Forrester UK Holdings LLC review: Debt collection problems 68

We have had similar problems with the same company and they constantly annoy you with automated telephone conversations where you eventually speak to some American call centre nurd.
Even if you tell him to stick his company where the sun doesn't shine or that if you get your hands on him you'll make sure he cannot father children, he will always say 'well have a nice day sir'.

The UK doesn't need these idiots operating in our arena and I wish they would clear off to New York or even better Bagdad. At least they won't get the opportunity to say have a nice day sir over there when threatened with physical violence.

We have had exactly the same problem, very frustrating and upsetting but now quite serious as despite numerous phone calls and letters to the company, to which we have received no reply, the latest letter says they are serving an order aginst our address. we have now had to refer the amtter to our solicitor. Who will pay these costs? The company does not seem able to understand or accept that we are not the people who took out thye contract and despite us supplying the forawrding address and telephone number of the previous owners of the business they are not contacting them there.
we seem powerless to resolve tis issue. What can we do? we do not want this debt against our credit rating on the address which is what our solicitor has said will happen!

I too have had a letter demanding nearly a thousand pounds.I am not going to phone their number or bother contacting them. Their letter is off to the Tranding Standards.

I have also got problems with this bunch, I had a previous contract with Hypercom Europe which I cancelled over two years ago. Forester UK took over that company and say they can find no record of cancellation and will continue to bill me. In spite of letters and phone calls they have said they will keep phoning me (almost a call every week) until I submit to their bludgeoning. They apparantly do not wish to take the matter to court (as suggested by me over two years ago) preferring a route of harassing myself and all these other complainants.

This company have been taking money from me by direct debit for four years. I closed due to ill health I they told me I was in debt to them. I now find they owe me £900.00. They will not answer any letters, when I phone them they are a waste of time. I am contacting trading standards today. Has anyone any advice to offer please?

I also have problems with this company. my original contract was with hypercom.
I ordered an upgrade machine ( Aug 2007)which they never delivered. Nov 2007 i canceled with them, they accepted yet they still call every day chasing me for rentals!
Jan 2008 a machine turned up! After i canceled with them. they are a nightmare i also suggested to them to hand the case to there legal department ( if it even exsists) yet they will not but choose to harrass me every day plus ending the call ' have a nice day' even after many rows with them. As for the automated calls i have had thousands of them cheeky gits want you to call them... the cheek! I just hang up now. I sought advice via trading standards...still on-going. if it continues i will pursue them no matter what cost as they should not be allowed to get away with it! I will Fight till the end!
i sent the machine back to the UK address it got returned to me May 6th.

It looks like we are all going through the same ordeal with this bunch of half-wits. I have told them I want to meet them in court, to have my satisfaction but they still keep harassing me and adding too a fictitious bill I am running up with them. If I do manage to get them into a court room, can I use everyone's comments on this website so the judge can see what we are up against.

Thanks

Oh my god, it seems like everyone are going through this, at least im not the only one
originally with Hypercom, i terminated, when forrester took over and increased charges- i sent letters etc,
then sent the damn machine back, only to get 10 automated calls a day, asking to return the call on an 08 number!
Then to get calls demanding i paid a termination fee and 3mths charges- of course i told them where to go, because i said my contract was with Hypercom- not them, and i certainly never signed anything, i told them it was unfair and unjust
I rang hypercom and explained, and asked how long my contract was.
they told me id been with them 7years, and after i think 2 or 3 or 4yrs it had expired anyway so it was ongoing after that, they told me to stand my ground and not pay- i suggest we just all say no, and go away NOT politely! good luck

We are having several similar problems also. Why don't we all get together to try and argue our cases as one. The fact that we can't speak to anybody who knows what they are talking about is the biggest problem.

Hi, Forrester LLC are one of the most useless companies I have ever had to deal with - you write to them recorded delivery otherwise they do not accept that they have received your letters and then they they say they have sent you letters that you never receive - the customer call centre staff are the most patronising people I have ever had the pleasure to deal with.They will not answer a direct question. How do these companies get away with it and why do UK companies such a Lloyds TSB allow there customers through the cardnet terminals to end up dealing with such a bunch of ###s?

Hi,

Well the problems with Forresters just seems to be building.
Amazed how many people have a problem, and that is only the ones who post comment.

I returned my terminal to them in July 2007, paid my 3 months and thought that was the end!

They first tried to charge me 'termination' fee, told them to get stuffed, then they told me I owed them 3 months, after arguing they accepted that I did not owe a penny, Hurray.

THEN they called me again saying I owed them 3 months rent, I told them I was told I owed nothing, gave them the name of the guy who told me this.

I was told he does not work there anymore and did not know what he was talking about, they then told me rent is in arrears and I owe.

Since then because I cancelled Direct Debit on day I sent machine back they have been billing me every 3 months for 2008 and no doubt will continue to do so.

Have written to them several times, no response.

In a week or so it is the 1st anniversary of me closing my account, I have a nice anniversary card ready to send to them!

Mike Hill Bristol

I have to join this forum to vent my frustration and incredulity at these complete ###s. Not only are they sending bills to me for over £500.00 but they are sending them in the name of a company I have never heard of.
I refuse to contact them or ring them.
They have contacted me twice in three weeks and to my joy I have contrived 2 responses that they have no answer to.

1) Sorry that person died on Monday and you are talking to their relative.
Please remove their name from your database.
2) Hold the line please I'll just go and see if the person you want is here... left them hanging for 27minutes last time, while I had my evening meal.

Just treat them with the contempt they are showing you - honestly it works.

Its time we started telling the yanks to go home...they're screwing our lives up enough already.

Mick in Northumberland

Forresters...go and get lost in America.

Yup - another one here - had a contract with Hypercom that I cancelled over 2 years ago. Had loads of hassling phonecalls and now finally a letter from a debit collection agency threatening to take me to court. They say they have a copy of a signed contract for 4 years - but my contract was with Hypercom, not those ###s at Forrester. I'm going to use the legal advice team I have with the FSB to try to deal with it.

Hi I am in the same situation as yourselves I am now being pursued by TNC Legal Services for a debit I dont owe are you being pursued by the same company?.
Any suggestions to help me get these people off my back would be appreciated.

Kevin in West Sussex

Wow I'm not alone getting hassle from Forrester. I had a terminal from Hypercom which was cancelled in Jan 2007. They told me then that i had to pay three months and a cancellation fee and wanted payment there and then. I told them i run a business and need an invoice before i can send payment. I would also like a copy of my contract clearly showing where i signed to agree to a cancellation fee. If all above board i would send them a cheque (approx £165). I never received any paperwork from them so it was forgotten about. Last week i received a demand letter from TNC Legal Services for £443.94. I refused to pay this and explained the above and still stated that unless i receive an invoice and a breakdown of costs nothing will be paid. How could i possibly now be owing them 3 times the original amount and why can they not just send me the information i need. I don't see why i should chase them so i'm leaving TNC to do as they wish. Would love to hear from anyone getting hassle from Forrester/TNC and how far they are prepared to go.

I'm now at the stage where I've received a notice of court action from Sloane Portland Assoc. on behalf of TNC for £264.40.

I've checked my contract and it was for 4 years, so I think I've got to just pay it. I hate doing this but it's not worth the risk of a much higher bill when it goes to court and then a CCJ against the business.

Bugger - I hate Forrester, but legally I don't think I have a leg to stand on.

Why don't you have a leg to stand on? Please note that Sloane Portland Associates are just another desk at TNC. Ignore the posh title. A letter from then threatening court action is just that - another threatening letter.

TNC collect debt for Forrester UK Holdings on a no fee basis and keep a slice of anything collected. They send out lots of threatening letters in the hope some will pay but will not go through with court action unless Forrester pay them a fee to do so. The threat of court action is completely empty since Forrester won't pay TNC the fee to do it. In any event, costs can only be added if awarded by the court, not arbitrarily by TNC.

I've Googled Forrester UK Holdings and they don't have any kind of presence in the UK. I've checked with Companies House and they aren't known there either. I believe Forrester UK Holdings are an off-shore based company with dubious ethical practice.

I would recommend ignoring them.

I am so glad I came across this internet page as I now realize its not just me and my company that is suffering from this bunch of cowboys. Because that is exactly how Forrester Holdings is behaving. A completely dysfunctional band of hopeless idiots ! Countless phone calls from them ( sometimes ten at a time at night )Weekly letter threatening a ton of stuff. Lloyds TSB are trying to help here, but finding it hard. The Yanks just don't seem to understand that payment has been sent together with their machine. Unfortunately, I fear that these US ### will continue to blindly go lemming like at me untill I pay them what they seem to think is due. And then they will just continue to bill me for the non existent equipment until the end of time. Others be warned here ! Go and get a card processing machine from STREAMLINE. Less hassle and cheaper too.

Please see my comments on other Forrester complaints page. I am getting fed up with having to send recorded delivery letters to them which means I have to close the shop for a minimum of an hour as the nearest post office is 30 mins away and I do not have any staff to cover. Even then I never get a reply to my letters only computer generated demands. According the last demand they say this agreement must remain current at all times. How can this be possible when it was cancelled in November 2007 and after 9 months they finally admitted that they had received the equipment? I presume the next thing will be a demand from their collection agency.

As they are not registered in this country trading standards say they cannot do anything. Surely as they are operating a centre in Middlesex they must come under our laws.

I think I must agree with Annette Black and Martyn Edwards. Ignoring them might do some good, but if they appoint a debt collection agency, then there's the question of how to deal with them. Going to Court would be tough, but would hopefully work as the judge would be on our side. Basically, it looks like Forrester are a dubious of-shore company who work in a very unethical way. A little bit like a rottweiler dog or pit bull. Big mouths and brawn, but no reasoning. I don't feel as if I.ve been hard on these clowns as they deserve it. People should know what they are letting themselves in for when they sign up for one of their card terminals as they will have grief forever. Or so it seems. It would also be nice if Forrester would post reply to these posts.

Don't give up the fight! We are in same boat and currently paid up the four year contract and returned equipment by hand to Hypercom. But still we are receiving invoice demands for quarterly total of hire! Also, we are getting the numerous automated calls where no one speaks etc.

I have contacted Cardnet to assist and a lawyer.

I will not be quitting!

OK...I've posted some stuff in the past concerning the illegal activities of Forrester UK holdings and their fraudulent demands for money from people who have terminated their contracts.
1.) The uk address listed in the demands in middlesex is actually a company called International Bonded couriers. This company collects and sends mail to other companies including forrester. On speaking with them this morning they admitted that the serious fraud squad from the police had visited them recently wanting to know everything they knew about forrester. Their number is [protected]. The manager is a Mr.Bob kinley.The mail recieved from people like you and me who write to forrester at this address is forwarded to a mail box in america. This all sounds very fishy now and gives hope that all the demands that we have all been getting should stop with a bit of luck. My Lloyds TSB manager is writing to them as well asking all communication to stop immediately. The US side of forrester seems to be run from an off-shore company, probably based in bermuda. It's all very secret and Anonymous. It should be good news really to all who are worried about all this stuuf coming from the crooks who are Forrester UK Holdings.

All as I can say is "Ditto".
I am in the early stages of my dispute with Forresters UK .
I can only add my complaint to this long list and offer my support.
I am willing to join in with any joint action that may result from these posts.
Exposure is generally the best form of action in situations like this. Any sugestions anyone? Watchdog BBC is back in October.

I have done a search for this company on the companies house website but nothing comes up?

Has anyone else got details of this company such as company registration info, registered offices? There latest invoice seems to be devoid of contact info, all there is is a stockley close address and an 08-[protected] phone number so God only knows where that may be based...

We will probably find they too are part of the great Lloyds TSB scammers society.

25 Gresham Street registered offices are all Lloyds TSB companies so see what you can find out!

Anyone up for a joint complaint to the court?
Not sure how we'd go about it but hopefully one of you will have a good idea.

If not, lets see advice via Consumer Action website...UNITED WE COULD STAND AGAINST THESE CHARLATANS

I have written a letter to them sent via recorded delivery stating that every time I receive a demand from them for a fraudulent account, I am billing them 250.00 for my time. The only time I will not bill them, is when they agree to meet me in the small claims court. I suggest that you all start doing the same. If they don't pay up you can chase them through the courts and have them meet you at your local office. The small claims court looks at who is the smallest company, so you will have the preference as to which court they come too.

If you join the FSB, we could all fight them through this. I have taken advise from the FSB's free legal team which has been invaluable.

Let's all help each other.

Regards

David B

Can I add my voice to this shameful saga.
We run a distribution company and were approached by First Data last November. First Data said they were now the Lloyds-TSB approved supplier of terminals. Did we know we were out of contract, and would we like to upgrade our terminal and use them?
As Forrester had tried to double bill us in August, I decided that it was a good idea. First Data even sent us the word doc template. We duly sent the letter. Due to my mothers death 15 days later the terminal got left on the shelf till late january. We ensured we had tracking. Since that time we have bills escalating for one months lease that I argued about. The bills then escalated to 2 months, and now they seem to have fixed on the £120 termination fee plus one months rental. (even though we were out of contract!) Well I assume that is what the makes up their charges, as we also have no documents or Invoices to support their claim. I too get constant time wasting calls.
I have written and returned the bills every month for the last 3 months, finally requesting a response. No response has been received other than the calls and the statements demanding money.
There are lots of us all here, what can be done collectively?

I hired a terminal with Merchant plus/ Hypercom years ago then I noticesd that my bank statements showed the name Forrester holdings so I assumed there had been a takeover, then recently I recieved numerous invitationsa to upgrade from Merchant plus again eventually I did only to find out they apparently are not the same company and now I have to inform forresters that I no longer want therir machine. I am in touch with FSB legal dept.

Hi everyone,

I've had enough of this company and am now baiting and abusing them.
Tell me have ANY of you ever been taken to court by them.
From reading the above it seems not. If that is the case I will keep on abusing them

I got so sick of the phone calls earlier this year (2008) ( I closed my account with Hypercom in 2006 !) I went exdirectory. I tried to return calls made EVERY DAY by the American call centre but I only got voice mail.

Now the legal (or illegal) notices have started coming in the post from a debt collecting agency. I called the number and had a very unpleasant guy tell me I was being taken to court unless I paid at least 50 % of the £900 I owed by next week.

I said I don't owe any money - this is a mistake - I don't have the terminal and he said they would take me to court. Why should I pay what I don't owe! This is crazy. Who are these Forrester UK?

I have been really upset by this but I am not giving in. I am not paying money I do not owe.

I closed my business in Jan 2006 - everything was sorted out. Why am I being hounded in Nov 2008.

Should we all get together & stand against these crooks? There must be something we can do! This is bullying !

I just found a link with Northern Leasing Systems in the States - which seem even worse, if this is possible. They look to be one in the same.

Dear All, Comforting to see i'm not the only person being hounded by these clowns. My account with Hypercom/ Forrester ended 2 years ago when i changed banks and i still get upto 10 phone calls a day demanding money. They have been rude, arrogant and insulting on the phone. They also like to lie to you. One of their goons said he was calling from Middlesex, so i asked him to send me an invoice for the amount (this is normal legal practice for any company you owe money to!). Some dodgy invoice eventually arrived - from America. When i put this to the goon and asked him to explain why he was lying to me saying he was in England, he said they go back and forth from the States. Do they think we are stupid? My advice to all is not to pay these clowns 1 penny.

I have sent an email to Watchdog - I suggest everyone else does the same. National exposure on TV might do something to stop these conmen. Bullying of any kind can not be tolerated.

This company rang me this morning demanding £193:99 to be paid by credit card within two days. I rang Keith Bennet of Global Leasing, the company that informed me that I would not have to pay a penny for changing our system, he has advised me to ignore these demands and not pay any money to Forresters. The problem I have is that my company has an A1 credit rating and For the sake of this small sum I do not want to jeopodise it. However, I have been assured by Global Leasing that they will not pursue this claim in court, they will just threaten action. I have decided to with-hold payment and see what happens. If anyone out there is planning a mass libel action, count me in.

This company is a total pain, we are having the same problems as everyone else. The last time they phoned and asked why I was ignoring their letters and invoices I told them I didn't think it mattered because they ignore all my letters so I am just doing the same. She was rude and arrogant with me so I was the same back to her. They can keep wasting time writing and phoning if they like but they wont get anywhere with me. Next time she calls I'm going to tell her my legal advisor has told me not to converse with them and that they will receive a letter in due course. At least we all know they wont take us to court regardless of their threats. Dont be bullied by them.

I was shocked that so many people since my posting have the same probelm. i have also contacted watchdog today as Forrester have now issued me with a legal threat for me to pay up. They will not see a penny of my money i will fight and join anybody else who decides to fight them.

Hi
I am amazed at the amount of people complaining. We too are now in a battle with them same as everyone else and will be happy to join any action. It may help to know that as members of the FSB we took legal advice through them which was excellent. They also advised us to report Forrester to the Office of Fair Trading due to the harassment factor and illegal demands for money. We have done this citing the Forrester UK Holdings, 363 Stockley Close, West Drayton, Middlesex, UB7 9BL address. This has now got Trading Standards involved and we will be urging them to take action. So please I ask anyone else who is having problems to do the same, the more people who report them then hopefully Trading Standards will take action against Forrester and after all the more problems we can cause them the better.
You can contact the OFT on line and there is a free phone number.
I too will be writing to Watchdog . Companies like this need to be held to account!

Dear Everyone,

Us too, I’m afraid.

If you read this, contact the BBC’s Watchdog programme. It takes multiple complaints to trigger an investigation.

Lloyds TSB gave us no option but to lease our terminal from Hypercom.

Hypercom/Forrester UK Holdings LLC, are subsidiaries of Northern Leasing Systems Inc.

Check the web and see the avalanche of allegations against Northern Leasing in the US for fraud and harassment.

Northern Leasing is based at 132 West 31st Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Tel: [protected]; fax: [protected].

The most disgraceful and offensive call we have received so far came today, from Gasper Kewley (legal department). He claimed to be in West Drayton.

Vice-president of Sales and Marketing, Richard Hahn (richard.hahn@northernleasing.com) kindly confirmed that Mr. Kewley was in fact in New York (gasper.kewley@northernleasing.com).

I am sure both gentlemen would appreciate hearing from us all, now we know where they are.

So too, I am sure, would Chief Information Officer, Steven Bernadone (steven.bernadone@northernleasing.com), and CEO Jay Cohen (jay.cohen@northernleasing.com).

Those of you who were led into this by Lloyds TSB may also wish to pass on your thoughts to Eric Daniels, Chief Executive, Lloyds TSB, 25 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7HN. Fax: [protected].

Keep posting information on this excellent website as you get it. It is time to take the fight to the enemy.

Llewelyn ap Gerald

I received a letter from TNC Debt Collectors, Sloane Portland whoever today threatening me with Court action if I do not pay them within 7 days. Like all correspondents here, we honoured our contract, gave notice (after numerous telephone conversations content of which fell on deaf ears in New York, sent the (old obsolete) terminal back by courier but were still billed for rental for 2008/9 and not credited. Direct Debits have still been taken but as I cancelled, contra'd on my account. My correspondence to F Holdings has never been acknowledged in writing. I was warned by telephone by them in December that my case was being referred to their legal dept (TNC by any chance?) but I told them that they hadn't a case and were wasting their time . I have sent all copies of my letters contract to my "case worker" Melissa Harper at Sloane Portland today (by Recorded delivery) and have advised them that I will only correspond in writing via recorded delivery from them (as I cannot prove receipt of post otherwise) and will not accept telephone calls from anyone related to them. I will not pay them for a phantom debt and I will not be bullied and threatened by anyone. Please please DO NOT PAY THESE PEOPLE ( they will probably come back and ask for more if you do!) and do not be afraid of their empty threats - your case would not stand up in any UK court so it is impossible that it will go that far in any case. I too have put in a complaint to the OFT but I think that this is doing Lloyds bank no good at all and it is about time they took the case on for us. Why should we be intimidated by people who clearly work outside the law of the UK.

Thank goodness there is someone else out there – I thought I was on my own.

I have just about had enough of Forrester and so have my staff. We have all been reduced to tears over the last two years by the disgraceful, condescending arrogant attitude to which they speak to people, especially Gasper Kewley. I like many others cancelled my agreement within the four-year contract; this was done within two months of Forrester taking over Hypercom. I understood there would be a penalty to pay and I had no problems with that. The machine was packed up to send back but was misplaced. Phone calls were made to and from them and us and then………………the letters starting coming stating different amounts owed, some even 3 letters on the same day with all different amounts. The phone calls were abusive and I told them so. I even asked if they were recording these conversations to which they replied ‘yes’ so I told them what I thought of them, to make sure they could play it back and be sure of what I had said! I have two businesses and even let them contact me at either place to try to take the constant abusive phone calls away from my staff. I told the staff to put the phone down if they called (and this could be many, many times a day) but Forrester would call both premises during the early morning or evening so that they could leave a message. I have a Hair and Beauty Salon and a Training Centre and so either place was not very private to talk to them so I started to email and write letters. I sent different amounts of money because I really felt threatened as I was told he would keep contacting me until he got what was owed. I thought I was a professional person who is strong enough to run two businesses on her own, but how wrong I was. After dealing with Mr Kewley’s threats for most days in one week, I broke down and had to take time off.

I still received phone calls, just as bad as always but now had written communication for me to keep on file, probable Mr Gasper Kewley’s silliest move, as now I have his pathetic, badly spelt written correspondence. He has stated that he could do a deal with me like; if I pay this he will give a discount. I told him to get off my back and that I did not owe anything more. He had had enough payments and the machine plus the cancellation fee. Lloyds TSB even got involved with this company’s departments and Gasper Kewley by phone and letters. They could get nowhere with these people and agreed how abusive they are. This has been going on for two years and I had not heard from them for the last few weeks until today. I received recoded message from TNC with a court reference number. I did not know who they were but I called anyway. Oh for goodness sake not Forrester again! I think I am going to be taken to court. I have never had any debt against me in my life, but I have had enough of them and so have my staff.
I will go to court and fight them all the way. My staff and I are also considering taking action against Mr Kewley for bullying us on a regular basis.
I will help anyone out there and would appreciate any advice on what to do but I say do what you have to do Forrester even if it is through a debt collector.