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THREAT: Jessie Beard has received a threatening letter after she forgot to pay a bill for £2
Widow, 81, faces court of £2 bill
Susannah Wright19/10/2006
AN 81-year-old widow faces being taken to court - all over a £2 bill.
Jessie Beard has been told she faces legal action after not realising she had to pay postage costs for a pair of jeans she ordered shortly before going into hospital with a broken hip.
The warning came after the Ambrose Wilson catalogue company handed her case to a debt recovery agency when costs spiralled to £80.
Jessie, who is recovering from pneumonia, said the threat of court action was impacting on her health.
The grandmother-of-three lives off Parrs Wood Road in Withington. She said: "It's terrible, it makes me feel sick and I'm worried that it's going to give me a bad name.
"Why are they doing this to me? I only made a small mistake and I can't understand it at all. I really don't know what to do.
"They're asking me to pay £80 now - that's a week's pension to me."
Jessie added that she only bought the jeans because she had never owned a pair and fancied trying them out.
The jeans originally cost £9.99 from the catalogue but came with an extra £1.99 charge for postage.
She had asked her son to settle the bill with his cheque book because she does not own one. But Jessie later received a letter saying that money was still outstanding.
Her daughter Jacky Plant then sent off a cheque to cover the debt which cleared six days after the letter was received.
However, Jessie was left distraught when she received another letter telling her that money was still outstanding and costs had risen to £80.
She received a further letter on October 17 saying that she had 48 hours to pay up or she would face legal action.
Jacky, 59, said: "We've paid the original amount so this is ridiculous.
"It's not on - it's terrible that they are treating an old women in this way."
A spokesman for Ambrose Wilson declined to comment.
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3/11/2006 at 10:38
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