Well in that case, I think I might as well go after them as I did have to pay and quite a bit to get my cars back as well. I just need to find some sort of template now or somebody else who has managed a success with this.

So, the adjourned case has now had the status changed to charge withdrawn by the DVLA for both vehicles as notified via the post today. The question is, do I now go after the official DVLA clampers or just leave it be?

It was for an unlicensed vehicle on the public highway in this instance and both were uninsured!!

You are quite right Brigadier, but both vehicles were not on a public highway/public road. One was in a private parking space and the other outside my mechanics garage, which I have since discovered is a private road and not owned by the council! Anyway, I prepared my defense, pleaded not guilty and as the DVLA didn't have enough evidence, they have adjourned the case until September. We shall see what happens then I guess.

Hello all, A bit late in the day on this one, but I bought two vehicles on the 4th December last year (one to keep and the other to be repaired and sold on) from the same seller. Both vehicles were moved to a private road (both were not on the road due to engine faults, so could not be driven) with one outside my mechanics garage on that road awaiting repair and the other in a private parking space. Both vehicles came without V5's, so I sent off at the same time a cheque for both with the forms V62 & V890 to SORN them in the post (only way you can do it without the V5's apparently). Both vehicles were then spotted as untaxed and lifted on the 10th December 6 days later. To get them released out of the impound I didn't argue or appeal as that would have just racked up more storage fees each day and in between the owner lcoated the aforementioned V5's amongst his paperwork and posted them onto me, too late then of course!! So, I am in court for having an unsorned vehicle on a public highway this Tuesday morning. I appealed the initial fine stating that the two relevant forms were sent off and this was rejected. Surely there must be a reasonable time to get a SORN in to them. Also, they have never provided proof that they received my documents either or acknowledged them. Is it best to just plead guilty with mitigating circumstances?

Beaten to the answer again, so all I can do is echo the above. It sounds like they have nothing at all and they are now just clutching at straws really. As per other peeps advice, write to them again and wait with baited breath at the next answer they send.

That is so true. I have recently won a case against them and they still can't help themselves with their automated letters. For once I broke the golden rule and rang them, so that I could hurl abuse at them for a change.

That is pure genius indeed. Can this be lifted and also added to the dca bating section to provide much merriment to many many more people. I second blondmusic, keep up the good work!!

I have had that fun with the DVLA over a tax disc, lost in the post. But anyway, back to Moorcrap then, not wanting to hijack the thread!!

Yes, I must say that I sort of enjoyed the fun and frolics that came with Moorcroft. They kept me entertained for months with generic letters, but alas it has been sorted out, ha ha!! Anyway, I have got the DVLA to take on now with the dreaded SORN penalty notice!! Lets see how long this goes on for.

I am not sure what others will say, but I would just send it end of. The more info you give them, the more ammo they gain to knock you down with. So, in other words, you will keep them guessing by not saying anything. Good to hear that you haven't spoken to anybody as I made that mistake and didn't record it either and the woman blatantly lied by telling me that Moorcr#p now owned the debt and that I should just pay up or they would see me in court. If only I had recorded it, doh!!

I prescribe to the go the whole hog theorem and you should follow reallymadwoman's advice. Also, are you communicating solely via letter as I am sure you have already been informed, despite the temptation to use the telephone, don't under any circumstances as that is where Moorcroft will get you the most and will start lying unless you tell them that you are recording the conversation. By doing what reallymadwoman has advised will give you the answers you want and if they haven't sold the debt then insist on dealing with Barclaycard solely again and not the DCA's. If you stick at it, you will win as I have just beaten Moorcr#p but it took 3 months. Now I really feel like ringing them and bating them!!

Hello, Always worth listening to Bazooka boy as he gave me excellent advice and I have just beaten Virgin Media for £62, so that brings me to some of my own advice (having gained this from others). It all depends on whether you want to fight for £29.95 or not as I thought fighting for £62 was worth it and hey presto after 3 months it is sorted. Never speak to the DCA, only communicate via snail mail and from experience, it doesn't matter if it is in dispute or not, they will easily pass the debt sideways to a DCA in order to scare you into paying. I would advise you to take some of Bazooka Boys advice or write a complaint letter to FF'S compaints department (thats assuming they have one) explaining what has happened and that they are at fault and also stipulate that you are giving them 7 days to respond or you will consider the matter as closed. It is very unlikely that they will get in touch within that period of time but they will be back in touch. Send them another letter referring to your previous one saying that you gave them 7 days to respond and that they failed to do so in the time given. If this doesn't work then send one to the head office and the MD of the company outlining your shoddy treatment when it was in fact their procedures that caused the problem in the first instance. You must also complain to the OFT about this as well to keep them on the case.

Dear lord above, this must be one of the longest threads here with some of the best info that money can't buy from LP!! I think the people following this thread must be growing day by day with interest. The swell of support for fretful is also growing, we are all behind you on this one.

A further update for November with some important news!!!! VICTORY, VICTORY and the sweet smell of success is in the air. After yet another complaint letter to the Virgin Media complaints department giving them 7 days to respond or I will consider the matter closed. I received a phone call last night saying that I still owed the money and that was that but Moorcroft had been called off and then this morning the breaktrhough. A jolly nice fellow from the complaints department rang to say that the debt had been wiped clean and that my account balance was now nothing, zilch, nadder and apologised for the way that I had been treated from the off and that Moorcroft were naughty boys and it was a shame that Virgin used them as it gave them a bad name (here here!). The way I had been treated was not the way that a good customer should have been treated. So, the advice given by andy and bazooka boy (much thanks for that by the way) is worth following if you want to get anywhere and the golden rule is definitely definitely never speak to Moorcroft as a) you will lose your rag with them b) they will lie to you unless you tell them that you are recording the conversation and c) just stick to writing to them at all times. Thanks once again for advice given, now how do I put one of those success things under my future posts.

Dealing with Virgin now and a goodwill gesture does not appear anywhere when it comes to them. They refuse to write off £62 when I moved from my flat to my girlfriends who is already a Virgin customer. I have threatened to cancel and they just aren't bothered at losing a customer who spends over £500 a year, stupid stupid company. I am fighting them all the way and I think you should. Remember the golden rule though, make all contact with them via mail and never over the phone unless you record all the calls for proof of what has been said. If it comes to dealing with a debt collection agency, who will be Moorcroft for Virgin Media, then refuse to deal with them as they will lie through their back teeth to get you to pay! I am sure there is some info somewhere about if you can't pay and what can be done due to your current circumstances, and at the very least suspending the account. Keep us updated.

First update for November, Sent Virgin the money that I owe them and not the money they are claiming and then heard off Moorcroft again today with a less threatening letter but one that says that I should propose a regular monthly payment before they are willing to talk. The jokers completely forgot to put on the letter how much was outstanding but they probably don't know now that I have paid Virgin some money. How can you make a proposal if you don't know how mcu is owed, genius! I also sent Virgin the complaint letter at the end of last month giving them 14 days to reply and as of today, nothing, the 14th day. I think a 2nd complaint letter is coming on to Virgin and a leave me alone letter to Moorcroft. I think they are getting a bit bored to be honest. This proposal letter seems to be a bit of a step back and especially now that the debt has fallen under £100.

Oh the joys of Moorcrap, I completely feel for you at the moment but taking them on is the only way to win. I think somewhere in the thread, it was mentioned that 'isn't it there onus to contact debt managers' and the answer to that is surely yes it is. You have done nothing wrong and it is between debt managers and Moorcrap to sort it out and then for you to receive confirmation off both of them to confirm that Moorcrap are now holding the debt. In any case, I think your wise move is to go back to Barclaycard and deal with them after all, it may make life a lot easier. I am taking on Moocroft now over a Virgin media bill and they continually lie and lie. Start recording your conversations, it makes a difference I can tell you. I will also follow this thread now to see how it goes, so good luck indeedy.

Be strong, make the offer, don't shy away from it. I am dealing with Moorcrap now and have dealt with them in the past and like others have said, they will accept a lot lower than what is left and if I had only known about that then. I owed HSBC bank for an overdraft on an account that they closed down and passed to Moorcrap. I rang up and made a stupid offer (well I thought it was at the time anyway) at around 60% of what was owed and the woman on the phone said they would not accept it and said she would speak to a manager. I was on hold for all of well lets say 6 seconds and she came back and accepted it. I suppose you could say I saved a packet but they still made a bundle. I refused to pay it there and then until the they sent me confirmation of my offer would be accepted and lo and behold a letter came the very next day. The irony was, I paid the debt with a HSBC credit card!!! So, go for it, make that offer!!

An Update for you --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Would you adam and eve it. After being told by Moorcroft that they now owned the debt and that if I paid Virgin media anything it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. Yesterday morning in the post I received a litigation letter from Moorcroft and next to it an amended invoice from Virgin Media. The amendment was for only £1.18 due to being overcharged on VAT, but if the debt was now owned by Moorcroft, why would Virgin do this. Pure genius indeed on behalf of the lying scumbags at moorcroft. I am relishing this at the moment and have made the £42 odd payment to Virgin and will wait and see if I still get letters off both companies. Surely, there is something seriously not right with this!!! I will be back

Hi to Andy and Bazooka Boo, Thanks for the advice from both of you. You are so right about the being lied to. The beast at Moorcroft told me that they had bought the debt yet today I have received yet another revised bill off Virgin, which suggests that the debt has not been sold at all. I will pay the £42ish that I owe them and then write formal letters of complaint as suggested. Who would have thought in this day and age, that a company that I have paid money to for over 5 years and never missed a bill, would cause so much agro over a disconnection issue. The really stupid thing is that my gf's house has Virgin Media and due to this we are thinking about disconnecting here also abnd moving to Sky. Talk about shooting themselves in the foot!!! I will keep this thread updated as to what happens. Cheers Bootedup

Hello all, Now forgive me if this has been addressed elsewhere within the four virtual walls of this forum and if so point me in the right direction. I was and have moved in with my GF and in July cancelled my Virgin Media account (who I had been with for 3/4 years) for the following month. When I rang up to cancel the customer service operative assured me that there were no cancellation charges. I queried this because I had changed to a new service in December last year over the phone. The finall bill was sent to my new address for £42.90ish and as a direct debit was in place, I had no issue with paying this. Anyway, about 2/3 weeks later. A further bill arrived with cancellation charges taking the bill to £104.96 and then another bill followed with a reduced sum of £104.78 as they had overcharged on VAT!!! Immediately I rang Virgin and told them that I had not been informed of the cancellation charges when I cancelled and did not wish to pay the cancellation charges added to my bill. The agent agreed I had a dispute and cancelled the direct debit payment there and then and informed me he would get somebody to call me back to resolve the issue. This never happened. About 10 days ago, I received a final demand letter from Virgin and I rang again and explained that they had not told me about the cancellation charges when I cancelled. I was told that if I did not wish to pay it, then they would pass it on to Moorcroft debt recovery (ENTER STAGE LEFT). Bemused by this, even though I have offered to pay the £42.90 and nothing more, thought that it would be some time before moorcroft got in touch (not my first dealing with them). How wrong could I be, just 3 days later, a letter arrived from Moorcroft the usual pre court division letter asking for the money and then lo and behold a phonecall this morning (14th October). Woman/beast on the phone informed me already that I had a credit default on file due to this as soon as it had been passed to them and that I should pay now. She also said that as it was a service that I took out I didn't need to sign a CCA, so there was no point in wasting time in asking for one. Now the big question after all the above blurb, is she right? I want to pay the £42.90 that I owe and not the £104.78. As my agreement was taken out over the phone, can I still ask for a CCA or which route should I go down from here on in. Any help gratefully appreciated. In the past, I paid the blighters at moorcroft when they took on a HSBC debt and I made them a silly offer that they accepted. Shall I do the same again and make then an offer for the £42.90 that I do owe Virgin? Bootedup