Drive off UK ltd

GilesATFC

Hi all,


Have received a letter in the post from Drive-off.uk claiming I drove off at a petrol station without paying, the station in question is reasonably local but I don't think ive been there let alone driven off without paying, cant seem to find anything about them online and just wondered if any of the experts here had any knowledge of them, I received the letter yesterday but the incident was back in may which is odd in itself, they are obviously demanding money! any help appreciated

TadleyBaggie

I would respond with a "prove it" type letter. Their website is here: http://drive-off.uk

BeenThroughItAll

GilesATFC wrote: »

Hi all,


Have received a letter in the post from Drive-off.uk claiming I drove off at a petrol station without paying, the station in question is reasonably local but I don't think ive been there let alone driven off without paying, cant seem to find anything about them online and just wondered if any of the experts here had any knowledge of them, I received the letter yesterday but the incident was back in may which is odd in itself, they are obviously demanding money! any help appreciated

I'd ignore it, personally. Sounds like a scam.

Or write back and ask them for the CCTV or other evidence, pointing out that if they're unable to provide it you'll gladly cooperate with the Police to help identify and prosecute the offender.

Herzlos

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

I'd ignore it, personally. Sounds like a scam.

Ditto. Registered address looks like an old folks home, definitely residential.

I'd be inclined to ignore it (they'll send you a Letter Before Action and start small claims if they feel there's any merit), and possibly pop into the petrol station when you're passing to ask about it. If they haven't heard of it, then take a copy down to the police station and see what they say.

Unless it's an independent petrol station, I'd have expected a letter to come from the chain themselves (BP, Esso, etc) rather than hiring a 3rd party to do the chasing. The big chains will have their own department as drive-offs are pretty common. I also doubt they'd have waited 6 months to do so.


Their blog says that after 2 years of operating, they've managed to reclaim £4,000 for their clients, so they are pretty small fish anyway. Of course, if you genuinely did drive off, I'd go and sort it with the station.

Strider590

Looks like a dodgy debt collection type afair, run by one man band Alan James Dowley
Same chap has a number of failed businesses to his name including some sort of travel agency.

BeenThroughItAll

Threaten to take them to court and I reckon they’ll drop it like a hot rock. Their accounts suggest they simply couldn’t afford it.

Money_maker

Surely you would know for sure if you have ever visited this petrol station - particularly in the last 5 months?

GilesATFC

of course, but when you get a letter telling you that you drove off from a petrol station which is pretty local you do start to doubt yourself, thanks for your input.


Thanks for all the sensible replies, i'm going to ignore it & as suggested maybe pop it into the local nick to maybe help prevent others from being scammed by this person. :beer:

cb1979

Herzlos wrote: »

Ditto. Registered address looks like an old folks home, definitely residential..

Yes if you look at the contact details on their website and put the address in to google maps and view the image you can clearly see the residents only parking area

elverson

Looks like a scam. I made a dummy payment of £0.01 and at no point did it ask for an invoice number or any details other than the car reg.

Car_54

Penalty Charge Notice? Criminal proceedings?

No, not a scam. No way. Honest ...