Bank-Smart excessive charges & fees...

[everafter]

Hello, I'm new to this so bear with me

 

I've recently been contacted by mail by a company called Bank-Smart, which deals with recovering missold PPI from loans etc.

 

I signed their authorisation document, giving them the go ahead to proceed with my claim,

then things started unravelling over the past few weeks and

 

I found out, from reading other people's stories with BS, that Bank-Smart were involved with some really shady issues

where they charge ludicrous amounts of money for services they don't even provide,

and that they can be nasty when people dispute the fees they are asking for...

which is what is happening to me now

 

I have contacted the ministry of justice, the trading standards, the financial ombudsman, the claims regulations,

 

I've alerted various media organisations, such as Which? and Watchdog, and am about to go visit my local Citizens Advice Bureau for more help on the problem.

 

Has anyone else had the misfortune of dealing with these people?

 

I'm trying to find a way to get them off my back before they start turning nasty,

 

as they are already talking about taking the whole thing to court etc

Edited November 26, 2012 by ims21

[AndyOrch]

Please refer to guidance here: -

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-consumer-issues/187417-complaints-about-bank-smart.html

 

Regards

 

Andy

[dx100uk]

how old is this?

 

have they actually DONe anything for you yet?

 

dx

[everafter]

It's happening now,

 

I signed their 3rd party agreement document and sent that to them,

and asked for a copy of their T&C because there wasn't one for me to keep and refer to in their initial mail,

but that T&C never found its way to my letterbox, strangely enough...

 

when they wrote to give me access to my account on their website on October 17th,

it showed on the website that the claim was created on the 4th of October, and still no T&C,

but they included another form where they asked me to give details of other loans I might have taken in the past,

 

I started to feel uneasy about the way it was all going because I had only asked them to look into one loan,

and there they were asking about mortgages, car finance and all kind of other stuff,

 

I looked them up on google and read dozens of horror stories about their practises..

 

I emailed to cancel the claim but nothing happened and I didn't hear from them for another couple of weeks.

 

.. I thought that was the end of it,

 

then another lot of paperwork came for me to fill on October 31st,

asking me to give them more details of the loan I initially instructed them to claim for, like the account number etc.

 

.. obviously I didn't send that back either and I went back to their website and tried to cancel again,

and that's when suddenly my status changed on the website and I saw they were asking me for £92 something..

 

. I've been disputing it since,

 

they are arguing that the claim took effect the day I signed the document not when it said it was created according to the info on their website..

. there was no mention of any cancellation policy in their original papework.

 

.. sorry for the lengthy message, I'm just blurting the story out as I remember it!

 

In short, they've timed everything to make sure I couldn't meet their supposed 14-day cooling off deadline,

so they could charge me on the grounds of "works carried out"..

 

. and now, because I have disputed the fee they are asking and told them it's their choice to take the matter further if they aren't happy,

 

they have blocked my access to their website and they have sent me a threatening email to say that because I have instructed them to start proceedings

and I have made no attempt to pay the debt, they will start the proceedings.

 

.. they said in their email that the court will contact me directly to let me know how much they will be claiming for,

and that it's going to include a further £150 on legal fees, court order etc etc, plus warrant and enforcement fees where applicable providing a successful judgement is obtained..

 

. are these guys for real?

[AndyOrch]

Let them start proceedings then... easily defended...not that they will. I hope you have not provided banking details or they may help themselves to the fees.

 

Andy

[everafter]

Thanks guys for the support... I'm feeling quite stressed about this actually, well WAS feeling stressed but now I've referred it to the OFT, financial ombudsman, phoned the ministry of justice about it, and I've started mentioning the story to the media, explained the whole thing to someone at my local CAB today and she said I have a pretty good case anyway, still won't rest till this is over...

 

Andy: no, all they have is the name of the company I took that loan from, no account number or any other details for it, and they haven't got my bank details, thank God!

 

Today, I also phoned up the lender I had the loan with, to find out if anyone had contacted them regarding claiming PPI, but they haven't heard anything, so at least I know that Bank-Smart haven't done any "work" in that area (hardly surprising!)

[AndyOrch]

Nothing to fear then...take time have a read around the PPI forums...everything you need to know is at your finger tips with a wealth of experienced posters to advise along the way...do it yourself.. don't pay anyone, the process is so simple.

 

Andy

[everafter]

Yes, I had a good read at the postings a few days ago, you guys talk a lot of sense (that's why I decided to join here!) and it's a comfort to know that you're not alone when something like this falls on your head! Funnily enough, I found out that my loan actually included PPI so I am due a refund soon, apparently, and all it took was one phone call! Thanks again for your help Andy and Dx Will keep you guys posted on what happens next with those people

Edited November 27, 2012 by ims21

[dx100uk]

yea read those emails carefully

 

it does not say WILL

 

if ,but, might, could . instructed.

 

dx