M&S Pre Legal Recoveries - court bailiff that never arrived

[Mr $quandaŁot]

In November 2012 I received a rather 'strong' letter from M&S Bank's (HSBC) in-house Pre Legal Recoveries. Wow, what a name!

Pre Legal Recoveries threatened to send a court bailiff, get attachment of earnings or charge on my property (I don't own any) rather conveniently forgetting to mention that to do any of those things they would actually have to go to the court first.

15 months on, I'm still waiting for the court bailiff to arrive.

In fact, I haven't heard from M&S Bank for six months now. Rockwell gave up following my letters with references 'Mayhew 1', Mayhew 2, I think I got all the way to 'Mayhew 4'.

I used to quite enjoy winding up those silly debt collectors. I never answered their security questions but started asking them about their personal life i.e. what kind of people they wanted to date, if they had kids, how many, how old etc, even if they were divorced and if so, why

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: M&S Pre Legal Recoveries - court bailiff that never arrived

Further to my original thread, I think M&S/HSBC knows that they are stuffed, hence no communication from them for over six months now.

No doubt they will sell the alleged account at some point but whoever is silly enough to get involved with bulk buying will be Mayhewed!

[ODC]

Re: M&S Pre Legal Recoveries - court bailiff that never arrived

I don't think there have been any successful prosecutions for the M&S card fiasco. I 'owe' them a substantial amount but despite at least a dozen DCAs not one court summons

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: M&S Pre Legal Recoveries - court bailiff that never arrived

How big is your alleged debt? Mine is over Ł10k but mainly interest and charges. After defaulting they added around Ł1k before serving default notice which they did twice!

[ODC]

Re: M&S Pre Legal Recoveries - court bailiff that never arrived

Over 10k. They seemed to give everyone a 10K limit. They were warned at the time that what they were doing was illegal but corporate greed took over. I wonder just how many people are in a similar position

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: M&S Pre Legal Recoveries - court bailiff that never arrived

Over 10k. They seemed to give everyone a 10K limit. They were warned at the time that what they were doing was illegal but corporate greed took over. I wonder just how many people are in a similar position

My guess is quite a few. Many will fall on to their demands but we at LB know better!

M&S store cards typically had a credit limit of Ł500 or Ł1,000 - mines was the lower amount. That's a small amount and unlikely to get anyone in a serious trouble. Transferring a store card account to a mastercard account with a limit of 20x is irresponsible at best.

Their correspondence mentioning OFT is misleading and not true. Serious questions should be asked about HSBC's fitness to hold a consumer credit license.

Unfortunately UK authorities are too soft and easily bullied by the big bad banks!

[ODC]

Re: M&S Pre Legal Recoveries - court bailiff that never arrived

This old article from the Daily Mail cooks their goose

On Monday, 3.5 million M&S storecard holders were sent letters telling them they would be receiving the new &More card as a replacement.
But following complaints the Office of Fair Trading has ruled the move illegal under the Consumer Credit Act of 1974.
The issue comes at a time of mounting concern among consumer groups and MPs over Britain's mounting personal debt.
The 14.9 per cent interest rate on M&S's card is high compared to the Bank of England base rate of 3.5 per cent, although marginally lower than the 16 to 17 per cent commonly charged by major banks.
The card, which carries a Mastercard logo, can be widely used like any other credit card. Spending on it is encouraged by the loyalty scheme, awarding points that can be reclaimed with money- off vouchers.
The OFT said yesterday that it is an offence to send a credit card to consumers unless it has been requested in writing.
M&S had argued it was not breaking the law because it was not supplying a new card but issuing a replacement after varying an existing agreement.
But the OFT ruled that M&S did not have the right to change one type of card into another.
It said the firm had agreed to alter its plans so that all customers being sent the &More card would be told that, if they wished to keep their existing store cards, they need take no action.
If they want to replace the store card with the new credit card, they must ask for it.
The change is designed to reduce the element of so-called "inertia selling" where customers receive products they have not requested.
OFT chairman John Vickers said: "Inertia selling of credit can have damaging consequences for consumers.
"In this case Marks & Spencer Financial Services has agreed to take practical steps so that consumers will move from store card to credit card only if they positively make that choice."
M& S customer Geoff Oxland, who complained to the store several times about its card issue, said the announcement was "brilliant news".
Mr Oxland, a maintenance manager from Penrith, Cumbria, said: "I have one credit card and I did not want to be told I would be getting another one without asking for it.
"Marks & Spencer is a responsible company with excellent goods and service, but I did not expect it to be encouraging debt in this way.
"I don't feel my complaints were dealt with seriously by the company. I am glad the OFT has taken a stand."

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: M&S Pre Legal Recoveries - court bailiff that never arrived

The interest the ****ers were charging at the end was 20.9% and then they wanted to increase it to 25.9%.

And the base rate is much lower now!