My son (who is under 18)

admitted to me that he had done something he regrets

and questions himself why he did it in the first place!

knowing it was wrong …

. I have read the letters from RLP that were sent directly to him,

and frankly i am disgusted they are allowed to operate the way they do,

scaring young kids into parting with cash! and being persistent,

is in my opinion un-just.

I have told him not to worry and give me all the letters that come in future.

I intend NOT to part with any cash and take full responsibility! if thats allowed!.

In my opinion this should have been dealt with in the store by calling the police at the time this took place,

and get them to deal with it in a respectable way (maybe for a first time offender,

just to frighten them or something like lock them up and call the parents to pick them up from the station).

For his sake and mine (as i am now getting letters from RLP)

i hope this all blows over and hope/think he has learnt his lesson…

He is now worried about this affecting his job prospects or word getting to an employer that he did such a silly thing.

own thread created

dx

My son (who is under 18) admitted to me that he had done something he regrets and questions himself why he did it in the first place! knowing it was wrong …. I have read the letters from RLP that were sent directly to him, and frankly i am disgusted they are allowed to operate the way they do, scaring young kids into parting with cash! and being persistent, is in my opinion un-just. I have told him not to worry and give me all the letters that come in future. I intend NOT to part with any cash and take full responsibility! if thats allowed!. In my opinion this should have been dealt with in the store by calling the police at the time this took place, and get them to deal with it in a respectable way (maybe for a first time offender, just to frighten them or something like lock them up and call the parents to pick them up from the station). For his sake and mine (as i am now getting letters from RLP) i hope this all blows over and hope/think he has learnt his lesson… He is now worried about this affecting his job prospects or word getting to an employer that he did such a silly thing.

Good for you.

It has long been our position that the police and criminal justice system are the correct authorities for dealing with shoplifting, and that there is no place for a business, motivated solely by profit, to act as judge, jury and executioner.

It is all the more unfortunate that the companies involved in these grubby enterprises use what the Law Commission called 'aggressive and misleading' tactics to try to coerce people into paying their speculative invoices.

You will see from reading here that RLP cannot do any more than send letters, and that retailers very, very rarely take court action. Eventually RLP's letters stop; there's no need to engage with them in any way.

Tell jackie i said hi

Hi and welcome to CAG

Congratulations for sticking up for your (and your son's) rights. Have you given him a clip round the ear yet?

I'm sure that you will get lots more letters. If you haven't responded to a letter, I happen to think this simple one liner:-

Any liability to either you or any company that you represent is denied

should be sent. I believe that where RLP get no response whatsoever, they think they may get a CCJ by the back door. By sending the letter, they know that you will fight them. They do send a few letters plus one or two from a pet lawyer followed by debt collection letters from Debt Recovery Plus who soon scuttle back in their hole once told to 'do one'

He is now worried about this affecting his job prospects or word getting to an employer that he did such a silly thing.

This database they use can only be accessed with your sons permission. He was not arrested or cautioned therefore there is no criminal record. These are just scare tactics.

Stick to your guns and you will soon see them off.

Write back telling them to eff off and that any further contact will be considered as harassment and remedied by laying a complaint to the police and taking civil remedy.

They cant get a CCJ against your son as he is too young to take to court and neither he or you owe these bandits a penny.

Write back telling them to eff off and that any further contact will be considered as harassment and remedied by laying a complaint to the police and taking civil remedy.

They cant get a CCJ against your son as he is too young to take to court and neither he or you owe these bandits a penny.

That isnt wise with jackie. The golden rule with her is you never get into letter tennis. Have a read of more RLP threads and youll see why i say this.

Unfortunately, the woman who runs RLP takes a personal interest in cases (it's a very small company), and does not act in anything approaching a professional manner, in my view. Some people might conclude that their correspondence isn't always entirely rational or truthful. Consequently, unless you like wading through reams of circumloquacious pseudo-legal drivel, correspondence is not recommended. In some cases a very short denial of liability is useful, but not in this case.

It goes without saying that telephoning is unwise.

Thanks, for all the replies, will wait and see what comes of their letter writing. All this was for an item that cost less than £10 which they recovered and there was no loss to the store. the number of letters and time they have wasted trying to get my son to pay them £50 would easily be recovered from the cost they are incurring by writing so many letters. Anyway, lets see what happens next.

If RLP have already been in touch, it wont stop overnight. You'll get 5 letters or so over the next few months, each getting more desperate than the previous. Trust me, read them yourself and youll have a good laugh. Then when she's about to give up, she'll hand the account over to a DCA who only deal in ficticious or lemon debts. This DCA is very easily shooed away, then normally she gives up.

Are we sure that the store has the right to share personal data with RLP for either an under 18, anyone who did not sign anything or anyone who signed under duress? After all RLP are not solicitors and the involvement of RLP is not necessary for the completion of any contract etc ...

You can only complain to the store but handing information over to recover a debt is a reason that does not require consent. The real problem is that there is no debt.

RLP hide behind the 'detection and prevention of crime' part of the DPA.

They can TRY and hide, but that part of the DPA relates to companies in authority, such as the police, courts etc. Not a silly little company that she made purely to fleece people.

They don't seem to be preventing or detecting crime.

Is it a crime to be masquerading as part of the criminal justice system?

The only way to get RLP closed down is if someone takes out a private case against them in the high court. But since the costs of doing this would be stupidly high, nobody bothers.

The letters are getting really worrying now,

if i was 17 years old again,

i think i would have committed suicide by now,

SORRy but thats how i feel after reading the letter they set to my son.

they sent a letter reducing the amount down from £50 to £25 and that would be the end of the matter,

because I decided not to pay it for him

they sent another letter stating that offer is now withdrawn, and

they will be waiting till he is 18 years old and

will take matters further once he is of the right age to take him to court,

without having to use an intermediary as he is currently under 18,

any court proceedings will require a 'Litigation Friend'

Means a lot to a 17 year old doesn't it!

ANYWAY, my point is,

am I making things worse for my son,

Riding this out is tough,

I am not even showing my son the content of the letters as it will really mess him up

Hi

I know these letters are (by design) intimidatory but the fact of the matter is, RLP have taken nor will take anyone to court. Only the retailer can do that and it is not in their interest to do so.

File the letter under 'toilet paper', treat it as such. Jackie hates it when a potential source of income dries up and will do (almost) anything to convince you that she is right when in actual fact she couldn't be further from the truth.

I would say simply file the letters away and forget about them.

IMHO, if they were to take any court action - which I doubt they will, they will be shown up for the heavy handed bullies they are!

Also, I am not too sure they can "put this on hold until your son is 18" and then resurrect it ??

Isnt it the case that juveniles have their anonymity protected and if they were to breach that they themselves could be in serious trouble ?

I would actually take legal advice on that letter. Blackmail comes to mind as well as obtaining money by deception.

Seems like its getting more serious if i start to think that we need to take legal advise, can my son get legal advice if he is 17? or would it be me as his parent getting legal advice? i would like to think they are just scare mongering him into submission and pay-up. If legal advice is the way to go, i would prefer we did it before he turns 18 in a few months. If this is just part of the scare tac-tics i will just file the letters away from him and if it comes to anything like going to court I will have them as evidence.

This 'we'll wait until you are 18 and then take you to court' nonsense has come up before, and there is no case we are aware of where a retailer has done that. It's simply more bluster from RLP.

RLP can't take anyone to court themselves; in fact, all they can do is send threatening letters because they are otherwise entirely impotent. RLP's grandiose posturing and the pretence that they are involved in legitimate judicial activities - when the reality is that (as the Law Commission put it) their claims are legally on shaky ground and they have no power or authority whatsoever - highlight the reasons why they indulge in aggressive and misleading activities (that's the Law Commission's view again). In short, RLP are bullies.

RLP's letters are unpleasant, and may amount to demanding money with menaces or harassment (because they are clearly designed to cause stress and anxiety), but they are just words on a piece of paper. RLP can't harm your son, or you. You are nearly at the end; stick with it. The last thing you should do is respond or give RLP any indication that their tactics are having an effect.

As above. I was speaking rhetorically. Jackie uses very dubious practices to obtain money from people. Saying she will hold of until your son turns 18 shows she is bordering on criminal acts. I cant say the specific acts i consider her to be in violation of, as without hard proof, they are merely accusations, and we know she reads these forums, and indeed does get a bit crazy when she realises we are on to her. The last thing we want to do is for this silly woman to try and bring a lawsuit on CAG, even though it will fail miserably.

help others LeoH

please scan up all the letters from them

we need them too!

**you can post up images/letters by this method immediately..you don't need 10 posts**

.

set your default scan page size to A4 less than 300DPI [150 will do]

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets - as a picture[jpg] file

don't forget you can use a mobile phone or a digital camera too!!

'

BUT......

ENSURE: remove all pers info inc. barcodes etc

but leave all monetary figures and dates.

.

************************* ************************* *******

{DO NOT USE A BIRO OR PEN OR USE SEE THRU TAPE OR LABELS]

************************* ************************* ***********

.

DO IT IN MSPAINT.EXE or any photo editing program

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites ...

http://freejpgtopdf.com/

..

if you have multiple scans/pics

put them in a word doc FIRST and convert that to PDF

or http://www.freepdfconvert.com/

or

use www.pdfmerge.com

convert existing PC files to PDF [office has an installable print to PDF option]

..

it would be better to upload a multipage pdf if

you have many images too rather than many single pdfs

.

or if you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

or use word and save as pdf

try and logically name your file so people know what it is.

though dont use full bank names or CAG in the title

i'e Default notice DD-mm-yyyy TSB

.

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

...

YOU DONT have to put a link to the attachment in the msg box..just upload it ..job done

.

dx

i think filing is a good idea, along with all the others,

but is taking legal advice wise?

he is 17 and soon to be 18,

will he be able to get legal advice at 17 or is it me as his parent that has to get advice?

at the end of the day if this letter is deemed a threat and i can use it against them,

i will wait till they decide if it goes to court or not.

Judging by some replies they are just trying to force him into a corner and pay-up.

Question is can they legally wait until he is 18 and then pursue him for this incident,

if so, does it make it worse for him?

who can i call for help ?

CAB or other!