DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[Angry Cat]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

For the avoidance of doubt:

[QUOTE] by The OFT:

Debt collection visits

2.11 Those visiting debtors must not act in an unclear or threatening manner.

2.12 Examples of unfair practices are:

a. not making the purpose of any proposed visit clear, for example, merely
stating that collectors or field agents will call is not sufficient

b. visiting a debtor when it is known they are vulnerable, for example, when
a doctor's certificate has been provided stating that the debtor is ill

c. continuing with a visit when it becomes apparent that the debtor is
distressed or otherwise vulnerable, for example, it becomes apparent that
the debtor has mental health problems

d. entering a property uninvited

e. not leaving a property when asked to

f. visiting or threatening to visit debtors without prior agreement when the
debt is deadlocked or disputed

1

g. not giving adequate notice of the time and date of a visit

h visiting debtors, unless requested, at inappropriate locations such as work

or hospital. [QUOTE]

[Emphasis] the MALG guidelines on 'Good Practice' must also be considered; these guidelines encompass both, the mental and physical...

[Zazen.Warrior]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I have to say at the moment it's Philips who have allegedly bought for themselves a job lot of Statute Barred debt upon which they are now trying to take payment.

They also send out debt letters with the word Bailiff in the header (very naughty)

One of the alleged debts they are chasing is some disputed bank charges of mine from 15 years ago. They do not have a hope of taking payment on these. I have told them so and why.

They now seem to have gone into a holding pattern whereby they send me the same email repeatedly - asking me to call them up and give them a whole load of my personal data - otherwise they cannot investigate my 'complaint.'

They are ignored.

[Angry Cat]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Ruthbridge Limited, otherwise known as; Ruthless...
Deserve to be on this list!

I note that the OFT have removed their trading names:
Swift Delivery;
Express Delivery, from the Ruthbridge Limited CCA Licence.
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
The following link is a little out of date, but relevant:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/...g_debts_1.html

There are many horror stories on MSE that relate to Ruthbridge Limiited bad business practices!

[Nibbler]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Debitas - CrapOne's in house DCA.

Utter pain in the ****.

If you fancy a good laugh though. read this....

Having fun with Debitas

[Zazen.Warrior]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Why bother speaking to them at all?

[Angry Cat]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Why bother speaking to them at all?

Agree, waste of time!

Never speak to a DCA on the telephone.

[lexis200]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

:eek2:Ooh, I can add a few to this...

Not a DCA I know, but Cap1 changed my payment plan from a long term one to one that they could default me on, then passed me onto Fredricksons. I never missed an agreed payment.

Fredricksons - no grasp whatsoever of disputes or unenforceable agreements. Currently trying to chase for co-op (no pt's on application, mostly illegible, no consent from me to use data for third parties, terminated two full years before a DN arrived, which in any case was dodgy and was followed by another termination) and have told me in a recorded call that no pt's on an application does not mean it's unenforceable.

Today they have threatened court on behalf of Cap1 for an agreement which I am certain is a Blue Peter job and which has been in dispute for about 18 months.

Standard dca tactics but they are stubborn and keep reappearing!

Phoenix (co-op's in house monkeys) - ditto Freds ramblings that the pt's are not essential - also rude and incredibly dense staff. Easy to dispatch but do try again every 6 months or so.

Robby Way - so inept it's laughable. Chasing for unenforceable accounts that have been unlawfully terminated and have charges that amount to more than the balance! They take two or three letters but were ultimately harmless. They like to state that they will be taking you to court, regardless of whether they legally can or not.

Apex - my God, a letter every 2/3 weeks from them! They go on a cycle - why haven't you contacted us, please contact us, contact us now, we're gathering information for taking you to court, DEBTORS NOTICE (they do that one in big red letters), then back to why haven't you contacted us. They don't reply to correspondence unless forced to, but really it's a waste of time as they don't seem able to put a coherent letter together.

Wescot - Arrogant, sent their pet sols out after one letter. I phoned said sols and asked why they weren't doing background checks on people when they were sending out court threats on behalf on a dca and they (touch wood) appear to have done as they said they would and rapidly retreated taking Wescot with them.

Blair Ollie and Scott - tenacious and ignore every single OFT guideline and CPUTR there is. They only gave up after they threatened litigation and I sent them a CPR request for info. Not a peep since March last year from them (although the account has gone round most of the dca's above since):eek2:

Moorcroft - as above really, useless and easy enough to dispatch.

All of them have no qualms about ignoring rules, regulations and guidelines. Whether this is down to ignorance or arrogance I don't know, but they all take the path of threatening behaviour without paying any mind to if it's something they can actually follow through on.

Of course it does help with all of them that they really don't have a leg to stand on with any account. If the original creditor baulks at going down the court route really what hope do dca's have?

Cabot - will I be banned immediately if I say they have been the best of the bunch?? <<Lexis gets ready to run :bolt:>> Got passed to them from Goldfish (who I was happily paying on a payment plan, and without so much as a by-your-leave they chucked me at Cabot!), and not only were they hugely polite on the phone, when I explained the financial dire straits we were in at the time the chap I spoke to offered me the option of paying less than I had agreed with Goldfish, which was already only about 0.02% of the balance a month. Because of this, even though Goldfish have not managed to supply an agreement at all, I have not kicked up a stink with Cabot as they treated me with respect and were actually helpful. That's not to say I won't if they start being silly, but for now it's ok.

ps - I quite enjoy speaking to them on the phone now... Of course all calls are recorded, and tbh once I've spoken to them once the number is logged as one to zap (gotta love Truecall), but on occasion when they phone and get through I do have a lovely chat. Like the Fredricksons lady a few days ago who phoned and proceeded to have a (recorded) talk to me about the account despite me refusing to go through security. The trouble is they just can't help themselves when it's nasty debtors they're talking to

Sorry for the massive post:o I think I may actually have missed a couple, we've been passed round so many - HBOS alone is I think 6 at last count

[reacher51]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

hi' all.
just a quick update on my situation with FREDRICKSON INTERNATIONAL they are trying to collect a CAP ONE debt from seven years ago which has already been through BRIAN CARTER. and LOWELL'S.[twice] i have sent the usual cca requests and a letter saying this debt is out of time [statute of limitations] but this seems to be a waste of time and £1 postal orders as they seem to just sell the debt on to someone else and the merry go round starts again.CARTERS are now linked with some company in belgium who seem to be buying debts in the uk en bloc. [good old eu].
just a thought. if you take the space from cap one you get "capone" is this the same family of gangsters??

[The Debt Star]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

CapQuest. Most commonly referred to as CrapQuest. Their head office is in the Caymans. tells you all you need to know. They are not registered for income tax in the UK. Only a few spaces up from bottom feeders Lowells and Robinson Way.

Oh and while I'm at it, H L Legal as well. They have some sort of dodgy arrangement with CrapQuest. Here's their piccies. http://www.hllc.co.uk/careers.php Handsome bunch of debt collectors aren't they?

The munter at the top would appear to be the only solicitor in the debt collection team

[The Debt Star]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Agree, waste of time!

Never speak to a DCA on the telephone.

Right, never speak to them BUT you can still earn money from their calls. Someone on CAG tipped me off about setting up a free 0871 number on a website and you earn commission on the DCAs' call to that number (plus you get a free answer phone service so you can listen to their messages if you want to).

[righty]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Shouldn't the header read "The good, The bad, The very bad, The very very bad, The despicable, and the unbearably ugly

[The Debt Star]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Or maybe just Resident Evil?

[reacher51]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

hi' debt star.
BRIAN CARTER also has a habit of booking court dates without proof of debt and has had his wrist slapped on several occasions but he is nothing if not persistant.
are CAPQUEST the same company as CAPITAL ONE?? the french bank if so isn't it funny all this money is being passed through the same half a dozen accounts and then going to the caymans.
they do more laundering than mr woo and all tax free !!!

[The Debt Star]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Nope, CrapQuest are not the same as Capone. Both equally bad, very bad, very very bad, despicable, and unbearably ugly though.

[Crispybacon]

Re: DCA's - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

My favourite 2:

Allied International Credit (AIC) - Numerous breaches of OFT guidelines. Not to mention 'losing' payments and not passing onto the OC (now sorted after threatened legal action)

And my latest Total Credit Management, who, not only have plumbed every possible way to breach OFT guidelines but also hide behind their own clients and refuse to divulge their postal address!

Crispy