Hi Greeno. From my experience - I lodged a FOS complaint and received an auto-generated email reply straight away (11/01/10). I then received a reply from P&B which although dated 11/01/10, I didn't receive until around the 19/01/10. Then received a letter from FOS dated 20/01/10. The best bit is P&B included detail in their letter dated the 11th which didn't happen until the 13th - gotta love their attention to detail!

I agree. If you take option 1, they win. They push people as far as they can and when they know they can't win they just pull out and no harm comes to them. They rely on the fact that a large number of people would simply give in and pay. That's why they don't mind making all these false claims. I won't be happy until they have been punished for they actions. I would really like to see their license revoked and I will push as hard as I can for that.

I agree wholeheartedly Bodgit. My approach is to repeatedly request information / updates politely via email with delivery and read tracking on. I am then forwarding correspondence on to ASIC / PC / FOS as appropriate. I've also requested information on their Internal Complaints Process so you get to the "right" people (Humorously enough the Manger of Internal Complaints also moonlights as the Business Support and Compliance Manager and the Executive Assistant -she's obviously stretched in her roles as she does nothing well!) You'd be astounded what P&B will put in writing! They are virtually fighting my case for me!

Hi Greeno. No, they did not. Despite my request for a copy of all documentation in my file (I specifically stipulated a copy of the original credit agreement, all screen notes, recordings, correspondence etc) all I received was a copy of the credit card statements. This is all they could manage even with the Privacy Commissioner after them. Added to this, mine is a fraud case where a replacement credit card was sent to an address I had vacated in 2004. Dopey of Pie and Beer insisted the debt was incurred prior to me vacating the premises in 2004 but the statements support the debt was incurred in 2006 only. Pie and Beer put in writing that they would commence a fraud investigation on receipt of statements but they defaulted on this undertaking as well. Don't hold your breath!

Hi Skippy. I was served on the 18th Dec. You then have 21 days to file a notice of Intention to Defend, however, according to my solicitor the time is not computed between 24th Dec to 15th Jan due to the holidays. Balls Legal, as expected, ignored the law and filed a Judgement in Default against me on the 13th Jan - two hours before the Solicitor tried to file my Intention to Defend. So, my Solicitor has now faxed Balls and given them until the 22nd to set aside the Judgement voluntarily, otherwise they've been notified we'll be seeking costs. I've also complained to the Ombudsman and subsequently received a letter dripping with sarcasm and factually incorrect in all ways from the Business Support and Compliance Manager at Pie and Beer. In it she claims that Pie and Beer are no longer a member of FOS (not according to FOS!) and makes too many other incorrect claims to list. The thing is, I have emails from Dopey which directly contradict everything she has said. I just can't believe the things they put in writing. My complaint with the Privacy Commissioner has now been escalated. I've also lodged a complaint with ASIC and against Pie and Beer, Balls Legal and Dopey individually and they've been great. It's gone to a special team within ASIC for investigation. I'll keep you all posted.

Hi dodgydebt WA newman has kindly provided me with the details of a legal team. I'll be following that up shortly. I'm also commencing a complaint against them with ASIC. Regarding the Veda default - that was removed a while ago when I threatened them with a complaint to ASIC. I now only have the writ on my Veda credit report. My understanding with this is that once I disputed the debt (which I did immediately), they can not pursue me (let alone summons me) for the debt until the dispute is resolved. So that's something else to complain about. I'm actually having a bit of fun with this now. I know that they can't touch me regarding the debt and I also know that the debt is a case of fraud on what I thought was a cancelled card. It's therefore quite amusing to see how far they will go and how incompetent they are. Especially the Financial director.

I had a chat with the very nice lady dealing with my complaint with the Privacy Commissioner today. She said that her role was to ensure that P&B follow the rules and send all documentation that I have requested, but not to investigate or 'punish' P&B for there lack of action. However, she did mention that if the same company repeatedly gets complaints about them, there is another team within the Privacy Commissioner that will automatically pick it up and investigate them. Therefore, I think everyone here should request all documentation held by P&B relating to them including all correspondence, screen notes, recordings, copies of original agreements/applications etc. When they fail to supply them, make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner. If there are enough complaints, they should get investigated. Although this won't make much of a difference to individual claims, it will be extra work for P&B and will cost them money. Every little helps!!

Hi. I have been reading this thread with interest. Regrettably, I am another one to have heard from the good folks at Pie and Beer. Here's my (somewhat lengthy) story: - Received a letter from P&B demanding $13k. Rang them as I had no idea what it related to. Was advised the debt from a UK Sharklaycard. I told them I did have a Sharklaycard years before but I had cancelled it. I was unaware of a debt on it. - Immediately rang Sharklaycard. Confirmed the last payment I had made in Aug 2004 which had left no money owing. Turns out Sharklays did not have a record of my cancellation and had reissued a card on expiry in 2006 to an address I vacated in 2004. Someone got hold of this card and did a lot of shopping. - Rang P&B and flagged the activity on my card as fraudulent. Requested statements (they said would take 3 months) and was told I would not be defaulted pending fraud investigation. I undertook to make a police report when the statements arrived - While refinancing my card I found that I have indeed been defaulted with Veda by P&B - Contacted P&B and spoke with two obnoxious low-level managers. They said there was no agreement to not list / that they were "legally obliged" to list after 90 days / that they had no way of removing the listing even if they wanted to - Rang Veda. They advised a listing should not be made when I had flagged it as fraud (They also later informed me that a UK debt cannot be listed under any circumstances). Further, P&B could remove the listing easily. - I rang P&B with the info provided by Veda. They again said they had to list the debt after 90 days and would do nothing about it. - I sent a complaint letter in to the Financial Director at P&B (we'll call him Dopey). He replied stating he had information that the debt was incurred prior to Aug 2004 & that they would investigate the fraud claim on receipt of the statements. - I again rang Sharklays and they confirmed the debt was incurred in 2006. - After many phone calls / emails with Dopey (who was very unsure of his facts) he agreed to remove the Veda listing pending the statements / fraud investigation. I also provided Dopey with my request to cancel the Sharklaycard from 2004 and a letter from the Real Estate agent confirming I vacated the address in question in 2004 - I requested copies of my entire file and Dopey refused - in writing! I made a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner. Still P&B have sent me nothing. I received an incomplete copy of some screen notes forwarded by the Privacy Office. The complaint is still open. - Sharklays statements arrived end of November and confirmed the debt was incurred in 2006 - I emailed Dopey on the 10th Dec requesting an update on the fraud investigation and questioning why I was still receiving phone calls requesting payment. He replied saying they couldn't do anything until I had provided a police report and I was being phoned to chase up the Police Report only. Both these statements are false - I have it in writing that Dopey undertook to launch a fraud investigation "on receipt of statements" and I let one of the P&B phone calls go to voicemail so I have them recorded requesting money. - On the 11th Dec I received a Veda notification stating a writ & summons has been entered against me - I emailed Dopey asking why a writ & summons had been entered against me during a fraud investigation and he told me to deal with Circle Legal who were acting on their behalf. Suffice to say I am well and truly over the parasite that is P&B. I am going to engage a solicitor this week as well as make a formal complaint to ASIC. I am in NSW so if anyone is already using a NSW solicitor please PM the details.