Advantis Credit Services

[Ready2Run]

Hi.

I have many severe debts and many serious problems after a split but I do think that you will have a good laugh with this one.

I owe BT £177 for a terminated line rental and bill I am not trying to dodge the payment as all I wanted a bit of time to sort out the mess my ex partner had left me in but they passed this to a DCA called Advantis from Stoke on Trent..

Thier first letter was, for a DCA quite polie but DEMANDED immediate payment. i wrote to themn asking for a copy of the Letter Of Assignment and as copy of the final bill in other words what they should have given me in the first place.

I received the usual crap, a statement of one page with your total bill is £xxxx plus they had added 25% for thier pen pushing trouble.

I request a Letter Of Assignment and they replied as they are a service they did not require one so I decided to officially request the T&C's of the contract, Statement and detailed bill which obviously did not arrive and all I got was a letter stating that they will send a doorstep caller..

My reply is that as they cannot supply the required information I would like them to stop processing my data illegally. (one of the templates on here) and also requests that under common law that any caller they send wiull be in violation of tort of Trespass

Today, I get a knock on the door, A guy asks for me and tells me that he is from the County Courts and that BT had gone to court last Friday and obtained an order. I requested the paperwork which obviously he doers not have and I have never been informed of any action by BT or anyone else for that matter. and shut the door in his face.

An hour later I get a scrap of paper, in a scruffy old A4 sized envelope posted through the door ... See attachment ...

For a start .. piece of paper pulled out of a fag packet .. Name spelt wrong .. Case number is not valid .. his name not on the bog roll, spells Bailiff as BALIF and threatens a door stop call again.

I have requested info from this case (obviously not one) from the county courts and if this is false I will ask the police to investigate as this is fraud, I will also persue TS and FSA and Financial Ombudsman, Advantis do not know as yet of my actions. I can now actually fool them as I have a Skype number 300 miles from my address.

[Curlyben]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

What a steaming pile of pooh.
I'd be inclined to pass this to the POLICE as this is clearly fraud.

Have you spoken to BT about sorting a repayment plan on this ?
Also who are the DCA involved ??

[Crispybacon]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

Hi R2R

Please phone the courts and find out if this is genuine! If not then you really must pursue this all the way as you could take these cowboys to the cleaners for a lot more than the debt owed!

If they are genuine, then there is still an abuse of process here that you can take on.

Best

Crispy

[Curlyben]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

Crispy, no need to call the courts as that is no where near a claim number.
Even if it was due process has not been observed and so this matter needs to be referred to the police as a matter of urgency.

[Ready2Run]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

Hi all

Thanks for your support. I have called the courts who have no record of any actions against me. The DCA is Advantis from Stoke on trent.

I have tried speaking to BT but they will not even consider plan while it is out with the DCA but I suppose now that they will be liable for the actions as well.

I will most cetainly involve the police with this matter as this is fraud and as I have the telephone number of the "so called" Bailiff will not be to hard to trace. I just about stopped myself from laughing down the phone by calling him (definately did not call).

I just need a little know how of how to take this to the FSA, TS and Financial Ombudsman without giving Advantis or BT a clue of what I will be doing so they are not able to destroy any evidence.

Again, thanks for the support and help. I will keep you all posted as things happen

[RadioJonty]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

I've gott a purported alleged 'debt' to BT also from Advantis, for £500 including 25% 'fee'.

I called the HO and gave the manager a polite firm piece of my mind, she was insistent I owed it, but essentially I was
"This has been paid, or I do not owe it and dispute it"

reply was "blah blah you owe it"

I said essentially "prove it and provide copy of original contract with signature."

Basts.

[Curlyben]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

Well guess what, they cannot simply add a fee for their "services".
This gets better and better.

[RadioJonty]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

The 25% extra was for the admin yada-yada previously mentioned.

In my letters to them I might charge them £450 per letter I write for research and legal costs, with something like:

"replying to this initial letter shall confirm that [Directors names]/and/or Advantis Credit Ltd and/or its staff, associates and/or legal advisors/representatives agrees to pay this fee for every subsequent letter written by my person, or my advisors/representatives, to Advantis Credit Ltd., [ Directors names] and/or its staff or representatives, legal or otherwise and/or any party or parties acting for, or on behalf of Advantis Credit Ltd."


Haha.

:tinysmile_grin_t:

has that got legs?

[Ready2Run]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

Hi all

Just thought I would update you on this so called Bailiff.

I have now written to Trading standards and the OFT, the TS letter as below

Hello

I wish to make a complaint concerning a company called Advantis Credit Services, based at Minton Hollings Buildings, Sheldon Old Road, Stoke On Trent who are acting on behalf of British Telecom


I have a bill with British Telecom (BT) which I placed in query with the Debt Collection Agency Advantis back in March by requesting a full statement, the terms and conditions of the service and the original letter of assignment which has never arrived. I am not disputing the debt just the DCA authority to process my data, but that is not the only problem


After I received thier letter informing me that I wias not going to get any of the items I requested I wrote to Advantis informing them that I was putting the account into query and that as they had indicated they were going to send a field agent I withdrew his authourity under English Common Law to stand on my land and if one turned up I would be reporting this as a tort of Trespass.

I received a visit from one of thier field agents on Monday even though I requested that they send no one and all correspondence must be done in writing once they provided the items I requested.

This gentleman did not give me any name and stated that he was a Bailiff from the Swindon County Courts as BT had obtained an order of the previous Friday (really, as I have not received any paperwork to defend myself if they had). I went out for a few minutes and on my return I found the attatched note (the one above) put through my letter box in a scruffy very large A4 envelope

I contacted the Swindon Combined courts the following day to enquire about this matter and was informed that there has been no request for a County Court Bailiff and indeed no actions recorded against me

This gentleman who was employed by Advantis Credit has deliberatley used fruadulant and deceptive means to gain entrance to my home and obtain a payment from me.

The police have been requested to investigate this matter (incident reference 54110042217) as this could have given someone, especially an elderly person without any knowledge of the requirements of the County Courts and Bailiffs Law, severe stress and other problems as he definately used a fraudulent and decptive method to gain entry and payment

This gentleman could only be working for Advantis as they are the only DCA that have handled the account. The DCA have also added 25% of the original statement value to the bill

I also have been given to understand that his actions are an abuse of the Debt Collection guidlines and therefore British Telecom are also culpable in this matter

Should you wish for any further details please do not hesitate to contact me

Should also add that still have not heard from the "Old Bill" as yet

[CleverClogs]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

If one does a Google search for the telephone number written on the so-called "baliffs notice", one will soon find that others have had the same problem - link - the first of which was some oaf using the "we have a package for you" ploy to get personal data.

As that person seems to be a pathological liar, he may indeed be - or have been - a certificated bailiff.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

Did the oaf call again at 8am today, as he threatened to do?

[Ready2Run]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

No, not a chance. The telephone number is his private home number. A friend called from my Skype number (a Manchester number) and when answered he was very rudly spoken to (we have the recording) and actually being sworn at but definately not a "Parcel For You" number.

No just waiting for the "Old Bill" and the TS Office

[Ready2Run]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

*** UPDATE ***
Email from OFT

Tele No
0845 722 4499
Our ref
EPIC/ENQ/E/105798
Fax
(020) 7211 8877
Date
23 May 2011
Email
enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk


Dear Mr xYzZyX

Consumer Credit Act 1974 (the Act)
Complaint Against: Advantis Credit Ltd, British Telecommunications plc
Licence No: 561804, 459577


Thank you for your email received on 17 May 2011.

I can confirm that the businesses you mention hold a consumer credit licence. Under the Consumer Credit Act, holders of consumer credit licences must be fit and competent to do so and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has a duty to monitor the fitness and conduct of all traders who hold such a licence.


The OFT has issued guidance to consumer credit licence holders engaged in the debt collection industry. The guidance is intended to ensure that debt collectors treat individuals fairly. Non-compliance with this guidance will call into question the fitness of licence holders and applicants. You can view our guidance at:

www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/legal/cca/debt-collection


We have therefore recorded the details of your complaint, and we will consider this alongside any other complaints we have received with a view to any consumer credit licensing or other action we may decide to take. If we do take any action against these traders, it is likely that we would need to disclose your identity to the traders along with details of your complaint.

I should therefore be grateful if you could sign the enclosed consent form and return it to me.

Unfortunately, we cannot disclose any details about any action we may take, due to legal restrictions on the OFT relating to disclosure of information.


While we are very sorry to hear about the difficulties you have been experiencing, the OFT has no authority to become involved in individual disputes between consumers and traders so we cannot advise you directly in this matter.


The Financial Ombudsman Service can help with most complaints about consumer credit products and services if the consumer has failed to satisfactorily resolve the matter directly with the consumer credit licensee itself.

The Financial Ombudsman Service can be contacted at:

The Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9SR


Telephone: 0800 0234 567


Thank you again for writing to us and bringing this matter to our attention.


Yours sincerely

David Annis
Enquiries and Reporting Centre
Office of Fair Trading

----------------------------------------------
Trading Standards Reply:

Thank you for your email which has been forwarded (this email copied) to Consumer Direct who will advise you.

They may refer the case back to Trading Standards but only where the criminal law is suspected of being broken.

As all correspondence is regionalised, therefore please send your full contact details to Consumer Direct and those of the Trader.

Sometimes referrals are made to more than one TS Area.

Regards,

Andrew Bottomley | Business Support Unit | Swindon Capita Partnership
Tel: 01793 465672 | 4th Floor, Wat Tyler House, Beckhampton Street, Swindon, SN1 2JH.

---------------------
Best bit ... Consumer Direct. I am unable to find anything that I can send the info they require to. Grrrr

[CleverClogs]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

As you will have gathered from the stuff about "consumer credit products and services", none if which has the least relevance to your problems, the response from the Office of Faffing and Twaddling is just their standard acknowledgement.

[Ready2Run]

Re: Advantis Credit Services

Hi all

Got a letter from Advantis today, see attached (rather large mind) more or less stating that they have not sent anyone. If this is the case then how did this idiot know my DOB, Address and exactly how much Advantis were asking me for

As you can see, again, some scummbuz DCA trying to wriggle out of wrong doings. I bet the agent takes all the blame and gets it in the neck.