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Please accept my apoligies if this is covered in another post, I will have a good read through the forums in the next few days, as soon as time permits.
I am just panicking it may be too late to get anything refunded, I have had this post on another site and have recieved no help or advice, I had never heard of this site before today but it looks fantastic from what I`ve seen-Thank god for google
Wondering if anyone can offer me on any advice regarding bailiffs
visit to sieze goods in relation to an unpaid parking ticket, There have been a lot of problems with the company used, Bristow & Sutor, I`ll explain best I can and hope you dont all get bored before you finish reading my post.
Firstly I accept full responsibility for it ever getting this far, Was given many warnings and lots of time to clear the debt with Erewash Borough Council, who issued the ticket, and didnt, a combination of good intentions going astray and burying my head in the sand led to them instructing Bristow & Sutor to collect, So the fact that my £30 p.c.n was now £136.25, I accepted was a consequence of my actions and I had no-one to blame bu me, I dont want to rant about the injustice of paying more than £30, I had the chance to pay and didnt-end of!!
My anger/frustration is at the errors made by Bristow & Sutor and the fact that they wouldnt listen to reason at all.
Details of visits:
1st-4th April 2011-Bailiff visited explained why he was attending and who he worked for etc and told me he was there to collect balance in full (cannot remember if I recieved any letters from B&S before this visit) I made no excuses said i`d ignored it, hoped it`d go away etc and said I didnt have enough to pay in full (£136.28) but would like to make an arrangement to settle the debt, He said he`d need at least £50 to set up a payment schedule, I told him I didnt have any cash in the house but that when collecting my children from school I could withdraw some from the cash point if he wouldnt mind returning at 3:30 (approx 2 hours later) When he returned I apoligised and explained i`d already taken some cash out that day and could only withdraw a further £30 on my daily limit,I asked if I could give him that if i bought the phone ouitside and made another payment of £20 via telephone banking whilst he was there. He told me that it wasnt worth taking just £30 and asked if I could make 2 payments of £68, on 20th may and 20th June, I agreed but stated I didnt have sort code etc, he said he could get them but hed still need to complete a levy (think thats what it was called) on my car in case I didnt pay, I accepted this but that I needed to start kids homework/tea etc.and asked if he could knock when he`d done the paperwork.
After 10 mins he knocked again handed me the levy and the corner from a brown envelope with acc number sort code and left.
2nd 4th may 2011-I answered the door to find a bailiff from B&S demanding £200+ for pcn or that he`d be taking my car there and then, I asked why he was visiting 16 days before my 1st payment was even due, He said I`d made no arrangement and no other bailiff had been, I described the bloke that had been, told him the amounts, due dates etc he was very intimidating and said I was buying time and that i`d need to PROVE someone another bailiff had been before or he wanted the full balance or was taking my car and that he`d wait in the van, I scrambled through my very unorganised filing system trying to find the levy/envelope corner whilst the 2 burly blokes sat in the van outside laughing, After half hour I was in tears but he knocked and said someone had been and set up the plan as i`d said but they had no authority to do so and they hadnt made any note of his visit on the system, I said I was panicking and said i`d be more than happy to make the £68 payment to him there and then, He said it didnt matter and that all charges/fees would be deducted, with that he left.
Additional info:made payment of £68 to the sort code/account number I was given on the 20th may, Did recieve a letter dated 24th, which was a notice of removal, Stupidly I presumed it must have crossed with my payment- could kick myself for not double checking!!
3rd- 16th June 2011 I answered to find a bailiff with his face virtually pressed on the door looming over me, saying I had no more chances that he was here to remove my car and if I didnt give him the keys he`d put a clamp on it, I started getting a bit hysterical cause his mate was already getting clamp out the van, said why was they doing this when I`d made the payment with the details i`d been given, he asked to see the details, I fetched them and he rung the office and kept saying no payments have been recieved, I kept repeating are they the right details i was given but he wouldnt ask, I explained about the 1st bailiffs visit, again they said I was buying time and although there was a record of 2nd bailiff, I was lying about the other and that either way i`d breached and he started opening my car door, I was beggin him saying please ring the office, if they speak to the bailiff that had visited on in May he should be able to tell them who he was and to check if the account i`d paid into was the right one, He refused point blank, my friend who was at my house came out to see what the noise was, I asked her to wait with my car whilst I called bristow nd sutor to try and clear up any misunderstanding, I was on hold 20 mins with him shouting it`s another £50 in 10 mins, I finally got through to someone and was sobbing that there had been a mistake and could they please tell him to hold off while they looked into it, she said, no we dont get involved with the enforcement officers and he said he was removing my car then he`d remove it and hung up.
I again tried reasoning that I could scrape up the £136 that would cover the missing £68 and the next payment that was not due for 4 days, he said £365 or your car your choose and that I had 2 minutes to decide before he would be adding the extra £50, I was threatening to sit in my car and not move as I didnt have anywere near that amount of money nor could I get it in less than 2 mins but didnt deserve to lose my car, he said he`d call the police and have me arrested and there would be noone home for the kids when school finished, I again pleaded saying just call your office and double check the details i`d made a payment to saying i`d tried to pay what I needed to and didnt know were the money had gone but didnt have the £350+ he was demanding,
Whilst this was happening my friend had been calling round HER family to borrow the money and her partner, who I barely know, turned up with his credit card and paid it off, They left me hysterical, almost £400 in debt and humiliated as neighbours had obviously heard the chaos and had come outside.
I phoned the office several times that day, they simply refused to put me through to any management, said they didnt need to speak to me if they didnt want to either and to put it in writing.
It turns out the 1st bailiff had given me the account number with 1 number wrong (ending in a 9 when should have been a 0, could be his handwriting, but looked like a 9 to me) but I called the bank and they said the payment would have appeared to leave my account but at midnight when all tranfers are processed it would have bounced back as there was no such account and there would be no record of it being paid as technically it hadnt been.
I`m writing a letter of complaint now, but as I cant prove I attempted to make the payment or that the details given to me by the 1st bailiff were incorrect i`m unsure of what basis to complain, feel so angry at the way I was treated by call handlers/enforcement officers, I have never felt so powerless and vunerable in my life.
Dont know if it matters but all I was left with was a receipt of payment, I was given no paperwork/documents at all
thanks in advance for any help or advice offered
I am just panicking it may be too late to get anything refunded, I have had this post on another site and have recieved no help or advice, I had never heard of this site before today but it looks fantastic from what I`ve seen-Thank god for google
Wondering if anyone can offer me on any advice regarding bailiffs
visit to sieze goods in relation to an unpaid parking ticket, There have been a lot of problems with the company used, Bristow & Sutor, I`ll explain best I can and hope you dont all get bored before you finish reading my post.Firstly I accept full responsibility for it ever getting this far, Was given many warnings and lots of time to clear the debt with Erewash Borough Council, who issued the ticket, and didnt, a combination of good intentions going astray and burying my head in the sand led to them instructing Bristow & Sutor to collect, So the fact that my £30 p.c.n was now £136.25, I accepted was a consequence of my actions and I had no-one to blame bu me, I dont want to rant about the injustice of paying more than £30, I had the chance to pay and didnt-end of!!
My anger/frustration is at the errors made by Bristow & Sutor and the fact that they wouldnt listen to reason at all.
Details of visits:
1st-4th April 2011-Bailiff visited explained why he was attending and who he worked for etc and told me he was there to collect balance in full (cannot remember if I recieved any letters from B&S before this visit) I made no excuses said i`d ignored it, hoped it`d go away etc and said I didnt have enough to pay in full (£136.28) but would like to make an arrangement to settle the debt, He said he`d need at least £50 to set up a payment schedule, I told him I didnt have any cash in the house but that when collecting my children from school I could withdraw some from the cash point if he wouldnt mind returning at 3:30 (approx 2 hours later) When he returned I apoligised and explained i`d already taken some cash out that day and could only withdraw a further £30 on my daily limit,I asked if I could give him that if i bought the phone ouitside and made another payment of £20 via telephone banking whilst he was there. He told me that it wasnt worth taking just £30 and asked if I could make 2 payments of £68, on 20th may and 20th June, I agreed but stated I didnt have sort code etc, he said he could get them but hed still need to complete a levy (think thats what it was called) on my car in case I didnt pay, I accepted this but that I needed to start kids homework/tea etc.and asked if he could knock when he`d done the paperwork.
After 10 mins he knocked again handed me the levy and the corner from a brown envelope with acc number sort code and left.
2nd 4th may 2011-I answered the door to find a bailiff from B&S demanding £200+ for pcn
or that he`d be taking my car there and then, I asked why he was visiting 16 days before my 1st payment was even due, He said I`d made no arrangement and no other bailiff had been, I described the bloke that had been, told him the amounts, due dates etc he was very intimidating and said I was buying time and that i`d need to PROVE someone another bailiff had been before or he wanted the full balance or was taking my car and that he`d wait in the van, I scrambled through my very unorganised filing system trying to find the levy/envelope corner whilst the 2 burly blokes sat in the van outside laughing, After half hour I was in tears but he knocked and said someone had been and set up the plan as i`d said but they had no authority to do so and they hadnt made any note of his visit on the system, I said I was panicking and said i`d be more than happy to make the £68 payment to him there and then, He said it didnt matter and that all charges/fees would be deducted, with that he left.Additional info:made payment of £68 to the sort code/account number I was given on the 20th may, Did recieve a letter dated 24th, which was a notice of removal, Stupidly I presumed it must have crossed with my payment- could kick myself for not double checking!!
3rd- 16th June 2011 I answered to find a bailiff with his face virtually pressed on the door looming over me, saying I had no more chances that he was here to remove my car and if I didnt give him the keys he`d put a clamp on it, I started getting a bit hysterical cause his mate was already getting clamp out the van, said why was they doing this when I`d made the payment with the details i`d been given, he asked to see the details, I fetched them and he rung the office and kept saying no payments have been recieved, I kept repeating are they the right details i was given but he wouldnt ask, I explained about the 1st bailiffs
visit, again they said I was buying time and although there was a record of 2nd bailiff, I was lying about the other and that either way i`d breached and he started opening my car door, I was beggin him saying please ring the office, if they speak to the bailiff that had visited on in May he should be able to tell them who he was and to check if the account i`d paid into was the right one, He refused point blank, my friend who was at my house came out to see what the noise was, I asked her to wait with my car whilst I called bristow nd sutor to try and clear up any misunderstanding, I was on hold 20 mins with him shouting it`s another £50 in 10 mins, I finally got through to someone and was sobbing that there had been a mistake and could they please tell him to hold off while they looked into it, she said, no we dont get involved with the enforcement officers and he said he was removing my car then he`d remove it and hung up.I again tried reasoning that I could scrape up the £136 that would cover the missing £68 and the next payment that was not due for 4 days, he said £365 or your car your choose and that I had 2 minutes to decide before he would be adding the extra £50, I was threatening to sit in my car and not move as I didnt have anywere near that amount of money nor could I get it in less than 2 mins but didnt deserve to lose my car, he said he`d call the police and have me arrested and there would be noone home for the kids when school finished, I again pleaded saying just call your office and double check the details i`d made a payment to saying i`d tried to pay what I needed to and didnt know were the money had gone but didnt have the £350+ he was demanding,
Whilst this was happening my friend had been calling round HER family to borrow the money and her partner, who I barely know, turned up with his credit card and paid it off, They left me hysterical, almost £400 in debt and humiliated as neighbours had obviously heard the chaos and had come outside.
I phoned the office several times that day, they simply refused to put me through to any management, said they didnt need to speak to me if they didnt want to either and to put it in writing.
It turns out the 1st bailiff had given me the account number with 1 number wrong (ending in a 9 when should have been a 0, could be his handwriting, but looked like a 9 to me) but I called the bank and they said the payment would have appeared to leave my account but at midnight when all tranfers are processed it would have bounced back as there was no such account and there would be no record of it being paid as technically it hadnt been.
I`m writing a letter of complaint now, but as I cant prove I attempted to make the payment or that the details given to me by the 1st bailiff were incorrect i`m unsure of what basis to complain, feel so angry at the way I was treated by call handlers/enforcement officers, I have never felt so powerless and vunerable in my life.
Dont know if it matters but all I was left with was a receipt of payment, I was given no paperwork/documents at all
thanks in advance for any help or advice offered
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