Wescot Postcard

[Blondmusic]

I am dealing with many financial matters on behalf of a friend of mine whose wife left him last year.

 

We have been playing letter ping pong with Wescot over a joint bank account (which was used by the wife) by asking them to prove it.

 

Wescot have only been sending letters to my friend as they cannot seem to find the wife.

 

I sent 2 letters on my friends behalf asking Wescot to send proof but the letters were just ignored.

 

My friend received this postcard yesterday which I think is very deceiving and I wanted to know what Caggers think of this and who should I report it to.

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Ignore. Not worth reporting. The postcard does not reveal any information. Sally probably does not exist. It is just a friendly sounding name.

 

It is up to Wescot to write your friend a proper letter and not to play silly games.

[DonkeyB]

Does the very small writing on the front clearly identify it as from Westcott? If so, it breaks the OFT’s debt collection guidelines, specifically that it is not clear what the communication is about, and that it potentially leaves the occupier (or whoever) open to embarrassment from third parties who may see the card.

 

A report to the OFT and TS would cause Westcot a bit of well-deserved aggro. The specific parts of the guidelines are:

 

2 UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES

 

Communication

2.1 It is unfair to communicate, in whatever form, with consumers in an unclear, inaccurate or misleading manner.

2.2 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

c. those contacting debtors not making clear who they are, who they work for, what their role is, what the purpose of the contact is

 

Physical/psychological harassment

2.6 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

j. acting in a way likely to be publicly embarrassing to the debtor either deliberately or through lack of care, for example, by not putting correspondence in a sealed envelope and putting it through a letterbox, thereby running the risk that it could be read by third parties.

 

Copy attached for you.

oft664 DC Guidelines.pdf

[unclebulgaria67]

DB

 

DCA's including Wescot have been using these postcards for years. There probably have been loads of complaints about it to the OFT, but they still use them. The OFT very rarely takes any action on anything, so I would not waste my time on this.

[DonkeyB]

Maybe not as many people complain as we think...

[Blondmusic]

In very tiny writing at the bottom (which I needed a magnifying glass to read) it says "2F IS A TRADING NAME OF WESCOT CREDIT SERVICES LIMITED REGISTERED IN SCOTLAND NO. 84131 REGISTERED OFFICE KYLESHIL HOUSE, 1 GLENCAIRN STREET, SALTCOATS, KA21 5JT"

[DonkeyB]

In which case you have clear grounds for complaint. Whether you do is up to you and your friend!

[Blondmusic]

We will definately be complaining. I will email the OFT now. Thanks.