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Ragingball

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  1. Hi, in response to pkharris3. All i can tell you is that i was sent many dca (debt collection agency) demands for money stating that court proceedings would be issued unless payment was made within '7 days', t hen after 2 weeks had passed, another letter -'14 days to pay etc. They are just trying to frighten you into making a payment which seems to be the idea of their business. I ignored their demands and eventually the dca was called off. They then got one of their solicitors involved and i have now had court proceedings issued. Have a look through the thread i started (type Phoenix business agents into the search bar) to see others that have had experience, including court action. There does not seem to be many people who have actually gone to court with them. I suspect this is because many chose to pay up out of fear of the cost implications. I am going to litigate in person to keep my own costs down. Since resigning my position in the business that they were contracted to sell, have been unemployed and signed off with long term illness so, even if they do win, they will get a shock when it comes to being paid. If, as i suspect, their solicitors are a no win, no fee type outfit they arent going to be happy either! £5 a month for the rest of my life for these crooks is the best they will get out of me. In light of all the available forum response to this so called business agency, it must be assumed that, to get you to default is part of their strategy from the outset. If we could unite a bit with regard to not paying these charges then they would have to reconsider this practice. This is easily said and i do understand the fear of costs but by paying their charges we also seem to be fuelling the fire ? The best thing i can offer you is my experience when i get to court which will be a few months away yet i think. Good luck all.
  2. Hello to everyone getting involved with this thread, I cannot pm anyone just yet as i have not posted enough but can anyone suggest a way that we can communicate without 'hanging out our washing' for all to see? I am quite happy to exchange info with interested parties and the idea of strength in numbers seems a good one. Of course, by the time we need to group together like this its a little late and as Testament says, we need to read and understand the contracts fully in the first place. The more trusting folk (naive?) amongst us assume that we are dealing with straight people though. We expect them to make honest efforts to sell and i believe most of us 'read over' the cancellation fee etc because at point of signature we would see no reason to cancel within a year. I hope threads like this will enable potential clients for this business to see the light before this happens to them. I seem to be heading for court, unfortunate as this is, my experience will provide valuable info to anyone finding themselves in this position. This company seems to thrive on their clients reluctance to enter the legal arena and the associated costs. I confess i was petrified when i started but I am so up for the fight now! I have what I believe to be good council around me from business people and others who have been to court. I will be litigating in person to keep my costs to a minimum. Others should look up previous threads from Testament who has been through court with this company and offers good advice. I am about to present my defence to the court for allocation so, the likely date of an actual court hearing is June /July? There must be others who have been to court with this company. Testament belives they use a couple of solicitors which indicates that they go to court quite a bit or, perhaps that the threat of a solicitor is enough for most to cough up a 'settlement fee'. Its my opinion that their solicitors are on a retainer; they go through the motions and in the majority of instances this is enough to get some revenue. Disgruntled23- You dont seem to have been in breach of anything yet. Can't you just send them anything in the way of books? You are a sole trader and it doesnt matter that you havent done much. They are trying anything on and the fact that you paid up £750 at a later date probably makes them think you will pay up again. You have paid a marketing fee, see out the contract date whichever way you can. The defence of the cancellation being a penalty fee seems to be very strong though so dont fret too much.
  3. Strangely I am in the South so i'm not sure why their solicitors are from Manchester? I havent replied earlier because I have been issued with court proceedings -so now the fun begins. I am putting together what I believe to be a very strong defence but would appreciate any more information from anyone out there -including advice on 'Litigant in person. Thanks.
  4. Thanks Legaleagle for your post. I have looked up the case and found that could very useful. I have been issued court proceedings so any more information would be much appreciated. I intend to make some case law of my own against this company for any further victims of their amibiguous contracts to use in the future. tb.
  5. no negotiations had begun, I think what happened was that they got wind of my resignation and then conveniently 'found' some potential buyers which they said were then unable to introduce because I had left the business. They said that they had to go through me because I signed the contract, a point which I think is completely wrong anyway as I believed I had signed for the business. I have never seen or heard from anyone regarding possible buyers before they told me I was in Breach of contract. My mobile phone number had changed but they had all my other contact details: email, home address and home phone and yet they said that 'despite the fact I was aware they had interested parties i had failed to contact them'. When you say that the solicitor is 'one of two they use' do these cases always end up in court? I would have thought that the way they conduct business and the amibiguity of their contracts would mean they lose quite a lot ??
  6. Thanks for the replies. It just happens that their final selling fees are also £7200 so they might try and say that they lost the sale due to my failure to complete negotiations? Incidentally, their solicitors are a company called Widdows Pilling of Manchester.Ring any bells ?? tb
  7. I seem to have hit the 'post reply' button by mistake -Apologies. - further to the last post and to continue where i left off... Their solicitor is now saying that they intend to go to court. They have asked my solicitor if he is to accept service on my behalf. A sign my solicitor takes that they are serious. I resigned my position while the phoenix contract for sale was still in place. My ex partner (who authorised me to sign the agreement) was willing to continue and it was intended that i would profit from the sale. As soon as phoenix found out that i had resigned they tried to get me to pay the cancellation charge. When i refused this they issued a Breach of contract charge. The invoice is for £7200 so is now out of the small claims court. I have told them that the sale can continue in the hands of the existing director but they say they cannot deal with him as it was I who signed the contract. From what you have said (testament) the judge in your case ruled there is no personal contract where a business to business is concerned. My solicitor has also told me what they have said about not being able to deal with the company now has no basis in law. I believed I signed the contract on behalf of the company and the company duly paid the marketing invoice. All these points are well and good but as many have found before it is the costs and risk associated with county court action that appears to be the problem for most people. Kind regards, tb
  8. Hi Testament, Thank you for the advice. My case might be a little different from the one mentioned although, perhaps the same applies ie. an unenforcable penalty. The debt collectors have been called off and we are now receiving letters from their solicitor.
  9. Hello, I would be very intersted to hear the defence used in the case you quote. I am likely to go to court with Phoenix if what they say is anything to go by? This company seem to thrive on trumped up charges instead of actually trying to sell your business. There are many unhappy people out there who are being harrassed into paying some kind of 'compromise fee' and this should stop. Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. tb
  10. Thanks dx, yes, originally the letters were from debt collection agencies, i have been told that they have been 'called off 'and now been informed the matter is with their solicitor. Because their solicitor has asked mine if he is authorised to accept service on my behalf it looks as though they are prepared to go to court ? This could just be a bluff of course as they are always pushing me to negotiate a compromise. They have been to court with another business and lost that case (that case appears in another thread on this forum -search 'Phoenix agents'). tb.
  11. Hello to everyone, My first post concerns Phoenix business agents about which, much seems to have been written already, both here and on other forums. I personally signed a contract with them as a director of my company in October 2010. My company was invoiced and paid £1700 in marketing fees. In February 2011, I decided to leave the company and agreed with the remaining director to leave the contract in place. The contract was for 1 year and gave them sole selling rights. In July 2011, I received a letter from them informing me that, despite the fact I knew they had interested parties I had failed to contact them and I was therefore in breach of contract. It was true that I had changed my mobile phone number but they had not contacted me on my home phone, email, or by post. I phoned them immediately and I was told that they had found out I had resigned my position. Because I had signed the contract they stated it was to me only that they could introduce buyers and because I had left the business that was now impossible. They ignored the fact that the company still wanted to sell and refused to deal with them. They advised that I pay the cancellation fee of £3000 to terminate the contract. I refused to pay the cancellation charge and tried to get them to enter selling negotiations with my old business as they were contracted to do but they ignored that and issued me with an invoice for breach of contract for £6000 +vat. Since July 2011 they have had credit agencies threatening to take me to court within 48hrs of the debt not being paid etc which I have ignored. My own solicitor has told me that court proceedings are now likely though because they have engaged a solicitor .He states that because I have been unwilling to compromise they are going to issue proceedings. This agency seems to jump on to any excuse to issue a charge: valid or not. I believe much of their revenue comes from this very practise. I would be very grateful for anyone’s thoughts or experiences on the above with regard to this agencies practices and the likely outcome of a court case. Thank you -
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