hi all buchanan clark wells send a notice that never answered, now they send me a final notice for a debt that I do not own from a coffee shop that I gave up 2 years ago the bill is for e on energy solution limited from mid 2009 to start 2011 of £600 precise, so now what should I do I will not respond to them anyway. is there a statue of limitation to a debt I was trading as the name cafe

Hi all, Having received a verification letter out of the blue yesterday from BCW, I thought I would do a little research into them before responding to them as a. . I hate paying for 0844 numbers. I found so many comments about them, especially on this site but thought I would share my letter as it seems to be slightly different in that the letter is addressed to me at my home address saying that they are trying to contact a My Name how previously lived at the original address above, which is the same address as they have sent the letter to! The rest of the letters is identical to everyone else's but thought this was an interesting twist. From what I have read on this and other forums, I shouldn't respond at all until they say what the "private matter" actually is and when they do say what it is the onus is on them to prove it. And under no circumstances call them, do everything by letter. I will say I honestly don't know of ANY debt that I have. The only thing I can think of is that earlier this year we changed electricity suppliers. I initially chose Spark energy (I can hear the groans already, I know...) but after doing a little research on line and saw the poor comments that they were getting (even on their own website!!!) we decided to go with someone else and I cancelled the order 2 days after the initial application, so well inside the cooling off period. I had a confirmation email from the Energy website saying that this was the case and that the change over had been cancelled. On the next day I received a welcome letter from Spark and assumed things had just crossed in the post/ether. to cut a long story short (trust me I can go on and on about this) they didn't cancel the transfer and started to take the gas and electricity supply which meant my chosen company couldn't get hold of it. In the end the gas was not taken by Spark and passed over to the new company, but the electricity was taken by them, but despite them saying they could do an erroneous transfer back to the original supplier, the original supplier said that they wouldn't take it, so it was transferred directly to the new supplier and that they would invoice for the electricity used. So far I've not received any invoice or request for payment from Spark, so why this would have gone to BCW I don't know, but I wouldn't put it past them. As I say, I really don't know if this is what it is to do with, this is just the only thing I can think of. We do get calls from debt companies asking for people with different names, a Mr Brown and a Mr Westbrooke, but they tell me the address they have got and it is not correct anyway, so didn't think anything of it. Perhaps they have linked my address/name with someone else's debt? Not sure if that is possible, but lets see what their next missive brings... I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people that have written on this forum as the comments and advice are really helpful and have reassured me that this is an all-to-common issue that is easy to resolve, just might take a while. As I had a 6 month battle with HMRC last year over my tax, I'm hoping that this one should be a doddle.

Hi, I'm new here so I hope I've put this in the right place! i received a letter from a company called Buchanan Clark & wells saying they were acting on behalf of Hoist Portfolio Holding 2 Limited a nd that I owed just over £1,000 and the creditor was Next. Now, I've lived in my current property for nearly 10 years and have had no contact regarding this supposed debt during all that time. I've no idea whether it is an old debt - it could be as I did have a Next account years ago but we are talking very old here, probably around 12-13 years ago! Anyhow, I sent them the standard letter - Letter M in the files - and got a reply from BCW - this is the first paragraph referring to my letter: "I can confirm that we have undertaken an investigation into the issues raised in the above referenced correspondence and have concluded that your complaint has been refuted. The reasons for this are detailed below." They then go on to say that they act in good faith on the instructions and information passed on to them from their clients (Hoist) and that they are passed this information on the basis that it is true and correct. Apparently, they are going to ask Hoist to supply me with "relevant documentation relating to this outstanding account" and a cessation of collection activity has been placed on the account until I receive said documentation. Any advice as to where to go from here? Given the length of time I've lived at my address and the fact that I KNOW this debt could not possibly have been created during, at least, the last 10 years, I cannot possibly imagine what relevant documentation they could send me! Should I contact them again and, if so, what should I say or should I just ignore everything from here on in? Many thanks in advance for any advice Sarah

Evening all. I'm posting for some advice, I've searched around, and I can't seem to find anybody else in the same predicament. I'm a monthly paying member of Experian. Last week I received an alert saying my information had been changed. I logged on to find that a company named "Gothia LTD" have registered a default against my name for £51! This is in my name, but the address they have supplied for me is INCORRECT! It's not a previous address, or a linked address. It's just INCORRECT. I have NO IDEA who they are, and have certainly never had dealings with them. I called Experian to report this who said they would contact them and investigate. They also recommended I contact them personally too see if I could sort it out. I did. The person on the end of the phone was less than useless. I think he was probably a new member of staff, he didn't sound very confident. I explained the situation. He faffed about, trying to stick to his script I imagine, until he got so flustered he put me on hold. He then, after a while Transferred me to "Lisa at Buchanan, Clark and Wells" I don't know why. I again explained the situation. Lisa, better at sticking to her script, repeatedly tried to get me to pay a random £51 and that if I did, the default would be marked as satisfied. I had to interrupt her after a while and be pretty assertive to make her shut up for a minute and LISTEN. I explained that I have never had any dealings with either company, and that as they had INCORRECT details for me, it would have been IMPOSSIBLE for them to contact me. I asked her to explain what they were supposedly chasing (I must be right in thinking that the Debt must be pittance as I assume these agencies would have added costs to make the £51 total) She relied. "A debt from Wonga"?! I have never even watched an entire TV advert for wonga, never mind used their service. She then changed her mind and told me it was H&M, as in the clothes shop. I asked her how I could possibly owe a clothes shop any money. She said it must be a store card. H&M DO NOT DO STORE CARDS. Or any other means of credit as far as I know. Unfortunately I couldn't get much sense from her, in the end I asked her to send me proof of any debt then I hung up. SO, to summarise... I have a default on my otherwise okish Credit File from companies I've never heard of, who couldn't possibly contact me to let me know they're chasing me for money. They can't seem to tell me who they're chasing for, and I don't think they even know who they are. Any advice? I would really appreciate it. I was supposed to be applying for a mortgage at the end of the month. That's not going to be able to happen now. How can a company just throw a Default around so easily. Especially as they can't or won't prove that I owe anything, and that they could'nt possibly contact me to let me know. Thanks guys!

Hi in need of some advice from here once more. I have a cc j dated October 2007 which i defended and lost even though there was no credit agreement. (about £12k) Then to make things worse i had a charging order applied against my property. I have today had a letter from Mortimer Clark which says; As we have not been able to reach an amicable arrangement to settle the balance outstanding, we have instructed Marston High Court Enforcement Officers and Certified Bailiffs to act on our behalf in this matter. My question is do they not need to go back to court to take such action or does the existing CCJ entitle Mortimer Clark to do this ? Quite worried about this one.

Hi guys, I'm just looking for a wee bit of guidance/advice. I'n in the process of buying a car from a private seller, i placed a small deposit with the seller and I'm awaiting my loan coming through, unfortunately there has been a bit of a delay on my part owing to some errors on the loan application (Date of birth, and exact address). This'll be going into the third week now that I've had to keep the seller waiting and he's understandably getting a bit fed up. My main concern is that he (the seller) has been informed by Arnold clark that if he does not come up with the money for his new car on Thursday, then they will send the car back (his new car). He's using the funds from selling car to me to fund new car at AC. I'm assuming he put a deposit down on his car. I'm essentially wondering if this sounds right? Is there any law which states that car must be paid of in X amount of time since deposit placed?

Hi all, I have a question that i hope someone can help me with. I booked and paid for a car from the above company, for one week over the Christmas period, to pick up on Christmas Eve. I booked and paid for this car via their website, well in advance of the holidays. Having been stung before by another company, i checked Arnold Clark website looking for the amount of deposit required. It clearly states on the FAQ page, that a deposit is not normally required, however check at time of booking. Now being completely paranoid these days, i checked by phoning the company and asked if a deposit was required, the answer i was given was a definite "NO" I still wasn't sure though, as it is strange that most other companies require a deposit, so i checked the website again and trawled every page, nothing. I phoned the company again a few days later to double, double check and was given the same reply "NO" On the day of hire, i phoned the branch from where i was due to pick the car up from and was put through to a central switchboard, who also couldn't get through to the branch but they would get them to phone me back, still waiting!!! While on the phone i asked again from customer services if a deposit was required, the answer again was"NO". I went to pick the car up and on entering the reception, i was met with a sign that from "30/10/12 a £200 deposit was required" I assumed that didn't mean if you had already prebooked. I presented all the documentation that they had requested and was then asked for a £200 deposit. When i explained that no mention of a deposit was made, either verbally or via the website, i was told that it states on the website FAQ page that a deposit is required. I pointed out that it doesn't say that at all and refused to pay a deposit, they refused then to hire the car to me and refunded my money. My question is, are they in breach of contract and do i have a right to sue them in the small claims court? I had taken what i deem necessary action to ensure the validity of the hire agreement. When i got home i phoned the customer service department to complain and was told that it was now company policy to take a deposit, although, no where on the site or elsewhere does it say about that. Needless to say, my refund will not go into my bank until after christmas, so i couldn't go elsewhere and get something arranged. Christmas has been ruined, i was unable to go over to my son's and spend the holiday with his family and my grand daughter's first Christmas, as was arranged. Someone please tell me that i have a good case or even some advice. Cheers. cuzznx

We bought a fleet of brand new cars in May when Arnold Clark opened up their new garage in Strathaven, Lanarkshire for our driving school. One of these cars went for a driving test the other day and when the Examiner inspected the car, he discovered that the tax disc and the registration plate DID NOT MATCH! The test was cancelled and the car was put off the road by the Driving Standards Agency, leaving a young girl, who was due to sit her test, absolutely distraught. Our initial thought was that they had put the wrong tax disc on the vehicle but after further investigation on our part, we discovered it was the wrong registration plates that Arnold Clark had fitted before delivery. This car has been running about since May on incorrect plates! The car has been off the road now since 8 November as we cannot legally drive it on the public roads, resulting in a vast amount of lost earnings. On Friday, 9 November, I went back to the dealership to ask what they were prepared to do about it. They asked "where's the car?" I told them it was in Gartcosh. Their reply was "Can you bring it over then? We've got new plates made for it" What part of cannot legally drive on public roads do they not understand? I told them it could not be driven and we were also looking for compensation for our loss of earnings and reimbursment of the driving test fee for the pupil who lost her driving test. They flatly refused saying that it was not Arnold Clark policy to reimburse anyone for loss of earnings. It has left me with no alternative than to raise an action at Hamilton Sherrif Court on Monday and sue Arnold Clark for loss of earnings and loss of test fee for the pupil, stress and embarassment to my company and stress and embarrasment suffered by the pupil and the driving instructor concerned, all caused by this oversight by Arnold Clark. Also included in this claim will be the return of several hundred pounds that they charged me for the registration fee and the pre delivery inspection fee (will have definate monetary values by Monday) which is payable by everyone who purchases a new car. Arnold Clark certainly failed to register my vehicle correctly and failed in their pre delivery inspection of my vehicle by failing to notice that the registration plates failed to match the properly issued road fund licence on the car. Dear Mr Arnold Clark, Directors, Managers, Salesmen......this isn't just a case of one man and his car. Over the last 40 years that I have been in business as one of Lanarkshire's biggest driving schools, we have bought several hundred cars from you, not to mention the several thousand pupils who we have introduced to Arnold Clark who have bought cars from you, similar to the one's used by us. My daughter has recently qualified as a driving instructor and will hopefully take over the reigns of my driving school within the next 2 years as I am due to retire. One of the conditions that I will impose is that she never buys another car for the fleet from Arnold Clark and she never recommends Arnold Clark to any of our pupils. I have also advised my current instructors, that under no circumstances have they to mention or recommend Arnold Clark to any more of the pupils. In fact, I've told them to tell everyone not to buy a car from Arnold Clark. I am also now in the process of taking any further bodyshop, mechanical, service, warranty work to some other dealership in my area. This could all have been resolved on Friday for the paltry sum of £418.00 which only included our loss of earnings and the return of the pupils test fee. Now, as it stands, the loss of earnings will accrue on this car for every day it sits idle with it's wrong plates.......could be a really costly mistake Arnold Clark!

Have been contacted a few times by these people and have recently offered a payment of £5.00 to them. They have been in touch asking for the usual financial information before they can consider the offer. I was just wondering what we should do next as we are offering them what we can afford and don't see the point in going through all this - especially as owners of far bigger debts have been accepting this payment for many months. Thanks in advance - Lee.

Evening all I keep getting letters from AK stating I owe them various amounts to different companies. They also write offering a reduction in the amount I could pay, such as sending me a "gift voucher" today for £3,000 off a 'debt' and stating I should pay them £300. I am also getting daily text messages from BCW asking me, by name to contact them urgently, quoting a unique ref number. I am aware any debt that I have is statue barred, as they are over 6 years and if my memory serves me right ar eover 10 years. I havent made any contact with either company although I want to call them to tell them to get lost and I will send each company the statue barred letter. If I should be sending a different letter please let me know. My question is, can these companies continue to complete credit searches of my credit file without any recourse?? They are accessing my credit file on a monthly basis and I think this is impacting on my credit scoring. Any advice, as always gratefully received. Keep up the fight y'all!!

Hi all. I had a letter from Buchanan Clark and Wells on the 27th August claiming that I owed two amounts to British Gas. The supply address they claimed I lived at is not an address I have ever lived at, but the address is one line short of my own. It is very similar and is often mistaken. Anyway, I sent them a letter advising them that I have never lived at this address and do not acknowledge the debt. I also asked them to provide me with a signed contract to prove otherwise. After this letter, they requested that I send proof of my address for the supply period to prove that I have not resided at that address, which I did do. They also advised that further action on the account has been ceased pending an investigation. They advised one month for this. Now, only a short time since this letter, they have sent me yet another formal demand pending further action. They are advising that they will be applying to the court for a judgement and blah blah blah. What are my options here? I have not acknowledged the debt. It is for a different address, albeit a very similar one. They haven't provided me with any evidence that I actually owe this debt, nor do they seem to have taken my evidence into account. Do I have to prove I don't owe this and didn't live at this address, or do they have to prove I do owe it and did live at the address? The final judgement on my credit report will be clear next month and I'll be damned if they are going to ruin it for something I don't even owe. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

ADVICE NEEDED I received this letter 2 weeks ago from this company We are trying to contact Mr X with regards to a private matter. We have confirmed your address through a credit link obtained via a credit reference agency as being the same person who previously lived at the original above address. I had not lived at that address for over 13 years so I ignored it,a week later I received another letter from them saying OUTSTANDING BALANCE £151 With reference to the above account which was previously with Yorkshire bank we write to advice you that we BCW GROUP LTD now hold the legal right to collect the full amount including legal recovery through the court if necessary. Than goes on to say fail er to respond to this letter we will have no option other than passing your account to our debt collection division I HAD a Yorkshire bank loan in the past but that was paid of in 2003 and I have hoard nothing from them since. I checked my credit file with equifax and it is clean nothing on it WHAT do I do ask them for proof of debt or ignore them and wait for they next move

I`m looking some advice and help please if possible ref BCW and an old MBNA account. This was defaulted back in early 2009 and has been batted around a few DCAs since. I was once sent an application form dated from 2000, acknowledged as an application form with the accompanying letter from Link.I replied with a letter from the MBNA section of CAG which I now am unable to access for some reason pointing out the various flaws which rendered it unenforceable in court. My question is after all the court cases over the last few years, have things changed and could an application form now be enough to get me a CCJ? This is the first correspondence in over a year and I can feel the stress building again!

Hi everyone. I've had two letters today from Buchanan Clark and Wells. Presumably debt collectors. The letters state that they are trying to contact me with regards to a private matter. They don't state what the matter is, or who they are contacting me on behalf of. The only hint of identification are two client reference numbers. The other thing I should point out is that they are saying I am the same person who lived at the "Original Address". This original address is not a placed I have lived at, but is a common misunderstanding. The address is identical to mine, except for one line extra on my address. I have been in the process of cleaning up my credit report for the past 2 years and the final default is set to be removed in December. Because I have been actively involved in cleaning my report, I know every debt that is outstanding or not. I have cross referenced the account numbers against all 3 agency reports and nothing matches. What should I do in this situation? I am now concerned that all my efforts to get clean will be ruined by something else. Should I send them a non-acknowledgement letter? Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you.

Good afternoon! Received a letter from BCW this morning VERIFICATION LETTER Dear Mr X We are trying to contact Mr X with regards to a private matter. We have confirmed your address through a credit link obtained via a credit reference agency as being the same person who previously lived at the original address above. Please contact us on 0844 571 4270 quoting the above reference number and one of our operators will be available to take any relevant details to resolve the matter. I think that it's related to my other Orange Contract. As when I try to access that account online, it says account is closed. How do I deal with these guys? Should I ignore this letter and wait for one that is more detailed? Thanks Karl ***Sorry for typo in title***

Hello, just after some advice on how best to handle this company. We moved house last December and submitted our gas meter reading to N/Power. We didn't hear anything for months until we eventually got a bill through. We queried the bill as it had the supply period ending on 08/03/2012 which would be just over 2 months since we left. They got back to us telling us that they had used the meter reading we gave them. So, yesterday we got our first letter from BCW in the form of a FINAL NOTICE with the same inaccurate supply period. However, they have decided that on top of the bill they are going to add another 12.5% ' to reimburse our clients for the costs incurred in recovering this debt'. This adds another £102.22 which I think is probably the biggest admin fee I have ever encountered. What is the best approach with these people and has anyone else had any similar problems with them? Thanks - Lee.

Hi I bought a Mini convertible 2007 from Arnold Clark on 7/6/12 and have had problems ever since. The main problem is on day 10 of having the car and after 3 days of very heavy rain I got into the car to find a substantial amount of water in the passenger footwell. I took the car to my nearest Arnold Clark repair centre as arranged by the salesman and was told that they performed 2 water tests on the car and could not find a leak. Obviously their water test is not the equivalent to three days of heavy rain. I pointed out to them that just because they cant find a fault does not mean there isn't one as I have had water inside my car. After five hours they arranged for me to be given a courtesy car and have my mini taken to BMW for further tests to be done this Monday coming. In the meantime, I have made an official complaint to Arnold Clark and asked for the car to be replaced, but when speaking further to Citizens Advice they have told me that because I have asked them to repair it then I need to let them go ahead with this and that my grievance is not with Arnold Clark but with the finance company that I took the HP out with (Toyota). I have now sent Toyota a copy of the complaint I sent Arnold Clark explaining the problems I have had along with a template letter from the Citizens Advice website. I also phoned them to advice what has happened, but the person in complaints was on the phone so he is supposed to be calling me back on Monday. Can anyone advice what I do next if BMW also come back saying they cannot find a leak?? What are my rights and what would my next step be??

ASA Adjudication on Arnold Clark Automobiles Ltd Ad Claims on www.arnoldclark.com for a used car stated "2003 (03) Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 SXi 3 Dr. Sale Price £2988. Pre Sale price £3488. Save £500 ...". Issue The complainant challenged whether the savings claim was misleading, because he did not believe the car had been offered at the higher price for a sufficient period of time to avoid customers being misled by the price reduction. CAP Code (Edition 12) 3.13.17 Response Arnold Clark Automobiles Ltd (ACA) pointed out that they had been trading since 1954 and the Real Sale had been used as a marketing initiative for the last 20 years, which returned around 25,000 vehicle sales per year. They said this was the first type of complaint they had received. They explained that the car was on sale at the higher price of £3,488 for 10 days from 13 December 2011 to 23 December 2011, at which point it was reduced to £2,988. ACA admitted that they had not advertised the car at the higher price for 28 days, as recommended in the BIS Pricing Practices Guide. They said the nature of the motor trade industry, where in order to have a viable business model used stock needed to be turned over every six weeks, rendered the 28-day rule unviable and would be damaging to their business. They said they had been advised by their Primary Authority to display a notice on the car in the showroom if it had not been on sale at the higher price for 28 days, although they had mistakenly omitted to do this for the car in question. They provided a copy of the notice. They believed the price of £3,488 was a reasonable price at which to sell that particular model and age of car (2003 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2i 3 door) and they explained that the Manager had looked at how the rest of the company priced similar vehicles at that particular point in time. They provided a copy of a spreadsheet showing two similar vehicles at that time were priced at £3,488 and £3,988. They also provided copies of third-party ads for similar used cars which were being advertised for around £3,500. Assessment Upheld The ASA noted the BIS Pricing Practices Guide (the Guide) was not binding on traders, the Courts or the ASA, but that the Code stated that it should be taken into account. We noted the Guide recommended that a price used as a basis for a comparison should be the most recent available price for 28 days or more. We acknowledged that this need not always be the case and that if a comparison used in an ad differed from this advice, the basis of the comparison should be made clear. We noted that the car had been advertised at the higher price of £3,488 for only 10 days and that the website did not make that clear, for example, it did not contain the dates between which the higher price was applicable. We understood that this information was normally provided in the notice which was displayed on the car in the showroom, as advised by ACA's Primary Authority, although this information was not provided on the website. We also noted the Guide stated that price comparisons must be reasonable in terms of time and that prices used as a reference for price comparisons should be genuine retail prices, which included, amongst other things, that the item was on sale at the higher price for a sufficient period of time to allow consumers to become aware of the availability of the item, view the item, make up their minds whether to purchase them and, if so, complete the purchase. We noted ACA's comment regarding the speed of stock movement in the used motor trade industry, and considered that a consumer looking to purchase a used car would normally have a model, make and age in mind, and would realise that they would have to act quickly in relation to an advertised vehicle since there was only one item available. We therefore concluded that 10 days was a sufficient period of time to constitute a genuine offer of sale for this type of product. Nevertheless, because the website did not make clear that the car had been advertised at the higher price of £3,488 for only 10 days, for example by stating the dates between which the higher price applied, we concluded that the savings claim was misleading. The claim breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.17 (Prices). Action The claim must not appear again in its current form. We told ACA to take care when advertising sale prices to ensure that it is made clear where a car has been advertised at a higher price for less than 28 days. They say this is the first complaint, so where are all the complainents that have been here, it's no good just moaning, you have to go out and DO something.

hi all need advice for a friend she has recieved a letter from bcw on behalf of car phone wearhouse, talk mobile for an outstanding amount of £68.75, i know its not a lot but she is stressing out. She took out her contract 3 years ago and didnt renew it, she sent car phone wearhouse a cancelation letter at the end of feb and cancelled her direct debit in march, she has since recieved a letter from talk mobile for £12 which she ignored as she had sent the cancellation letter about a month before she cancelled the d/d so just thought they had failed to update her records ( she no longer has the phone so couldnt use it to try to contact them) Now this letter has arrived from bcw for the above sum. I adviced her not to contact them until she had checked her credit rating to see if there is any default and until i had a chance to run it past you guys....advice please???

There is an article on BBC News 24 about Scottish youngsters not being employable and centers around an Arnold Clark apprentice training workshop. One of the instructor can be clearly seen 'smashing' a steel wheel to remove it from the hub with a steel hammer. What a disgusting thing to teach someone to smash a customers car with a steel hammer and not a mallet. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-18158510 The video above doesn't show that particular part of the clip, but it is still running on the live news channel. I'm not sure if News 24 can be watched again on the likes of iplayer.

I recently bought an 08 plate Chevrolet Captiva from them, was very happy with it, that was until i found a letter in the folder that was in the glove box that had been sent to previous owner about a safety recall notification, after sevral phone calls to them about it & just being told that they would have to get in touch with their service department to see if inspection/repairs had been carried out & that someone from the service department would call, needless to say there was no phone calls, after again phoning the dealership in which I bought the vehicle & & speaking to the salesman that sold me the vehicle, he acted surprised that I had not been called, eventually I had to get in touch with the manufacturer myself & they were going to contact AC themselves, what has taken 2 weeks for AC to do, took Chevrolet less than an hour to let me know that the vehicle hadn't been inspected & needed to be taken immediately to my nearest retailer.