Anyone had experience of a company/solicitor doing the work of reclaiming? (merged)

DogDave

Just to make people aware, I received a cold call on my mobile today from a man purporting to be from an organisation called 'reclaim your bank charges' (or something similar, asking me if I'd had any bank charges lately.

Their number was 0208 6200 236

I assume this is some sort of scam, as why would you need them to claim for you?

Has anyone else had anything like this?

astrognats

Just before Christmas I sent off all my details along with a signed contract to claim back charges that I had received on my credit card, below is what has happened so far . .
<O:p</O:p
1) Called at the beginning of January to ask whether my details had been received as I had not had any contact and to see how the claim was progressing. I was told a letter would be sent out within two weeks.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
2) Two weeks later I had not received the letter so I called to find out what happened, was told that this matter would be looked into and I would receive a call in the next 2 days<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
3) A few days later I had still not received a call so called again and was told that no one was available to speak to and that some one would call back in the next 2 days<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
4) A few days later still no call, called and was told again that someone would call back within two days<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

5) Called on Friday 08/02/08 as agian no one called me and was told that no one was available and that i would be called back urgently on Monday

</O:p6) Called on <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com[IMG]http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/ /><st1:date Month=[/IMG]Friday 8/02/08</st1:date> as again no one called me was told that no one was available and that I would be called back urgently on Monday
<O[IMG]http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/ /><st1:date Month=[/IMG]Friday 8/02/08</st1:date> as again no one called me was told that no one was available and that I would be called back urgently on Monday
<font face=" /><st1:date Month="11" Day="2" Year="2008">Tuesday 11/02/08</st1:date> as I again did not receive a phone call back, spoke to Dana, asked to speak to someone in charge and was told no one was there. Asked to be put through to the complaints department again told no one was there and again told that some one would defiantly call me back today<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
<FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=3>7) <FONT size=3>Called <st1:date Month="13" Day="2" Year="2008">Wednesday 13/02/08</st1:date> as I did not receive a phone call, spoke to Veenish, again asked to talk to complaints department and was told that they did not have one. Asked to speak to someone who was in charge was told that there was no one there. Asked to speak to her supervisor was told that they did not have a supervisor. Was again told that some one would call me back in 2 days, told her that this was unacceptable as no one ever got back to me, was told that they were busy. Was also told that credit card claims were on hold as the banks were awaiting the court result of the claims against charges on bank accounts.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
<FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Called another company who deals with claiming back charges and was told that credit card claims were still going through and that they were not having any problems with claims, I actually spoke to someone who knew what he was talking about !!!<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
<FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Called back and spoke to Nicholas, asked him if credit card claims were still going through and how long it normally takes for a claim, he did not know and I got the same “I’ll get a call back in 2 days” response. I told him what had happened on previous occasions and asked what would I have to do to cancel my claim, again told “I’ll get a call back in 2 days”. Again I asked to speak to someone in charge and was told that a Mr Morris would call me back with out fail in the next 48 hours. <O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
<FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=3>8) <FONT size=3>Finally received a call on 15/02/08, not from Mr Morris though, from Jerry Grant who took me right back to square one by telling me that I would receive a letter in two weeks time. Mr Grant did not know anything about my case and I was left in the dark for another 2 weeks. Also given a new number to call by Mr Grant<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
<FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=3>9) <FONT size=3><st1:date Month="2" Day="29" Year="2008">29/02/08</st1:date> Still no letter, called the new number spoke to a man who took my details and told me I will receive a phone call by the end of the day.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
<FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=3>10) <FONT size=3>Did not receive a call on <st1:date Month="2" Day="29" Year="2008">29/02/08</st1:date><O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
<FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=3>11) <FONT size=3>Called on 03.03.2008 at 12.24 am spoke with Janade Khan, told him that if I did not receive a call back with in the next 48 hours I would assume one of the following, (A) That my details never arrived with them or (B) that they did not wish to take my case on and that because of this I would go to a different company.<O:p</O:p

I still have not heard anything from them, have sent emails, letters and faxes but get nothing back.

What can i do ? they have all my documents.

i am quite lost at the moment and any help would be fantastic

peterjardine

Hello mate, I've got the same problems, only I cant seem to get through to anyone there....kinda worrying....

What numbers are you using?

Peter

FrenchRay

I would see if you can try and get out of whatever contract you signed. This company, and I am speaking from experience as i work for a bank who deals with them are not worth the extortionate amount that they charge.

Credit Card reclaims are not on hold and it is a relatively simple process so just do it yourself and save the money!

samfrench32

Hi guys I am also using Financialclaims.uk and haven't heard anything from them since July I have tried to get in touch with them repeatedly to no avail they are dealing with a Lloyds claim and a Barclays one which I sent them after the test case which they haven't even acknowledged yet!!

I went for them cos they only take 10% but am now getting slightly worried that they may be a bit dodgy.
Sam

defender_of_the_weak

I did reply to some of this before but it obviously did'nt get through

<TABLE class=tborder id=post9039685 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD class=alt1 id=td_post_9039685>Hi. I work for one of the big banks in the department that deals with reclaiming bank charges and i feel i must comment on the work of third parties as I get so angry with they way some of these companies rip off their customers.


Then name the company not the entire claims business

Why let others take from 25%-75% in your money for little work!

Fees tend to be more in the 20% range I've never seen anyone charging 75%.


Once the test case is over the banks will have to act accordingly.

After they have dragged it out for many months/years in appeals they will seek to minimise every single payment they can

Now the one thing that really confuses me is when customers who have already logged a request for a refund start to use a third party in the hope that they will speed up the process.

Its because people don't trust banks

Now on a more worrying note some of the third parties often take little care with personal data.

Does your bank ever check for compliance with DPA before glibly posting details out to god knows who. In all the thousands financial claims I have handled, not once has the company made reference to the DPA


</TD></TR><TR><TD class=alt2>[EMAIL="abuse&#64;moneysavingexpert.com?subject=Reporting post http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=9039685"][/EMAIL]</TD><TD class=alt1 align=right><!-- controls --><!-- post thank you hack --><SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!--function post_thanks_give_9039685()!! do_thanks_button = new vB_AJAX_Handler(true) do_thanks_button.onreadystatechange(thanks_button_Done_9039685) do_thanks_button.send('showthread.html?do=post_thanks_button_ajax&p=9039685') do_thanks_add = new vB_AJAX_Handler(true) do_thanks_add.onreadystatechange(thanks_add_Done_9039685) do_thanks_add.send('showthread.html?do=post_thanks_add_ajax&p=9039685')}function thanks_button_Done_9039685()!! if (do_thanks_button.handler.readyState == 4 && do_thanks_button.handler.status == 200) !! fetch_object('post_thanks_button_9039685').innerHTML = do_thanks_button.handler.responseText }}function thanks_add_Done_9039685()!! if (do_thanks_add.handler.readyState == 4 && do_thanks_add.handler.status == 200) !! fetch_object('post_thanks_box_9039685').innerHTML = do_thanks_add.handler.responseText }}function post_thanks_remove_all_9039685()!! do_thanks_button = new vB_AJAX_Handler(true) do_thanks_button.onreadystatechange(thanks_button_Done_9039685) do_thanks_button.send('showthread.html?do=post_thanks_button_add_ajax&p=9039685') do_thanks_remove_all = new vB_AJAX_Handler(true) do_thanks_remove_all.onreadystatechange(thanks_remove_all_Done_9039685) do_thanks_remove_all.send('showthread.html?do=post_thanks_remove_all_ajax&p=9039685')}function thanks_remove_all_Done_9039685()!! if (do_thanks_remove_all.handler.readyState == 4 && do_thanks_remove_all.handler.status == 200) !! fetch_object('post_thanks_box_9039685').innerHTML = do_thanks_remove_all.handler.responseText }}function post_thanks_remove_user_9039685()!! do_thanks_button = new vB_AJAX_Handler(true) do_thanks_button.onreadystatechange(thanks_button_Done_9039685) do_thanks_button.send('showthread.html?do=post_thanks_button_add_ajax&p=9039685') do_thanks_remove_user = new vB_AJAX_Handler(true) do_thanks_remove_user.onreadystatechange(thanks_remove_user_Done_9039685) do_thanks_remove_user.send('showthread.html?do=post_thanks_remove_user_ajax&p=9039685')}function thanks_remove_user_Done_9039685()!! if (do_thanks_remove_user.handler.readyState == 4 && do_thanks_remove_user.handler.status == 200) !! fetch_object('post_thanks_box_9039685').innerHTML = do_thanks_remove_user.handler.responseText }}document.write(' ');//--></SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
and remember

None of these banks have any interest in your personal well-being. As has been shown on many different occassions they will mislead customers (some would call this lying but I could'n't possibly comment). They employ banks of consultants from companies such as KPMG whose entire remit and rationale for getting the contract is based on the number of claims they can manage out of the system or minimise the cost

I can only assume the author of this piece is remarkably niaive or is being paid to post this shocked indignation

FrenchRay

I believe that claims companies may be necessary when dealing with complex issues such as Endowments and even possibly PPI but they are simply not necessary for bank charges and its a relatively simple process. If anybody does get confused they can get advice from sites such as this one so their is no need for third parties.

The reason i generalise and say that all claim handling companies are of poor standard is because in my exprerience they all are. I could not name one company who i believe are worth their fees. If you would like to tell me which company you work for I will gladly give you my professional opinion.

Now I do not know the processes and attitudes that go on in other banks but I know that me and my other workers do have an interest in the well being of our customers. Every day i try and help those in financial hardship who are still allowed to proceed with their claims and it gives me great job satisfaction when i help someone who is struggling by repaying bank charges. But i find it very hypocritical of someone who I am guessing works for one of these companies to accuse the banks of not being interested in their well being. That may be the case but all third parties care about is their profits, that is the number one concern. At the end of the day they are out to make a profit so whatever ridiculous name they come up with to sound like they are out for justice for the consumers, they are just out to line their profits. You could argue that this is the case for banks but that is irrelevant. I just dont want to see consumers being screwed firstly with their bank charges and then with those who pretend they are there to help dish out justice.

Here is an example for you. We have a customer of our bank who is dying of a common disease and has put in to have his bank charges refunded. As he is in hardship we made him an offer to refund all of his bank charges but as the account he is claiming on is in collections, the money we offered him was used to pay off his debts as this is standard bank policy. The customer was happy with this but as he went through a third party he soon found himself in more trouble than he was in before his reclaim. He had signed up to a company who took 25% of his reclaim which worked out at around 2,000. The company then tried to get this money off him but as the customer never received cash as it went to pay off a bank debt, he was liable to find this money. The third party showed no compassion when he explained that he simply could not find this money and they are in the process of taking him to court, no doubt making his last few months a complete nightmare.

I wish i could say that this was one off but again and again i see third parties treating custmers like dirt. We get call after call from customer seeing how their claims are going because they have had no correspondance from the third parties.

If anyone is thinking of using a particular third party, please feel free to PM me and i will tell you what experience i have had with them.

defender_of_the_weak

So I was right then you are either very niave or being paid by your employer

If anybody does get confused they can get advice from sites such as this one so their is no need for third parties

and for those without access or even a basic understanding of financial matters go where?

I value your 'professional opinion' not one iota, you have appeared on this site and posted 3 times. I have fought financial claims for years and dealt with both sides of the argument and process, see note ref KPMG and others above

You could argue that this is the case for banks but that is irrelevant. I just dont want to see consumers being screwed firstly with their bank charges and then with

I think you are definetely niave

In the example you give the client is in debt for 8,000 and yet cannot make any payment toward the 2,000 bill from the claims company. As he is in hardship, should you not have offered to pay this unnecessary bill for him. It was your fault he got the charges. How much happier he would have been struggling to meet the grasping demands of a multi national that makes billions a year from the underhand tactics applied all year round by the financial institutions

On balance I think I will conclude you are incredibly niave

bensmoney

Yep, bunch of crooks aren't they? But there is hope and a strategy.

Financial claims have been amassing all their customers bank records, entering claims (perhaps) and giving out NO information, returning NO documents and generally screwing around in the most alarming manner.

It's my belief they're fraudsters and the moment the banks pay out they'll simply disappear with all the money, never mind their 10%, they'll take the lot!

First things first, you signed a standard contract saying they'd represent you for up to 90 days... that came and went half a year ago right? So you're not contracted to them, NO CANCELLATION FEES, NO FEES PER FILE, just returning your stuff and terminating your relationship. Of course the vermin won't do that... SO, when you signed the contract you agreed to let them act on your behalf and not to contact the banks yourself. Well CONTRACTS' OVER, so contact the banks, tell your old enemy to ignore all contact from financialclaimsuk, and inform them that financialclaimsuk are NOT authorised to handle your affairs! Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are your bank to talk to, liase with let alone give a single penny to financialclaimsuk.

INCLUDING THEIR £100/ 10% fee, after all they manifestly breached their side of the contract and it ended x months ago anyway, they don't get a penny.

They're not registered in the UK, so they're not subject to data protection laws which might have helped you get your statements etc back.

And boy oh boy do they ignore phone calls, I've made over 30 data protection demands!

Having no address other than a po box doesn't help either... and why would a firm of solicitors be so keen that nobody find them.

but there is hope... they do have a registered company number and it's 06042588, you can use this to register complaints with the office of fair trading, and I really hope you will, I'm about to!

Also, there's a company called "financialclaimsuk" registered IN THE UK to

17 Bentick Street
London
W1U 2ES

which might or might not be the same one as is registered in the British virgin islands and which you've been used by...

I'm not encouraging you to go round, cut their heads off and burn the premises to the ground because that would be illegal. Still be quite pleasing though wouldn't it?

EVERYONE COMPLAIN and write to your original enenemies, the banks, we've got to get them before they get us!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU GET ON,

yours BEN.:beer:

bensmoney

I've just reported them to trading standards and more importantly to

enquiries@legalcomplaints.org.uk

Who handle all complaints about solicitors in the UK (they've taken over from the law commision), who tell me I'm entitled to compensation from financialclaimsuk!

COMPENSATION! I like that.

email them with as complete a set of details about how you've been treated, mentioning failures to act on your behalf, return documents etc IN FULL and see what happens!

Oh and the above address is definately them, and it's at Bentinick or bentin street just north of wigmore street.

AND LET ME KNOW HOW YOU GET ON!

BEN