First Choice EPC

stoneybrokethatsme

I wish I'd seen this page earlier. I ordered an EPC from this company 2 weeks ago and have heard nothing at all since. I have contacted them several times but never had any response other than a promise to 'chase it up' on 26th January - but nothing has happened since.

No assessor has contacted us, no appointment has been made and no EPC assessment made. I've asked to cancel.

kev100_2

To both Stoneybrokethatsme and The Voice1, dont worry so much, contact your credit card company and say you have been the victim of a scam and you want them to make a chargeback, or ask them to refund you (I am not sure if they will refund, I think there is a lower limit as to their resposibility and this may fall below that level) hopefully they can reclaim your money. Also its very important that you contact action fraud police and trading standards to report him, you will find the contact numbers somewhere withing this thread.

He is now being investigated by the police, but the more complaints the better.

nuzik

booked mine with this idiot! Not heard a sausage then saw this :9 trying to get my cash back

wealdroam

kev100 wrote: »

To both Stoneybrokethatsme and The Voice1, dont worry so much, contact your credit card company and say you have been the victim of a scam and you want them to make a chargeback, or ask them to refund you (I am not sure if they will refund, I think there is a lower limit as to their resposibility and this may fall below that level) hopefully they can reclaim your money. Also its very important that you contact action fraud police and trading standards to report him, you will find the contact numbers somewhere withing this thread.

He is now being investigated by the police, but the more complaints the better.

There is only a £10 lower limit for chargeback with Mastercard.
No lower limit with Visa or American Express.

Read MSE's Chargeback article for more details.

Newtoallthisjazz_2

Hi I am really worried now I have followed some of the advice on here and carried out a charge back successfully but now I am being chased for cancellation and extra money as its in the terms and conditions ...... are they actually allowed to do this :mad: - I appreciate peoples advice but I do not want peoples opinion I need actual advice please help !!!!

wealdroam

Newtoallthisjazz wrote: »

Hi I am really worried now I have followed some of the advice on here and carried out a charge back successfully but now I am being chased for cancellation and extra money as its in the terms and conditions ...... are they actually allowed to do this :mad: - I appreciate peoples advice but I do not want peoples opinion I need actual advice please help !!!!

Hi Newtoallthisjazz, welcome to the forums.

Unfortunately, you are only likely to get opinions here because that is all you can expect from any anonymous forum.

Here is a short extract from the forum rules:

All info is the opinion of posters – it’s not our view. We have an amazing forum with a huge wealth of helpful info. Yet remember it's open to all, and sometimes messages are posted that are misleading or downright wrong. Most users are helpful but there are always a few bad apples. Don't rely on information being accurate or complete. If you do, it's at your own risk. Please do your own research before acting.

They also say:

I want to give advice, why can't I?

If you're discussing a topic you have a professional knowledge of you can make that clear, but please don't give "advice". We don't have the resources to check what you say is correct and would hate to hear something had happened to someone reading it.

The opinions of other posters seem to indicate you have nothing to worry about.
If you want anything more substantial than that then maybe you should see a solicitor.

kev100_2

Newtoallthisjazz

This guy is a well know scammer in the EPC industry, he is currently being investigated for fraud by the police and trading standards, everybody here has had all the threatening emails. they mean nothing,

He is breaking several regulations which mean that any so called contract you had with him is null and void and unenforceable.

He makes his money by threats and threatening behavour to try get people scared and pay up .. this is against regulations.

You have your money back, now just ignore any and all mails he sends to you.

Last email Ihad from hom was that he had started court action to recover over 500 quid, that was 6 weeks ago .. and surprise surprise i have heard nothing, not that I was expecting to.

There is no way he will ever start court action because this will expose his scam,

Threats about debt collectors are meaningless, they have absolutely NO rights to be on your property or recover anything without your express permission, again he sends these to scare you into paying.

Nobody here has ever had a visit from a debt collector from this scammer, and they never will, one thing you need to know about debt collectors is that if they come to your house, tell them to !!!!!! off or you will call the police and reprt them for tresspass, also notify them that you do not wish to be contacted again by ant means or you will report them to the FSA for harrassment, this applies to any debt collector for any reason, only exception is a court appointed bailiff, and thats not going to happen

In short, dont worry about a thing, this, in your case is going no further, if you want to be reassured phone trading standards and they will put your mind at rest.

I hope you reported him to the action fraud police and trading standards

Newtoallthisjazz_2

Hi Kev100

I have been notified by Barclaycard that the claim I put in has been reversed ??? So I now do not even have my £39.95 back did I not put in the chargeback correctly I said I did not receive the goods or service and then got credited the money back but now they have reversed their decision I spoke to trading standards although this put me through to citizens advice (not sure if they are the same) and have been told there is nothing I can do if the chargeback has been reversed ? I wish I had never ever started this whole process and I still look like I am being chased for a cancellation fee ? I just want this mess to go away I am in a regulated job and cant have my credit affected as they mention ccj. Is there anyone other than citizens advice I can go to for advice ???

kev100_2

Phone up Barclays again and tell them that this company is a scam company and they are bieng investigated by the police and you can prove it (there is a link to the information here), Insist that they make a chargeback, and tell them another Barclaycard customer has already recieved a chargeback from this company, That would be us and I would be happy to confirm that with Barclaycard, and there are also several others who have reported sucessful chargebacks,

Please dont take any notice of any threats of debt collectors, court action, CCJ's from this guy, they are only threats, as I mentioned her wont take this any further because his scam will be uncovered if he takes anybody to court.

Trading Standards from what I believe now is connected to Citizens advicve, to be honest they are all pretty useless at protecting the public, but they have finally started to investigate this guy.

With reference to Barclays/Barclaycard

Write an email to the CEO (I have listed their direct emails below), sometimes you have to go directly to the top,

Put these links in the email
http://www.housingenergyadvisor.com/blog/is-first-choice-epc-worth-the-risk/
http://www.housingenergyadvisor.com/blog/beware-of-the-online-epc-cowboys/
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5065423
http://energyassessormagazine.com/probe_into_controversial_panels.html

In the email tell them that you are extremely unhappy that Barclays have not investigated your claims fully and that you are dissatisfied with the reversal of the chargback in light of the evidence in the links above, and that this company is now being investigated by trading standards and the POLICE, for fraud. Point out the energy assessor magazine link as the important one.

If its barclays bank use this email [EMAIL="antony.jenkins@barclays.com"]antony.jenkins@barclays.com[/EMAIL]
If its Barclaycard use this email [EMAIL="valerie.soranno-keating@barclays.com"]valerie.soranno-keating@barclays.com[/EMAIL]

I have written directly to the CEO of Barclaycard in the past with another problem that their minions wouldnt sort out, I had a reply and a phonecall within 24 hours and the problem was sorted, and the customer care advisor at barclaycard that didnt sort out the problem was reprimanded.

Do not be afriad to write to the CEO of anyt company if you are experiencing problems, put in your phone number as well as your email address so that they can call you directly.

Remember Barclaycard is just like any other corporate company, they are not really that interested in their customers because there are always new ones to take our places, what they are interested in is keeping your money and not giving you the sevice that is expected, and they, like any other company, will try to fob you off by doing the least amount of work, DONT LET THEM.

I guarantee you that if you were a multi millionair putting 10's thousands £ through your barclaycard every month then they would not have reversed the chargeback for any reason.

Let us know how you get on.

kev100_2

I just spoke to Barclaycard again, and some things have come to light,

When a chargeback is requested, the merchants bank have 45 days to respond or dispute the chargeback, barclaycard will then reverse the chargeback without even notifying their customers if the merchants bank disputes it, its then up to the customer to contact Barclaycard to find out why the chargeback has been reversed and then things will be taken further, Not a particulary customer friendly way to run an operation,

I just found out that even though I first made the chargeback request in the begining of December, and barclaycard messed it up, I then had to contact them to find out why the chargeback had not been done, excuses and appologies follwed, then my account was credited again, after just speaking to them they said that they have had a reply from the Merchants bank, and if its disputed they would reverse the chargeback, its then up top me to contact Barclaycard to find out why and then to persue the chargeback claim, so my chargeback which I thought was completed and finished with, may still be reversed.

I manages to get Barclaycard to escelate my case and get them to contact me within 48 hours to find out what the position is, if I am not happy I will be writingf an email to the CEO of Barclaycard and finding out why they treat their customers the way they do and what they are going to do to resolve this situation.

Both times I made the chargeback request Barclaycard asked me to provide documentation and proof why this company is a scam, they siad they would send out a letter detailing what I needed to do and a return address, both times I received nothing from them, first time Barcaycard says that it was because of Christmas period (yea right), second time they had no explanation, its a total shambles.

They have 48 hours to sort this out, then its an email to the CEO.