Anyone have opinions on SMS Legal

magpiecottage

I have done a bit of digging. It turns out that SMS Legal is actually Scarlet Marketing Services Limited of Caermarthen.

You can therefore e-mail complaints to [email]support@scarlet‐services.com[/email]

Telling you they are a government body would be a dishonest misrepresentation and therefore an offence under the Fraud Act 2006. However, it would be difficult to prove.

Taking money up front and producing no outcome is a valid cause for complaint, though.

With PPI, I would expect them to take at the very outside, three months to determine if you have a case and submit it to a financial services firm. That firm should give some kind of response within a couple of months of receipt.

In addition, Client Specific Rule 18 of the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules 2014 requires a CMC to keep its client informed of the progress of a complaint. If they can only say they are "still investigating", then I think, on the balance of probability, they have done nothing and therefore represents valid grounds for complaint, demanding your money back plus 8 per cent per annum interest on it.

E-mail it tonight and their eight weeks to respond will start with the next business day.

If they fail or the response is not satisfactory, you can go to the Legal Ombudsman.

Make sure you keep copies of all correspondence in case you have to go to the Ombudsman and if you need to use snail mail, get proof of posting (free from the Post Office).

lethallee

I had this company chasing PPI on my behalf and I paid £495 in April this year. They went through all accounts related except for a credit card which they said had PPI attached to it. I told them I never used the card and got rid of it but they kept my money still as they could not refund until investigation was complete. Finally had enough and went to the legal ombudsman (free) gave them information required and within 1 week SMS Legal issued me a refund.
Lesson learnt but anyone chasing go to free ombudsman, headache over.

conen

Hi, I accepted an agreement with SMS Legal a couple of days ago, but decided to cancel my agreement yesterday. To be honest everyone I spoke to was polite, but after reading online about some people not able to get their money back, or just annoyed because absolutely nothing was happening (and SMS holding on to their £299 deposit because they were still "Investigating"), I decided I didn't want to end up months down the line still £300 down.

I called customer services to cancel, and after the agent trying to convince me to stay with them (politely again I must add), he finally accepted I was not going to change my mind. I asked for an e-mail to be sent promptly (all other e-mails from them during the beginning of the agreement I received within a minute), but still had nothing by the end of the day. Called again the next day in the morning, and the girl said I should check my junk e-mail folder (none of the other e-mails went there), and she would also get him to send it again. Still no word, so I called the legal ombudsman concerned that SMS might keep this up for 14 days, leaving me with no record that I had cancelled, and then finding myself outwith the 14 day cooling off period.

They were a great help, and said they would send SMS a letter, and that I should get my money back fairly easily. We shall see. Also, they recommended I send a letter to SMS stating my intention to cancel (while keeping a copy), and sending it recorded delivery. Now, on questioning the guy about the company, he said he could not say much, but that the company were operating within the legal framework, but that does not mean that they are a good company.

I will update on the progress

magpiecottage

conen wrote: »

the company were operating within the legal framework, but that does not mean that they are a good company.

Absolutely. The irony is that PPI was generally sold within the letter of the law. That did not stop much of it being rubbish though.

magpiecottage

conen wrote: »

the company were operating within the legal framework, but that does not mean that they are a good company.

Absolutely. The irony is that PPI was generally sold within the letter of the law. That did not stop much of it being rubbish though.

chloebelle41

HELP!!!:( I have just given them my credit card details for them to supposedly do a ghost transaction of £1 to confirm my identity (apparently) and to check the card is registered at my address. As they told me that no money would be taken from my card until they had investigated and told me how much refund I was entitled to(which is apparently Thousands) but afterwards something didn't sit right with me the more I went over the conversation in my head so I called my credit card provider and they revealed to me that instead of taking the £1 I had agreed to on the phone they had in fact took £495:mad::mad::mad: I am absolutely fuming!! I asked my c/c provider to stop the transaction straight away only to be told that they couldn't stop it:mad: after explaining what had just happened they said I had to wait until the 15th Dec then they would help me get it refunded???? can anyone help with where I stand with this as I could cry right about now.......still to get some of my kids xmas in with my c/c and they have all but wiped it out:(

magpiecottage

Hi chloebelle41.

All is not lost.

First of all, I recommend you send the following letter. Get proof of posting (free from the post office) and keep a copy. Also send an electronic copy to [EMAIL="consumer@claimsregulation.gov.uk"]consumer@claimsregulation.gov.uk[/EMAIL]

Note that I am using its legal name and address and it is addressed to the Director personally.

Remember to put your name and address on it!


David Rushton
Director
Scarlet Marketing Services Limited
3rd Floor Lyric Building
5 King Street
Carmarthen
Carmarthenshire
SA31 1BH


FORMAL COMPLAINT OF FRAUD

On 10 December 2015, I took a call from you in which you said you needed my credit card details in order to confirm my identity so that you could claim thousands of pounds.

You, or your employee said you would take one pound for this purpose and no more unless and until a successful claim was made.

You then proceeded to take £495 from my account.

I put it to you that you lied to me when you said was entitled to a large sum of money, because you had no way of knowing.

I put it to you that you lied to me when you said that you needed my credit card details and to take a small sum to verify my identity because other claims management companies do not need to do this.

I put it to you that you lied to me when you said that you would only take £1 from my account because you then took £495 from my account without my consent.

Furthermore, I have now learned of the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules 2014 and in particular Client Specific Rule 11, which says, "A contract between a business and a client must be signed by the client and the business may
not take any payment from the client until the contract is signed."

I put it to you thay your deliberately withheld that information from me in order to defraud me of £495, in breach of section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.

I demand that you IMMEDIATELY return the £495 to my account AND that you provide me with suitable financial redress for the considerable distress and inconvenience that your fraud against me has caused me.

If you do not refund my money and provide suitable redress, I shall take the matter to the Legal Ombudsman.

I would remind you that, under section 12 of the Fraud Act 2006, you are personally liable for any fraud conducted by Scarlet Marketing Services Limited with your consent or connivance.

A copy of this letter has been sent to the Claims Regulator.

Yours sincerely

magpiecottage

You should also go back to your bank and tell them that the payment is unauthorised (because you only authorised a payment of £1.00 and as that it is refunded.

In fact, as the Ministry of Justice has banned any business it regulates from taking ANY money until it has a either a physical or virtual signature on a contract, unless you have actually signed up either on paper or online, SMS Legal has no valid authority to take anything.

If you get the money back from SMS Legal, you should return it to the bank (otherwise you too would be guilty of fraud).

The point about giving the regulator a copy of your complaint is that although they do not act on individual complaints, they are now acting to close down scumbags like this so at least others are less likley to fall foul of this fraud.

DPullen74

Hi

I have been having a similar experience as most of the previous posts. Told i was due thousands back in PPI back in March, paid £299 upfront (Stupid i know, really regret it) and now SMS legal just keep telling me they cant refund until all my cases are closed (its been 9 months...). I have complained again this week and have just got this reply below, should i wait or is this just another delay tactic.

A customer support staff member has replied to your ticket, #836291 with the following response:

Thanks for taking the time to contact us.

Please accept this email as an acknowledgement to your complaint. This will now be looked into by our Company director David Rushton. We are permitted 8 weeks to investigate your concerns and issue a final response, but we aim to issue this within 28 days.

Is it worth send a letter requesting a refund now?

magpiecottage

They do have eight weeks to respond.

However, unless they have a signature (either a real one on paper or you have agreed to it online) they are permitted to take any money.

You should ask for interest at 8% per annum simple on your money as well.