The London Mint Office - scam?

BromleyKate wrote: »

Hi! I'm new here but saw this thread which made me want to post. I've bought a few coins from this company London Mint but recently received an invoice for a coin that i haven't asked for or received. I've always paid on time for other coins i've received with no issue - i realise now they are worthless! Anyway, i've emailed their office twice but had no reply. I've phoned them and requested a callback which hasn't happened unless they didn't leave a message. I received an unsolicited text and mobile voicemail message from a company called C.A.R.S asking me to contact them but with no other information. Could this be a debt collection agency? I'm reluctant to contact them as i don't know who they are. How can i prove i didn't receive any further coin from London Mint Office - they post directly through the letter box so there's no signing or tracking. I have an excellent credit record and always pay my debts but am worried this could get out of hand and not sure how to deal with it. I see from the thread that many advise doing nothing and ignoring them but it makes me anxious.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Cheers!

CARS is a debt collection agency: Creditlink Account Recovery Solutions Ltd. (Who dreams up these ludicrous titles?) It's FCA and CSA registered, which is, at least, better than nothing:

http://www.carsuk.org/

Note that this outfit appears to wish to convey that it's a charity / a non-profit / a personal enterprise by using an 'org' suffix instead of the usual 'com'. Note, also, that the so-called London Mint Office also represents itself as 'org' instead of as a commercial company.

Where CARS is concerned:

(1) do NOT answer any telephone call from it
(2) do NOT initiate any telephone call to it
(3) Never forget (1) and (2)

If The London Mint is seeking to obtain monies from you then it's supposed to have sent you at least three items of correspondence in regard to that claim:

(1) Invoice for the amount required for item received;
(2) Reminder for amount required for item received;
(3) Final Demand with notification of bringing in its appointed debt collection agency.

If CARS is seeking money from you, it is obliged to write to you (not ring you) with a statement which details, in full, the nature of the claim together with proof of claim -- that is: the order you made for the goods.

You haven't said how "recent" you "recently received" the invoice from London Mint for the item which you say you never ordered and have never received.

Time is of the essence, so you need to ensure that you react to situations such as this as promptly as possible, and maintain a documentary record of that reaction. Hopefully then, you emailed / telephoned / wrote back within 24 hours of receiving the invoice for goods you don't have nor ever wanted -- because if you didn't, then whether you like it or not, a question mark gets raised over your own behaviour.

As telephone conversations are not worth (legally speaking) the time expended upon them -- which is why you should never ring a Customer Service department, but email it instead -- then correspondence is the way to proceed. You've exhausted the email approach so you now need to refer to this link:

https://www.londonmintoffice.org/customer-service/complaints-procedure

Do NOT use the address information given for this outfit earlier in this thread. Though 'Harmsworth House' -- the Daily Mail's former headquarters building -- is rented out to numerous small businesses, The London Mint Office doesn't figure on its renter list nowadays.

Do NOT make the mistake of writing to the company at its Registered Office address, either. Use ONLY the Porth address in the above link.

Your letter MUST be a complaint and MUST be headed: COMPLAINT. Don't dance around the topic but go straight in by writing:

Dear Sir / Madam:

I am writing to complain that . . . . and then set out the nature of your complaint.

Send this letter by Next Day Royal Mail certified delivery. Do NOT send by Signed For because Signed For isn't actually proof of anything.

If the company does not adhere to the timetable it has set out in its Complaints Procedure, then and only then should you write -- by Royal Mail Next Day Certified Delivery -- to:

Gregory Charles Prosser,
Chief Executive,
The London Mint Office Ltd,
Claret House,
Gelliarael Road,
Gilfach Goch,
PORTH
CF39 8SY

I imagine that it will continue to amaze many that this business is allowed to carry on trading in the name of an "Office".

Though the unwary may be forgiven for thinking they're dealing with an official semi-governmental enterprise -- because that's what the title inevitably leads them to believe -- the London Mint Office is NOT an 'office' and has nothing whatever to do with London's Royal Mint.

It is, instead, a private limited company. If you wish to know more about it, then its Annual Report & Financial Statements to year ending December 31st 2016 are publicly available on this link:

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/03470348/filing-history

You may find the content of that filing of interest.

Hope this helps.