*** WON *** AVidUser v BPS - hearing 26th May ** WON ***

[enaid]

Re: *** WON *** AVidUser v BPS - hearing 26th May ** WON ***

Magic, very, very pleased and well done once again to all concerned xx

[Mandid]

Re: *** WON *** AVidUser v BPS - hearing 26th May ** WON ***

Fantastic really relieved for you, well done to all involved x

[Kati]

Re: *** WON *** AVidUser v BPS - hearing 26th May ** WON ***

Well done Avid xx

[Magoo]

Re: *** WON *** AVidUser v BPS - hearing 26th May ** WON ***

Well done

[Amethyst]

Re: *** WON *** AVidUser v BPS - hearing 26th May ** WON ***

And a lovely conclusion to Avid's case
.......................



The controversial owner of a business that uses legal threats to intimidate people into paying for services they could have obtained for nothing is finding that British county courts disapprove of his tactics.

Last week, Christopher Parkinson became the fourth person in a month to have a claim issued against him by UK Services & Support Limited thrown out by the courts.

It means that Richard Howard, the 28-year-old owner of the firm and the operator of passport appointment website British Passport Services, has yet to win a single claim in court.

+2
Winner: Christopher Parkinson, with wife Mikyung, and son Benedict

This confirms a view held by some legal experts that he is abusing the system by issuing claims more to pressure defendants into paying up, than in the expectation of winning them. It also gives hope to hundreds of people who are debating whether to challenge claims issued by his firm.

British Passport Services arranges appointments at official Passport Office centres for travellers in urgent need of a passport, charging £117.60 on top of the Government fee for renewing or issuing a passport.

But the service often disappoints its customers, with appointments made at inconvenient times (for example, after the intended date of travel) or at a passport centre hundreds of miles from where the applicant lives. When users complain or contact British Passport Services to cancel the service, all they receive is a demand for payment. If they challenge this, they are hit with a series of surcharges.

Failure to pay ultimately results in a county court claim. So far, Howard has issued more than 750 with most people paying up straight away. Until last month, no claim had reached the courts, enabling Howard to boast on his website that he had never lost a case.

Like many users, Christopher Parkinson mistakenly thought the website was part of the Passport Office. Christopher, from Weston-super-Mare, in Somerset, used the British Passport Services website in June last year, as he needed a new passport in a hurry to let him continue working in Qatar as manager of the transmission department at news network Al Jazeera.

By the time he realised he hadn’t got the official website and had himself made an appointment to visit the Newport Passport Office, it was too late. British Passport Services wanted £117.60 from him. When he did not pay this the firm issued a claim.

In Weston-super-Mare county court on Tuesday, the judge dismissed the claim on the grounds that he had never entered into a contract with the firm.

Christopher had another reason to celebrate last week, when his wife Mikyung gave birth to their son Benedict. But the 40-year-old was determined not to let impending fatherhood prevent him from fighting the case.

He said: ‘My parents urged me to pay the claim before it went to court. But I was determined not to be intimidated and to make a stand. Hopefully this will make Mr Howard think twice before issuing any more claims.’



Howard said last week: ‘Clearly we’re disappointed with any claim we issue that is not awarded in our favour.’

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/b...#ixzz3bjTF2ZqL
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