Global Shares

Daka_2

I’ve had a few requests for details of how to set about making a claim. What follows does not constitute any legal advice or indeed any professional advice. Nor can I guarantee success. However, I will gladly share what I have learnt. I may have to spread the details over several postings.

·Warning – this is a long process and it will take several months. Do not expect Global Shares (GS) to cooperate. In fact do not expect them to even respond to your complaint or take your calls. But this is in your favour - as you will see later
·Contact Trading Standards (0845 4040 506) for general advice about going about making a claim – worthwhile for the moral support alone!
·Hopefully you bought using a credit card – in which case can also hold the Credit Card Company (CCC) jointly liable under Section 75 of The Consumer Credit Act 1974. Although you may not take action against the CCC immediately, warn them that your are looking for a refund of whatever you paid. Don’t go in heavy handed.
·Ask the CCC if they will suspend payment on the amount or assist getting your money back from GS. Ask them to write to GS on your behalf. GS have a tendency to ignore complaints and will probably not even reply to the CCC – keep note of any communication the CCC has with GS
·But your best bet is to get a judgement against Global Shares (GS) first, and then if they do not pay you can chase the CCC.
·The stance I took was that the product and services provided by Global Shares Ltd, breach the Sales of Goods Act 1979 and also the Misrepresentation Act 1967. The goods and services provided were not as described and Global Shares misled me as to what the product was capable of. Global Shares made many representations both verbally (as part of the sales process) and also in the sales literature. I relied on these representations in deciding to purchase this product. Global Shares made claims that were either misleading or simply untrue.
·Have you still got the Glossy brochure they sent you? And the User guide that came with the disk? Get hold of any letters they sent you – look for the one that came with the disk. If is the same one as I got it will have a comment like - “the price includes not only the software package but full ongoing support and program updates for life”. This is important for one of the claims.
·Think about why you are dissatisfied by the product – they may not exactly my reasons. In a later posting I will detail the claims I made.
·In order to build your case you need to keep track of any communications with GS. Send letters by registered mail so you can show you tried to contact them. Keep a diary of telephone calls. In fact make as many calls as you can using a number that has itemised billing so that you can show that you have tried to contact them.
·In the first instance you do not have to tell them your precise claim details. First you need to put their customer service to the test. This will help you build up your claim. If you read the Glossy Brochure they sent you on p10 and p19 they promise exceptional customer service as part of the product that you bought. If they do not provide this you have a compliant.
·Look through the brochure and think back to anything else they promised. Ask for customer service help for questions like:
·Can you provide me evidence of your claims in your brochure like:
· “years of proven performance”
· “tested the program on major stock exchanges around the world”
·“The power of the program has been confirmed time and time again”
·“Our programme has been tried, tested and proven to generate amazing profits”.
·What parameter (risk, points etc as in the user guide) settings did you use to achieve the published performance? So that I can copy it.
·What parameter setting should I use for the trading in this Credit Crunch?
·You claim on 10 of the literature claims, “The disk itself can be used to authenticate the figures for the graph”. How can I authenticate this performance?
·There is a further claim on page 10, “This is merely an accurate simulation of the software’s trading figures over 24 months. Had the factual information been opted for, this would have been the result”. How did you do this simulation? Did you apply your rules consistently? Can I replicate this simulation with the product you have sold me? Why not?

·These are just example questions – you can think of some of your own. Spread the questions out over several calls. When they stop retuning your calls. Continue calling them. Try twice a week. MUST keep a track of your calls and when they stopped returning your calls. You want to demonstrate they stopped giving the customer support you paid for.
·After a couple of calls put the questions in writing - registered mail. Give them 5-7 workings days to respond. Then send another letter and maybe even a third. You want to demonstrate they stopped giving the customer support you paid for. In the unlikely event they do respond - was their response saisfactory? Can you use the product as you expected?
·Once you have shown a pattern – ie lack of response. Write to them saying you want a full refund otherwise you will initiate a small claims procedure via the county court. If no response then…
·Start the small claims process. Go to www.moneyclaim.gov.uk. Follow the instructions. At this stage only name GS as a defendant - do not name your CCC as a defendant. You now have to wait. If you are lucky GS will not even bother to respond in which case you should get a judgement against them. (it is best to chase the CCC after you have tried to get your money back from GS)



This is Post 1 - More posts to follow.

Let me know if this is helpful or not. Ask questions. I will post more info when I get the time. Good luck.

gustavo1

Dear Daka,

Thank you for taking the time to post this information, I really appreciate it. I have already sent a letter by recorded delivery to GSL requesting that they either help me to make the returns they claimed I would make or give me my money back. As expected I have not had a reply in 10 days. I have contacted Trading Standards and sent them copies of the brochure that was sent to me and all subsequent documentation. I will follow your advice from now on. Trading Standards asked me if GSL gave me a cooling off period (which they didn't and isn't on any of their documents) and said that this was illegal and could be used against them. What are your thoughts on this? I look forward to your next instalment.

Daka_2

Gustav,

Happy to help. I had not thought about the cooling off period. It is worth keeping this to one side if you get to the point where you have to prepare court papers.

I like to play it safe - so I would now call them a couple of times requesting customer support. I'm sure you have some questions to ask them. Make sure they understand that you are not happy with either the product or their support. If they sense you have a complaint they will probalby not return your calls. Which is oddly what you want to strengthen your case.

Keep a track of phone calls and letters.

If they do not respond you can reasonably start the claims process - use teh web url I gave in my last post. They have 28 days to respond to the court.

BTW I am assuming your bought this with a credit card. So although you are trying to get a judgement against GSL they have the ultimate weapon of simply ignoring the judgement. At this point you can use the judgement to request a refund from the credit card company.

Good luck.

NOTE : This does not constitute legal or professional advice.

gustavo1

Many Thanks Daka,

I will follow your advice.

GSL also pointed me to The Stock Market Association website which claimed they had won the award for best private investor software. On reflection this website looks very dubious. I'm getting Trading Standards to look into it. It may be that this could also be used against them.

If you have time to post any additional information it would be much appreciated

deano1964

Daka
THANK YOU SO MUCH Daka. I had written to Global Shares & to my Credit Card company. I had just gotten a no-go letter back from the Credit Card so was just about to give up.
Thanks again and look forward to more information.

Brilliant, you made my day, week & probably year!!!

Daka_2

Gustav, Deano,

Sorry I've not replied - I've been busy lately.

Gustav - If you can demonstrate that the award was misleading or indeed false - keep that to one side because you can use it in your claim.

Deano - To be honest with you you've made my day. I got so worked up chasing GSL that helping others to nail them makes me feel good!!

I bet you went through the same emotions that I did.

When you say the CCC gave a no-go what did they actually say?. If you bought the product with credit card you can hold the CCC jointly liable under Section 75 of The Consumer Credit Act 1974. First you have to demonstrate that GSL have case to answer to. Then get a judgement against them. If GSL still do not pay - then you can chase the CCC.

In my next post I will outline the small claims process.

See you soon,

Daka

Daka_2

What follows does not constitute any legal advice or indeed any professional advice. Nor can I guarantee success.

This is Post 2.

Summary - so far you have tried to get GSL to respond to your complaints and requests for customer support -which you have paid for. You've sent them letters (registered) and you kept a track of calls you have made.

Once you feel confident that you have given them an opportunity to respond to your requests and they have failed - you need to start off the Small claims process.

Use the link here www.moneyclaim.gov.uk to start it off. At this stage only name GSL as the defendent - no need to include the CCC at this stage.

Warning there is a court fee of £60 but you can claim that back if you win the case.

The advanatage of the small claims process is that GSL cannot demand legal costs from you if you lose (let's hope it won't come to that). Equally so you can only claim for the amount you paid and court fees - not your lost time or your legal fees (if you engage a solictor).

It would be a good idea to warn your credit card company that you are seeking to reclaim the cost of the product.

When you complete the small claims form you have very little space to describe your compliant. Try something like this....
"the product and services provided by Global Shares Ltd, breach the Sales of Goods Act 1979 and also the Misrepresentation Act 1967. The goods and services provided were not as described and Global Shares misled me as to what the product was capable of. Global Shares made many representations both verbally (as part of the sales process) and also in the sales literature. I relied on these representations in deciding to purchase this product. Global Shares made claims that were either misleading or simply untrue."


Now GSL have 28 days to respond to the court. If they do not you can get a summary judgement agianst them.

Then you have to give them time pay up.

If they do not then you chase the CCC under Section 75 of The Consumer Credit Act 1974.

If for whatever reason you do not get a summary judgement (say because GSL replied saying that they will challenge the claim) then we move into the next where you prepare for a court hearing.

More of this in the next Post

Daka

stuart_r

I eventually after many letters and phone calls decided to try and obtain a re-fund via the courts, I completed the online application and it may come as no surprise to hear that GSL never replied to the court and the judgment was found in my favor.

A warrant was issued and passed to Woolwich Court for serving on GSL, surprise surprise they are not at the address provided, I then went to the company register and obtained all the company information, this has been sent to the bailiffs office at Woolwich court, I have written and phone Woolwich on many occasions and have never had a reply, they seem as bad as GSL (Joke).

Anyway even allowing for the fact that I have a warrant out against GSL I am still no nearer getting the refund, but I will keep trying, if anyone wants the information I have received from companies house on GSL please send me a email direct to [EMAIL="smitchyboy@aol.com"]smitchyboy@aol.com[/EMAIL] and I will be happy to send it on, my belief is if enough people go via the court we can get back at GSL

gustavo1

Dear Daka,

Thank you for taking the time to post this information, it is much appreciated and I look forward to your next instalment.

Is it worth trying to get the money from the Credit Card Company first? If I get a judgement against GSL through the small claims court won't the CCC just say that GSL are legally bound to pay you the money - you need to get payment from them?

I would be interested to know your thoughts on this.

Daka_2

Gustav

You can try to get the refund from the CCC - I do advise you to notify them that you have a complaint in the first place.

But the CCC will simply say that you have to try to first resolve this with GSL. I cannot speak for every CCC - but you could try to demonstrate to them that you have complained to GSL and have a record of phone calls and letters. They may (??) be sympathetic.

There is no harm in trying.

If you are asking - why don't we name the CCC in the complaint we are bringing to the small claims court using the online service?

Then I can only speak from my experience - basically GSL will probably not bother to respond but the CCC will put in a standard defence of "there is no breach of contract and the claimant has not offered enough evidence" (or something like that).

As soon as they do put in any defence - the court will not try to resolve this online and will switch to court proceedings. Which means you have to put in a much more detailed claim.

Also in my court appearance the judge basically said that I should have just gone for just GSL in the first place.

The strategy I am proposing is
1 - try to ask the CCC if they will refund you
2 - make a claim against GSL - they will probably not bother to respond
3 - Get a judgement against GSL
4 - Give them one last chance to pay up
5 - Then go to the CCC with the judgement and proof that you have tried to get the money from GSL. Hold them jointly liable under Section 75 of The Consumer Credit Act 1974.

As I said I can’t guarantee success – but only offer you what I have learned.

Good luck