BCW and Scotcall say i owe british gas for old bill

[A.L]

Can someone help please!!! My 60 year old mother has been sent a Final Demand by Buchanan Clark and Wells for £107.94.

 

They say that it is for an old Wandoo account (which has now been overtaken by Orange PCS Ltd). The operators were rude and unprofessional... yes we broke the rule of ringing them... we had no idea that we should ring them, I have given them my email too......

 

But they would not give me any details of the alleged debt except that it goes back to August 2006. If it is a genuine debt why has it taken Orange PCS this long to pursue.

 

They have agreed to send me the invoice as Orange PCS Ltd cannot find any record of this debt, can I have some advice on what we should do, please help we are so worried!

[UnmoderatetheNet]

Barmey, Clueless and Well...stupid are by far the worst of all the letter bullies.

 

They are a bunch of losers and one trick ponies.

 

Wait for the invoice to show up, IF and I do say IF it arrives write back saying it has nothing to do with you and demand they PROVE IT. (Letter found on this site).

 

Personally, I would tell them to get stretched as well.

 

They are chasing small debts that they haven't a pray of getting paid so they scare the **** out of people and guess what. it works

 

NEVER RING THEM, EVER.

 

Unless like me you enjoy winding them up and you are good at it, don't ever call them again, write letters you've no idea how much this winds them up

[thisismyname]

OK, I have some advice. I ignored Buchanan Clark and Wells who were asking me to pay nearly £500 for a British Gas bill which I never knew I had, dating back to early 2006. They sent a final demand. I called British Gas. Turns out British Gas hadn't closed my account when I'd left the property as I had asked them to so the account had been open for 3 years in my name racking up bills. British Gas were very understanding and helpful and I just gave them my move out date and they calculated that actually I only owed them about £50, which I then paid. British Gas said they would email Buchanan Clark and Wells to tell them I had paid and there was no debt in my name. British Gas also advised me that if I had called Buchanan Clark and Wells directly, they would not have been able to accept that I had moved out and was therefore not responsible for the whole bill, so it was best for me to call British Gas directly. From this I would suggest that in your situation you call the company who they are saying they are acting on behalf of and if they say you don't owe anything then I would trust them, but maybe ask if they are able to email Buchanan Clark and Wells to tell them that.

[janice514]

i have received a letter from bcw regarding n power debt from 4 years ago?? not sure if its mine, but they are now seeking legal notification, i have requested cca they have just ignored this so have just sent it again, what else can i do

 

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp j

[hillards]

i have received a letter from bcw regarding n power debt from 4 years ago?? not sure if its mine, but they are now seeking legal notification, i have requested cca they have just ignored this so have just sent it again, what else can i do

 

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp j

You should really start your own thread, instead of posting on someone else's.

 

But, you're wasting your time asking for a CCA - there would not be one for a utility bill. The 'prove it' letter is probably the best bet - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/174962-intro-much-appreciated-help.html#post1888908

[fatboy69]

i had a call from buchanan clark wells yesterday afternoon - or at least my partner did - telling her that i should call them urgently.

 

first concern is how did they get my number? it is ex-directory & very few people have got the number. even my utility suppliers dont have the number so this worries me somewhat.

 

secondly, i fear that they are less than honest becuse when i called them back to ask who they were & what they wanted i was told, bluntly, 'we are buchanan clark wells who are you?'.

 

i asked them again who they were, what they did & what they wanted (at the time i hadnt googled them so i didnt know what sort of outfit they were) & i again received the same answer.

 

the bloke i spoke to refused point blank to give me any details at all so i hung up. he got very stroppy when i refused to give him my address.

 

they have also plagued my mobile number with literally dozens of calls over the past 6 months although when i answer the call there is never anyone on the other end of the line & on the odd occasion that i could be bothered to call back the number doesnt accept incoming calls.

 

do i owe british gas any money? no. because i am all electric... so lets see what happens now shall we mr doherty of bcw on 0871 7001547,

 

cos you aint getting nothing out of me. end of story.

[hillards]

...mr doherty of bcw on 0871 7001547...

 

Forget paying 10p a minute to call on 0871, use their normal number, 01412213535

[Normbo]

Well well it seems the BCW are trying ot be the bully boys all round.. my friend got al etter say in 2005 she did not pay a T-Mobile bill ..... well have you ever tried to get copies of what was signed or copies of the account ... The will not let you have them and they phone my friend 4 times a day and say they will be with her next week with the bailiff and seize goods in her home.... they say go to the ploce and report a fraud, but oyu cannot as you have no documents showing the fraud CATCH 22, they play a men game and fry consumers brians and try nas wear them down to pay

They do not want to listen and they do not care . they refuse to give full details of the case and do not want to listen to anyone but their own voice .... T-Moblie using these people are giving themselves bad publicity and, maybe they sold the debts and these people. BCW are playing the number game and see who will cough up with the strong arm pressure they give to get them off your back

It is time that the Office of Fair Trade investigate this type of company and shut them down;)

[Normbo]

Well well it seems the BCW are trying ot be the bully boys all round.. my friend got a letter saying in 2005 she did not pay a T-Mobile bill ..... well have you ever tried to get copies of what was signed or copies of the account ... The will not let you have them and they phone my friend 4 times a day and say they will be with her next week with the bailiff and seize goods in her home.... they say go to the ploce and report a fraud, but oyu cannot as you have no documents showing the fraud CATCH 22, they play a men game and fry consumers brians and try nas wear them down to pay

They do not want to listen and they do not care . they refuse to give full details of the case and do not want to listen to anyone but their own voice .... T-Moblie using these people are giving themselves bad publicity and, maybe they sold the debts and these people. BCW are playing the number game and see who will cough up with the strong arm pressure they give to get them off your back

It is time that the Office of Fair Trade investigate this type of company and shut them down

Edited May 8, 2009 by Normbo
spelling

[Happy Gilmore]

My advice on how to deal with Buchanan Clark & Wells. This is how I did it and they went away….

Firstly establish that the money is NOT OWING, or YOU are NOT responsible for the money they are demanding. (If you DO owe the money you will have to pay the debt.)

MAKE ABSOLUTELY CRETAIN that you don’t owe the money they are asking for by checking previous bills / cancellation dates etc.

Do not phone B.C. & W on the 0870 number they give out. This costs you about 10.+VAT per minute and is further depleting your finances!

 

Firstly check with the utilities company (The Pursuers) you are supposed to owe the money to, by phone (usually an 0800 FREE customer services call.)

Get them to agree, or confirm that you do not owe the money. If they agree tell them that you have received a communication from Buchanan Clark & Wells and ask them to call the dogs off please, as you will be writing to B.C. &W to inform them that you have established that they are in error.

So far this has cost you nothing.

Don’t send B.C. & W reams of so called “proof” dates, times, addresses, etc.etc. Their machine is geared up to worry you into getting them off your back and they probably will file this in the shredder, or could sell your details on to database collators.

 

Now for the letter….

 

It is important not to gabble on, most of what you say will be pretty irrelevant to the matter anyway, so keep the letter down to as few words and paragraphs as possible. Ideally done in wordprocessor and nicely printed out with a printed envelope (this shows you mean business) Put any reference numbers they give along with their address at the top, your address and phone number as well. DON’T FORGET to date the letter and Type Recorded delivery on the letter and the envelope

 

Here is a sample of mine as a guide…

3rd. July XXXX

 

BCW REF: XXXXXXXX

 

RE: Yours 01.07.09 “FINAL NOTICE”

 

Dear Sirs

 

Further to your letter dated XXXXX “FORMAL DEMAND” and your “previous correspondence for gas used at (address) for the period XXXX2008 – XXXX 2009. With the principal sum of £XXX.xx

 

I have been in touch with EDF Energy who have confirmed to me that I am not responsible for money owing as stated in your letter and they will shortly be informing you of this, as is their legal obligation. I suggest that you verify this with your “pursuers” before you consider proceeding with any threats made in your letter.

 

In the meantime I will not be prepared to provide any further responses and look forward to hearing from you in confirmation.

 

Yours sincerely

FINALLY

Post the letter recorded delivery – costs about £1.06 Keep the receipt and guard it with your life for a couple of days.

During this time, or beforehand log into the POST OFFICE on the web http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/home

 

You can go to “track & trace” link and enter the Post office reference number from the receipt and date of posting and it will confirm that your letter was delivered by their Glasgow Office on a certain day.

Print out the P.O. confirmation and clip it to your copy of the correspondence along with the receipt and file it all safely.

This way they cannot say it has not been received, you have the proof!

 

BUT If you DO owe the money – pay up!

[padja]

Just had a call from our friends BCW, looking for my G/F, we know its for a late payment of gas/electric bill which is being paid in full today with EON, however I have just noticed they can now use a method to call you that registers as a local call (in our case 01332) so it looks like its someone from your area calling you the full number is 01332 407996 so I'm guessing its a way to get you to answer if you have caller display so I would suggest you note down the 407996 bit and if this appears its BCW and ignore it.

[jimbo45]

Hi there

Both of them just MUPPETS.

 

Ignore them all -- they can't and won't do anything other than hassle by phone which you can stop via the "Harrassment Template" letter on these Forums.

 

Cheers

jimbo

[padja]

I read BCW letter and it was very intimadating to the unwary, threats of warrants, disconnection, all in bold red writing. I liked especially how it said if you pay immediately then we can stop THE WARRANT OF ENTRY implying that there was a warrant issued....yeah right, lickily for my G/F I have been a long time member on here and i said just ignore it they are trying to scare you there is no warrant an you are a long long way off that route. However we are sending the its paid so sod off letter out on monday.

[sillygirl1]

Send their letter to Trading Standards and the OFT, a lot of these companies are having to re-tender for the work from utilities companies so the more complaints to TS and the OFT the better as they will be taken into consideration.

 

I think a lot of companies are trying to clear their books ahead of new legislation in April this year.... hence the ringing round of unsuspecting people.

 

Sadly I haven't had anyone chase me for ages, golden rule is DO NOT RING THE DCA but go back to the Original Creditor and query the details with them, if they say they have no details then write to the DCA telling them to get lost and copy in TS and the OFT.

 

As has been said on this forum, if you do owe the money it is probably better to pay the original creditor what you actually owe rather than the inflated amounts the DCAs claim.

[padja]

Its all paid up now with EON now so I look forward to more fun and games.......a call to EON has been done and they confirmed there is no outstanding balance so they have been told to explain this to BCW I will forward them to OFT sooner they are out of business the better