Credit Resolution Services (CRS) Extortionist!

[ODC]

Then they have stated cost of employing face2face which is £141.44!!!!

 

 

If they are happy enough to waste £141.44 then let them:lol:

[Bear1978]

Natasha,

 

Those court papers are fake. They send them to everybody. Please don't worry too much. They're not really going to take you to court. CRS specialize in reclaiming gym 'debt'. They buy them for about 5% of original value, before all the made-up 'charges', so in most cases under a tenner. They buy thousands of them and then send out 'court papers'. A significant number of people get scared and pay up.

 

For now, I wouldn't reply at all. I doubt they'll ever actually do anything. Instead, go to a CAB. In your position, I don't believe they would have a leg to stand on.

 

Keep in touch. Tell us if anything happens.

 

Oh, finally - NEVER ring them. Never ever.

[natasha261]

Thank you both very much for replying so promptly.

 

Sounds silly but ive seen what these collector/bullies look like, they are so intimidating, like i mentioned before i live on my own with my son who is autistic, im scared that if my son has an episode and my door is open the guys will just enter my property.

 

I guess this is how the rich get richer by scaring the little fish, i can imagine the amount of people who have paid if they have felt even half as intimidated as me.

 

I stumbled across this thread as i was searching CRS so i could set up some kind of payment plan, that was until i read what thieves they are!

 

Thank you again, so i guess i just sit an wait for the knock on my door.

 

Ha ha also if CRS did buy my debt for around 5% it would have cost them £9.80, an they want me to pay a grand total of £495.04!!!!

 

natasha x

[ODC]

You should report these barstewards to the OFT. Sending out dummy Court Papers if a clear breach of the OFT Guidelines on Debt Collection

[Bear1978]

Natasha,

 

Firstly, I think it's very unlikely they'll send anyone round. If they do, just call the police immediately. I think in your position you should go to the CAB. They'll be able to give you advice on how to stop them pursuing you anymore. The worst comes to the worst, you can fill out a CAB earnings and outgoings form and offer them a pound a month.

 

Their tactic is to keep pursuing you hoping you'll be worn down and just pay up. The £495 you mention was probably no more than £100 before all the made up charges and add-ons. They probably paid less than a fiver. Honestly. At that rate, they don't have to get many people to bite to make a huge profit.

 

Please don't worry. Find your nearest Citizen's Advice Bureau, they'll sort it out. Keep in touch.

[natasha261]

My local CAB are rubbish, in the past 12months ive been to them for help 4 times and every time they have refused to see me and gave me phone numbers for solicitors an what not.

 

What is the letter that i can send them?

 

Natasha x

[Bear1978]

You can send them various letters, but at the moment I wouldn't go along that route. If you start writing to them they know you're getting their letters and they'll never give up. It's possible that if you don't reply they'll simply do nothing other than send some threats. At the moment that's your best course of action, in my opinion.

 

The reality is that it costs them a lot of money to pursue you, and they know that a court won't make you pay them more than a few quid a month, if anything at all. Writing letters to you, however, is cheap. That's probably what they'll keep doing.

 

If they're ever serious about doing anything to you you'll know about it. Nothing happens in court quickly, and you'll have plenty of time to take advice first.

 

Look for a different CAB. They really should give you more help. Kick up a fuss.

 

May I ask why CRS say you owe them money? Did you stop paying your gym membership?

[Bear1978]

Ah, I've just read your first post again. Did you see a doctor when you had your car accident? Injury is nearly always allowed as a reason for ending a gym contract.

 

Go online and look for your gym's Terms and Conditions, and check what it says about ending your contract.

[natasha261]

Thanks Bear,

 

Yes i went to hospital after my crash, ive been seen twice by a private practitioner and he has refered me to a physio, im just waiting for an appointment.

Im just so frustrated with this whole situation, it really clouds your judgement when its your problem.

 

And thanks you for all this advice, you would make a fortune as a solicitor

 

natasha xx

[Bear1978]

Ah, good. The reality is that if they ever tried taking you to court (which I don't think they ever will) they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Everyone's allowed to cancel a gym membership because of injury.

 

For now, I'd do nothing. I don't think they'll do more than send some more fake court papers, and threats of bailiffs. I really don't think they'll bother doing either.

 

If they carry on and ever actually do try to do anything, you can write to them and insist they either DO take you to court, or leave you alone.

 

Write back if you hear from them again, but don't panic when you do. It's all threats and hot air. Tell us what happens.

 

B

[jparis]

Hi Natasha,

 

Exactly the same situation as me. I joined a local gym 2 years ago and went for a couple of months, then had some health problems and couldn't use the gym. I told the gym and they were friendly and said I could defer payment and come back when the injury cleared up. Never thought anything of it and didn't hear anything for 2 years until this morning when I got the exact same letter from CRS except my FACE2FACE threat costs £176!!

 

The main thing worrying me is that I live at my mothers who is a pensioner and I don't really want people turning up and harrassing her.

 

So is the advice to ignore the letters and go see the CAB?

 

Thanks

 

Jason

[Bear1978]

Hi Jason,

 

I, like many people here, have been through all this with CRS. I'm in no way an expert, but I can offer a few tips from experience. Please don't let me influence your decisions, though.

 

Firstly, I'd suggest reading this entire thread through from start to finish. There are plenty of people in similar situations who've described their experiences with CRS, and it should help put your mind at rest that their threats are probably all hollow.

 

Secondly, don't panic. All the court papers and the rest of it are fake, and their threats about adding on tons of charges are completely unenforceable. Don't be panicked into a hasty response.

 

Thirdy, never speak to them on the phone. If you choose to have contact with them, do so only by letter, and keep copies of everything.

 

CRS's tactic is to keep at you until you get so frustrated you give in and pay them. They don't care whether they're right or wrong, whether you owe them money or not. They pay no attention to any arguments you make, and they don't have much regard for the truth. They buy 'debt' in bulk for a tiny percentage of the original value. They don't have to get many people to fall for their scare tactics to make a huge profit.

 

Personally, I would suggest you don't reply at all yet, and instead seek advice from a CAB. I suspect CRS prioritize their harrassment for people who reply to them, because they know they're reading their threats. It's possible if you don't reply at all they may give up. If you do choose to fight them, come back here. There's plenty of advice on how to do it, and lots of people who've been through it before.

 

Good luck.

[jparis]

Thanks Bear,

 

After reading the thread I think I'll just ignore them for now and see what happens.

[Gettingrippedoff]

After hearing nothing for nearly 11 months I have also had the letter that says face2face will be knocking my door. I have sent them a letter saying that this is illegal and if anyone knocks my door I will contact the police. I have also said that I will not get into the letter war with them so this is my final time of writing. I am sure this won't be the last I hear from them but they will not get a penny more from me!

Watch this space for the next exciting episode!!

[Bear1978]

Out of interest, how many times have they threatened to take you to court, and how did you get them to stop writing you letters for eleven months?

[Gettingrippedoff]

I think they threatened me with court 3 times, so I wrote and said see ya there as my solicitor can't wait to meet you. They stopped writing until now as they have obviously decided on a different tactic!

[Bear1978]

Yeah, from what I know of them they probably don't really want to take anyone to court, so they keep threatening it but never actually do it.

 

I know a guy who's a finance broker, and he knows someone who works for CRS. He says he admitted that their tactic is just to keep wearing people down until they give up. I suppose if they tried to contest too many cases in court it would highlight their business practises, and how little they pay for the debt.

 

I've been expecting a letter from them for ages, but it still hasn't come. I know it will eventually. I assume they go through people on some sort of rota - harrass one group for a while and see how many give in, then move on to another, then eventually your name comes up again and they have another crack at you. Like cockroaches.

[joop13]

Hello all

 

i am one of those who made the tragic mistake of just cancelling my gym membership by direct debit without sumbitting a notice (i did this several months after the "12 month period") in late 09.

 

in the letter i received from CRS are claiming that a few hundred pounds of debt has been passed to them by Golds gym. The gym apart from one letter shortly after i cancelled the direct debit issued me just 1 letter that i owe them a month's worth (which i stupidly ignored as well) and then nothing.. never got a another letter or a final bill or nothing.

 

CRS has added a "standard charge" of about a couple of hunded quid as well on top and have given me only a few days to arrange a payment....

 

i am thinking of following what most people seem to have done. Ask for a copy of the contract and a breakdown of the chrages (including what the gym has billed me for)

 

but is it true that the template posted on the first page of this thread is not accepted by CGS as they dont agree that the contract is a a credit agreement, but a 'membership agreement' ? if true is there another template i could use?

 

any other thing i could/should do? is there anyone out there who had a similar issue please help me with some advice?

 

thank you very much in advance for your time!

[Bear1978]

I have almost exactly the same situation. It's almost standard with them.

 

I wouldn't bother sending them a CCA request. They will deny that the agreement is covered by the consumer credit act and call it a 'membership agreement'. Whether that's true or not would need a decision from a judge, I'd guess, or the OFT.

 

I would suggest to you what I have to others. Read the whole thread, make your own decisions, don't be threatened by them and their claims that you only have a couple of days to save yourself from oblivion. It's all nonsense.

 

I don't know what will happen if you do nothing. They may not pursue you, but I have no idea. If you choose to engage with them, make sure it is only by letter, never use the phone, keep records of everything, don't believe the things they tell you. They want to scare you into paying them.

 

Don't give away any details about your identity, but if I may ask, which branch of Gold's were you a member of?

[joop13]

Don't give away any details about your identity, but if I may ask, which branch of Gold's were you a member of?

 

did u get my PM?

[Bear1978]

I did, and I replied.

 

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

B

[Bear1978]

And in answer to your question, yes, they will always do two things to start with:

 

i) Threaten you with court action if you don't pay them immediately, quite possibly accompanied by a fake court summons.

 

ii) Offer you a big 'discount' if you pay up in a lump sum straight away.

 

Once you realize how it works you realize not to believe either of them. Let's say, hypothetically, someone may or may not owe a gym a couple of months' membership - maybe a hundred quid. CRS will claim it's been running for months and adding up (even though their membership has been cancelled and they have no access to the gym - and, in turn, the gym aren't providing the service they're charging for), and add a few hundred. Then they'll add on a couple of hundred in 'fees' (whether they could ever enforce these in court is another matter), and claim a grand total of, say, £600.

 

Then it comes. If you don't pay us six hundred quid immediately we're going to take you to court, then we'll send the bailiffs round and take all your stuff. You'll be potless and you'll never get credit again.

(Crikey, this is bad, what the hell do I do?)

 

However, because we're decent people and we care about you, if you pay us today we'll settle for, say, £250 and it'll all go away today.

(Wow, that's a good deal. 250 down from 600. Or a CCJ if I refuse. Maybe I should take it. Put it on a credit card, just to make it go away)

 

This all sounds ok, until you consider that a DCA pays maybe 5% of the original 'debt' when they buy it. So in this case, they've probably paid about £5 and they're getting £250 out of you for sending one letter.

 

They don't need many people to fall for that one to make millions of pounds a month.

[purple petal]

my son as gone off to uni and not payed his fee for a gym he did inform them he was going to uni and they said he had to pay them £130 he said he didn't have that and could he pay monthly they said he could they would set up a payment plan for him then the next thing we knew he had crs on his back for the money wrote to the gym but they now say that its in the hand of crs. this as been going on since last may with letters going back and forth i now have a letter saying Face2Face are going to come round and collect the debt which they now say is £510 i phoned crs informing them my son does not live here anymore and i dont know where he is they said they will put it on hold till 1st feb, what should i do

 

Have you heard anything further as my son is in a similar situation

[Bear1978]

Petal,

 

I don't think the person you're addressing that to will get an email notification that you've replied, so probably won't notice your question.

 

If you haven't done so, I would suggest reading through this whole thread. I think you will find most of the information you need.

 

Hope it helps. Come back if there are any developments.

 

B

[Chimpanzee]

Hey,

 

I'm so glad I came across this forum, as it has put me at ease!

 

I received a very rude call from CRS yesterday informing me I owe £134.23. I used to be a member of Gym 'n Trim last year, but cancelled my membership after moving house. They claim they have sent me numerous letters, but these have obviously gone to my old address, and the first I knew about this "debt" was from the phone call I received.

 

They wanted my to pay over the phone with debit card yesterday, but fortunately I refused, and they want me to contact them on Friday, or else they'll take action (whatever that means). After reading this thread, I'm thinking I should just ignore them? They don't know where I live now.

 

I signed up to the gym in January 2009, and made sure I paid for a full 12 months before cancelling the direct debit, so I can't see why I owe them money. My only guess is that, like some other people on here, I didn't give them notice of my cancellation.

 

I'm not sure what to do now. It doesn't look I'll get taken to court, and if I get anymore calls from them I'll just ignore them. BTW their number is 01444 449 176 if that helps.