*** WON WON WON *** Scammed v BPS - court date 7th July *****

[Amethyst]

AGREEMENT was AUGUST 2014

[Amethyst]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

From: complaints@britishpassportservices.org.uk
Date: 27 January 2015 10:18:21 GMT
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Formal Notice: xxxxxxxx
Reply-To: complaints@britishpassportservices.org.uk

Good Morning Mr xxxx,
Please accept this email as your Final Chance to pay the outstanding £149.60 without us having to issue Court Proceedings against yourself. You can pay now at: xxxxxxxxxxxx

After 12 noon today our compliance team will proceed with the committees instructions and lodge a UK Services & Support Ltd vs xxxxxxxxxxx case with Her Majesty's court where by we will also be seeking reimbursement for the £25.00 issuing fee and claiming 8.0% per annum on the £149.60 as permitted by the Courts of England.

We encourage you to check the "Register of Judgements" at: https://www.gov.uk/county-court-judg...-credit-rating for our company UK Services & Support Ltd (Company Number: 08644308) as you will find that no company or individual has been successful in securing a Judgement against our company.
Contrary to what you have indicated regarding our website being "misleading", having an unclear website, having unfair contract terms or any other matter. Whilst maintaining this record will vary on a case by case basis going forward we are confident that in the matter of the unpaid monies that you owe our organisation we will achieve another victory for our company should we need be forced to use the judicial system to recover the funds.
You have until 6:00pm this evening to settle this invoice. To pay this invoice simply visit: xxxxxxxxxxxx

otherwise please be on the look out for the Court documents which will arrive at: xxxxxxxxxxxx three to five days after issue.

You can find your contract, invoice and the Overdue Invoice Charges to date at: xxxxxxxxx This email should be considered as the last part of our Pre-Action Conduct required by the Ministry of Justice.

Kind Regards
Charles Mercer
British Passport Services
Collections Department
Tel: 0161 663 0072
Fax: 0203 0120 254
E-mail: complaints@britishpassportservices.org.uk
Web: http://www.BritishPassportServices.co.uk

[Amethyst]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

From: British Passport Services <enquiries@britishpassportservices.org.uk>
Date: 3 August 2014 10:11:38 BST
To:
Subject: More Information Required
Reply-To: enquiries@britishpassportservices.org.uk

Dear x,

When completing the form you have stated that the status of the old passport is "other".

Please elaborate on what this means. Eligibility for the express passport renewal services are as follows...

Fast Track 1 Week Service - Applicants under 16yrs of age can use this service for their first UK passport however those over 16yrs of age must have held a UK passport in the past (this can include being added to a parents passport). If the applicant is over 16yrs of age then they will need to use the standard passport application process which takes up to 6 weeks. We offer a package that begins this process here >>>

Premium 1 Day Service - Only those over 16yrs of age and have held a UK passport in the past can use this service. They must also have their old UK passport on them when renewing. If the old passport has been lost, stolen or damaged then only the Fast Track 1 Week service can be used for renewals.

You must be a British Citizen to apply for a British Passport. If you are not eligible for either service then you can cancel our service by calling: 0203 6000 145 and entering Cancellation Code: 50850

Unless we hear from you we will continue with your original instructions and book the Fast Track Service (1 Week) - £103 Adult / £87 Child appointment at the Newport Passport Office as well as carry out the other parts of the service in full.

Kind Regards

Support Team
British Passport Services
Support Department
Tel: 0203 0120 252
Fax: 0203 0120 254
Email: enquiries@britishpassportservices.org.uk
Web: http://www.BritishPassportServices.co.uk

This e-mail contains material intended for the addressee only and may contain confidential and/or sensitive information. If you are not the intended addressee, please notify the sender and delete this message immediately. Do not copy or distribute this message or disclose its contents to anyone. Any views or opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and not necessaril

From:

Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2014 9:51 PM
To: complaints@britishpassportservices.org.uk
Subject: Re: Responsexxxxxxxxxxxx



Dear Amanda,


I am really not satisfied with the reply and do not consider the matter resolved. I shall not make any payments until this matter is resolved weather or not it's over the 72 hours. Your website is misleading because I was taken to your website by searching "newport passport office" your website came up first on google when you are clearly not the passport office nor based in newport, this is misleading. You are using key words to position yourself at the top on the google search engine which aren't what and who you are.
Once on your website it offered me the opportunity to apply online here. The apply online here buttons were positioned next to various options including urgent appointment and are the first and main things brought to a reader's (including my) attention.
The use of the words apply online here indicates to me, as it would to any reasonable person, that if they clicked on that button I would be applying directly for their passport. It did not make it clear that by clicking on that button and following the process through, a third party (yourselves) would be making the application. The impression created was that I would be making the application.
The next most prominent area of the front page declares that your website is the "British passport assistance". Again, this indicates to a reasonable person that this is the method of applying for a passport online.
Having now gone back through your website with a fine tooth comb, I accept that you mention in various places that you are not in fact affiliated with HMPO. These statements are in no way as prominent as the words use to foster the impression that you are. For example, they often appear in small print and no particular attempt is made to bring them to the reader's attention. As such, they do not counteract the impression created by the other much more prominent words.
Further, as you will be aware, under regulation 7(1) on the unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations 1999, it is a requirement that any seller or supplier shall ensure that any written term of a contract is expressed in plain, intelligible language. Regulation 7(2) provides that any ambiguity is to be construed in favour of the consumer. This makes it yet more unlikely that any small print on your website will be taken by a court to counteract the clear impression created by the buttons and words at the top of your website.
Accordingly, I believed that I was contracting with HMPO. I did not agree to contract with your company. A unilateral mistake as to the identity of a contracting party can render a contract void if it was fundamental and it induced the contract: see the case of Cundy v Lindsay. In this case the mistake was clearly fundamental and induced the contract as it affected the service which you could provide. The contract is therefore void.
As a result of your above-described website, I was also mistaken as to the service which you offered. This too is a mistake which goes to the root of the contract; it is fundamental, and induced the contract. The contract is void on this ground also
The use of the words "apply online here" at the head of your website also amounts to a misrepresentation in that it represented that by clicking on that button I would be completing an application form to get my child's first passport.
That was not the case, and could never be the case. Accordingly, your representation was false. It induced me to enter the contract as I would not have done so had I known that you were unable to directly provide me with a passport without the payment of a further fee.
The representation was either made fraudulently or negligently.
In either case, I am entitled to rescind the contract and claim any losses which I have suffered as a result from you: see Derry v Peek or Papa Johns v Doyley and section 2(1) of the misrepresentation act of 1967 if you allege that you somehow did not know that your representation was false and that it was therefore only made negligently.
In summary:
You did not get my child's first my passport but provided me with various ancillary services (such as arranging an appointment with HMPO) which I did not understand that I was paying for and I did not intend to contract for. This was wholly unclear to me until I query the rate of the passport which was £117.60 to you then a further £87 for my child's passport much to my surprise and dismay.
In addition you did not provide me with the consultation nor I have received the form which I had to go and get from the post office. Something you claim doing saving the customer (me) time money etc...
I am therefore entitled to not pay your fees requested.
In line with the practise direction for pre-action conduct you are requested to respond to this email within a reasonable time, 14 days in this case. If you are unable to respond within 14 days I would be grateful if you would respond within 7 days explaining why you will need a longer period and suggesting an appropriate time-frame.
If no response is received within 14 days I shall assume this matter close and you will not have any ground in coming back to me at a later date.

I very much hope that we can quickly resolve this dispute.

Regards,

Sent from my iPhone

On 5 Aug 2014, at 10:04, British Passport Services <complaints@britishpassportservices.org.uk> wrote:

Good Morningxxxxxxxxxx ,

My name is Amanda Kirkman, I have been assigned to your formal complaint regarding our Appointment Booking Package that you purchased through our website.


As stated in the Terms of Service on our website, the Passport Office appointment itself is free, we are an independent organisation with no government accreditation and that the service fee we charge does not include the passport fee is still due to Her Majesty's Passport Office on the day of the appointment. My colleague from Accounts has sourced your online contract that includes the tick mark against the "I have read, understood and agree to the terms" along with the computer I.P address (xxxxxxx) and signature at the bottom of the PDF. The signed contract can be found below...


xxxxxxxxx


To ensure that consumers know what they are purchasing we force every customer to tick the box that states: "I have read, understood and agree to the terms" option in order to continue so that its clear that we do not issue British passports ourselves and do not perform any service or take any payment until they have confirmed that they have read, understood and agree to our terms of business. We even go as far as providing consumers with the Passport Office’s 0300 landline number and the gov.uk website resource in the contract so that customers have the option to avoid our charges should they not want to use our services.

As you may recall from the Terms of Service and those at www.PassportTerms.co.uk we do not guarantee a passport or the time or date requested as this is down to the Passport Office’s availability and discretion nor do we take any responsibility for any losses, damages or errors that may incur by using any of our services.

List of Services the £117.60 Paid for..

To remind you of the services that you that the package these included use of our online appointment booking form (not something that the Passport Office offers), checking the online form for errors and omissions, the work involved and time spent securing the appointment on August 19, 2014, sms, email and letter confirmation of your appointment, directions to the Newport Passport Office from Gl52 5nj, Emergency Travel Document card, 30 minute consultation with a senior agent, membership to ourxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxand arranging for the official passport application forms to be posted to you (saving you the time, travel and inconvenience from securing one from the Post Office). This made up the chargeable services that the £117.60 fee covers (our fee is for each applicant). You also have access to many more services seexxxxxxxxxxxxx

A breakdown of the per applicant charges can be found in your receipt at:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Cancellation Rights

Under the provision of the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 (which replaced the Distance Selling Regulations on 12th June 2014) consumers have a 14 day "cooling off" / cancellation period to cancel their contract with a service provider unless the consumer gives explicit permission to waive this right. As you may remember in the contract we asked you for express permission to waive this right (alsoxxxxxxxxxxxxx) which you agreed to do. As the contract made clear you did of course have the option to cancel the contract at no charge before we began the service therefore waiving the fee/receiving a full refund or cancel it part way through the contract to receive a partial refund because notice only came after our services had been provided the contract cannot be cancelled as the contract has already been fulfilled.

Refund Policy


When completing the form online the option “Do you understand that all services are non-refundable and that by submitting this form you are authorizing us to begin the process immediately” was answered “Yes I understand this and authorize you to begin the process immediately” because of this, the fact that you waived your cancellation rights and the fact that all services the contract includesxxxxxxxxxxxx have been provided in full we regret to inform you that we cannot issue a full or partial refund. Had the contract been cancelled before work began then a full refund would have been issued, at the time when only some services were provided would have resulted in a partial refund but because you only cancelled the service after all the work has been done we cannot provide a refund as we cannot undo the work, services provided or time spent on your account.

Compliance

We insist in only operating our company within the parameters of all UK and EU consumer and business legislation and so if you have evidence that we have breached any Law or have breached our contract in anyway that warrants a full or partial refund we encourage you to advise us what this is so that our complaince team can investigate this accusation. If it is found that we have breached any Law then not only will you receive a full refund but we will update our internal policies to ensure future complaince.

Service & Website Clarity

As you can see fromxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxwe do everything possible to ensure that consumers know what services we provide and which we do not and believe that we go far beyond the code of conduct outlined by the Advertising Standards Authority. This does not just include disclaimers in the header and footer of each page and in the Terms and Conditions it also includes transparent comparision charts showing what customers receive if going through vs going directly through Her Majesty's Passport Office as well as the text on our web pages. The first paragrpah of our home page summarizes perfectly what our service is and what it is not.

Advertising Standards Authority

We also taken on board all advice provided by consumers in a July 2014 survey called the "Consumer Experience of Copycat Websites" commisioned by the Advertising Standards Authrority (the advertising regulator in the UK) on what they refer to as "copycat" websites. The study surveyed 1,000 consumers on what triggers a consumer to be misled by a website considering it to be a government resource such as the use of a crown logo, a Gov.uk look and feel, the use of the word "official" and have implemented all of the advice that consumers suggested to ensure that our website and service was not misleading in away. ThexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAs you will the study found that the majority of those surveyed saw the value in service providers that help users obtain government services (providing they marketed their services in a clear manner which we do) and did not wish to see them banned or see the need to have them regulated.

Having said that if you believe that any page, article or part of our terms is misleading in anyway please point our precisely which part you do not consider clear so that I can address your exact concern and if relevant forward it to the complaince team for review.



Thank you for your email and I hope this answers your dispute if it does not or I have left any issues out please feel free to reply to this email.

Kind Regards

Amanda Kirkman
Disputes Team
British Passport Services
Tel: 0161 663 0072
Fax: 0203 0120 254
E-mail: mailto:complaints@britishpassportservices.org.uk?s ubject=Passport%20Question
Webxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This e-mail contains material intended for the addressee only and may contain confidential and/or sensitive information. If you are not the intended addressee, please notify the sender and delete this message immediately. Do not copy or distribute this message or disclose its contents to anyone. Any views or opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and not necessarily those of UK Services & Support Ltd or any of its associated companies. We are an independent organisation with no ability to issue passports, not affiliated with the government, advice that we provide should not be considered professional advice, we are not responsible for any damages or losses and you should verify any advice and information that we provide with Her Majesty's Passport Office who provide free advice and appointments for their Passport Office's. All fee’s paid to us do not come off the passport fee due to the Passport Office. You can cancel services, complain or update your communication preferences by visiting:No reliance may be placed on this message without written confirmation from an authorized representative of UK Services & Support Ltd t/a British Passport Services, UK Passport Services &xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Company Registration Number: 08644308.















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[Amethyst]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

Nothing would surprise me !

[Kati]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

a bump for [MENTION=60515]Scammed[/MENTION]

[Poltergeist]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

Whoever sent the above email to the (also very elusive) KIRKMAN, has written an exact mirror of circumstances at the same NEWPORT passport office that I experienced, Amazing! Oh, except that they still claim I applied to get an urgent appointment at PETERBOROUGH nearly 300 miles away from the NEWPORT office! But my experience was EXACTLY the same. This is very interesting, as the 2006 Fraud Act deliberately included the word MISLEADING to actually encompass such circumstances, and when all of this side of things are sorted, and it is established that MERCER, HARRIS, KIRKMAN et al. do not exist, etc etc. It has the potential to make an extremely interesting criminal case against those that actually DO exist. I am looking forward to see potentially who IS involved and who will potentially be facing criminal charges. Oh how I will smile!

[Scammed]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

I really hope we can win or they drop the chase so we can all move on with our lives! But surely a judge will see that this company wasn't interested in customer care or satisfaction and that everything they do (and charge sooooo much for it) is blank email texting and writing letters to people without anything been tailor made to each customer circumstances

[Amethyst]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

Scammed, glad you found your thread, just shout me if I've got anything wrong, I got a bit confused yesterday, think I've sorted out who's who now but happy to be told if I've mis attributed anything xx

[Scammed]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

Not sure what should be on there but it's pretty much the same pattern as anyone else. Makes me laugh though as the call on Xmas day was a recorded robotic voice clearly not a human being. I guess robots cost a lot of money at £5 a call

[Amethyst]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

no sign of the claim today?

[Scammed]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

No. Not sure if it's good or bad

[Amethyst]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

If it doesn't show up in the post tmw give the court a call and ask them xx

[Scammed]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

They can't help without a case number and I shall not ring our good friend Howard to find out what my number is

[Amethyst]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

ahh okay. Nothing to do but wait then.

[Amethyst]

Re: *** Scammed v BPS - claim form en-route - notice of issue received

Well saying that we could get on with your witness statement - have a look at the example at the top of this forum and have a go, then we can sort the defence out make sure it all goes together - but I don't think we should submit anything other than the acknowledgement until we have to, give the first cases a chance to go through.