Drydens "NOTICE OF INTENDED CIVIL RECOVERY"

[polomint73]

Hi Elizabeth,

You should write and say that the value that they are asking for is disproportionate to the offence. If they took it that seriously then they would have involved the police. Asking for such a ludicrous amount is unethical and immoral in my opinion. It all depends really if you did mean to take the item or if, like me it was unintentional. Whatever happens, £100 is way too high a price to pay.

[polomint73]

Also, give your local citizens advice a call. They will help with what you should include in your letter.

[ScarletPimpernel]

ElizabethT - have a read of the CAB report (stickied in this forum) - it will tell you a lot about what Drydens do - and what they do not do...

[elizabeth.t]

My situation is that a moment of madness took over me, a week ago in m&s ... i decided to skip the queue and put a cookie in my bag, it seems stupid right now and yes i regret it but its done so there we go .....but 55p!!and then less than a 5 minute talk which seemed so laid back at the time and now £100 !! it seems so unreasonable but i just dont think my letter will make any difference , do you think i should contact the store?? i have less than 5 days to do anything ..what should i do? but thank you very much for your replies ..oh and yes iv read the CAB report its helped but not enough to make me feel confident about writing to them

Edited January 16, 2010 by elizabeth.t

[comebackjimmy]

hi Elizabeth

 

The family business in which I work is retail so I can see the situation from the other side, but I am on your side. You have already admitted it was wrong, and have learned from it. It is time to move on and stop beating yourself up. Look on the bright side; at least the cookie didn't find its way onto your hips!

 

From here on out it should be business. M&S chose not to take criminal proceedings and they did that for business reasons, not out of any compassion for you as such.

 

This business of civil recovery is all about two things, making money out of you and setting an example, and you should have no compunction in my view about avoiding that from happening, simply because it is a business matter and not criminal.

 

Whatever other CAGers suggest to you to get out of it as much as possible you should consider and follow if it seems like a good idea.

 

Any restitution you may want to make can be done after the event and could for example be a donation to charity (Find out what M&S gives to) or something like that if you feel you need to "re-pay". Or you could volunteer to help others as others on here are enriching their lives by helping you.

 

I hope other CAGers do not interpret my post as an endorsement of crime. This is trying to be about forgiveness and positive restitution. (Hope this lot doesn't sound too pompous!)

 

Anyway, good luck.

[JonCris]

Polomint please contact me by PM ......... if in doubt contact any of the site team

[JonCris]

Elizabeth 1 I have Pm'd you

[JonCris]

Drydens DO claim to issue proceedings which are successful ..... however it's thought the 'successes' may be the result of undefended claims being awarded summary judments

[MARTIN3030]

BBC News - Today - Caught in the act?

[MARTIN3030]

Thursday, 14 January 2010 Specialist debt litigation law firm Drydens has acquired commercial recovery specialists LCL Collections Limited and merged the business and its workforce into the Drydens practice. This brings the number of staff employed by the niche, top ranking firm to 165.

The move will provide a significant boost to Drydens’ commercial debt recovery offering and signals its intention to become a key player in the sector. Drydens already has a significant presence in the consumer finance recoveries market and the acquisition of LCL will provide instant strength in depth in the commercial area.

 

Drydens’ Executive Chairman Philip Holden explained, “Drydens has a small team servicing the commercial recoveries market and we identified this as an area with considerable growth potential. We already know the LCL team, their client base and their operating system which is the same as our own. There are a lot of synergies between our two businesses and it makes sound commercial sense to put the two together to create a sizeable business from which to grow. We believe our combined strengths will make a market leading proposition in this very competitive sector.”

 

Tim Pope, an Insolvency Practitioner and insolvency lawyer with LCL has transferred his insolvency law practice to Drydens taking on the post of Director of Legal (Insolvency). He will be responsible for developing an insolvency offering to support the firm’s client base.

 

LCL director Gerard Barron will become Director of Commercial Business with fellow LCL director Andrew Langton taking on the post of Head of Commercial Business.

 

“Being part of a larger organisation will bring lots more benefits and opportunities for our clients and staff and I am delighted with the move,” says Gerard. “There are many exciting development opportunities on the horizon for us and the new structure will enable us to seize these and build a business which delivers the best debt litigation solutions for its clients.”

 

(Source - Drydens News Release)