Chris Whatcott - Low Cost EPC - £9.95 charge for cancellation - watchout!

[londonrob]

Hi

 

I placed an order for an EPC with a company called Low Cost ECP but didn't have to pay anything up front. By the time they rang back the next day, I had decided to use somebody else, so cancelled the order on the phone. A few minutes later they sent me an email:

Our records indicate that you ordered an Energy Performance Certificate from us on 21/09/2015 and then subsequently cancelled your order. We are writing to advise you that you are required to pay for the service received up until the time of cancellation. The amount of £9.95 is now due as per the terms and conditions of the order. Please be advised that if payment is not received within 24 hours, a late payment administration charge of £14.95 will be added to the order as per the terms and conditions of the order. The above mentioned charge covers our reasonable costs associated with collecting outstanding monies. The amount charged is not proportionate to the amount outstanding.

I replied & told them that £9.95 for a 38 second phone conversation was an unreasonable charge & that I wouldn't be paying it. I got no response until 24 hours later, when I got another email:

You were given 24 hours with which to make this payment but payment has so far not been received. We advised that in the event payment was not received with 24 hours of the order being cancelled, a late payment charge of £14.95 would be added to the order. Unfortunately, as at the time of sending this email, this payment has not been received. We have therefore been left with no alternative but to apply a late payment charge of £14.95 to the order. This brings the total amount outstanding to £24.90. If payment remains outstanding by 29/09/2015 and in the event we need to write to you then a further administration charge of £50.00 will be added to cover our costs.

So far I haven't paid this, but I'm wondering what rights, if any, I have here. It seems that they are charging me £9.95 for a phone call, as if I'd cancelled the 'order' before they rang, there would have been no charge. Part of me is tempted to just pay it & forget about it, but part of me wants to fight them until they give up. I assume what they are doing is legal? Presumably somewhere in the process there was a link to their T&Cs which stated the cancellation policy, but how far can they push this? If I just continue to ignore them, could they end up taking me to the small claims court, sending debt collectors around, affecting my credit rating etc.?

 

Would appreciate any comments

cheers, Rob

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG

 

Lowcostepc are a trading name of Savi.co.uk. I haven't found any info on them yet (apart from the website)

 

I would say those terms and conditions are unlawful and although they may pass this to a debt collector, this will have no effect on your credit file.

 

I will check the epc register to see if I can find anything about them.

[silverfox1961]

Oh dear. Savi was only registered in May of this year and the sole director is Chris Whatcott.

 

have a look at this news article from last year.

 

 

ROGUE PANELS BOSS ‘BACK IN BUSINESS’

 

 

EPC websites linked to infamous panels boss Whatcott

 

 

 

 

26 September 2014

 

 

 

 

A formerly bankrupt businessman behind a string of failed ‘cheap EPC’ websites seems to be back in business with a clutch of new sites which have already sparked familiar complaints from unpaid assessors and aggrieved customers appalled at what they regard as ‘nightmare’ business practices.

 

 

Chris Whatcott (left), infamous in 2011 for panel sites such as Express-EPC, now appears to have three new EPC websites called First Choice EPC, DEA Direct and EPC Local, all of which have been the subject of controversy on forums.

 

 

Mr Whatcott is believed by assessors to have used a string of false names and inaccurate addresses in the past, which makes him a hard man to track down, but based on the checks we have made, we feel certain that these new websites are linked to him.

http://energyassessormagazine.com/rogue_panels_boss_whatcott.html

 

I would ignore him. On the chance he took court action (which I very much doubt) I'm sure, with a bit of publicity, he would have a large welcoming committee

[londonrob]

Thanks silverfox, much appreciated!

 

Since posting, I did some research & realise I have fallen for an infamous [problem]mer, who will try every tactic in the book to extort money from me - he'll be lucky! I'll be ignoring his threats

 

A google for Christopher Whatcott & '[problem]' finds plenty of evidence!

[silverfox1961]

CAG doesn't like the word s cam as it can cause issues if people use it willy nilly so we change it.

 

As it is, Chris Whatcott, lowcostepc and savi are not registered with the epc register.

[londonrob]

ah, that makes sense & understood well I'll just refer to him as a damn problemmer

[ericsbrother]

Have you considered the legality of adding the supposed charges on to a non-existent contract? You are entiled to cancel under the DSR's within 7 days. If they can show a tangible service was given then they may be entitled to their £9.99 but nothing else. There are no admin costs to bear and just writing to you for no reason doesnt create a contract or we would all be doing it by writing to people we dont like.

[londonrob]

yep, thanks for this! I was apparently going to get my 3rd email today where the costs went up by another £50 & it hasn't materialised so perhaps he's given up on me

[ericsbrother]

if he does send a reply charging him £50 for reading and £50 for deleting it

[kev100]

Hi,

 

I have written a blog about Chris Whatcott and his s c a m's, firstchoiceepc, saviepc and now lowcostepc (amongst others) .. there is a recurring theme to [problem], threaten, intimidate people into paying up for something they have not received.

 

First thing I will tell you is that Whatcott tries to frighten people into paying up by using threats of debt collectors and court summons. These are meaningless threats, the last thing Whatcott wants to do is end up in front of a judge as his s c a m will legally be uncovered.

 

Not one person has he successfully taken to court and won, he tried with us, we defended and counter claimed, and he dropped the case, even after some very nasty intimidating threats (you can read about it in my blog)

 

Advice is

 

1, contact Action Fraud police and report him

2, contact Hertfordshire trading standards and report it

3, contact CAB and report it

4, Ignore any and all threats from Whatcott

5, If you get a court summons (he does issue them as a tool to frighten people to pay up) then defend it.

6, If he has taken any money from your account either knowingly or unknowingly and has not performed a service then call you bank and make a chargeback claim (you need to keep chasing your bank and insisting they do the chargeback as banks are useless at this)

7 Read up on the distance selling cancellation regulation, specifically for off premises contracts as these are the only ones that are in force read from Regulation 27 here http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/made

 

His terms and conditions are very clever .. there is alot more going on in them that most poeople know about.. the statutory cancellation period does not apply in this case if he has followed several regulations and you implicitly request the service starts immediately, and this is usually once you press the confirm order button. However this does not give him the right to charges and not perform the service and for you not to expect additional unfair charges. (again read from regulation 27 here http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/made)

 

Lastly anybody reading this STAY AWAY FROM WHATCOTT .. he is a serial [edited] with many companies in his tracks, same [edit]different clothes.

 

You can find my blog here http://tinyurl.com/na9mz9e

 

Our case was reported here http://energyassessormagazine.com/panel_admit_charges_were_wrong.html

 

And a report on saviepc (his previous site that he has just moved from to lowcostepc) here http://energyassessormagazine.com/ts_controversy_over_panel.html

 

Lastly .. do not be intimidated by him.

Edited October 1, 2015 by silverfox1961
Removed potentially problematic words. sorry

[kev100]

yep, thanks for this! I was apparently going to get my 3rd email today where the costs went up by another £50 & it hasn't materialised so perhaps he's given up on me

 

He wont give up trying to get cash from you