed. They responded that I still have to pay the handling fee. After some research (googling) I found a link from Konsumentenschutz and srf stating I only have to pay 5% interest of late paymemt if nothing else is stated at the agbs of Ricardo. I did pay the interest and send them a response saying that the I wont pay the handling fee using the template from (in german https://www.konsumentenschutz.ch/online-ratgeber/muss-ich-den-verzugsschaden-bezahlen/). I haven’t heard anything from them.
I will have to ask them what data they have about me and ask them to delete it, because I don’t want them to have any data because of bonitats check etc.

My points/Questions:

1. I’m not against inkasso companies but most of them add shady fees and are a hassle to handle. Ricardo is working with one of those which is a pity and in my eyes puts them in a bad light. Is there any way to push/complain to Ricardo to change it?

1.1 Manungen per mail are not realy the best way because of spam. The could at least send an sms or a push notification via the app. Is there a possibility to state that the mahnung was not received?

2. And last and not least, should I have handlt the situation differently?

Thanks Reben

Tldr: ricardo fee was not payed, open fee was sold to a shady inkasso company (intrum) resulting in an hasle for me.

4 comments

  1. Edit2: Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. Always happy to learn 🙂

    1. No, Ricardo will not care since they are owned by a bigger corp called SMG (Swiss Marketplace Group)
    2. Also No, legally there’s no law that requires you to send a Mahnung at first. If they want they can straight up initiate a Betreibung
    3. Yes, don’t lose to many nerves because of them. Just ignore the ongoing letters, that’s what I did back in the days. As you said: by Law you are only required to pay the Ricardo Fee + 5% of Mahnungszins. Everything else is not required to pay and those companies know that, but you have to pay the bill from the Inkasso, not Ricardos bill. If they still keep harassing you after your payment, you can either tell them that they should leave you alone or you’ll do a Rechtsvorschlag ooooor you can tell them you’ll go to a Friedensrichter. Both is more expensive for the company than it is for you (I always do this).

    Edit: let me know if you need more help. I’m an advocate for consumers right and I live for this! And remember to always send an Einschreiben, not an Email. Those Inkassos are shady af! Wouldn’t surprise me if they said that they didn’t receive your mail.

  2. Im in a Battle with them since many years Intrum is der grösste Drecksladen that excist. But the thing is they dont care about legal things they simple go in pressure mode means you will have problem with phoneprovider as example if you do it like me. The question is always how big is the amount that it make worthy to play with them.

  3. Intrum is a mafia, they do not do things legally. They just bet that you do not know the law and use intimidation as their main tool of business.

  4. A piece of advice: always check the spam folder before to delete the content. There are regularly legit e-mails ending in there. Also, you mentioned SMS, implying that you have a phone. Set up alerts when you know you will have upcoming payments to do. Companies send you reminders as a courtesy, not by obligation, it’s up to you to be proactive about it.

    Now you could take a gamble and try to escalate the case further but since it’s 100% your fault, though accidentally, chances that you will end up not having to pay the extra fee are slim. Actually I guess it can only increase more, now.

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