*** WON WON WON *** AlexY v BPS ***WON WON WON ***

[EXC]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence

38. I believe that British Passport Services is routinely using the tax funded small claims court to bully and threaten their customers....

.......I believe that the number of people who are being tricked by this website is the only evidence that is needed to prove that the website is very easy to misinterpret and that it is not reasonable for British Passport Services to continue with its policy of suing every one of their customers who misinterprets their website and is not willing to pay up.

I realize it's tempting to say it how you see it but a witness statement should be confined to the facts and just the facts of your case and not stray into opinion. Opinion isn't admissible as evidence in court except for that of an expert witness. You can relate the facts as how you perceive them but there's a distinction between that and outright opinion.

Don't try too hard to paint a picture for the court, that's for the judge to do, based on the facts you provide him.

[AlexYates]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence

Thanks EXC,

But here's the thing. For me this case hinges on whether BPS are representing their services fairly and clearly. It strikes me that the most important thing is to:

A: Make it clear that they are not representing their services clearly. And frankly, they have all the right small print in all the right places. Therefore, it cannot be just about my case - we have to look at the bigger picture or I think we are vulnerable. This leads me to the conclusion that the best defence is to look at how many people are falling for this trick. However, if we do look at the bigger picture and demonstrate quite how many people are getting the wrong impression I think we have a good case that the website is clearly aware that they have a problem with how they represent their services.

B: Despite the fact they know full well that people are not understanding their website (and I can reference their notice of intended court action since this is mentioned as one of their common objections) they have not taken any steps to make their website clearer. Instead they have taken the strategy of suing people who simply misunderstood their website.

And hence - they are being totally unreasonable and are clearly not entitled to my money.

If you think I should approach my defence differently I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts.

Alex

[EXC]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence

I think what I'm saying is that you can present evidence that has the effect of painting Richard Howard as a lowlife scumbag without actually saying it as actually saying it is your opinion if you see what I mean.

Look at the witness statement here on post #22 http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...-WS-prep-skels

Paras 39, 40 & 41 all refer to the same things but are expressed as facts ie ''I became aware of....'' rather than going further and expressing your opinion as to why there are so many court cases and negative customer accounts. Remember the court is only there rule on the legal aspects of the dispute between yourself & BPS and not to decide whether RH is serial scammer.

[AlexYates]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence

If it won't take an awfully long time, please can you let me know the total number of contributors to the public BPS discussion thread?

I can see over 1200 comments across 50 pages and searching through it manually to work out the number of duplicates and the number of individual contributors sounds near impossible!

Alex

[EXC]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence

If it won't take an awfully long time, please can you let me know the total number of contributors to the public BPS discussion thread?

I can see over 1200 comments across 50 pages and searching through it manually to work out the number of duplicates and the number of individual contributors sounds near impossible!

Alex

I can't tell you the number of contributors without manually counting them but they'll include site team and others that haven't been affected so it won't mean much. There have been 192 members that have viewed the thread and they'll be many more unregistered visitors which we won't have the data for but again that doesn't really establish anything.

All the people with threads in the BPS VIP forum http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...sport-Services would have received claims so that would be more relevant plus the individual threads in the public copycat site forum http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...Website-Issues are mainly people who have had issues with BPS but not yet had a claim, unless the thread is marked 'moved'.

[AlexYates]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence

Thanks, I understand those numbers can be hard to get hold of. 1200 comments and 50 pages is pretty weighty in itself!

Oh - and I looked at the statement on post 22 here: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...-WS-prep-skels

You are right - I get where you are coming from. that statement is better than mine - and now, just as I was thinking I'm nearly done, I'm feeling like I have a lot more work to do and not enough time to do it!

[EXC]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence

It's a learning curve. There are lots of 'how to write a witness statement' guides out there and it's worth half an hour Googling a few to get the basic format and dos and don'ts right. Knowing that you've done it right will make you feel more confident. But basically stick to presenting the facts and evidence but in such a way that they tell the story you want to say without actually saying it.

[AlexYates]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence

OK - thanks for all your help,

It's not perfect probably, but I've been wrestling with it all day and this is what I've come up with. I've now sent it to both BPS and the court via email and I'll send them a hard copy in the next few days.

The really annoying thing about this whole BPS stuff is the amount of my time which it takes up. When you are doing a full time job and a degree at the same time that time is far more valuable than the money that is at stake and I've spent as much time as I'm willing to spend on it now. I just won't let BPS take any more of it if I can avoid it.

So I guess we'll let fate decide from here on in.

Thanks everyone for your support and advice. I've tried to tone down the end of my statement and I've taken some of the really good bits from the one you showed me this afternoon.

I'll still be grateful for any further advice people would like to share:

BETWEEN
UK SERVICES & SUPPORT LTD
Claimant

and

Alexander Yates
Defendant




WITNESS STATEMENT
---------------------------


xxxxxxxxxxxx


1. I am employed as a pre-sales engineer and am the defendant in these proceedings. I make this witness statement in support of my defence in this case.
2. The matters referred to in this witness statement are within my own knowledge, except where I have indicated otherwise. Where any matters contained in this witness statement are not within my own knowledge, I have stated the source of my information.
3. On September 30^th 2014 at 10.25am, while at work, I attempted to book myself an appointment to visit the passport office in Peterborough in order to renew my Passport so that I could go on a business trip.
4. I understood from the National Media that the Passport Office was experiencing delays in postal applications and decided that an application in person would be preferable to the uncertainty. (Exhibit A: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29073232).
5. I understood that the fast track service cost a little more than £100 and that I would be able to attend the appointment and wait for my passport to be ready.
6. I wanted to use the official channels to book my passport appointment. I used an online search engine to locate “Peterborough Passport Office Premium Service” contact details in order to book my appointment.
7. The most official looking of the top results was www.britishpassportservices.co.uk.
8. Since various BBC news reports at the time hinted that there was some privatisation in the passport office I was not necessarily expecting a government website. (Exhibit B: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29376335. Note title ‘No more privatisation’.) I was also unaware at the time that I should use a .gov.uk site since it had never been brought to my attention.
9. The website offered what looked to be the service I was looking for and the cost was quoted as £117.
10. I clicked the large “APPLY NOW!” button on the website which led me to an online booking form. I completed this with my personal details and entered the dates which I was available to attend my appointment at The Peterborough Passport Office. This was 20th/21st/22nd October 2014.
11. I used my mouse pad to make an impression of my signature and ticked a box to confirm my details were correct. While I was aware this was not a government website I believed this to be the official route for booking passport appointments so I trusted it.
12. The website took me to a payment page where I was asked for £117, which was roughly what I expected to pay for the passport, so I entered my credit card details to make the payment which I believed to be for my passport.
13. When I clicked the button to confirm the payment the page crashed. I assumed the booking failed.
14. By this point I was late for a meeting so I left my desk for about one hour.
15. When I returned at 11.30am I had received two emails from British Passport Services. (Exhibit C and D).
16. The first (Exhibit C) had been sent at 10.35am and it confirmed my online form had been received and requested payment within three working days. This was a surprise to me as I had tried to pay by credit card and it had failed.
17. The second (Exhibit D) had been sent at 10.54am and confirmed an appointment had been made for me at Peterborough Passport Office.
18. I checked my credit card account and found no payment had been taken yet, but since I’d only tried to make the payment an hour earlier I was nervous that the payment might still got through.
19. I immediately searched the internet for a telephone number for the passport office and this time found the right details. I called Peterborough Passport Office directly to check if the appointment had been made and to ask them about the state of the payment. I explained that I had completed the online form and attempted to make payment but it had failed.
20. The Passport Office confirmed that an appointment had been booked for me but that I would need to make a payment of £128 directly to the passport office when I attended for my appointment for the passport.
21. They told me that I should not need to pay to make an appointment. They also confirmed that the Passport Office would not ask for payment online and that I may have been victim of a scam. I was advised not to pay British Passport Services.
22. I cancelled the appointment that had been booked for me by British Passport Services and booked my own appointment at a different time directly with the passport office.
23. At around 11.45am I telephoned British Passport Services on the number 0203 0120 255 which was given in the confirmation email.
24. The telephone operator informed me I was required to pay around £60 for “services” already delivered and that it was impossible to cancel the rest of the services until the payment was received. He explained that if I delayed making payment I may have to pay more depending on whether they have provided more services by that point. I asked him to clarify, reiterating that despite the fact that I was very clearly telling him I did not wish to receive more services they would continue to provide them anyway, and bill me for them, unless I paid £60. He confirmed that this was the case.
25. The telephone operator stated that if I wanted to cancel I had to text a code to a 5 digit number. Having recently been victim of a separate spam texting scam that cost me £3 per text message received, and based on my experience with and lack of trust for this site so far I refused because I did not trust that my details would not be abused or that I would be signed up for other ‘services’ that I did not want.
26. The telephone operator appeared to become angry as he raised his voice. He stated he could not cancel the order until I paid the £60 fee and that they would continue to deliver services to me, increasing the cost, until I paid them. I told the man that I simply did not believe that this was legitimate and that I would not text any number. I told him very clearly that I did not want any of their services and that I never intended to hear from him or his company again as I considered the matter closed.
27. At 11.54am (almost immediately after ending the phone call with British Passport Services) I received two emails at once from British Passport Services that contradicted each other. One stated that not all the services had been delivered (Exhibit F) and I was eligible for a partial refund, while the other (Exhibit G) stated that all the services had been received and that I had to pay the full amount. Exhibit G also references the telephone conversation that I had had with them only moments before.
28. Exhibit F listed further different ways to cancel from those explained to me over the phone while Exhibit G asserted that it was impossible to cancel since all the services had been delivered.
29. Only a minute later I received another email (Exhibit H) including a receipt of all the ‘services’ which I had received.
30. In response to the allegation in Exhibit H that all the services had been delivered:
30.1.I had obviously not received any letter notification at this point as it was still only a little more than an hour after I had first visited the British Passport Services website.
30.2I never received any emergency travel document card and do not even know what this is nor do I remember asking for one.
30.3I had not received the 30 minute telephone consultation at this point, and much later when someone called me to try and deliver this service, even after I told them not to, I ended the call in a matter of seconds explaining that I had cancelled this service. (See point 34).
30.4I was never sent any details for any queue jumping website and also don’t know why one would need this for an appointment that is booked at a specific time.
31. In response to the services that were listed in Exhibit H that were delivered:
31.1While they did book me an appointment it was a difficult process and their website broke mid-way through leaving me in a state where I did not know if the appointment had been booked or not (see point 13.
31.2The receipt lists a fee for using the online appointment booking form yet in one of their online videos they clearly claim never to charge people for using their online booking form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT0o...ndex=2&list=WL (Exhibit Q). (Please note that I have recorded this video in case British Passport Services remove it – Exhibit R).
31.3Also, the appointment booking form crashed, so it was not sufficient quality (see point 13).
31.4‘Checking Online Form for Errors’ could either refer to the booking form, which is all my personal details which they cannot check, or it refers to a form you need to fill out and take with you to the passport appointment, which I had not even filled in yet so it would have been impossible for them to check.
31.5With regards ‘Having 04 Passport Form Posted’ I can confirm that I was posted a form which I received a few days later, but I have received no evidence that it had actually been posted so quickly, before the email was sent and before I had informed British Passport Services that I did not want to receive their services.
32. At 12.09pm I replied to Exhibit G via email (Exhibit J) and cc'd it to their complaints address: complaints@britishpassportsevices.org.uk. In it I stated that I had misunderstood the services provided as I believed that the price for the passport was included. I confirmed that I had already informed the company I did not require any services and would not be making payment to them. I also threatened to contact the Advertising Standards agency if they persisted in contacting me because I felt their services were misrepresented. At this point I had informed the company by phone and email that I did not wish to receive any of their services.
33. On Friday October 3^rd British Passport Services sent me an email claiming “It is quite unusual for a customer of ours not to know what they have paid for” (Exhibit K). This statement is clearly untrue based on Exhibits W1-3 and Y1-3 as discussed below. (See point 39.)
34. Several weeks later (I did not make a note of the precise date) I received a telephone call from a person at British Passport Services to try and supply me with a ''30 minute consultation'' which I did not request and which I had clearly stated both by phone and by email that I did not want. I immediately told him that I did not wish to receive this service and we ended the call in a few seconds.
35. As well as the ’30 minute consultation’ British Passport Services continued to bombard me with emails (Exhibits K, L, M N, O), and text messages (Exhibit S) as well as automated telephone messages and letters (most of which I threw away as I considered them spam). I ignored these messages because I had been prompt and very clear with British Passport services to explain that I did not wish to receive their services at the time but since they continued to send me contradictory information and did not listen to my very clear messages I gave up explaining to them. I was confident that I had done all that was reasonable to inform them that I did not wish to receive their services.
36. Upon receiving my letter of intended court action on Christmas Eve (Exhibit T) I emailed British Passport Services again (Exhibit P) and informed them that I had contacted relevant authorities to report them.
37. The letter of intended court action (Exhibit T) clearly states that it is a common objection for their customers to claim that their services were misunderstood, cancelled or that they believe the British Passport Services are a scam website.

Further comments about British Passport Services:
38. British Passport Services makes claims on its website which are very easy to prove as false. For example, at http://www.britishpassportservices.c...-coverage.html (Exhibit U) refers to a report by the BBC about the website. British Passport Services contest the way they are represented by the BBC by claiming that British Passport Services have never used a .org.uk address for their website, however a quick google search proves this is false. (Exhibit V is a video I have taken both of the website referenced by Exhibit U as well as proof that British Passport Services are lying.)
39. Discussion forums such as LegalBeagles (exhibit W1) and reports by respected media establishments like which.com (exhibit W2) and www.thisismoney.com (exhibit W3) and the BBC (exhibit U) demonstrate that there are a very large number of people who are falling into the trap set by British Passport Services. Many of these people are paying when threatened with court action because they are afraid, do not have time or don’t understand that they can fight the case. For example, see the emails I have received from Mylo Ofei-Kwatia (exhibit Y1), Billur Cerrah (exhibit Y2) and Mark Dilliway MBE, retired police officer who worked in fraud prevention (exhibit Y3), all of whom have very similar stories to myself.
40. British Passport Services display details for all the cases they have won on their website (http://www.britishpassportservices.c...udgements.html - Exhibit Z). Again I have taken a video in case British Passport Services remove this page. Exhibit Z also supports exhibit Y since Mr Ofei-Kwatia’s name appears in this list.
41. Despite the fact that Exhibits W1-3 and Z demonstrate a large number of people have been misunderstanding the British Passport Services website for months, British Passport Services have not made any changes to their website and continue to view the appropriate response is to sue their customers for their simple, and justified, misunderstandings.
42. The number of people who are misunderstanding this website clearly demonstrates that the website is very easy to misinterpret and that it is not reasonable for British Passport Services to continue with its policy of suing customers who make common mistakes.
43. I have made a complaint through Action Fraud.
44. The BBC program “Rip-off Britain” is making a documentary about British Passport Services as they believe the company is a scam. They have asked me if I would like to speak to them.
45. The claimant also owns other websites that are very similar to www.britishpassportservices.co.uk, including www.ukpassportoffices.co.uk, which was the subject of an Advertising Standards Authority adjudication (ref A14-273276) (exhibit X) which found that the website breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), 3.9 (Qualification) and 3.17 (Prices). The ASA required that the site be removed or changed. Many of the findings of this adjudication also apply to the website www.britishpassportservices.co.uk and www.britishpassportservices.org.uk.
46. At the time of writing (13^th April 2015) the total amount of money that British Passport Services claims to have made through the small claims court is £32,220.06. (See Exhibit Z). this figure does not include any money paid to British Passport Services before they had been sent official court letters.

Exhibits:
A: BBC news article (5^th Sep 2014): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29073232
B: BBC news article (26^th Sep 2014): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29376335
C-P: Email correspondence between myself and British Passport Services (see attached).
Q: Youtube video “With our service you do not pay a penny for using our online form” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT0o...ndex=2&list=WL
R: My own recording of youtube video (see attached files) and screenshot below:
[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.png[/IMG]
S: Text messages from British Passport Services (see attached files and below)
[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image004.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image006.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image008.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image010.png[/IMG]
T: Letter of intended court action (see below – full size hard copy will be sent by recorded delivery)
[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image012.jpg[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image014.jpg[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image016.jpg[/IMG]
U: British Passport Services claim never to have used .org.uk for their website: http://www.britishpassportservices.c...-coverage.html
V: Proof that British Passport Services have used .org.uk for their website (see video attached and screenshot below):
[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image018.png[/IMG]

W1: www.legalbeagles.info forum regarding British Passport Services is over 1200 comments and 50 pages long full of others who have very similar stories to myself: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...800#post532800
W2: www.which.co.uk article has over 500 comments and almost all of them are about British Passport Services by people with very similar stories to myself. Many of these people are either fighting British Passport Services in court or have paid the fees despite feeling that they have been scammed because they are afraid of going to court: http://conversation.which.co.uk/mone...e-application/
W3: www.thisismoney.co.uk did a feature on British Passport Services which describes Richard Howard, the owner of the website, as a “passport profiteer” who is “happy to throw county court claims around like confetti”. It has over 200 comments: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/n...ly-silent.html
X: The Advertising Standards Agency adjudication against UK Services and support (ref A14-273276) of 17^th September 2014 finds that a very similar website, www.ukpassportoffices.co.uk, which is also owned by UK Services and Support and looks very similar to www.britishpassportservices.co.uk, was misleading and that it must not appear again in its current form. The ASA demanded various changes should be observed but I see no evidence that they have been observed on either website: http://asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudicati...SHP_ADJ_273276
[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image020.png[/IMG]
Y1: Email to me from Mylo Ofei-Kwatia who paid British Passport Services after receiving the court letters because he “felt he had no choice”. (See attached.) British Passport Services now name Mr Ofei-Kwatia’s on their website and state that he has received a CCJ (see Exhibit Z).
Y2: Email to me from Billur Cerrah who felt he had been the ‘victim of a scam’ but was considering paying the bill because he did not know what he could do. (See attached).
Y3: Email to me from Mark Dilliway MBE a retired police officer who used to train other police officers on fraud prevention. This email contains his account of his experience with British Passport Services which is very similar to my own, except that he paid early on. He is now campaigning against British Passport Services and other websites and like it.
Z: British Passport Services report 173 cases where they have been paid approximately £200 after making a claim through the small claims court. The total amount they have claimed through the courts is over £30,000: http://www.britishpassportservices.c...udgements.html
[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Alex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image022.png[/IMG]

[enaid]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence - has entered WS

Good Luck today, hope all goes well

[EXC]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence - has entered WS

Good Luck today, hope all goes well

It's tomorrow lol.

[enaid]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence - has entered WS

It's tomorrow lol.

Jeez, I must get a little finger and a date reminder on this watch lol x

[AlexYates]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence - has entered WS

Good Luck today, hope all goes well

It's tomorrow lol.

Yes, it's tomorrow, but thanks anyway! 😊

[Amethyst]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence - has entered WS

Indeed, best of luck tomorrow xx

[Kati]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - has entered defence - has entered WS

Good luck from me too xx

[AlexYates]

Re: *** AlexY v BPS - HEARING 7th May

OK - I just spoke to the court.

BPS have said they will not be attending but they have not dropped the case so I still need to go to defend it.

I'm up at 11am.

I'll comment when I'm out and I'll probably spend the afternoon writing a detailed blog post, win or lose.

Alex