Hello, looking for help with MCE

[bbod]

Hello,
I am trying to get a refund from Money claiming experts and am having trouble. We e-mailed them to cancel the day after we stupidly took their cold call and gave them our details. We didn't get any paperwork from them before they took the fee payment and we sent the claim pack back on the day it arrived. On August 27th they called to say we had been added to the list for a refund within 30 days. 54 days later we are still waiting, on September 27th and October 11th we were told they had processed a refund to us (after numerous phone calls) but we still have not received any money back.
We have contacted our bank who want us to get confirmation from MCE that they have agreed to refund us and the amount and last 4 digits of the card they are refunding. We have asked for this information but they ignore us. We were told they use Protx for payments and we have contacted Protx/Sagepay who have also e-mailed MCE for confirmation of the details of the refund they insist they processed on the 11th October.
I am wondering whether there is any point in me complaining to the Ministry of Justice. We put in a complaint to MCE twice and have not had any response or acknowlegement.
We are so frustrated and angry and any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

[Caspar]

Re: Hello, looking for help with MCE

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=2493407

Have a look at this thread - they're mentioned on there - not sure whether it's you who posted or not?

It looks as though they're a company who reclaim charges and then take part of the fee themselves. Nothing you can't do yourself perfectly easily with the help of those on here.

As regards your claim, you need to try to get some proof of what they have said. You can either write to them and hope they write back, or phone again AND RECORD THE CONVERSATION. Give them a reasonable time limit for you to receive it (maybe 14 days) and say now you have the proof you'll take them through the small claims if they haven't responded within the agreed time - make sure you get them to commit 14 days is a reasonable time on the phone. If they say it isn't, ask what they think is reasonable and as long as it's sensible be flexible and give them the time, but emphasise this time if they don't live up to their promises it will be going to the small claims court.

[Amethyst]

Re: Hello, looking for help with MCE

Have a look at this forum Debt Management and Claims Management Companies - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum for lots of info on MCE. They have just refunded someone after fibbing about cheques being sent out many many times before, it just takes persistence. We actually started preparing for court action to reclaim the money owed just before the cheque finally showed.

I dont know what Protx/Sagepay are, but really you shouldnt be chasing this about, they should. Post up a thread in the Claims management forums anyway and yes complain to the MOJ although they wont be much help to you, its another nail in the coffin for Cento/MCE/Lifestyleclaims/Client Connection Ltd (all the same people).

[bbod]

Re: Hello, looking for help with MCE

Hi
thanks for your replies.

I decided to put my complaint in to the Ministry of Justice and contacted them earlier.
They just phoned back and they say because MCE have clearly broken the rules about taking payment from us before providing us with paperwork and they have not refunded us within 30 days after we cancelled within the 14 day cooling off period . They are therefore going to investigate and try to sort it out for us. Hopefully they can do this as they say contacting the bank for a Charge Back should be a last resort but that will be our next step if all else fails.

[bbod]

Re: Hello, looking for help with MCE

well I am gobsmacked - just checked bank account and the refund from MCE has come through at last!!

I am not sure whether this is a coincedence as it is 10 days today since they said they had refunded us (for the second time) or whether it is because I contacted the MOJ and they have contacted MCE. I also contacted Protx/Sagepay last weekend and they have e-mailed MCE threatening to withdraw their services if MCE do not treat their customers fairly.

[Tools]

Re: Hello, looking for help with MCE

Excellent result, thank you for letting us know.

I hope you will stick around to help others that have fallen foul of this shower.

If there is anything else we can help you with do not hesitate to shout.

[TUTTSI]

Re: Hello, looking for help with MCE

Hi Bbod

Well done for sticking to your guns and standing up to this CMC.

Depending on what MCE told you they can reclaim we have a lot of resources here on Legal Beagles to help you.

Tuttsi

[Caspar]

Re: Hello, looking for help with MCE

Brilliant result - well done you!

[bbod]

Re: Hello, looking for help with MCE

Thank you for your comments.

I am waiting for the Investigating officer from the Ministry of Justice to phone me, they said they would contact me in the next couple of days when I spoke to someone yesterday.

I hope they will still investigate my complaints because although we now have our money back MCE still broke at least 4 of the rules they are supposed to conduct business by and they are doing it to so many other people it needs to be stopped.

I think we were lucky in that we e-mailed them to cancel our business with them within 24 hours of their call. We kept e-mailing them about the refund and they phoned me a week later to try and change our minds about canceling. That is when I complained about them taking fee's before we had seen any paperwork or received a claim pack. They said they had e-mailed us the paperwork on the day of the call but we didn't get that e-mail from them. I said we would look at the claim pack and then decide whether to continue with them. So they sent the claim pack 'again' which arrived 10 days after the first call and I posted it back the same day so they must have got it back just within the 14 day cooling-off period. If we had just waited for the claim pack to arrive I am sure it would have been too late to send back within the 14 days.

[daisy888]

Re: Hello, looking for help with MCE

I was unfortunate enough to be working at MCE/Lifestyle Claims this year (needed to make a living til I found something better, sure you can all understand that) and it is an absolute joke their 'claims' company. I got so frustrated that I had to ask people for an upfront fee, and was always pleased when every time, the clients must have heard the secret 'don't so it' in my tone.
It's horrible reading about people's problems with this company, they need to investigated by the MOJ, how they are still authorised is beyond me! They don't even send an email until the payment is taken!! They use the MOJ website to justify their legitimacy, but it is very clear on the homepage that claims companies should not cold call and should not take money before anything else is done!

Good job there is a site like this pointing people in the right direction.