Personal Data disclosure by Marstons

[keli2125]

Signing as another recepient of the emails from them.

[evertonbird]

I got the email twice as well.........I'm about to enter into an Iva so they will have to negotiate with my debt management company

[sillygirl1]

evertonbird - I think this is the key link here - most people who received the email seem to be on a DMP - so Marstons/Wonga are directly flouting the OFT guidelines on debt collection.

 

I agree with the poster above about their arrogance. I was told in September I would be 'fast-tracked' to a bailiff and thold them they couldn't do it without a court order.

 

The people they might send round (and as there are over 600 names it would take at least a month with 8 visits a day) are only 'snoopers' looking to see if you have anything to sieze. They have no legal powers and you can get them arrested for harrassment if you are in a DMP.

 

Don't know how many more people will reply today about this but it is a fairly major breach of Data Protection, let alone the OFT breaches, they are also 'misrepresenting their powers' in the email, unless the debt is £750 or over they CANNOT start bankruptcy proceedings.

[ferretface]

Hi All,

 

I too received the email and was utterly shocked at the amount of other peoples e-mail address's that were visible. Wonga & Marstons are a truly disgusting company with no manners and full of arrogance. I had a loan from wonga but then lost my job a month after and wasnt able to pay it. I was put on a payment plan with all interest frozen and I owe under £100 now. Marstons then sent me a bill for over £400???? How can they do that when my agreement was never with them?? Called them and spoke to a very rude woman. Oh yeah, as for the email attachments, the give no information at all. Not a date, not my name or any idication of what is what. Is that actually legal then???? Neither company are a bit of help. I really hope they have their butts whooped over this big time. And Like others I would plead for all to come forward and tell their story so they can be dealt with once and for all.

 

Good luck folks ;-)

 

P.s I dont have any assetts, I am a single mum on benefits, I am not on a DMP and I have a severe debt problem at the moment....whats the worst that could happen?!! x

[BankFodder]

Data Protection

 

The personal information provided by you will be on a database and will not be shared with third parties. It is the policy of Marston Group to observe the provisions of the European Directive 95/46/EC ("the Directive") relating to the protection of personal data and, in particular, as The Marston Group is situated in the UK, the provisions of the UK Data Protection Acts 1984 and 1998 ("the UK legislation").

 

 

Marston Group, Privacy Statement

[sillygirl1]

They certainly have shared this with other people, 600 odd of them. Hopefully many more will join this link.

 

Bankfodder, I've picked up on another post and given them the link. How about doing a banner at the top for Marstons as a lot of new posters won't know how to navigate the site.

 

I'm about on and off over the weekend and will send anyone I spot over here.

 

Haven't heard anything back yet from OFT, Trading Standards or Watchdog but it's early days still....

[geministar2007]

Hiya yes i got this email too twice, responded explaining how they have breeched regulations and received an email back with someones name on in the compnay and two blank word document attachments.

 

I am also on a DMP, after speaking to my DMP provider they told me they had not heard that the debt had been transfered to another DCA, so i emailed the original DCA Credit Resource Solutions and was told that they had not sold on my debt and i was to continue paying them via payplan.

 

I have not contacted Marstons again. I have sent the email and complaint to Watch Dog, Financial Services Ombudsman and The Office of Fair Trading. OFT are very good when i had a problem with another organisation i emailed them the complaint and i heard nothing further from the company in question.

 

Everyone else should do the same!

 

How can i have the debt beiing handled by one company and the apparently another is also chasing me for this debt??

[globalexplora]

i called wonger yesterday and requested a copy of there terms and conditions, sent to be via email, also if you do speak to wonga request a breakdown of all charges as it does make mfor some interesting reading. The charges they set out on the terms ans conditions are completely differant to the actualy charges added. I have emailed there customer service dept asking them to explain this, also all communication i have saved and will email as a folder attchemnt to the OFT

[fearxbox]

I am signing on as a recepient of the bile received from Wonga as well. The 200 quid I owe them has grown to 545 quid in just 3 months. I was baffled when I received the two emails from them. I am determined to bring these belligerent nincompoops to their knees. Any advice on what I can do as one of the recepients to bring a swift resolution to this bullying and get some extra money from them for breaching my privacy would be appreciated. Cheers.

[clarkyac1]

Make sure you contact the information commissioners office, your local trading standards and the OFT. I have said in an earlier post that i reported this company to trading standards a few months back, i was advised by Hannah who is the rude advisor who used to call me that they have been advised by their solicitors that they can fast track accounts to bailiffs and they can attend my property without a warrant. I called trading standards and they said its a breach, if anyone else has been told the same by wonga please please inform trading standards and get something done about this outfit of a company. In any case please report the email to the relevant authority.

I have the email address of the collections manager at wonga, his name is John Hegarty he works at quickbridge which is the company behind wonga.com and his email address is [email protected] he emailed me to apologise about what their collections advisor was saying about marstons not needing a warrant. So if you need it then use it.

[clarkyac1]

You can find contact details for your local trading standards at Trading Standards Central - Trading Standards and Consumer Protection information for the UK there is phone numbers and email addressess. You can also complain by going to directgov website. If enough people complain about this i think there is a good chance serious action will be taken about this company.

[sillygirl1]

Just to clarify again, the people they 'send round without a warrant' are NOT BAILIFFS, if somebody does show up and says they are, call the police immediately and report an intruder and deception taking place.

 

They really do take the biscuit with their threats, if this is 'fast-tracking' then it will take them another three to four months to apologise to everyone.

 

Who thinks we should stick together and ask for our debt with this company to be wiped out and wiped from all credit records by way of compensation?

[fwog]

 

Who thinks we should stick together and ask for our debt with this company to be wiped out and wiped from all credit records by way of compensation?

 

Nice thought, but if they are going under they'll just sell your debt as a going concern. Or the administrators will undertake to collect it.

 

I would look for compensation as a first port of call.

 

Fwog

[clarkyac1]

Sound like a good idea, i'd like something from them, how dare they disclose my email address and the fact that i have a debt with them to over six hundred people. They can not get away with this. I have reported to watchdog too. Is this matter something for which we could claim compensation for, if so how would you go about doing that?

[lazio_troy]

Hi guyz, got same email and i am really unhappy.

So what should i do, what is right? Who should i contact about this? I got debt with Wonga just something below 600, but now Marstons send me letter, that is 994 pounds, i dont know how much they charge. And then i got that email with 2 quick emails afterwards. I am speechless, dont know what to do, any help? Thanks

[lazio_troy]

Once i made partial payment to Wonga via my debit card, because i couldnt pay full amount, and i dont know if they stored my details on they computer. Month later, they were taking from my account slowly little sums, which was 260 pounds all together. I had to report fraud on my card, and bank had to provide new card and new details had to be put on. Can they do this? What should i do? And now they came up with this Marstons group, who should i contact?

[sillygirl1]

To the two latest poster, contact your local trading standards, the link is on one of the posts above, BBC - Watchdog and also the Information Commissioners office (links again above). You can also contact the police.

 

I would seriously advise everyone to get a parachute bank account that Wonga can't go into as they did that to me... and be wary of people phoning to find out your bank details, I had a funny call on Friday from somebody supposed to be at my bank, didnt ask any security questions and said they had important info on my account if I confirmed the account details. I told them I didn't believe they were from the bank and that I would go into my branch for these important details... its an online account and I don't have a specific branch! They knew my name, date of birth and address but then Wonga would know that anyway.

 

This has really got my back up - I couldn't believe their incompetence when I went to reply to the email, and got the idiotic email back, neither of those assignments would stand up in a court of law and again they are abusing various consumer credit laws.

 

If you know of anyone else who has had this email please let them know of this link, together we can create a huge noise and have both firms clobbered. I don't expect they will be closed down but all the fines and investigations will make their life a misery.

 

Part of the purpose of going into a debt management plan is to stop this kind of thing happening - that is why they were created - if one company thinks they are above the law and gets away with it then everyone else will follow suit and bang goes the debt management route.

[garfield82]

Hiya I want to complain to the right people about this also but I don't know how to do it, also does anyone know how I go about disputing the outstanding balance which has more than doubled with the interest and charges that they have added. I don't want to let them get awaywith this but I don't know what to do with it and would apreciate any help.

 

thank you

[BankFodder]

I don't want to disappoint people too much but it is probably worth understanding the likley attitudes of the various parties here.

 

Marston's will be embarrased but they will consider that it was a glitch. They will not expect to pay any fines and I doubt whether anyone will make them do so.

Of course their handling of your personal data was extremly negligent and very unprofessional. However I expect that they will remain pretty aloof from it and people who complain to them will tend to be pretty dissatisfied.

The Information Commissioner thinks and acts pretty conservatively. they will receive complaints. It will be a nuisance fo them. They will carry out an investigation. They will receive assurances from Marstons that it was an accident, doesn't really reflect their attitude to data protection and that Martsons will be more careful in future.

The IC will not recommend compensation and after along delay people who have compalined will get a fob off letter in braodly the terms which I have outlined above.

Trading Standards are likley to take a similar line.

 

I'm afraid that what this all means is that there is not much of a consumer-oriented culture amongst any of these people.

This kind of DP violation will not rank very highly amongst their priorities and I don't epect that they will see the people who are complaining as very important.

Wonga, of course are buffered from the problem as it was Marston's who seem to have caused the breach not them.

 

Despite this, you should complain as hard as possble. It is only be repeated complaining that eventually notice starts to be taken. They won't take much notice this time - or the next, but they need all to understand that consumers do have a voice and that they can cause embarrassment and inconvenience.

 

If you want to get very serious about your complaint then the route is to bring an action in the County Court. You are entitled to to this and means that Marstons, and the other agencies lose control of the complaints process. In contrast, by going to court, you take control of the complaint yourself. This is very satisfying and of course it prevents the matter from being swept under the carpet.

 

However, in order to bring a cout action for this, you will have to show that yyou have suffered some damage. Under the Data Protection Act, even distress to yourself or to your family is sufficient damage to form the basis of a court action. Howeve, you will need to convince a judeg that your distress is real.

If you have suffered real distress from this Data Protection breach then consider taking a court action. Even then your compensation award is likely to be very small but a County Court judgment against Marstons for DPA violation would be very embarrasing. The prospect of it would be most likley to cause them to make an out-of-court settlement - probably with a confidentiality clause in order to avoid their judicial come-uppance.

 

Whether you decide to do this or not, you should still make your other written complaints.

[sillygirl1]

On a similar note to Bankfodder, if you have received a call supposedly from your bank asking you to confirm bank details WITHOUT going through security get your bank to change your account...

 

I had a call on Friday at work asking for my account details. I told them that if it was that important I'd go to my branch... and the guy said "Is it because I am Indian..." my best mate is Asian Indian so that has nothing to do with it.

 

This is particularly important as Wonga have a nasty habit of going into your bank account, withdrawing small amounts of money until it is empty, they did £100 from me which doesn't show on the amount they deem I owe, although it is clearly shown on my old bank's statement... they also took £5 out on one occasion to see how much I had left.

 

I am going to be pushing this next week - pity the press don't want to know but maybe Watchdog will pick up the story.

 

I've been told our local Trading Standards is too busy trapping dodgy perfume sellers and dodgy Xmas light sellers at the moment...

 

Be aware of the telephone bank trap - I would hate to see people out of pocket because of these twats at this time of the year.

[Charlotte1974]

Hi, just adding my name to the list of recipients. I have to say I was fuming when I saw the emails, I'll be having a good read through to see what action to take.

[WHS]

I too received this email. Listing all of the defaulters email addresses.

BUT, I have had enless problems with Wonga/Same Day!

I took a £600 loan. My hours at work were then cut by more than half! Therefore reducing my salary. I called Same Day but was NEVER able to get an answer. Their phone just rings or goes to voicemail. And leaving messages also turned out pointless! In the emails I requested giro slips so I could start making payments and I was told they do not do that and I must pay the whole amount! Clearly they do not listen. Then I started receiving threateneing emails from them and a company called Chainey, D'Amato and Shannon.

This company said that they are recovery agents for Wonga. So I called them to set up a payment plan. But the wonderful women I spoke to said that she would not and could not accept any form of plan. She would deduct £600 immediately or £300 then at the end of the month, another £300. Being extremely worried about the whole situation I accepted. Even though this made me unable to pay any other account.

But I continued receiving letters from Wonga and Chainey. Saying I was ignoring them and refucing to make payment! Luckily I have all my proof of payments. Now amounting to about £700. And I still owe £300 according to them.

Then a day before my final payment was due to be made, I received the email from Martson. I asked why they had the right to send it to me as I was sticking to my payment plan, and the reply I got was Wongas letter. And I was told that Chainey could not help if Wonga took action. So why was I paying Chainey? I have stopped payment to them now. As I do not accept this. I also emailed Martson and informed them that NO ONE would be allowed to enter my home under any circumstances! I have no assets anyway. But I have had ENOUGH of being spoken to like a criminal. Especially when I have made EVERY attempt to pay my account and its been blocked by them!

[kerrywba]

I'm just adding my name to the long list of people that have received the email from Marston's

[AZZAHS]

Hi all

 

Has anyone any update on this. I have emailed office of fair trading and financial ombudsman today. I have also sent a reply to Marston telling them the same and that I wish them to refrain from contacting me etc etc.

 

Ta

 

AZZAHS

[BankFodder]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/171847-marstons-interesting-email-advice.html