Anyone heard of 360 Direct Media?

toxic_kitten_2

Hi all, total newbie here, but I've had a bit of a kerfuffle with a company called 360 Direct media and wondered if anyone else has come across them?

They rang me to explain that they are "a team of claims investigators who could act on your behalf to find out whether your loan agreement(s) have been legally executed."

Apoparently due to changes in the Consumer Vredit Act it appears some loans can be "written off" legally, and this company will do all the leg work for a mere 10% of the outstanding debt when it written off.

As I have a 10 grand loan from a failed business venture nearly ten years ago which has been sold by the original loan provider HSBC to an external debt collection agency, whom we are still paying £10 a month due to straitened circumstances, I felt that it was worth a try, as no fees would be charged unless the firm was successful.

They said they would write to HSBC on my behalf, to ask them for the original terms of the agreement, which I should then forward to 360 in the envelope provided in the welcome pack, which I would shortly receive.

This all went along as it should until I received a letter form the HSBC (getting my surname wrong) returning the £1 postal order "I" had sent for the information, and detailing a lot of legal jargon about the status of my current account (which I don't have with them), and also saying I would receive the information forthwith.

I rang HSBC and spoke to a very nice chap who explained that a letter had been sent ostensibly directly from me, asking for the information. There was no reference to the 360 company whatsoever, and no signature on the letter, a copy of which Mr Singh has since forwarded to me.

I had no idea that a company could do that ie "pretend" in my opinion to be me, and the whole thing has made me very jittery about my involvement with them. The tone of the letter they sent to the HSBC was quite brusque and full of legalese regarding dates of compliance etc.

I rang 360 and the manager insisted that the sales team would have told me that this was what they were going to do, and really could not get his head round why I was upset. He said that technically "I" had written the letter, as I had asked them to do so. But I feel it is not good business practise, and have told them to wipe me from their records.

I have tried to find reference to this company via google and cannot find it anywhere.

I just wondered if anyone else has come across this kind of thing, and whether it is a scam of some sort that I have left myself vulnerable to?

And if it is any more serious than just incredibly incompetent seeming business practise, is there anything I can do to get redress?

Many thanks in adbvance for your patience

shaven-monkey

HSBC can't send your loan agreement to anyone but you due to data protection laws.

If they're a limited company then this could be them :
Name & Registered Office:
360 DIRECT MEDIA LTD
1074 LONDON ROAD
LEIGH-ON-SEA
ESSEX
UNITED KINGDOM
SS9 3NA
Company No. 06711411

If it is them then they came into existence on the 30th september this year and don't have to file accounts until the same date next year.

What redress are you seeking?

toxic_kitten_2

Hi there, many thanks for your reply, that is the address I have for them.

I'm not really seeking any redress, I am more concerned at the way they do business, ie sending a letter as though it was from me, unsigned by me, as opposed to identifying themselves as my agent as it were, which I would have though was much more business like.

I understand that they had to ask for the information to be sent to me because of data Protection etc, my issue is whether it is good business practise, or indeed legal, to send a letter as if it came directly from me, rather than making it clear who they were, and what my involvement with them was.

hollydays

How did you check them out in the first place.

toxic_kitten_2

Hi Holly

They contacted me via a cold call, and then I googled them, but couldn't find any reference to them online.

CHR15

You REALLY need to wake up to scams and crooks. You sound like the perfect victim if you fall for cold calls.

In essence you were going to (if successful) pay these crooks a significant portion of any financial gains for writing this letter you could have done for nothing (save the pound coin for the banks reply)

You really SHOULD know to ignore cold callers, no-one is going to give you something for nothing, no-one is going to offer you anything in YOUR best interest.

Please do some reading before you lose your home to some crook.

shaven-monkey

toxic_kitten wrote: »

Hi there, many thanks for your reply, that is the address I have for them.

I'm not really seeking any redress, I am more concerned at the way they do business, ie sending a letter as though it was from me, unsigned by me, as opposed to identifying themselves as my agent as it were, which I would have though was much more business like.

I understand that they had to ask for the information to be sent to me because of data Protection etc, my issue is whether it is good business practise, or indeed legal, to send a letter as if it came directly from me, rather than making it clear who they were, and what my involvement with them was.

The way they do business is to buy a list of people in debt from someone who runs credit checks then cold call them saying that for a 10% fee they can make the debt go away.
They aren't acting as your legal guardian or representative so to request the information legally they must have it sent to you as if you had requested it personally.

It's not really a scam it's a 3rd man leverage type thing. It may or may not be legal, far as i can see they didn't break any laws yet as they required you to relay the hsbc debt information to them. Failing to disclose to the bank that they were acting as your agents in the matter would only be an issue if they'd requested the information directly, which probably would have been illegal.
Either way "good business practice" is frequently seen as that which makes a profit.

To be goal oriented about this, you have a significant weight of debt and limited ability to pay it. What interest rate are you being charged and is there any way in which you could pay down the debt?

I ask because compound interest is an evil beast. at 5% interest per year the payable amount doubles in 20 years.

rubbercow

I have just received a similar call. My number is ex-directory. Usually I would hang up when it takes an age to connect through but with family abroad who skype call me I tend to double check its not them.

He said the UK government were trying to make a debt-free nation by 2011 (!) and in doing so had passed my details to them to call me and help me with my debt. He said he knew that I had over £1500 in credit card debt and unsecured loans (which is news to me!). My major debt is a student loan and I wondered how the would beat that kind of interest rate!

I asked him for the contact details of the people who had passed my details to him and apparently that was confidential. I asked him where he was calling from (knowing it was a call centre in India) and he said Middlesex. I asked whereabouts in the county as I know it well and after hearing him google rapidly on his keyboard his supervisor picked up and said 'we can't talk to you anymore' and hung up.

I have had a further 7 calls today - and each time I answer they hang up.