DCA First credt solutions using automated message ringing service and I received a call at 10.20 p.m. They said this was impossible as they closed at 8 p.m. I do not use my answering machine. They stated that they could not help it if a message was left at 12 p.m. and the service kept ringing. Surely they have control of their calls. I persisted with the statement that they called me at 10.20 at night and they chose to terminate the conversation which must be recorded . I cannot get any sense out of these people. They must use a separate company to do the calling. Tehy also use a sperate comapny at the same address to threaten to call round .CFL not first credit solutions is annoucned in the message . Are they skimming around the rules of the officeof fair trading. I ask to speak to the person who left the message adn I was told that James left the messages and they dealt wit th accounts. When I told them on previous conversation that I had been seriulsy ill. and was still recovering the answer was you are fit enought to work to are fit enought to deal with this. I cannot deal with the agression their client is BArclays and I am hoping to find an alternative solution. I beleive that if they knwe how they were being represented they may lose their contract. exit 3 exit 3

I do not believe I owe barclays any money . The debt is denied . The agreed the overdraft and then agreed to put in on loan in 2006 , Section 18 of the consumer credit act maintainas theat verbal agreemetns enters into a series of multiple agreement. The data acess report is full of errors and they tried to con me in to changing the product to get an new agreement , as they admit in the report that they would have great difficutly recovering their money if they did not . Tehy messed up my credit rating to keep control of the debt so I could not go elsewhere. I have made a goodwill gesture of of £2000 which has been refused , then looked as if they would agree I acalled the DC and got a load of agression. I have been very ill hence off line. I would like to meet someone at b who speaks sense to thrash this out for the sake of my health. Exit3

Dear Hugg This is very useful information. Our poisition is slightly different but a mistakes was made way back. We are for the moment mving amicably with the revenue but on legal advice we could claim costs .Please keep me posted exit 3

some of them are not the brightest on the block, I do wonder where they find them , but nevertheless we need to raise standards Exit 3

Par for the course. check the landl registry as charging orders have changed Exit 3

Agree, but once the monitoring is finished they will start again, and it should not just restricted to conversations ( see examples below) nor to DCA, it has also to be applicable the debt collecting department of banks where the individuals working there should be individualy licenced so that they would be subject to the same rules. If they break professional standards, they lose their jobs and licence. All DCA employees should also pass exams to give them the licence status at employee level. If they fail to meet professional standards, they also their jobs. The management would also run the risk of losing the licence for the busines and , may be, should only be given a number of lives. They would also have to cease trading in the field for a statutory time and neither the management or the employees who are in breach could re- apply to be employed elsewhere in the field , for example for five years, just a suggestion? Rather draconian but it takes seven years to change attitudes and in this economic climate the people cannot wait that long. In banks calls are recorded and the customer should be able to apply for transcipt and the authorities allowed to hear the recording with the customers permission . Just a thought Matters should not be restricted to telephone conversations. The harrassment does not stop there but by exercising debt collecting tecniques like for example , telling you have an overdraft facility and then you do not have it , by creating situation by devious means so that if you are off guard , a default position is created, is also harrassment of different kind, You are then you are passed round to different "muppets" and then bingo they pull a fast one like a default notice It is all part of the game of unfair practices of debt collecting. exit 3

It is ineffectual and under funded and needs more support from government with better interdisciplinary action from all the bodies avaialable, FO, FSA, IOS, and the OFT All information gathered by these organistation in a complainants case should be collated to create a single writ against the offending company or bank. They should all be working much closer together and the goverment must provide better funding. Also assistance should be given to complainants to prepare their file cases so that their chances of success would better, and it would assist in deciding their vialbility. It would also help the overworked organisations to have case studies ready for quicker expedition and because of disparate activities of each body, yet the nature of the complainants complaint could fall within the remit of each , the banks and DCA take advantage of the system. They provide woolly unsastisfactoty answers as final Response go to the Financial Ombusdam, knowing full well that it will take a long time . THE FO acts but leaves the institution to offend again. We are pinheads in the scheme of things but with some thought , a careful reorganisation of financial consumer affairs could be a move to a change culture and make sure everyone plays straight. The risk of non compliance would perhaps be a more realistic reality. Any thoughts on this ? Exit 3

Passing people on to another muppet ,as you so aptly call it is all part of the game . Back to my novice golfer, this time wearing a silly hat with a spike on top with a carousel ( to judge which way the wind blows) now just give them a pair of goofy glasses, and you have the apparent dumbo. Do not be fooled my friend , they may to may not have and original idea in their heads, they may just read a report saying, you are in the wrong industry according to Jo Bloggs, that great authority, and off with your head, we want you and everything about you off our books . This apparent incompentence of passing you round from one muppet to the next is all part of the debt collecting, and there is nothing "goofy" about it at all ,just sheer vicious debt collecting techniques intended to create the maximum of distress. There is a fair chance that the same muppet might be behind the whole thing which makes it even worse! However as the aggrieved party, and to get out of the bunker you might have to contact several muppets in the organisation just to get yourself of heard, or have a chance of reaching the putting green! Once they all put their heads together you probably find yourslef in the hole and have to fight to get out again. In Parliament it was alluded as there should be better communication between the various bodies CRA, data controllers , those in charge of CCA requests etc , but the passing on from muppet to muppet is to give them the opportunity to get you first. It must be made clear to the Minister that this is a way of controlling the debtor -(psychology of debt for the creditors point of view?) - and that if any measures are taken ,then they must include : if muppets, organisations DCA banks etc ,who do not communicate ,and do not have all the information to hand ,when alleged debtor enquires should amount to harrrassment and it probably does already . It certainly is unfair practice Should all information be passed to the Data Controller and appropriate modification of the act made _ is this the answer? may not the Australian route , the FO and or OFT issues a writ backed by the FSA a sort of single representative of all three ? Is that a good idea The worrying point is that banks , may expand their own recovery departments to avoid the bad publicity from the use of DCA. 6 figures fine splease otherwise it will just another attempt to humour the public. Exit 3

I am confused with all the initials never was much good at shorthand can you clarify please Exit 3

Ask them what they have sent you. It is up to you to them to tell them they must be able to list the information they have sent you for starters and why they cannot supply any information or documents. Exit 3

This happened in Australia which follows the thread we have been discussing Quote "Court documents show the woman fell behind on her credit card payments when she lost her job, and began taking care of her disabled mother on a carer's pension. The writ shows the National Australia Bank sold her $5,000 debt to an agency, Accounts Control Management Services. It is alleged the agency made threatening calls, including claims that if she left the country she could not return without paying the debt. It is also alleged the agency lied to one of her friends to get her personal details. The Consumer Action Law Centre has filed the writ with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, seeking damages for harassment and misleading and deceptive conduct" The bodies that act for consumers should be able to file such actions especially as banks and lending institutions employ legal "cartels " to act for them , the Financial ombudsman can go so far and so can the FSA but may be we can learn a lesson from Australia Exit 3

are you being pursued for a debt? you are confused and so are we Data protection Act Consumer credit Act and as amended in 2006 ( now checking) deals with unfair dealings as well which is this track exit 3 i Exit 3

Sweet jane Thanks for the tip I shall - there was a press release on questions being asked in parliament following an article on LLoyd debt collecting practices , nothing different from any others- cover blown by undercover journalist. Will check of name of MP leading the questions -Sunday Times - have just checked it Andrew Mackinlay ( Thurrock Labour) others participating John Leech ( Manchester , whittington , Liberal democrat, Gareth Thomas ( minister ( also in the department of Business Enterprise and regulatory Reform , Department for international development , Harrow West ) lets provide them with all the amunition they need! Office of Fair trading bringing in new rules in November making it easier to change banks which should help, depending on the terms, as lending institutions try ( this is my assumption and experience ) to make it impossible for you to do so, until their debt is paid - another hidden trick of the trade -and whether it is a DCA or a bank ,the recovery department of a banks both need to come under the same scrutiny - in fact the employees in these departement should be individually licensed , the needs for DCA might diminish - as the risk will be equal and banks should be fined six figures sums so that any change in the law start to have meaning exit 3

I should not worry too much about that as the debt collections department in banks are expanding. Royal Bank of Scotland were advertising quite a senior job recently and mentioned the fact in the ad. Quick recovery and performance among the qualities required. However, no employer should ask an employee to committ an illegal act or breach professional standards, and the employee has every legal right to refuse. If fear is put into the employee for not complying the employee would have most probably have cause for remedy. If the employee does it anyway without authority to meet financial targets and commission targets then he still represents the company until faced with disciplinary action if he/she is in breach of their terms of contract . If a DCA employer and employee act together then are they not acting in full complicity ? As part of any review undertaken by the OFT should be the quality of training received by these employees and regulated by the OFT what do you think about that? If an employee wants to act correctly they should have the choice, the question is do they have that choice ? intergrity cannot be such a bad thing. Recent whistleblower programmes on bailiffs and debt collectors leaves us with very little confidence. As part of any review undertaken by the OFT and FSA should be the quality of training received and qualificatins obtained by the employer and employees all of which should be regulated by the OFT. What do you think about that ?

Newspaper articles on google who keep your emails but cannot read them , check your internet habits , etc who has, where is your data, now the government is going to to the same, so if you write to your best friend and tell him/her about that b.....y a..........too rude to mention name at the bank- are you breaching the codes of relevant data by stating that fact to a third party in confidence?