Whats the deal on consumer recovery specialists?

competitionscafe

I am sure there are some companies (not yours) who may make no mention of the diy option and to not at least make people aware of this is I think dishonest.

Filipe wrote:

The only reason people should use a company like mine is if they haven't got the time or energy to do it themselves.

But how many of these companies would put a statement like that on the homepage of their website or make it clear to their potential customers in some other way?

People should be aware of both options and then make an informed choice - most moneysavers would probably opt for the diy option rather than have 25% (and in some cases up to 40%) of their refunded charges go towards the fees for doing something which they can easily do for themselves. The amount of "time and energy" involved in writing a few letters and checking past statements etc is fairly small in relation to the potential benefit in £ worth of claimed charges, most people probably don't mind the time and effort involved when the potential payback could be a refund of hundreds or even thousands of pounds. I don't think the comparisons with growing your own vegetables or washing your own car are comparing like for like!

Filipe_2

Hi competitionscafe

Thanks for your reply.

I totally agree with you.

I can assure you that every single one of my customers know that they could do this themselves but opt to use my company anyway. Just like most things in life, you can do them yourself but often you might get someone else to. Why is my service any different.

Also, it doesn't take loads of time to go through your statements and write letters and take court action. What takes the time is the time spent on websites like this asking and researching queries. Be honest, in total, including absolutely everything you have done relating to your own specific claim, physical work and research, how many hours have you spent?

Btw my analogies are attempting to show that people are paying me to save their time. Growing vegetables in your back garden takes time. The time I am referring to is actual time tending to the plantation. Time that cannot be spent on other things because it is spent on that.

Cheers

Filipe

mrcall1969

Got to agree with Filipe here. The word 'vultures' is definitely a bit strong.

Some folk don't have the time, others might not have the confidence, others might not even have the inclination. But to describe Filipes company (and others) as 'vultures' is way over the top.

I have set out to get my charges back, but if I feel that I am getting in over my head, I will have no hesitation in using one of these companies rather than bail out and let my Bank off the hook.

Rex_Mundi

I've checked out quite a few of these sites that charge for reclaiming, and I've never seen one yet that explains how easy it is for people to reclaim the charges themselves. It would be a silly marketing strategy for them to do this as it could lose them the very business they are after.

I'm vehenemently against sites that charge for doing this. It is certainly not in the ethos of this site to pay someone up to 40% of your own money for something that is not too difficult to achieve yourself.

I've also spent hundreds of hours studying/reading about this process (and running peoples claims locally), but I don't tout for business off others. I'm more than happy to help others for free. I feel that the sites that charge are not doing this for the benefit of the consumers. They have seen a money making opportunity for themselves, and have jumped in with both feet. In my view, these companies are similar in mindset to 'ambulance chasers'.

The people I take my hat off to regarding these charges are, Martin (for his original bank charges article and this special email that went out), CAG, BCS, and Penaltycharges. All of these sites were set up to help people get (and keep) all their charges with completely free advice and support. I also take my hat off to all the people that post on these sites, giving their advice for free. If we all thought in a similar way to the charging companies, all this free advice wouldn't be out there (we would all be too busy trying to get rich off others charges).

MSE_Martin

In response to the above

My belief is this is a process the vast majority of people should do for themselves. They should not be going to claim handlers, its a relatively straightforward process and there is no need to use someone.

How can you get our service for free question - we have lots of people doing it.

Equally well you could argue "we get people to cut up your food from you and feed it into your mouths" and that my "you can do it yourself for free" comment on that is false. Of course you can't get 'someone else to do it for you for free' but the point is 'the vast majority of people should be doing it themselves so this is irrelevant'.

When I wrote the email I did carefully consider the word "never" as I do believe for those without mental health or capacity issues or those claiming over £5,000 and not in the small claims system there is argument for assistance.

However in the end I decided that for pure clarity of message (it'd need to be much longer to explain it) that as this is stated in the article which is linked to - it was the right way to go.

Far better for people to see the "do it for free option" and then see they can get someone to do it for them, at a cost, if that's necessary - than the other way round.

Kind regards

Martin

Filipe_2

Dear Martin

Thanks for your response.

You are absolutely right. I do agree with you. From your position you should encourage people to do this themselves.

But to call my company and others like it vultures is absolutely false and frankly insulting. Please can you retract that statement in another auto-email so that the same recipients of that email receive the retraction?

Also, please can you understand that the service we supply is one that saves the customer the time and effort required to do it themselves. This is the entire point. You provide DIY advice. I provide a service to do ALL the work for the customer so they can do none. My service is not the same as yours.

Kind regards

Filipe

MSE_Martin

Sorry Filipe, absolutely not.

There are a raft of vultures and ambulance chasers out there desperate to make a penny from selling people a service they dont need. I would happily and will happily reiterate the comment.

Now I don't know your company - and you may in fact be one of the good guys. Yet every leaftlet and advert and email I've seen on this subject has been from vultures trying to suck money and profit from a consumer campaign. Also go onto google and its a fight for the legitmate consumer organisations not charging for this to be heard amongst the raft of adverts from companies hoping to charge people (whether pre or post action) for this.

People have already given the banks their cash unfairly, my aim to to stop them giving it to others unnecessarily.

Kind regards

Martin

mrcall1969

'Always ensure any decision is made with regards to your own individual circumstance'.


Exactly

Filipe_2

Dear Martin

Fair enough. It is your opinion after all.

But, perhaps at least, you could send out another auto-email which alters what you say to:

A lot/some of those companies are vultures.

We are not all vultures. I find it terribly unfair and of a bullying nature to attempt to wreck the reputation of mine and other companies like it, by using your heavyweight reputation.

You do not know what any of our companies are like and yet you use the word "vultures" as though it is a fact. You are welcome to come to my office any time you like. After which you would have an INFORMED opinion!

Kind regards

Filipe

MSE_Martin

On a seperate note. May I also point out that the large number of newbies coming in on this thread asking for a 'specialist because i can't face it myself' is very suspicious - for it to suddenly appear. If I find any claims handling companies are trying to spam and sway the boards, or persuading friends to sign up for false plufs - i will both pull the plug and seek to very publically out any of them.