Brtiannia Music and Film Club and Intrum Justitia

tobytops

During my second phone call to IJ I think I got the operator rattled a bit because she let slip that IJ don't send out evidence of debts for less than £50. I challenged this and said I wanted evidence. I'm not sure, but maybe IJ find it uneconomical to persue their claims once people start to demand evidence for smaller amounts.

jhluxton

My first letter to IJ was sent on Monday 12 in response to their first letter of November 1st. In this letter I requested that they comply with their obligations under the CCA.

My second letter went on Friday 16 in response to their application of a fee.
I repeated my request for CCA and objected in the strongest possible terms to the wording of their second letter.

I threatened them with the financial ombudsman, trading standards and a solicitor.

Not heard anything since.

Given that I sent the letters first class and my CCA request should have been with them on November 13 I would presume that by the end of the week the statutory 12 days for them to provide me with the information requested has lapsed.

I await the next few days and the Watchdog report with interest.

John

tobytops

Dear Kev,
Please don't get distressed about this. I strongly suggest you do not phone them as all they are interested in is are you going to pay and it seems you might find this difficult to deal with. If you are going to contact them do it by letter, if you give them your tel no they will pester you. Lots of us seem to have a demand for payment for a DVD sent out in May. Indeed Britannia Music & Film appear to have sent out a lot of copies of 'Happy Feet' I'm guessing many of us have received this despite either not being a member at that time, as is my case, or never having been a member. Certainly I suspect very few of us actually ordered it. I had a similar difficulty to you in that I wanted to resign my membership earlier this year. First I sent a letter to which I had no reply, then I had to phone the 'sales' line as the so called customer service line wasn't functioning. At this point a pleasant operator told me over the phone that he had closed my account. Then a few weeks later 'Happy Feet' arrives, well actualy they managed to send me two copies.
I sent these back with yet another note resigning. At least I have proof of posting returns. Like everyone else I heard nothing until a letter from Intrum demanding payment comes. Well, I'm not giving in to this, they use bullying tactics and the way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them.
I will see how Watchdog handles this, I know that they have interviewed some people for the show.
Remember we have rights here and should use them. IJ must provide evidence of the debt - if they don't and persist in asking for payment they are contravening the Office of Fair Trading guidelines on Debt Collection agencies. I recommend going to the Office of Fair Trading website and downloading the guidelines. If anyone thinks IJ have contravened these guidelines send in a complaint. Remember, Debt Collection agencies have to have a licence to operate and the Office of Fair Trading regulates those licences. There are rights under the Data Protection Act and anyone can ask a company for what data it holds on them for payment of a fee which I think I'm right in saying must not excced £10. Companies cannot refuse to do this.
Doing these things is expensive to IJ interms of the time and effort for them and completely negates any profit they make from trying to collect these small amounts. Getting angry with them is easy - getting even is immensely satifying.
Keep in touch Kev if you feel you need more support - you are not alone in trying to deal with these people.

alanclose

I got a reply after sending them one of the template letters posted a fortnight ago. they returned my £1 payment and said they couldn't supply me with a credit agreement as you don't sign one when joining Britannia. The letter said they had passed the account back to Britannia and I wouldn't hear from IJ again.

I am not sure this will be the end, Britannia may decide to try another debt collection agency but at least now I know how to deal with them.

Does anyone have a current contact address for Britannia?

jhluxton

Had two letters today from IJ repsonding to my two letters referred to earlier in this thread.

The first letter was dated November 21st "we have contacted our clients and will hold this matter in abayance whilst we await a reply"

The second dated 24th - they claim they are "unable to provide the information requested" under the CCA and have returned my cheque for the £1 fee.

They state "You agreed to the terms and conditions of the club and used the service appropriately. This means paying for items or returning them when recommendations have been sent or chosen from the club selection."

"In the light of the information contained in your letter, I can confirm that the above account has been returned to Britannia Music & Film and that you will receive no further telephone calls (have not had any - sounds like a stock letter!) or correspondence from Intrum Justitia in relation to this account. Any further enquiries you may have with regards to your requests, must be forwarded directly to Britannia Music & Film.

I'll wait and see what happens next. I don't even have a current contact address for Britannia.

John

Kev_UK

Hi again, just to let you all know that i called IJ the say after i ranted on this forum hehe, and i said i had proof that my account was closed and that i told them about me constanly emailing them and no replies what so ever, he did then went on to say to send letters of prove to their PO Box and i went on and said that i was going away Sunday and personally the address you sent letters too isnt a address that i live at much now but i read the letter that i emailed music and film and he later decided to close my account and that i didn't have to pay anything, and i asked if he could send a letter to prove this and he said he would, goes to show that i won this case although only taking his word for it that he did close account and is sending a letter out as companies seem to get away with lying like that orange are famous for it.

iamashoppingaddict

Well just watched it on watchdog - didn't say much really did it!! LOL

itsnever2lateisit?

truly.maddy.deeply wrote: »

Well just watched it on watchdog - didn't say much really did it!! LOL

IJ claim only 0.5% of the 17,000 have challenged them. Strange that a very high proportion of that half percent have found their way here:rolleyes:

KelvinFagan

A bit disappointing they did not tackle IJ as firm as they seem to tackle some companies, but I think they must be thanked for looking at IJ and Brittania on our behalf.

The legal chappie was pretty clear about the law being in our favour. I wish they had tackled harder IJ about the added 'admin' charge also, I dont think that got mentioned?

Kelvin

raymurf

I sent off this letter to IJ and immediately received my Postal Order back and they said I wouldn't be hearing from them again. I urge everyone to send it.

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

This is the letter Iwas thinking off. It asks for a copy of the signed credit agreement which they should have and provide. I would bet they don't have it. They need to provide it within 12+2 or else the account is in dispute and you don't provide it after another 30 days you don't have to pay them a bean unless they go to court to sort it.

Send it by recorded delivery so you can prove they recieved it with £1 as required by law. Obviously change details to suit you.

1 High Street,
Newtown,
Kent
R21 4RH

November 6, 2007

The Loan Company
Company House,
Church Street,
Newtown,
Kent,
R1 7HG

Account No: 4563210025897412

Dear Sir/Madam

With reference to the above agreement, we would be grateful if you would send us a copy of this credit agreement and a full breakdown of the account including any interest or charges applied.

We understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 [sections 77−79], we are entitled to receive a copy of any credit agreement and a statement of account on request.

We enclose a payment of £1 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

We understand a copy of any credit agreement along with a statement of account should be supplied within 12 working days.

We understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with the request for a copy of the agreement and statement of account under these sections of the Act.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully




Mr A N Other

Hopefully someone with more experiance will be along soon to help.