Robinson Way help please

[UnitedFront]

Hi everybody,

this is my first post and I need some advice if possible please?

 

My sister has had a letter from a company called Robinson Way Ltd, who are a Debt Collection Agency, who are chasing her for an debt from about 4 years ago that she does not remember ever having.

 

She had a telephone call from a gent from this company, who was a real bully and would not listen to her. In the end, she asked them to speak to me, and he again tried to bully me, so I calmly explained that I was aware of the CCA etc, and that a request would be in the post.

 

I told her to send a CCA1974 letter, with £1. She did this last Saturday, and on Monday, she had another call so again, I took the phone and told the man on the other end that this request has been sent, along with payment etc. He said he would action the request.

 

Today, she has had a letter from them, showing that they have credited the £1 to the account, but still demanding the money.

 

Please can anyone offer some advice as to what she should do next?

 

Many Thanks.

[JonCris]

write back & tell them you are still expecting them to comply with their statutory duty in respect of the CCA & that any failure will immediately result in you lodging complaints with the authorities.

 

In addition as you assume they are unaware of the law you would advise them that whilst they remain in default of your request they are not allowed to try & enforce any alleged agreement. That if they ignore your advice you will report them for criminal harassment

 

Then ask a mod to transfer your thread to the correct forum

[rory32]

Hi UnitedFront and welcome to CAG. I have moved your post to a thread of its own in the Debt Collection Forum so that you will receive the appropriate help and advice on your situation.

[cheesepie]

Hi United Front,

 

You need to subscibe to my thread link as I am dealing with Robinson Way at the moment, and it sounds as if you are just behind me!!

 

Read right through my thread till you get to the Robinson Way bit, then you can have all the advice too:)

 

My thread is after 12 days given in a CCA request, what next

 

I hope this helps!;-)

[UnitedFront]

Hi everybody! Thanks for the advice. I have looked at your thread (12 days etc) and it was really helpful! I have adapted one of the letters in there to suit my situation and that will be in the post today!!

 

i am not prepared to accept a compnany that will ignore the law and bully people into submission!!

[UnitedFront]

Hi there evryone, thanks for all the help last time. This has moved forward slightly and I could do with some further help if possible please.

 

I sent them (Robinson Way & Co) a letter just reminding them that they have to follow the CCA - as was suggested that I do.

 

My sister then got a reply saying that they had asked their client for the credit agreement etc.

 

That was all about 2 weeks ago. Today, my sister has had a letter from them stating that they are commencing court proceedings unless she contacts them by Sunday.

 

I think that this is just one of their standard "mail merge" letters, but just wondered what I should be doing next. I know that they would need to produce these documents if they did go to court but if we were to defend the case (on the basis of non-complience with CCA) would the judge likely award costs against my sister??

 

The debt is only for £400 or something like that!!!

 

Any advice on what action we should be taking now would be gratefully recieved.

 

Thanks.

[Drexl Spivey]

They can't do anything while the debt is in dispute , did the letter say they 'are' commencing court proceeedings are they 'may'. It's a usual tactic of RW&C to send the 'we may' letter. Still, even a 'may' letter is more than they ought to be doing. Inform TS and fire off a complaint to Hayley Felton about it .

[UnitedFront]

Sorry to sound really stupid, but...... who is Hayley Felton???

[Drexl Spivey]

The renowned Ms Felton is the complaints and compliance manager of London Scottish Bank, she deals with your complaints regarding robinson way , being as they are a subsidiary of LSB . Or their whole business soon, I'm told. Don't let the complaints and compliance title fool you thou, you'll have a lot of games with this one that'll hold a more or less inverse description to the job title.

[UnitedFront]

aha, I see. I will fire off a letter of complaint to her first thing in the mornign then.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[Drexl Spivey]

That was all about 2 weeks ago. Today, my sister has had a letter from them stating that they are commencing court proceedings unless she contacts them by Sunday.

 

The main question thou, was what did the letter say, that they 'are' commencing court proceedings ? I know you are saying they are in your post, I'm just trying to get clarification that was indeed what the letter said .

[UnitedFront]

hi there, Ive read through the letter and have placed a copy below. As I first thought, this is just a scare tactic to try and force a vulnerable person to pay money that they can ill-afford. it says "may" etc. I wasnt sure until i had her copy me the letter. i think this is disgusting that even though they have acklowledged her cca request, and indeed confirmed that they have made the request, they continue to harrass her.

 

Edited July 8, 2008 by UnitedFront

[Robdblynd]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/71386-diskmandave-robinson-way-co.html

 

I'd read this thread .... it may take a while but it's like an encyclopedia od how RW will act and how to deal with them. It's also hilariously comic in places, so enjoy.

 

It will however give you valuable info in your fight against this company.

[Drexl Spivey]

It is the usual Robinson way bluff/threats. It is a 'we may' letter .Still , it is enough to complain about if you wanted to, but other than that ..it is just usual RWC crap they send to scare people. Don't throw it away thou , It is important evidence of their transgressions should you feel the need to contact trading standards.

 

That Diskmandave thread is a great insight into the workings of RWC , I learned a lot from that thread . Definetely a must read for anybody harassed by this dca. Any chance you could make that letter a little smaller in width ? .. Usually on here it is a case of letters/docs too small to read lol.

[UnitedFront]

Hi everyone! Firstly I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has offered help and advice on this and my other issues! I would be lost without the CAG!!!

 

Right, on to this issue, Robinson Way have after 5 months sent a copy of an application form/credit agreement along with some statements.

 

The problem is that my Sister (who I am handling this for) is Bi-Polar (Manic Depressive) and so does tend to overspend and forget things - although she will usually remember after a while. With this one, however, she is adamant that she has never had a store card with BHS!!

 

When we sent of the CCA request, we asked for the credit agreement along with a complete statement of account to show where this money has accumulated. They claim this card was taken out in September 2004 and yet they have only sent statements from March 2005!!??!!? Does this mean that they have not yet completed their obligations?

 

On the Credit Agreement that they have sent out, there are two spaces for the cardholders signature - and both are completely different!! I mean, they are not even remotely simillar!! One of these does kind of loosely resemble my sisters signature but the two on the form are completely different!!

 

I guess what I am asking breaks down into 3 groups really:

1-What should we do regards the missing statemenst?

2-What should we do regards the credit agreement with odd signatures?

3-Any other overall advice on where to go next?

 

I will post the agreement below, I have left the odd signatures in there so that you can see an let me know what you think?!? Any advice on what we should do next is most welcome!! I cant thank you all enough!!:

Edited July 8, 2008 by UnitedFront

[UnitedFront]

Any advice on our next step anyone?

[UnitedFront]

Sorry to be a pain but my sister is really panicking about this and I am quite lost as to what our next step should be!!

She truly has no recolection of this account -but that is not to say she did not take it out, because of her illness we just don't know!!

 

Please anyone that has any advice as to what step we should take next, please help.

[palomino]

Sorry to be a pain but my sister is really panicking about this and I am quite lost as to what our next step should be!!

She truly has no recolection of this account -but that is not to say she did not take it out, because of her illness we just don't know!!

 

Please anyone that has any advice as to what step we should take next, please help.

 

First of all stop panicing. Take deep breath, stand up and walk around for a bit. The sit down and have a cup of tea or whatever your poison is.

 

The letter you have been sent is designed to be threatening and to make you panic. At the moment you have allowed it to get on top of you. However you can reverse the situation. There are many people here who each of whom can in some small way help and support you.

 

First of all they are not obliged to send statement in response to a CCA request. Such a request only covers the credit agreement itself. If want all the statements (as well as lots of other things) then you need to make a subject access request (SAR) under the terms of the Data Protection Act. The prescribed fee for this is £10. There are several good letters around here to use and someone will surely point you in the right direction.

 

Secondly the credit agreement sounds a bit dubious. Again others will help you out with this. (It would help if you images were a bit smaller so that they fitted on a screen - what you have posted is right pita to read).

[UnitedFront]

Hi there, thanks for the reply!

 

I have adjusted the size of the scans so hopefully should fit better now!!

 

I must admit that my gut feeling about this credit agreement is that there is something fishy going on.... I have left the signatures in (circled) there for you lot to see and hopefully let me know what your thoughts are?!? They are both supposed to be that of my sister!! They look nothing like each other to me!

 

If this was me I wouldn't be panicking so much but as its my sister and she is unwell (does not handle stress well) I really need to try and get this going in some direction.

 

Thanks again for your reply. Any advice ref the credit agreement more that welcome:)

Cheers.

 

P.S. If the scans need making smaller please let me know and I will reduce them a bit more:0 Im new to all of thin:)

Thanks again for any advice:)

Edited July 8, 2008 by UnitedFront

[UnitedFront]

Hi everyone, I haven't any feedback as to the above credit agreement and the two very different signatures yet and I feel that I really want to get this moving in some sort of direction for my sister now.

 

On the basis that I believe that those two signatures are completely different and that there is something very fishy with the agreement I was thinking of sending something along the lines of the following:

 

I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY

Re: my request under s78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

Thank you for your correspondence date XXXX2008 including a copy of an alleged credit agreement for the above alleged account, the contents of your letter have been noted. As I have previously conveyed to you, I have absolutely no recollection of ever having had dealing with BHS or, indeed, ever having obtained any form of credit through BHS.

 

It is my opinion that this matter is a case of mistaken identity and/or a clerical error on your behalf or on the behalf of your client. To substantiate my position, I would like to bring your attention to the enclosed copy of the alleged credit agreement that you have provided to me. You will notice that the two highlighted signatures that are marked “cardholder’s signature” on the document are entirely different from one another – despite allegedly being made by the same person.

 

I believe that this shows that this document is unenforceable on the grounds that it has been either tampered with or falsified in an attempt to pursue me for a debt for which I am not liable or is not a true copy of the credit agreement for this alleged account. In my opinion it is clear that these signatures have not been made by the same person and I am of the opinion that neither of these signatures is mine and therefore I firmly believe that I am not liable for this alleged debt.

 

I therefore require you to stop any and all action against me with immediate effect.

 

I understand that under the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) Guidelines, it is listed as physical/psychological harassment if a company ignores and/or disregards claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continues to make unjustified demands for payment.

 

I also understand that under the OFT Guidelines, it is listed as deceptive and/or unfair collection methods if a company fails to investigate and/or provide details as appropriate, when a debt is queried or disputed, possibly resulting in debtors being wrongly pursued.

 

Furthermore, I understand that under the OFT Guidelines, it is listed as deceptive and/or unfair collection methods if a company does not cease collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt.

 

The above guidelines are issued by the authority that governs the issuing and management of Consumer Credit Licenses and you are required to conduct your business in a manner respectful of these guidelines. Failure to do so will result in me lodging official complaints with all relevant authorities including but not limited to the OFT and Trading Standards.

 

I am of the firm opinion that because this document is clearly not a true copy of the original credit agreement and does not bear my signature this debt is unenforceable through the courts and so your company should cease all collection activity with immediate effect.

 

I feel I should leave you in no doubt that should you initiate any legal action against myself, I will both vigorously defend and contest the case and request that the court consider whether your company taking such action without an enforceable credit agreement renders you as vexatious litigators.

 

This letter is to be treated as an official dispute of both this alleged debt and the documentation that you have provided to me in relation to this alleged debt.

 

Please note that I am not prepared to enter in to any telephone dialog with your company or any of its representatives regarding this matter and so you must ensure that all further correspondence regarding this matter is made in writing. Any continued telephone calls from anyone acting on your behalf will be logged and reported to the appropriate authorities as harassment. I hereby give due notice that any telephone calls from your company may be recorded without further notice and produced by myself as evidence in any upcoming court case(s) or passed on to any relevant authority as evidence of any wrongdoing on behalf of your company.

 

To sum up, I strongly believe that I do not owe this money and I believe that the copy of the alleged credit agreement supplied to me serves as evidence to this fact.

 

Please confirm to me in writing that this matter will now be closed with regards to myself and that you will discontinue this file with immediate effect.

 

I look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

Any advice/feedback etc I would be really truly greatful for!! Also any of your opinions about this copy agreement they have sent out.

Thanks once again for any help you may be able to offer.

Edited July 8, 2008 by UnitedFront

[palomino]

Looks pretty good to me at a quick glance through.

One small point 'passed' not 'past'.

[UnitedFront]

Thanks for the feedbak Palomino, i really appreciate it!

I have corrected the error there (I always manage to leave one - DOH!)

 

I would really appreciate some expert opinion on this credit agreement they have sent though because I am quite obviously far from an expert and I really don't know what I am facing here.

 

Is there anyone around here that I should ask to take a peak at it?

 

Thanks once again.

[The GodMother]

First of all stop panicing. Take deep breath, stand up and walk around for a bit. The sit down and have a cup of tea or whatever your poison is.

 

The letter you have been sent is designed to be threatening and to make you panic. At the moment you have allowed it to get on top of you. However you can reverse the situation. There are many people here who each of whom can in some small way help and support you.

 

First of all they are not obliged to send statement in response to a CCA request. Such a request only covers the credit agreement itself. they are actually obligated to send a statment of account. this must show upto date info about the account. If want all the statements (as well as lots of other things) then you need to make a subject access request (S.A.R - (Subject Access Request)) under the terms of the Data Protection Act. The prescribed fee for this is £10. There are several good letters around here to use and someone will surely point you in the right direction. yes this part is true but the SAR covers more than just statements. If they do take your sis to court over this this sar will go to a cpr which is the same and will be free.

 

Secondly the credit agreement sounds a bit dubious. Again others will help you out with this. (It would help if you images were a bit smaller so that they fitted on a screen - what you have posted is right pita to read).

 

I am a bit concerned about the CA as it says you have no cancelation rights in the small print. I am PMING a few of the better experts than me as i think this makes the agreement void but please dont take my word on it.

[UnitedFront]

Thanks GodMother!!

I hadnt even thought of that - I just don't know enough about this stuff!! Thank you so much for helping!!

As I said Im kind of fighting this blind as I don't know a massive amount about this kind of stuff and as my sister is ill and forgets massive segmants of time it is really hard sometimes!!

 

Fingers crossed for this though!

[xxorlsxx]

Hi,

Firstly NEVER deal with these horrible people over the phone, always request all correspondence to be in writing.

If your sister had a mental condition at the time of taking out this alledged card then write to RW explaining this and saying she was not of sound mind when entering into any contract, As long as you dispute their allegations they probably wont take your sis to court and if they do, the court will probably throw it out if she can prove that she was ill in that period.

Now the best thing you can do is go to the CAB because they have specialist advisers that are experienced in these matters, they can also get you a free session with a solicitor and even deal with RW on her behalf.

Good luck, And dont let these low lifes get to you