Interesting media story from 3 years ago

[t_k]

I don't know weather this was ever originally highlighted & debated on here back in 2009 as i wasn't a member on here back then - my apologies if it already was?

But in case it wasn't..an interesting article from the Guardian back then saying how the Credit Services Association wanted to "take on" the Consumer Action Group that it saw as 1 of the main reasons why people were evading debts.

Here's the story anyway & has anything else happened with it since then i wonder?

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/dec/02/credit-services-association-debt-websites

[sequenci]

I remember this piece. Nice soundbite from our very own Marc

 

As far as I'm concerned CAG has never been a site with the sole intention of helping people get out of debt. For sure many people have been able to successfully challenge their creditors with the help of CAG, but conversely just as many people have been able to empower themselves to deal with their creditors and make reasonable repayment arrangements. We strive to ensure that all information is as accurate as possible but with 300,000+ members it often is quite the challenge. We are lucky to have some very knowledgeable members who share their time for free, and for that we are very grateful.

 

One thing to bear in mind is that should these organisations have played by the rules and have acted in a fair and reasonable manner in the first instance there would be no CAG (and other sites I'm sure). Perhaps they should identify their own failings prior to looking for a scapegoat. Any suggestions as to the options people have available to them have been written in to the statute books or decided within the common law, and there is nothing wrong with using information to redress the balance.

 

As you can see we are still here, but it hasn't been an easy ride!

[BankFodder]

Yes, I remember, someone tipped me that there was an anti-CAG workshop planned and so I tipped off the press.

We were very flattered. I felt as good as Mark Knopfler did when Dire Straits were banned from South Africa.

[citizenB]

Obviously not, as CAG is still going from strength to strength.

 

Despite all the guidelines and the censures that have been appllied to the Debt collection Industry, they still continue to blunder on.

 

No one on CAG condones debt avoidance.

 

You only have to read some of the threads to see that a lot of the situations people find themselves in are not of their own making. Despite doing all the right things as advised, contacting creditors, entering into DMPs, they are still persecuted by the Debt Collection Industry.

 

In some instances that persecution/harassment has led to disastrous consequences. Of course the DCAs dont put their hands up to those.

 

If they were so whiter than white, then the OFT wouldnt have issued censures to the likes of 1st Credit, Mackenzie Hall and many others.

 

There are still many people who have not discovered support groups such as CAG where they have access to advice, moral support, all the latest guidelines in order to help them force their creditors to Treat them Fairly.

 

Yes, it is all to easy to see why the CSA would like to see these forums shut down.

[Crocdoc]

I agree entirely with the previous post, for years the debt collection industry got away with despicable bullying tactics and in some cases still do. What is required now is greater implementation of the rules surrounding unfair practices. In my view, debt collection phone calls should be outlawed completely and all negotiatiion conducted in writing to ensure accuracy of record. If this is not acceptable then at least the recipient of such calls should be able to recover the recording in the same way as can be done with Government bodies such as HMRC for Tax Credit claims etc.

 

Perhaps this site and the charitable organisations who provide debt advice could make this the next campaign.

 

If nothing else it will give the debt collection industry something new to panic about.

[noomill060]

Yes, I remember, someone tipped me that there was an anti-CAG workshop planned and so I tipped off the press.

We were very flattered. I felt as good as Mark Knopfler did when Dire Straits were banned from South Africa.

 

Ive always regarded Marc as a sultan of swing, and one of my brothers in arms in the battle against those in the financial services industry who unlawfully attempt to extract money for nothing from consumers.

 

(I thank you!)

[sequenci]

Ive always regarded Marc as a sultan of swing, and one of my brothers in arms in the battle against those in the financial services industry who unlawfully attempt to extract money for nothing from consumers.

 

(I thank you!)

 

Yeah, we're not keen on the banks getting money for nothing.

[t_k]

It's interesting to note as well that 2009 was more or less the height of the credit crunch/the recession which happened at the end of 2008 into 2009....

Forums like this and the others that are mentioned in that article obviously would have played their part in many people knowing their rights which in turn would have played it's part in the crash at the end of 2008 (in my view anyway)

So it's inevitable that the role of the internet in the crash would have been debated by the powers that be & even at government level as stated in the article.

It does beg the question though how they would have taken on forums like this if they had wanted to?

Short of shutting the entire internet down there is nothing they or the government could have done.

If they had tried to get individual forums closed down (which i recall was mentioned in 1 of the credit industry conferences amazingly) then others would have simply sprung up in their place.

Me thinks the credit industry was & still does delude itself as to what power it thinks it has has over society in general.

[cashins]

Yeah, we're not keen on the banks getting money for nothing.

 

Errrrr....... but do we still get the chicks for free???

[noomill060]

Dunno, Im still waiting for my custom kitchen delivery (and dont even start me on the microwave oven installing...)

 

Too busy bangin on da bongos like a chimpanzee....

[ScarletPimpernel]

Ive always regarded Marc as a sultan of swing, and one of my brothers in arms in the battle against those in the financial services industry who unlawfully attempt to extract money for nothing from consumers.

 

(I thank you!)

 

I wonder if the repellent Sarah de Tute was the lady writer responsible for the CSA's input to the article. 3 years later, and DCAs are still here as 'guests' for private investigations. For all the good it did them they might as well have been calling Elvis from so far away he couldn't hear. I don't expect she'd want to go down the tunnel of love with Marc anytime soon (like Romeo and Juliet); she'd rather chase debtors on every street. Me, I prefer love over gold, but whilst I might be twisting by the pool now I'm always ready Sarah - ready for your latest trick.

 

I'm here all week...

[inkslinger]

I cannot think of a single other industry that generates and processes or collects such substantial amounts of revenue, responsible for suicides, depression and sickness, that is so poorly regulated.

 

I wonder if one of the University's or Government body's that pay for research into many a pointless exercise, were to look into it, would they draw the conclusion that it causes for more harm and cost to the tax payer in terms of sickness payments, and doctors help etc than its worth? There are and will always be, those who tried to avoid their responsibility, but the majority of us here, fell on hard times once or twice, through no fault of our own.

 

There is a place in hell reserved for those who torture others on hard times to get their piece of silver, that more often than not, they were never entitled to have in the first place................