how a about a "friend of CAG" logo that members could use? i would be honoured to use it ... shows you can't be bullied ... plus free advertising for the CAG. you could even have a comp for the best design.

i have used the details given by Rooster-UK to use my CAG email account through googlemail (ok i'm lazy but it saves me backing up my emails) and it works fine for retrieving mail but i can't send. any help or ideas would be really great. p.s. i totally agree with OCA about a CAG email giving you Super Powers and it's not just with the clowns at DCA's! a CAG email allows the little man to say "do you know who i am?

unfortunately i remember four old pennies with the A & B button phones

i've sent a few of the standard letters out in the past and they often seem to be ignored. take the latest one, letter from LCS about a debt that's not mine. i send out the std letter that says it's not mine, stop harassing me or i'll complain to TS/OFT. i even added a couple of lines to help them get the right person. what happened? letter totally ignored and they threaten me with solicitors. i wonder if these DCA's can read. or are they simply too damned arrogant to care? or do they know that the OFT won't do anything as no-one has a clue about the actual size of the problem so parliament won't force them? mp's being told that these are isolated incidents. don't you think it would be a good idea to have and independent body who could, a least, count the real number of complaints? i'm not saying that the CAG isn't help from the gods, just that someone we can trust should be keeping the score. i also honestly believe that when DCA's open letters they look for money, cheques, payment slips, etc. any letter without a payment, they just bin. question: is there a standard complaint letter for Trading Standards please?

are the social tariffs of all the fuel supply companies the same? i.e. is there just effectively jusy one social tariff? if not, is there any way of finding out which company is offering the best social tariff? please ...

is there still a problem with my post, JonCris? you asked about charges tiglet, do you need additional information?

would you like me to format it more JonCris?

i guess you read my first post ... before i reformatted it. thing is, it was very nicely formatted but when i pasted it into a new post it removed the c/r, blank lines, etc. as soon as i saw what it looked like i dived in to re-edit it but that took ... well, a while. from the time of your post (00.08hrs) and the time of my update (00.25hrs) it looks like you caught the Lt Data version (that's me making light of not doing a preview)

there are things here that i had forgotten. from my replies, it looks like one or two of their letters might be missing and/or some of my letters are in reply to telephone calls. i was paying Barclaycard regular agreed reduced amounts until Mercers wrote and insisted on significantly higher repayments. i spoke to the CAB, they advised me that if they took me to court they would get less than i had been paying them. they said i should offer them £5 per month. they arranged for me to see a solicitor who confirmed what the CAB had said. 5 Jan 2001 Mercers > me “a payment has not been received to your account for some time” 13 Feb 2001 Mercers > me “payments equal to 5% of your outstanding balance are now required each and every month” 15 Feb 2001 me > Barclaycard & Mercers WITHOUT PREJUDICE Thank you for the unnamed and unsigned letter from your company dated 13 February 2001. When you first threatened to restart interest payments I was advised to ask for repayments to be made under a Court Order. I did ask you about this but you did nothing. When you next brought up the issue of interest charges, again I was told the same. Yet again, I was unable to get Barclaycard and yourselves to proceed further with the matter. Consequently, I am now being advised that I should suspend payments until forced to make them via a Court Order. As I have had numerous problems with your facsimile number in the past, I am also sending this to Barclaycard who I trust will forward a copy to you. May I also take this opportunity of thanking you for generating a new reference for me every time you write or is it simply a record of your lottery numbers? Maybe you could take the trouble to quote my reference when you reply! {sent via free fax facility}. 9 May 2001 me > Barclaycard & Mercers WITHOUT PREJUDICE As you might have noticed, you have not been paid for some time on the above account. The non-payment started when Mercers insisted on increasing the re-payments to levels that I simply could not afford. I explained that I was a single parent but they continued to pressure me. In the end the C.A.B. again advised me to stop repayments until you took me to Court. I do want to make repayments to you, therefore would you please arrange the necessary paperwork. Also, as my wife and I attending financial mediation, I have been asked to prepare a list of our financial status. Consequently, would you please arrange to send me, at your earliest possible opportunity, details of the full amount owed. then there was nothing for some time. 15 Nov 2006 Lowell Portfolio > me Gave notice of assignment of debt due. Asked me to phone an 0845 21 Nov 2006 Lowell Financial > me Asked me to phone an 0845 21 Nov 2006 me > Lowell Financial Thank you for you letter dated 15 Nov 2006. As requested, I am contacting you. However, I will not be calling your money making 0845 telephone line. If you would like me to telephone you, at some point in the future, then you will need to supply me with a geographic telephone number. 8 Dec 2006 me > Lowell Financial The other day I received a telephone call from someone purporting to be from your company. That person advised me to contact a company called Payplan. To be honest, I'm confused, Payplan would seem to be a company that charge for their advice. It seems that they take their fees from any amount that I might be able to afford to pay my debtors. Surely this would mean that everyone I owe money to would receive less money than I would otherwise be able to afford. Why would you want that? Or am I missing something? Would it not be much better for your clients to pay all they can afford to their current debtors - without adding to the total amount they owe? If you would like me to contact a free debt counselling service then please let me know - preferably by letter, so that I can be sure that the contact is indeed genuine. {I then went into a detailed rant about 0845 numbers} 20 Dec 2006 Lowell Financial > me Thank you for your recent correspondence and offer of payment towards your outstanding balance detailed above. Before we are in s position to accept your offer we need to clarify certain information. Please call one of our Debt Management advisors on the number below so that we can discuss your offer and any other potential ways of resolving your current financial situation. If you would like to take advice from an independent debt management company I would like to introduce the services of Payplan, who are a debt management company who do NOT charge a fee for their advice or service, enclosed is a Payplan leaflet (etc). I will put your account on hold for 7 days in order to give you sufficient time to contact either ourselves or Payplan to discuss the situation. (then mentioned legal action). Please remember we are here to help, so call now and help us to help you! 0845 (clearly they can't have read anything I've sent them previously). 19 Apr 2007 me > Lowell Financial & Barclaycard WITHOUT PREJUDICE Account Ref xxxxxxx Regarding the account with the above reference, which you claim I owe. Under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 "an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued". The last acknowledgement or payment of the debt was made over six years ago. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written acknowledgement from me during this period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any Court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed. I would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that "it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period". The OFT Debt Collection Guidance further states that "continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statue barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970". I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed and that no further contact will be made concerning the above account. 20 Apr 2007 me > Lowell Financial As you have still not sent me details of a genuinely free alternative to Payplan and as I was preparing a budget sheet for my mortgage company, I thought I would also send you a copy. I should point out that the two XYZ credit cards are currently being paid by Court Order at £x per month. I cannot maintain these payments and I wish to seek advice into how I might reduce them. The Barclaycard payment is what I would ask you to accept, provided I can get XYZ to accept similar amounts on each of their cards. Please would you put something in writing about my above suggestion. {the enclosed Budget Sheet includes creditor, balance owed and "offer of payment" showing £1 to Barclaycard} 16 Nov 2007 Red Debt > me been appointed; pay balance in full or arrange monthly repayment plan; within 5 days; threat to send “Home Visit Agent” ... again an 0845 number 22 Nov 2007 me > Barclaycard sent via the Barclaycard web site contact facility: “my personal details have been passed to yet another debt collection agency by you or someone that you have instructed. i have lost count of the agencies you have used especially since you have not bother to tell any of them the full facts of my case. i now wish to make a formal complaint and insist that you immediately send me a copy of your formal complaints procedure.” {had no reply} 22 Nov 2007 me > Red Debt It is obvious from your letter that Lowell Portfolio have not given you the full facts of this issue. Until they have there is no point in me discussing anything again with you. I would therefore suggest that you contact Lowell and Barclaycard and ask them both what I have already offered. Barclaycard have previously instructed a Liverpudlian debt collection agency, so I have already had an entire team of heavies, aka “Home Visit Agents”, trying to intimidate me. Please ensure that any reply includes your email address and a “real” telephone number, i.e. not just your money making non-geographic one, especially if you expect any further communication from me. 15 Dec 2007 me > Red Debt Have you bothered to read my previous letter (copy attached)? If you can't be bothered to read my letters, I really can't see any point in me reading yours. 21 Jan 2008 me > CAG this is about the time I discovered CAG. Until now I had even signed my letters. 23 Jan 2008 me > Red Debt sent them a CCA request 4 Feb 2008 Lowell Portfolio > me said once they had provided me with the CCA then they I would be required to repay the balance in full. Threatened court with extra costs. Willing to accept an “amicable” full and final settlement of £1816 by 9/2. Then they gave me a real landline number to call! 12 Feb 2008 Lowell Financial > me following CCA request; Barclaycard still in process; no further correspondence until agreement received then full payment required; re-offered same partial payment. 13 Feb 2008 me > Red Debt sent them the 12+2 letter. 6 Mar 2008 Lowell Financial > me “after liaising with our client; CCA no longer avail; closed files; no further contact by us” 19 Mar 2008 me > Barclaycard sent them a CCA request 19 Mar 2008 me > Lowell Financial I made formal complaint 28 Mar 2008 Lowell Financial > me confirm started complaints procedure (their reference number on this letter is different from all previous) 9 Apr 2008 Red Debt > me now they have a CCA 15 Apr 2008 Barclaycard > me Barclaycard also have the CCA. Strange that Barclaycard seem to have it almost a week after Red Debt. 16 Apr 2008 Lowell Financial > me “investigated complaint” and, well, basically, they did nothing wrong.

dispute by asking to see the original? i don't have the original i don't make a "copies" of the letters i send. sometimes i print a second copy but mostly i simply annotate any letter i receive with a reference that points to my reply. however, my signature is a little different now to what it would have been when this CCA was signed. when i first saw the copy they sent me the signature did rather stand-out as probably not being as it would have been at that time. not sure if this helps ...

todays installment: letter arrived from Lowell (remember, i had made a formal complaint). they have now fully investigated my complaint. they add that barclaycard were unable to provided them with a copy of the CCA when i asked [Lowell] for it on 6 march 2008. "as confirmed by our recent correspondence of 9 april 2008, the requested information has now been received and this account has been reopened." N.B. the letter of 9 april 2009 was from Red Debt not Lowell (if that matters). they also add that "under the terms of [their] complaints procedure this is [their] final response.

charges: 1.83% per month (APR 24.6%). annual fee of £8 payable if i "cease to be a barclaycard visa cardholder in which case the APR's will be 27.8% & 28.1% respectively".

this weekend i will digout and paste here every letter i have sent regarding this debt within the past 18 months or so. the previous corresspondence before that period was just under 6 yrs earlier. in the mean time, yesterday another copy of the CCA arrived, this time from Barclaycard themselves. let me remind you, Lowell had previously said that they had no CCA for this debt. they specifically addded that Barclaycard did not have a CCA for it too. then Red Debt managed to produce a copy of the CCA and almost a week later, Barclaycard have also managed to produce the same CCA. when Red Debt first wrote to me about this issue, i did sign my letters to them. forgive me, it was before i found CAG. a time when i believed that life was innocent and our financial organisations didn't make things up when it suited them! can i insist on seeing the original CCA and not a possibly made-up copy?

a DCA wrote to me a couple of months before 6 years had past from the previous contact so this six years rule does not apply. is there any other hopes for me?

earlier it was said 6 yrs since the original debt. which is correct please? this debt is over 6yrs old; however, there has always been contact within 6yrs. also, i haven't yet sent them any letters saying that the debt is time barred. let me digout all the letters i've sent to them as this saga has been going on for a long time - and before i found CAG!

sorry m8, you're just too quick for me here is the copy of the Agreement for a Barclaycard Mastercard that they sent me. my signature was valid; as was my address, date & existing Visa card number. it doesn't look to me as if Barclaycard have signed the document, what is there looks more like a date to me. the only mention of credit limit says "Initially it will be not less than £750" - is that enough? sorry it's such a poor copy but that's what they've sent me (it's probably a copy of a microfilm/fiche).

this was attached to the "Agreement" that Red Debt sent me:

are you sure about this? seems a really strange rule to me. JonCris: yes, in fact, it's over 10 yrs since the original debt. b/card didn't chase me for a while then a DCA got heavy with me for a while then they seemed to forget about me. just under 6 yrs later part of Lowell started to chase me. i asked them for a CCA, they replied that they (& b/card) didn't have one. as for "admitting the debt", this all happened such a long time ago, i really can't be sure what was said. i honestly thought it had died as we approched the 6 yrs without any contact. anyone any thoughts about me anonymously posting a copy of the "agreement" they sent me please?

cheers JonCris, we've already been through those particular hoops. basically, the debt came back from the dead after just under 6 yrs; Lowell said they, and Barclaycard, didn't have a CCA, now Red have produced a document that looks more like an agreement to me. i'm now trying to post a copy of it for checking by those who know about these things.

can this forum link to a private album? and, if it can, would that make my personal details, e.g. email, available to everyone on this forum?

thanks for your posts. it looks to me as if services like Photobucket, Flickr, ImageShack are designed to say "hi world, here's my photo's". tbh, i was really hoping for a more anonymous place to uploaded these scans to. any ideas please?

i've managed to get what they sent to me scanned. "insert image" asks for a url, please can someone recommend a "preferred" place to upload the scans to?

letter and phone call from visa! yippee!! things are moving ... and in a good way. they've sent the charge back to google checkout. google checkout have 60 days to query (which they shouldn't). lots more posts on their merchants forum from people asking about money.

are you still watching? the story so far: (just to remind you) part of Lowell wrote "asking" me to pay a very old (almost six yrs without contact) barclaycard debt. i asked for a copy of the CCA. they said that they, AND BARCLAYCARD, did not have a CCA. i wrote Lowell a complaint. i also wrote to barclaycard to ask them for a copy of the CCA (remember, Lowell had already told me that they didn't have one). tonights thrilling installment: received a letter from Red Debt Collection Services saying that were enclosing a copy of the "credit argeeement". they add that i have 7 days to reply with my proposal for repayment. please can i send a copy of this "agreement" to one of the experts to see if it complies with the necessary CCA rules please?

9 days after i wrote to visa first class and the still won't acknowledge my letter of complaint regarding this fraudulent transaction. second request sent via their "secure message" facility.