7 Marketing

Butler

Hi,

Has anyone used these people. They called me about reclaiming my PPI and possibly incorrect APR issues.

Charging £99.99 which is refundable if they can't help.

This is all I can find, they seem legit.

http://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/details.aspx/11995/7_Marketing/2
http://www.myswanseajobs.co.uk/Jobsite/Recruiter/5782/7-Marketing

They even get all your lost paperwork to check through for you.

Any thoughts or opinons?

Thanks Marc

Clive_Woody

If you have a look on the loans boards on here I believe there are template letters and instructions on how to do this yourself and save £100.

Also I would be wary of up front payment, getting it back if there are problems may be very difficult.

I think they are offering to charge you a large fee for something that is relatively straight forward.

Butler

Okay I guess you have both confirmed what I was kind of thinking. They will be calling me again tomorrow, so I shall tell them no.

I have had a few loans with First Direct and Egg over the last 6 years so I'll look into what I can claim, although I generally don't choose the PPI.

dunstonh

cold calling is a breach of claims management rules.

Take a look at : http://www.advicenow.org.uk/advicenow-guides/consumer-and-money-problems/claiming-compensation/claims-management-companies-html,346,FP.html

near the bottom it says:

You should be wary of dealing with anyone who:

• uninvited, calls at your door, phones you or comes up to you in the street or visits you in hospital trying to persuade you to make a claim. This is called 'cold calling in person' and is banned under the new rules

Legit companies dont break the rules.

Butler

Interesting....

The advicenow link mentions: "You can check if a business is authorised by carrying out a search on the claims regulation website. See the link on the right."

7 Marketing are authorised according to the link I put at the start...

Thanks for looking.

Big_J_3

They (7 Marketing) are registered with both Companies House (as a Limited Company) and the Ministry of Justice (as an authorised claims management advice provider) although they do not manage any claims themselves directly as they work closely with a well established and well respected firm of solicitors in Swansea (who directly manage any claims as well as the claim(s) of anyone else living in the same household as the main claimant). 7 Marketing are based in Wind Street in Swansea but will soon be moving to large offices above the new casino (with the aid of WDA funding). I worked there over the summer (whilst on my uni summer break) and they are legitimate - I wouldn't have worked there otherwise. You can pursue these types of claims yourself but the banks / credit card companies will draw these claims out as long as possible - using soilicitors will ensure the claim is dealt with quickly and your likely to get the FULL amount of compensation you're entitled to; plus the 'fee' is much less than paying for your own solicitor (who will charge by the hour as well as for letters etc.).

Also, they have absolutely nothing to do with the dodgy mobile phone companies in Swansea - that's just ignorance and speculation on Zebedee69's behalf. And as for them cold calling, well they use a database / list of UK people who have taken out some form of loan / credit with PPI attached and therefore might have a need for the service provided - which is NOT cold calling as the Ministry of Justice defines it (which is using the phone book to phone people at random, for example). Are you really a IFA dunstonh? This is why Butler was initially interested in the service, he was NOT contacted at random!! The Ministry of Justice make frequent checks to ensure all companies registered are complying to their strict guidelines. Do you really think this company would still be registered if they were not? The MoJ visited the company at least once whilst I worked there!! Anyway, telesales calls are always an inconvenience if you do not want or have need for the service / product they are providing but whilst I was with 7 Marketing I know I helped many people reclaim thousands of pounds in compensation from misold PPI policies - and I would work there again because I feel I was providing a good service - not 'ripping people off'!!

Clive_Woody

Big_J wrote: »

And as for them cold calling, well they use a database / list of UK people who have taken out some form of loan / credit with PPI attached and therefore might have a need for the service provided - which is NOT cold calling as the Ministry of Justice defines it (which is using the phone book to phone people at random, for example).

Sorry mate, but that is absolute nonsense. Cold calling is defined as making an unsolicited telephone call in order to try and sell a product or service, exactly what you guys are up to.


As a previous poster pointed out

You should be wary of dealing with anyone who:

• uninvited, calls at your door, phones you or comes up to you in the street or visits you in hospital trying to persuade you to make a claim. This is called 'cold calling in person' and is banned under the new rules

http://www.advicenow.org.uk/advicenow-guides/consumer-and-money-problems/claiming-compensation/claims-management-companies-html,346,FP.html

Big_J_3

Clive_Woody wrote: »

Sorry mate, but that is absolute nonsense. Cold calling is defined as making an unsolicited telephone call in order to try and sell a product or service, exactly what you guys are up to.


As a previous poster pointed out

[/list]http://www.advicenow.org.uk/advicenow-guides/consumer-and-money-problems/claiming-compensation/claims-management-companies-html,346,FP.html

OK 'Woody'. Wow, thanks for the insight. You re-posting the same link has really persuaded me to change my views on all of this...:T

Let me put this in CAPS for you. Please read carefully:

7 MARKETING ARE REGISTERED AND AUTHORISED BY THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE AND ABIDE BY THE GUIDANCE AND REGULATIONS SET BY SAID MINISTRY.

Got that so far....

The regulations were updated in 2007 and (now) include the following clauses:

Firstly, from page 4, point no. 12 from the link below:

"Cold calling in person is prohibited. Any other cold calling (by telephone, email, fax or text) shall be in accordance with the Direct marketing Association's Direct marketing Code of Practice."

As I said, 7 Marketing use a database of potential clients which means no-one on the list is either ex-directory or registered with the TPS. This is absolutely and perfectly legal and also does not contravene any rules as laid down by the Ministry of Justice either originally or in 2007. Is it ethical, well that's a different arguement...

Secondly, from page 6, again point no. 12 from the link below (under the heading "Meaning of cold calling in person"):

"Client specific rule 4 states that "cold calling in person is prohibited". There have been a number of questions on what is meant by cold calling in person. the term should need little explanation . Any face to face contact initiated by the claims management businesses is cold calling in person. This includes knocking on doors and approaching people in the street or shopping centres, including what is known as "clipboarding". It is permissible to have a booth or stand in a shopping centre or exhibition as long as the people manning it do not attempt to make the first contact."

These points are taken from this link:

http://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/__wysiwyg/UploadedFiles/File/MoJ1Marketing%20and%20advertising%20claims%20management%20services%20guidance%20note%209%20May%202007.pdf

Notice the.gov.uk bit? This is a direct link to the Ministry of Justice Web site (i.e. the Government) not a third party Web site which are clearly misinterpreting Government rules and regulations (and this is not the first time ‘Advicenow’ have done this!).

As I said in my previous post, I would not work for a company that is breaking the law. Any company that does is immediately removed from the MoJ's list of 'approved' companies (and they certainly wouldn't be getting WDA funding to help them expand). They are also usually prosecuted. 7 Marketing have been vetted and approved by representatives of both the WDA and the Ministry of Justice.

Now then, Mr Woody Woodman, instead of just jumping in feet first and re-posting a link to a Website that has clearly misinterpreted Government regulations why don't you do your own research first. You're like the students who 'copy and paste' their way through university and believe if the Website looks good, then the information it contains must be valid! And as for the smug 'smiley' at the end of your post - well, that just underlines your ignorance.

It's a shame that, even though the MoJ state (see above) that the term 'cold calling in person' should need little explanation, I have to come on here and spoon feed an ignoramus like you!

I bet you don't even play rugby! And I'm not your mate either!
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
:rotfl:

dunstonh

And as for them cold calling, well they use a database / list of UK people who have taken out some form of loan / credit with PPI attached and therefore might have a need for the service provided

So, they have data about people's loans which they should not have and are using that data to cold call people to try and scam them into paying an upfront fee to use their service?

How would the data protection commissioner feel about that data abuse?

Big_J_3

I can’t believe this….are you serious?

First of all, what has the Data Protection Commissioner or even the DPA itself got to do with any of this? Let me spell this out for you, because, as a (hopefully qualified) IFA you must as least be educated to the level where you should be able to understand this:

7 Marketing does not breach any Ministry of Justice, DPA (or other Government rules, regulations, employment or trading laws). OK?

They (7 Marketing) are registered with the appropriate bodies and trade legally from a published address in Swansea. Every person whose name is on any database or list used by the company has at some point given their permission to ‘be contacted by third parties about products or services that might be of interest to them’. They could have given this permission by ticking a box on a form (physically or via the internet, for example), or expressly etc. This information is then usually ‘cleaned’ and lists sold to companies that offer products and / or services that might be of interest to the people whose names are on the database. This is also perfectly legal. You clearly have no understanding of how direct marketing works and more importantly of the rules and regulations concerning distance selling (as outlined by the DMA – that’s the Direct Marketing Association).

To comply with the various rules and regulations of the various governing bodies every employee has to, at the start of each call, offer their name, the name of the company, the service being offered, the company’s registered address (if asked), company contact details (if asked), and the fee for any service being offered etc, etc. The customers who choose to use the service fully understand what they are doing and are usually very happy with the service provided. I used to make it clear to anyone I spoke to that there is an option to download a template letter and make a claim ‘in person’, but as I have said before, the banks / credit providers tend to draw these claims out as long as possible whereas the average turnaround for our solicitors was 6 weeks (from telephone contact to compensation being paid). In the meantime, all loan / credit repayments are suspended (no payments for the customer) and in some instances the solicitors have found the loan to be unenforceable and it is cancelled. The company does charge a fee for this (as a business) but all customers are fully aware of this and are happy to pay and have a team of solicitors quickly fighting on their behalf (the fee is a lot less than the cost of retaining a solicitor individually). HOW IS THIS RIPPING PEOPLE OFF, I ASK YOU?

Remember, if the banks (and other companies) had not ripped their customers off in the first place, there would be no need for companies like 7 Marketing. As a (hopefully qualified) IFA you must be aware of the FSA’s heavy criticism of all of the big banks and their universal mis-selling of PPI? A & L have recently been fined £7, 000, 000, Liverpool Victoria bank have been fined £840, 000, HFC fined £1, 100, 000, Capital One have been fined £175, 000 (I could go on) for blatantly ripping their customers off (for example by selling unsuitable payment protection policies (by selling these policies to people who don’t need them (self-employed, housewives etc.), telling customers that they won’t get a loan unless PPI is added, and in some cases adding it without the customer’s knowledge). You must also know that as I write this the Competition Commission is investigating the PPI market and that Which? Magazine have discovered that, of the 10m or so people in the UK that have PPI attached to credit cards alone, around 1.3m could have been misled into buying it. You must also know that PPI can add up to an extra 30% on typical loan repayments over 5 years (effectively turning a 7% APR into one of 14%, and potentially adding £3, 000 to a loan of £10, 000). In some cases it has been found that the PPI repayments were more than the actual loan repayments! Basically, customers are being overcharged by £1.4 BILLION a year and this includes the by the big high street banks – and it is their wares you must peddle (as a (hopefully qualified) IFA ). You then have the audacity to act as some sort of ‘consumer warrior’ and post what are nothing more than unsubstantiated, invalidated, ignorant, opinions on this forum in the name of consumer justice! You are just protecting the industry you represent – which has been PROVEN and FINED by the FSA for misleading and CONNING CUSTOMERS. Yet, according to you, companies like 7 Marketing should be avoided. Hypocrite!!

WHY DO YOU NOT MENTION THESE FACTS IN ANY OF YOUR POSTS? You are clearly making an effort to discredit companies like 7 Marketing in order to protect the organisations who pay your wages. The big high street banks, as well as most other credit providers in the UK, by the way, have a marketing question on almost every form a customer might complete, and if permission is given, they will use and sell that information on to marketing companies who ‘clean’ the data and sell it on for use by companies like 7 Marketing – how ironic is that!

You also owe Butler an apology for misleading him in your posts on this thread.

You wannabe Esther Rantzen’s should at least do some basic research before posting on these forums, but from now on I will be keeping an eye on you….

And as for you Mr Dunston, with your 6, 000 posts. Please, get a girlfriend.

And here’s another thank-you to add to your list of 10, 000:
Thank-you for being an opinionated, uninformed sychofant!!!!

dunstonh

I see. It says a lot about this company and you when they resort to immature personal attacks and abuse on an open forum for everyone to read.

You question my qualifications. Well, its probably fair to say that my qualifications and 20 years experience are greater than a student who worked as a summer job for a claims company. I am also registered with the Information Commissioners office under the data protection act as a data controller.

The MoJ visited the company at least once whilst I worked there!!

Thats a warning alarm then. The MoJ have been visiting companies they are concerned about and getting a lot of complaints about.

And as for client data, you know full well that lists and data comes from a lot of sources which would be classed as a data protection breach. I'm not specifically aiming that at this company but a number of claims companies in general. A lot of them are ex financial services staff who have left with client data or have paid people to get the data.

I have no problem with the concept of claims companies but the number of cowboy firms operating in this field is far too high. The good ones are doing a service that can be useful to some people. The bad ones are cold calling, telling lies and getting up front payments out of people who have little hope of ever getting that money back. There is more bad than good at the moment.