Intrum charging extremely high fees
I honestly feel like I’m being completely messed around by Intrum, and I wanted to know if anyone here has gone through something similar.
I had 6 unpaid Twint Pay Later amounts. My intention was always to pay them, but I missed the deadlines. After that, I started receiving several emails and letters from Intrum saying I had outstanding debts, and I kept paying the amounts that were sent to me in the INTRUM letters.
The letter starts with:
“Our client has assigned us to handle the above-mentioned claim. Use one of the following options within the next 10 days:
Pay the outstanding balance. Prove with your last tax return or other specified documents that you live below the minimum subsistence level and we will defer the claim for 12 months (Information at www.intrum.ch/insolvenz). Is this claim unjustified? You can find information about the process at www.intrum.ch/coc.”
The problem is that the amounts became filled with completely absurd fees. One original amount of CHF 119 suddenly became CHF 256 with things like:
- “Contractually agreed handling fees with client”
- “Client costs”
- “Extra charge for part payments”
And that was only one of the debts… Another one went from CHF 58 to CHF 163.34. This is only a couple of examples — imagine how much I’ve already paid overall…
These are fees that I never agreed to. I honestly don’t even know what “agreements” they are talking about. From what I later found out after doing deep research, apparently I may only have needed to pay the original outstanding amount.
What’s even more surreal is that I’ve already paid multiple times, and they still keep sending me new amounts to pay, and I genuinely have no idea where these numbers are coming from. Whenever I try replying to their emails or asking for explanations, nobody actually answers my questions — they just keep saying I owe X amount.
On top of that, they asked for my IBAN because apparently I had overpaid, and I provided it. They did actually send me a refund… but then I noticed things like:
- “Overpayment up to CHF 50.00 – fee CHF 8.00”
- “Overpayment CHF 50.00 or more – fee CHF 30.00”
This honestly feels completely unacceptable.
And now I received another email saying:
“We have clarified your request with our client. They informed us that they received a payment of CHF 27.50. There remains an outstanding balance of CHF 30.70, in addition to a late fee of CHF 25.00. You will need to contact the client to verify the second payment, as it was made to a different account.”
“At our client’s request, this case has been suspended until further notice.”
From what I researched, many of these fees may not even be legal in Switzerland. I do have the right to request a full detailed breakdown and justification for every single charge, right? And can I also ask for a complete payment history and potentially reclaim fees that were unlawfully charged by Intrum?
Has anyone here successfully challenged this or managed to recover money from them?
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED!!!