Just received a claim from a shady company that emailed me to say that I owe them 2000.-. Do you know anything about them?

47 comments

  1. I was shocked last night when I discovered among my emails an “open letter of credence” from them for an unpaid bill at the gym I frequent dating back to April.

    The first problem is that I have never received reminders whether by mail, e-mail or even face-to-face, since I try to go to the gym at least once a week.

    The second is that I checked my bank transactions and that bill was presumably paid the same day (April 20).

    The third is that if this were to be true, how can an unpaid invoice go from 90 chfs to almost 2000.- in 10 months?

    The last is that this company is very poorly rated on Google and many comments say to beware of their practices like the plague.

    Finally, being currently a 23 year old young man living thanks to the socialhelp and trying to find a job, I have absolutely no means of repaying that if I really had to, even in three installments.

    Any tips on this situation?

  7. It’s not a scam… Well… Somehow it is… They buy unpaid bills for something like 50% discount and then try to recover the 100%… You should never answer them…

    Contact Let’s Go Fitness, prove them you’ve paid, end of the story.

  8. Intrum is a known scam, they abuse the people’s fear from the debt collectora office (betreibungsamt). You can ignore them as most likely they won’t do anything and if they send you a debt collectors note (betreibung, sorry idk the french word) you can just check the box that says stuff about rechtsvorschlag (again idk the french word) this means then intrum has to prove in front of a court that you indeed owe them money. Since they know you don’t, they won’t even try to do so

  10. Intrum is a collect service. Other companys hire them to collect money from persons that have debits. That means you owe somebody some money bro

  11. Did you pay the bill? Ask your gym about the bill. They know if they gave it forward to intrum or not.
    Intrum is a debt collector firm. I had an unpaid bill once that was 40.- and they sent me a letter that I was indept for 200.-
    I called post (where I actually ordered something that I forgot to pay) and they told me they forwarded it to intrum. So I knew it was real.
    I sent Intrum a letter to stop fking around and send me a correct bill or I will send my laywer after them. They sent me a bill of 40. That was that.

  13. The best action is not to do absolutely nothing. They buy up unpaid bills and then try to get the money. But most of the time they do not throw good money after bad. This can be very expensive for them.

    Do nothing and ignore all mail. If they initiate “Betreibung” do the “Rechtsvorschlag”. At this point they need to spend a lot of money and send somebody to the peace judge in your village.

    Now, if you signed a contract and did not pay, they will probably do that. If this is the case I recommend to pay.

  14. Intrum are basically legal scammers.
    Pay your original bill and let Intrum know you paid the original bill directly and that they can go fuck themselves.
    Keep all the receipts and bills for a while so you can proof you already paid your stuff. Just in case they send you a “Betreibung” (i couldn’t find an English translation for it)

  15. Intrum is not that shady. They are very public about what they do and have a host of lawyers to make sure everything is above board. That said, they are still shitty bottom-feeding scum and whoever mandated them could have just gone to the Betreibungsamt or sent you a reminder.

    Debt sales is frowned upon in Switzerland. It means that Gym is probably on the verge of bankruptcy. (You sell outstanding bills at a reduced rate to Intrum. Afterwards, they slap additional fees on them, try to collect the money and make a profit despite some defaults)

  17. If you haven’t anything to do with the dept, you can probably ignore them or better write a clompaint. Intrum is really annoying and often contacts the wrong people for some dept they bought. They most likely won’t go to the “Betreibungsamt” (if you are the wrong person of course) because this would cost them something and they are smart enough to know that their claim has no chance in court.

  18. It’s legal scam welcome to Switzerland, fuck those who work for them companies

    Edit: be careful they often add illegal taxes and interest from the original bill, if you indeed own them money then only pay what the original bill was.

    They might treat you by saying they’ll bring you to court or even physical treat you but those are 100% illegal, they know it and most of the time people either pay those interest or just wait 10 years to have them cancelled

  19. By law you only have to pay the inital outstanding balance + the 5%, the other positions are jsut some random claims hence no need to pay for them

  20. Do you actually owe Let’s Go Fitness any money?

    Did Let’s Go Fitness try and collect the money through your municipal collections agency?

    * 1. Do NOT acknowledge to them that you owe them any money.

    * 2. ask for proof that you owe them any money (if they didn’t go through the collections agency first, chances are they don’t have the documents

    * 3. It is illegal to slap on fees onto bills. If you owe them money, you owe them ONLY the base amount plus 5% late interest (unless a different interest was soecified in the contract) since the due date of the bill, and the CHF80 of the municipal collections agency. However, there is no punishment for doing so.

    * 4. If you acknowledge any costs outside of the base cost, late fee and municipal collections agency’s costs you WILL owe them and they are enforceable through your official municipal collections agency.

    So if you wonder why they are so scummy, it’s because it’s the law and there’s no punishment for them, so that’s their modus operandi: scare people into paying money they don’t actually owe, or scare them into paying fees they don’t actually owe.

    Edit: why do lists look so shitty and why is 1. recessed like that…

  21. They also exist in France, and there I always ignored their letters, but mostly because in all cases they were in the wrong (like my internet provider asking for a fee when I cancelled, while moving abroad is an official reason to not have any fees, and I gave proof, but they would only accept a proof in French).
    In those kind of cases they would first need to prove you owe anything before they can try any legal action, and good luck with that…
    Probably in Switzerland it’s different though.

  22. Intrum is legit thats. Company who gucks ppl up wheu u owe somebody momey. But there r also fishingmails and letters around, always verify emailaderss, website link or best way u just call them

  23. Intrum is not a shady company! Have you done any google search regarding who they may be? Its a collection service for debts, companies hire them to do the boring paperwork for the collection, dont ignore them and please call that fitness AND intrum! Its a professional collection service, compared to other companies, intrum is kinda the most trusted and human. Call them immediately.
    If anything shady than it may be that fitness but i have not done any search about that so dont take my word for it, call them.

  24. Charge them an arbitrary fee for making you prove that you paid and causing you stress. Dear intrum here are your two options. Contact your client directly to see that this matter doesn’t exist. Or you may ask me to prove that the bill has been paid for a fee of 500 chf or 2 payments of 270 chf. Please let me know your choice in 7 days or the matter will be considered closed.

  25. You did not pay your fitness bill. Intrum is a firm who goes after bad payants. Better pay or you never get rid of them.

  26. Do nothing is a very bad idea and a bad recommendation of many redditors here. You need to get in touch with the original company that sent you the bill (Let’s Go Fitness).

    If you paid and Let’s Go Fitness confirmed this to you, call Intrum and ask if they got that info and maybe even send them proof of your communication or payment.

    If you didn’t pay or still owe them something, check with the Fitness if you can clear it with them so they tell Intrum it has been cleared. Its legit for a company to sell their open bills to them (sadly).

    If you need to deal with Intrum then call your law-insurance if you have one to be extra sure what to do now. But they will probably do the following:

    * You don’t need to pay the Frais blabla according to 106 CO. They always try that because its some sort of grey area. Translated Info from Konsumentenschutz: [https://www-konsumentenschutz-ch.translate.goog/online-ratgeber/muss-ich-den-verzugsschaden-bezahlen/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp](https://www-konsumentenschutz-ch.translate.goog/online-ratgeber/muss-ich-den-verzugsschaden-bezahlen/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp)
    * The 15.00 and 25.00 for rappel and partly paying you only need to pay, if this has been stated in your original contract. Check your contract and the underlying terms (AGB in German) if you agreed to this fees with your signup.

    Your insurance will call them and argue that: you will pay the original 1792 plus the 5% interest and maybe the reminder fees if that was in the contract.

    ​

    Also waiting for a Betreibung is a bad idea to sit it out. Even if you do Rechtsvorschlag, the Betreibung will be in your records until it has been settled or they remove it. That can take forever.

  28. These companies are bullies and such letters are part of scare tactics to get you to pay.

    In short:

    1. Deal directly with the company– not the collecting agency– and let them take care of the bureaucratic burden.
    2. Get an official letter from them that acknowledge that your file is closed
    3. Be the connecting bridge between them and the collecting agency.

    FYI
    A family member got their identity stolen–Someone had open a fraudulent account under their name. We only figured it out once we received a letter from a third-party collecting agency.

    **Once the file is closed with the company (Let’s Go Fitness in your case) MAKE SURE to get an** **official lette****r* from them that indicates that:**

    **1) All payments have been received**

    **2) There are NO outstanding and/or current balance on your account as of [insert date].**

    **3) That the collecting agency has been notified accordingly by the company AND that the file is closed on the collecting agency’s end.**

    **Nonetheless and once you get that official letter, I highly suggest that you still contact the collecting agency (in writing) so they confirm (in writing) that the file is closed.**

    Golden rule in Corporate Law: Never assume.

    In your case, don’t assume the company and the collecting agency communicate with each other.

    You don’t want to leave any room open for them to come back at you. Making things right on the first try is best than fixing a mistake.

    Imagine if the “créancier” file for bankruptcy, is purchased by another company who takes their debts and that someone along the way didn’t do their job properly. Suddenly your name comes up and all they see is an outstanding balance…

    NOTES: the “Prescription des créances” in Switzerland is generally 10 years.

    Good luck and don’t allow those bullies to push you around

  31. Until you receive a debt enforcement notice (poursuite), just ignore it. If they file one, contest it. If they then summon you to court, simply produce the proof of payment. That way you’ll be able to ask for damages (avec suite de dépens) and you’ll lower the profits of one of those parasitic debt recovery agencies

  32. Don’t acknowledge this email. Looks like fishing to me. I got something similar and after about 1000 threats emails, they suddenly stopped emailing me.

  33. I also had a claim from these idiots. Similar story, I contacted the original company and told them that I would like to pay them, but they were helpless. I then asked intrum to supply me with proof. Useless. They kept sending letters and then eventually gave up. They have no real legal ground to enforce, just scary letters.

  34. It’s a collection agency. You need to see why the fitness company is. Barging you still
    Maybe they have a clause of cancellation with notice period

  36. Just ignore it. Intrum sent me a payment reminder for about 4 years, 1-2 times a year. It was for a horrific compensation fee. I paid the origin bill long time ago. Haven’t heard anything for like two years now.

  37. Demande conseil à la Fédération Romande des Consommateurs. Ils ont l’habitude, et tu peu. Leur demander des conseils juridiques.

  38. Immediately ask the fitness to fix this billing matter between you and them. Intrum is an asshole society who harass people by mail, letters and on the phone and threaten everyone. Do not engage with them and try to contact the fitness ASAP, seriously

    Edit: typo and also this:
    I had struggles with Intrum for a whole year despite the matter being fixed with who I owed money to long ago. They send threats of pursuits and other legal actions every two weeks and contacted my employer to know if I changed numbers/address. So yeah. Do NOT get involved with them :((

  41. Intrum Justitia is legit, seems like you didn’t pay a bill. Your loss, now pay the 2k or make shareholder happy and don’t pay.

  42. This seems legit. Call Let’s go Fitness first (if you actually made a subscription and didn’t pay).
    Yes there is scam around, from Intrum, Tax Payments or warning letters with a small amount like CHF 17.90 or something similar.
    Now imagine 5% from 8 million people pay that out of fear, it’s not much right..
    Well a scammer can make CHF 400’000.- a year, and they do.

  43. Well. What you owe is the unpaid amount and the 5% interest rate. This is what is planned in our code des obligations.
    The article they mention , 106 co, exists, but they would need to prove the damage, for which they request 65.-
    So you need to contact intrum, tell them you’ll pay what you owe and the 5%. But for the rest they can go fuck themselves. There are templates for this on google.
    Do not pay the gym before having talked to both parties.
    If the gym doesn’t accept your proposal, contact intrum and pay the real due amount

  45. When you owe them money. Just pay 1. and 2. position. Just dont pay the otheres. This are not legal !

  46. Always ask the company mentioned in the documents.

    I had debt companies telling me that I own money to Zalando Lounge, however I only pay them by card so it’s not possible.

    Another one was a bill of 1k for a Blood test that I did, but I went to check my insurance and it was already paid by them (60 chf) 😂

  47. Tu n’as pas payé la mensualité Let’s go. Du coup, ils ont transmis le prix de l’abonnement entier à Intrum qui est une société de recouvrement.

    1. Maintenant que la créance a été transmise, tu ne peux rien faire et Let’s go non plus

    2. Ne paye que le prix de l’abonnement, les intérêts et les frais de rappel (s’ils ont été mis par Let’sgo et donc issu de la facture initiale sinon ne paye pas). Tu n’es pas obligé de payer les frais de retard selon art. XXX, et les frais de paiement partiel (ils sont illégales et quand bien même ils vont te mettre des pressions pour les payer ça ira jamais plus loin que des pressions)

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