Friday Fun with Mercers Debt Collection Agency

Gerberus

Hello one and all,

I thought you might enjoy reading of how I've turned the tables on Mercers (aka Barclays Bank)?

A few months ago, I took bankruptcy and my wife did an IVA. Nearly all the phone calls and portentous bullsh*t by post has now stopped but, like a stuck grampahone in its own recursive loop of misery, is Mercers DCA. They continue to harass by phone twice a day and send letters periodically, despite us having given them the relevant info.

WELL...

Having blocked as many numbers as I can get hold of using Choose to Refuse, I decided to engage in a little sport with them by fax.

I concocted this notice and (having removed my fax header first (!)) sent:

SINCE IT

HASN'T SUNK IN

THE FIRST

20 TIMES,

THE IVA No. IS

XXXXXX

OF XXXX 2008

Imagine it, if you can, in a giant typeface with each group of words taking one A4 page.

This, I sent to them three times over.

Then I waited five minutes and sent this (in even larger typeface):

THAT's

x

x

x

x

x

x

of XXXX 2008

with a few more copies of their letter.

Wait for it, there's more.

This afternoon, I drew up a vaguely pompous letter threatening them with Trading Standards and further legal action and faxed that to them 10 times each sheet.

I will be faxing them like this every day until they either give up or their fax machine (or mine) expires.

Here's Mercer's fax number: 0151 549 7997.

Go on! No need to wait. It's time these bast@rds had a dose of their own.

You know you want to!

Tomorrow, I shall be sending them the first three chapters of War and Peace.

pepe2008

Go for it.

This should be standard practice for the DCA parasites!!!!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

C_£44,000

:rotfl: Fantastic!!!! Having spoken with Mercers myself, I know how incredibly painful it can be to ensure that common sense prevails. Even to having the operator on the end of the phone give me a very Vicky Pollardesque " Yeah And!".

I don't know about other collectors but I have received upwards of 13 calls in a single day per day for over a week and when I asked why they said they hadn't. It was only when I gave them their own number which went through to their own answermachine that they accepted that they had been calling!!.

Good on you for showing their incompetance, lets hope that the next letter is an apology!:T

blind-as-a-bat_2

Well you could argue its not worth the caost of the calls

But i wont because i think it is:D

Wonder how long it will be before they sign up to choose to refuse or blacklist you to stop you getting through:p :rotfl:

Gerberus

Oh, it won't stop there, ha ha ha.

I'll change my number and then send them the complete works of Shakespeare and a full copy of the Insolvency Act in all its piddling detail for starters.

Then we'll move on to French Literature 1789-1815 and a copy of the EU's regulations on the penis size of moths.

Just in case anyone missed it the first time, that fax number again:

MERCERS: 0151 549 7997

Anyone with a fax machine, please join in. Remove your header and send all the rubbish you can muster to Mercers.

No need to limit it to them - why not fax away to all your other favourite DCAs today! :T


P.s. Send them via a free online service and avoid paying for any calls
They can't stop you if your number's withheld - too many IPs use withheld numbers. HO HO HO!

fiveyearplan

Sounds like you are having fun with it. I too am a victim of their endless phone calls. I don't get them anymore but they used to ring me every morning at 8:30 and 20:58 and all hours in between and that was just on my mobile. We unplugged the landline everyday until 9pm. Isn't it good to know they care so much. I've never had anyone want to speak to me with such persistence as Mercers.

Oh except maybe MBNA - they love me too.

Deep_In_Debt

Mercers were my mates apparently. They used to text me in a really "friendly" way and ask me to call Sarah or Lee on a Liverpool number! Like I'm thick - especially as I don't have friends called Sarah or Lee and knew that their number was a Liverpool one!

They've gone quiet since May but then I did complain to the whole world!

Love them! MBNA are fine with me but 1st Crudit are a good bunch of mates of mine apparently...!

Rylynn

Before I went into my IVA in 2005 Mercers were the pain of my life, now my IVA has failed due to ill health I wonder how long before they are on my phone again, one company has already rung, maybe I will get my OH so nice son to ask for a fax number and send crapp to it.

FYP I always knew at 2 mins to 8.30AM it would be Mercers.

Well done OP, we have to put up with harrassment, lets give it back m
and FYP thanks for the link to this post.

:T :rotfl:

There must be so much junk you can send these people, how about the causes of diahorra, as there people phoning seem to have it... in the verbal kind.

RL

Cybachiq

Phew! My Barclaycard debt account has been passed to Call Serve Ltd, not Mercers, although I think I remember having letters from them in the past.

I bet the above action annoyed the people in the office. Nice stuff. Are faxes free to send, by the way? Just wondered.

In addition, I thought that each company were only legally allowed to call you twice per day. I can't remember where I read that, but I definitely did. I only ever seemed to receive two calls per day from each - not that I answered any of them!

Deep_In_Debt

I think companies are only legally allowed to call 3 times a day.

One of the classics they did do though was ring me at work and unfortunately I took the call. I work in a call centre and one of my colleagues was listening in to calls and Mercers rang me and hurled abuse at me - my boss wrote to them asking for them to stop abusing his staff and threatened them will all sorts! I have the evidence on tape! Quite entertaining really. Not that I want my colleagues to know about my financial situation, in some ways it was quite a relief!

Broken_hearted

Well it'll be even more funny when they do you for harassment.