Harassment by MBNA

[fleeced_by_rbos]

I think the Martin in question is Martin Supple as I've seen his name on other threads - YAHOCA (Yet Another Head Of Customer Assistance).

 

He sounded rather hurt that I haven't returned any of their calls. Didn't realise I was so popular

[AA99]

OOOOOh, old news, we've had mountains of letters from him already

[fleeced_by_rbos]

OOOOOh, old news, we've had mountains of letters from him already

 

LOL, he's a new one on me. What an arrogant p***k he sounds. I'd like to stick my fist in his face and my foot in his ass! Calmness......calmnesss....hommmmmmmm

[AA99]

LOL, he's a new one on me. What an arrogant p***k he sounds. I'd like to stick my fist in his face and my foot in his ass! Calmness......calmnesss....hommmmmmmm

 

LOL:) I think it was trying to get through to Mr McGrath that flipped my OH on to the other side (mental note to oneself, send that one to Fuzzybobble!);-)

[GirlAloud]

Read my threads - everytime they ring - email them the harassment letter - do it 50 times a day if necessary. Wrote to my MP too and he raised it with the minister 'responsible' for consumer debt - got a nice personalised letter with some further advice. TOUCH WOOD - not had a call or even a letter for ages. I think it becoming fairly clear now that these comapnies cannot harass - so stick to your guns. I am currently 'locking horns' with FirstPlus over harassment. At the very least be very annoying and question every last thing they say. Be persistent to with the Ombudsman.

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Thanks GA, good advice.

 

I was considering sending alternating letters of "buger off" and "I can help you deal with your extortion" in the same manner as they do.

 

Will send them harassment letter now. They've had CCA non compliance + a proposal letter from me which if they sign up to will mean they get something back but have to guarantee they will behave with me (fat chance). So now harassment letter too I think.

[Viscount Stair]

I do not claim any originality for this (it was first posted by foolishgirl in the Utilities forum and re-posted by jonchris a few days ago) but it is worth having in this thread for ease of reference.

 

Ferguson v British Gas Trading Ltd [2009] EWCA Civ 46 (10 February 2009)

 

This was a claim for harassment brought against British Gas, which survived a strike out application and appeal and resulted in a "substantial settlement" from BG.

 

The Court of Appeal judgments establish two very useful principles that are very relevant to this thread:

 

1. Although it is necessary to show that the harassment was grave, it is not necessary to prove the claim to the criminal standard.

 

2. There can be corporate liability for harassment, not just liability against individuals.

[AA99]

Perfick VS

[BuzzMan]

Thanks Steven, will do. Do you know of any way that your phone line provider could give a print out of incoming calls?

 

I know that mobile phone companies log calls if you tell them you are receiving harassing calls, *but* there is a protocol you have to follow. I presume this practice is standard across all telephony operators. From what I recall the protocol is as follows: first you have to tell the the phone co. you are receiving inappropriate calls, then, every time you receive a call as soon as the call is ended, you have to call the operator and they will log the call, even if CID is withheld (remember that the withholding part is for the mere mortals not for the phone companies), then upon a request from an authority (ie the police, or the county/high court if you are proceeding under the tort law) the phone company will provide detailed records as you asked the operator to log the calls. This protocol is from my memory, so just call the operator and ask what the procedure is.

[Viscount Stair]

As a footnote to the Ferguson case, PT pointed out in another thread that there is a conflicting Court of Appeal decision on the gravity point: Conn v Sunderland, which may has been preferred to Ferguson in one injunction case he dealt with.

[barclayhunter]

I've been getting the the Sunday 8am calls and appprox 3-4 calls in 20 mins on my mobile between 10m and 11am! What muppets!

 

For those with iPhones I've been using a bit of software called MCleaner which allows you to setup a blacklist of known numbers (inc SMS) which it will block, log and later email to yourself:cool:. I get a little bell whenever a call is blocked - followed by a little chuckle since the muppets can't get through.

 

Well worth the £8.

 

BH.

 

PS - I'm not connected to the company in any way! Just thought it may be useful to other CAGers.

[steven4064]

As a footnote to the Ferguson case, PT pointed out in another thread that there is a conflicting Court of Appeal decision on the gravity point: Conn v Sunderland, which may has been preferred to Ferguson in one injunction case he dealt with.

In that case, the court of appeal said that an employer was not necessarily responsible for the harassing behaviour of an employee. In the particular circumstances a superviser had subjected an employee to abusive language on 5 occasions. The CA found that his employer (sunderland county council) could not be found guilty of harassment.

 

This is altogether different from the telephone harassment case. IN this case, harassment comes fomr many different employees because the system is set up to be harassing. There is a directive mind behijnd the system which most definitely is the responsibility of the company not their call centre staff.

 

ISTM that the only questio is whether the harassment is seioius enough to breach the Protection from Harassment Act's test of gravity. That will depend soley on the consequences and being able to prove the consequences.

[fleeced_by_rbos]

I've been getting the the Sunday 8am calls and appprox 3-4 calls in 20 mins on my mobile between 10m and 11am! What muppets!

 

For those with iPhones I've been using a bit of software called MCleaner which allows you to setup a blacklist of known numbers (inc SMS) which it will block, log and later email to yourself:cool:. I get a little bell whenever a call is blocked - followed by a little chuckle since the muppets can't get through.

 

Well worth the £8.

 

BH.

 

PS - I'm not connected to the company in any way! Just thought it may be useful to other CAGers.

 

Anyone with a Nokia phone running Series 60 software can use Advanced Call Manager to do the same kind of thing. I use it to block all unwanted muppets. There are similar programs for just about any mobile phone out there.

[righteousGriffiths]

Hi Steve,

 

Yes I have had many calls from MBNA, Agigis? RMA, including a post card saying they would be calling on a certain day. Told them I do not deal with financial matters on the phone so don't answer.

 

Formal Complaint made in March for calling me at work and leaving a message with a colleague saying they were MBNA and were calling regarding a payment!!!!!!!

 

They wrote and said they would respond to my compliant by 4 May, guess what...nothing.

 

Sent a CCA request with a £1 postal order recorded delivery, they sent me my ORIGINAL letter back as if they had never received it asking me to resubmit it with a £1 cheque or postal order.

 

They really are a completely unprofessional Company, who obviously think they are above and beyond the law and any guidelines.

 

M

[Mikey_London]

Had a call from Martin @ MBNA on 07785 900 822.

 

Is this Martin Supple? All the letters I have had except one were 'signed' by him. I didn't think he was a real person! The fact that they have a few 'Heads of Customer Assistance' is in itself a ploy. Makes them sound more important!

 

There's another Martin - Martin Shedwell.

 

I'm interested if anyone has any email contact details for MBNA senior staff?

 

I can offer jonathon.moore@bankofamerica.com 01244 673 052

 

I haven't received a response to my emailed reply. Do these people correspond by email? I'm happy to do so.

Edited May 17, 2009 by Mikey_London

[citizenB]

 

I haven't received a response to my emailed reply. Do these people correspond by email? I'm happy to do so.

 

I think they do on occasion.. when it suits them:) If you are intending to communicate with them in that way, I would suggest you dont do it on your main email but set up a separate account ie hotmail, that you can ditch if it gets too much for you.

[Mikey_London]

Thanks CitizenB. That's useful for those of us (of course including the OP!) who are not getting replies to letters.

 

Now we have the option of not getting replies to emails!

 

I have set up a special email address. Its interesting that I didn't actually supply it with my contact details but gave it when I contacted them through a facility on my online account. They asked for an email address so they could let me know when they'd replied. Which they didn't do -looks like they just added it to their records!

[citizenB]

Thanks CitizenB. That's useful for those of us (of course including the OP!) who are not getting replies to letters.

 

Now we have the option of not getting replies to emails!

 

I have set up a special email address. Its interesting that I didn't actually supply it with my contact details but gave it when I contacted them through a facility on my online account. They asked for an email address so they could let me know when they'd replied. Which they didn't do -looks like they just added it to their records!

 

When my relationship with MBNA was cordial I went online to claim the "points" I had accumulated on my spending. They asked for an email address and being non the wiser gave my regular email account. I never used the online facility again and was most surprised to receive emails nearly 3 years later when my relationship with them had deteriorated.

 

After they had emailed about 5 times, I changed my ISP and with it my email address.

[jerryfightsback]

Hi new to the forum so just getting started hope you don't mind but had to start somewhere.

This thread really seems the only place for me to start as could not see how to make a new thread.

I have been hassled to death by MBNA calling several times a day etc dispite myself actually agreeing to do a f&f with them. this has been going on for 4 months now.

I decided to deal with this all myself as had already dealt with cahoot and did a F&F with them as well owed 15.6K settled for £10.5k

my cicumstances are I owe £18k mbna virgin cc they have agreed 6.5k as f&f settelment by phone.

mbna loan 13.5k will settle f&f for 5K now this is where the fun starts.

no real problem with mbna loan happy just to pay it however no letter of confirmation of F&F agreement despite me calling them they say you don't need a letter just send us the money and we will confirm we have received it end of matter. get stuffed send me the letter the you get the money. so left at that for the moment.

 

mbna credit card (virgin) dispite me agreeing with them a F&f they are still hassling me requesting an interim payment of £170 I said I want a email or letter of confirmation agreeing to what we have agreed first, then I will pay it. it has taken since the 12th may to sort this out dispite me calling them twice to sort out a letter or email they stiill keep calling from there india call centre requesting immediate payment by debit card.

no way i keep saying send me a letter or email confirmation that the £170 will be deducted from the 6.5K then I will pay the £170 by electronic transfer from my bank account.

finally they sent me an email today confirming that the £170 will be deducted from the £6.5K they called me 5 times in the space of 30 minutes so only after I had a complete melt down by me on the phone and threathened to go bankrupt instead of paying them which is an option (loads of debts no job) but I would rather sort it out properly hence the way I am doing it.

so I have paid the £170

the email stated I must pay the full balance by 15th june dispite originally agreeing 60 days so I rang them back they have said they will extend the deadline but another interim payment would be needed and then they will extend it, fair enough however still do not trust the bastards. confirmation letter for F&F will also be coming in the post. wait and see.

now this is my dilema

I have infact had the MBNA credit card for years way before april 2007 so I obviously do not want to ruin my F&F with them but I really could do with settling for less as borowing the money from a family member to pay it off. and to be completely honest the way the have treated me I feel they can goto hell.

what should I do! go forward and ask for the original user agreement and then see if it is not enforceable or is enforcable and then try and reduce the F&f further or just pay them off and forget about it.

The my only real issue with doing this is the phone calls my 81 year mum bless her is getting the brunt of the phone calls upto 7 a day dispite the fact that I am mostly at my girlfriends house which I have told them several times, no conatct number there so I am really not getting the call myself.

the calls will now probably stop hopefully as they a have had a payment.

but will obviosuly start again if they realise I am looking at the agreement. sorry this is a bit brief and not loads of info but will fill the gaps as needed

any comments would be most grateful

cheers jerry

[citizenB]

Jerry, To start a new thread, please click on the Beginners Guide link in my thread.

[fleeced_by_rbos]

When my relationship with MBNA was cordial I went online to claim the "points" I had accumulated on my spending. They asked for an email address and being non the wiser gave my regular email account. I never used the online facility again and was most surprised to receive emails nearly 3 years later when my relationship with them had deteriorated.

 

After they had emailed about 5 times, I changed my ISP and with it my email address.

 

Another approach is to tell your email software the MBNA addresses are spam. I also wrote a useful program which allows me to mark them as spam and then return a larger number of emails back to the same address! Works a treat!

[Mikey_London]

They emailed me a few weeks ago - and I thought 'oh good!'

 

Because I had been trying to get responses to several letters which they had just ignored.

 

So I responded to the email. And again. And again!

 

But nothing more from them. Not by email that is ... When it suits them they don't make contact at all.

 

Been wondering what to do with the MBNA email address that I have ...

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Another way is if you can do Out of Office replies to specific sender addresses.....you can put something appropriate in there!

[mauricetura]

As part of my wifes action in the County Court we have included in the particulars of claim the harrassment recieved by MBNA.

 

I would be grateful for any telephone calls and details from people prepared to make witness statements about their own experience of harassment from MBNA - and especially anythin odd like calling with the ID of another company or contacting any family member about a debt.

 

Also, if anyone has been defaulted while the account is in dispute please contact me.

 

I believe if we win this claim in the court it will lead to MBNA being fined by the FSA for a breach of TCF principles.

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Hi Maricetura

 

I have been defaulted after sending them a letter informing them the account is in dispute. They have sent me a copy of CCA but I believe it is unenforceable as the prescribed terms are on back of the app form (but I cannot be sure they were there as a sales rep filled in the form for me). So I sent the letter and they have since defaulted and sold the debt on.