| Phoenix Business Agents |
| Phoenix Business Agents Ltd Phoenix Business Agents Ltd Scam Artists London, United Kingdom Internet |
| 24th of Jan, 2011 by User908435 |
I was approached by one of the directors of Phoenix Business agents ltd in September 2009 to sell my 3 shops, cafe/bakerysituated in NW London. I was in a state as my father was not well and I had to travel abroad. He told me that he just sold similar business and that he has customers looking for the same type of business. I told him I was not interested as because of the recession I could not afford to pay any money upfront. He mentioned to me there is a cost to sell each business but I precise to him that I can't afford it unless he agrees that we will pay only if the business is sold. I even wrote "no marketing fee" on each contract which he asked me to sign and he took with him. He confrimed with me in the event I want to pull out of the contract, I just have to give one month notice in writing and there is no other catch. He seemed honest and very friendly. I was away when he came to take photos of each shop.
In June 2010, I received a call from a debt collector stating that I owe over 6000 and I need to make payment immediately or they will be taking me to court etc. He was very forceful, I told him I don't owe anybody and who his client is, then ne mentioned Phoneix Business agent Ltd. To my surprise I told him that I don't owe them any money as they are my agent trying to sell my 3 businesses and neither have they invoiced me any outstanding money due to them as they have not sold any of my businesses.
I was so upset as I am working hard and getting up at 2am to go to work till 6pm everyday. I put the phone down on him and came home to phone Phoenix Business Agents. I spoke to 3 different person in their office and no one could justify about the call from debt collector and promised me that one of their directors will call me. I waited nearly 10 days and was no phone call from them.
I decided to call their office and managed to speak to the same person that had come to see me. I explained the whole situation to him and he told me that it was a mistake from their accounts dept and was very unappologetic. I also mentioned to him that prior to the debt collector's phone call another one of their agents had called me to say that she was in my cafe and that she has customer who is looking for this kind of Business and if I would consider selling. I told her bluntly that I already have an agent marketing the sale of my businesses. To my curiosity I asked her which company she works for, and to my astonishment she replied Phoenix Business ltd. I told her to go and check her records and she will find that they are representing me already. At this time I was still being pestered by their debt collectors.
Since I was unhappy with their response regarding these matter I decided to give one month notice in writing detailing my unsatisfaction towards the way they have handled this complaint. And requested a written response from them regarding the one month notice. I sent the letter by registered post on 20th of June 2010.
We never received any correspondence from Phoenix except they were contacting me suddenly to arrange viewing for the businesses and I mentioned to them about the notice and they said they are not aware. After a few calls to arrange viewing again I mentioned to them that in my letter I requested that they don't represent me anymore and then they told me that they have the notice in one of their files and as there is still a month on the notice period they can arrange viewing which I accepted as my intention was to sell my businesses and respected the verbal agreement I had with them.
The only official response I got from them regarding my letter of termination dated 20th of June 2010 was in 18th of August 2010 which they stated that I need to pay over 10000 to them immediately as I have not completed the one year contract with them as stipulated in their contract clauses which I never saw or read as we agreed no marketing fee and one month pull out notice in writing and commision of 6000 in the event of sales.
I wrote to them to say about the agreement we had and their response was the contract clause 4 and 12 says you have to pay 3000 if you leave before one year so 9000 for my 3 shops plus vat.
They have been telling me they have been sending me outstanding balance per shops in June which I never received. Since then I have been contacted by their debt collectors almost everyday.
They have now agreed with my solicitor to accept half the amount. I do not want to pay them a penny as I feel I have been scammed. I am glad to have found that there are other vulnerable people who have been scammed by these people. If anyone can help me on this I will really appreciate it.
We would like to let other people be aware of Phoenix Business Agent Ltd tactics and scam. I hope if there are other people in the same situation they would come forward and we can all fight them and shame them.
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yes indeed i have the same problem along with 7 other people/companys that are useing phoenix to sell forthem, total scam from start to finnish, miss-sold contracts and lies from them in every way, they want 10.000 from somepeople and more !!! we need to take them on as a group !! we all need help on this please !!! how do we all make contact !
Thanks
Andy |
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I am not sure how we can get in touch to exchange information but I think it would be great if some how we could get in touch and see what we all can do legally. I have an aol account which may be we can get in touch by.
Regards
ickynut |
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| I hav another similar story and I can confirm that I too hav been fooled and scammed by them in a very professional way, pls advise if u hav planned something, I suggest we put up a claim against them in a small claims court and represent ourselves collectively, they need to be taught a lesson for sure |
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| I have has the same, i would like to ask has anyone got in touch with BBC Watchdog? or how far did anyone get trying to teach them a lesson??? |
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Hi everyone, may be we can get in touch by emailing to [email protected] and take our case into court and bbc, I have been trying to find people but unfortunately I can't find any names. Please email me and may be we can all do something and bring phoenix business agents in Oxford to halt. Please email me.
thanks
icky |
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| I have a full defence submission against this company which will be tested in court at the end of the month. The basis of the defence uses the unfair contract terms guidance produced by the OFT. I can assure everyone that the contract fails on so many points it will be hard to enforce. Have also issued a counter claim against this company for initial payments etc. email [email protected] |
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| i am also a victim of this disgusting disreputable company i am very worried after receiving a invoice from their credit company for 4, 500 pounds for not selling my florist business my email address is [email protected] |
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Just a quick update - This company operate as a franchise around the UK. So everyone will be dealing with a separate franchise of the Phoenix model. The contracts vary and do not meet the requirements of the OFT rules on consumer contracts. This company are reliant on the consumers never coming together to damage their business. Its time that victims and anyone having dealt with these franchises come together to raise a complaint to the OFT.
I am not a business owner and work in the charitable sector as an advice worker. I spend a lot of time in the County Court. As I have not assets I have nothing to worry about from legal action. If you would like to send me an email address I can wait until we have a large enough group and then I can raise a formal OFT complaint. I have posted on www.consumeractiongroup.com and will also look at creating a facebook web page etc. The greater the web prescence the easier it will be for other owners to find advice on this companies methods. email [email protected] |
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Hi cagingthephoenix & others
Having read yours and others comments you need to recognise that people are dealing with individual franchise agents and therefore they may be operating outside of the terms of agreement of the actual franchise owners. If you have an issue it would be advisable to write to the Head Office to raise issues about indivual agents for Phoenix. McDonalds is a franchise and you may get a bad meal in one of their outlets but they are all individual holders and can and do offer differing levels of service. In a recent court hearing the issue of the charge for terminating the contract was dealt with. At no point did the judge indicate that the contract was unfair and in fact made it clear that both parties as businesses were on an equal footing and agreed to contract terms set out in writing regardless of what might or might not have been said verbally. However the judge did conclude that the charge for terminating the contract was not a genuine pre estimate of loss and therefore a penalty. A penalty charge is not enforceable in law and therefore the case brought by the Phoenix Agent was dismissed. The advice for everyone should be "ensure you read and understand a contract before signing" |
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Steve,
I have also been duped but want to know how to stop this happening, it seems like legal theft after misleading statements get you to sign the contract. Anyone want to get in touch [email protected] |
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| We used Phoenix Business Agents in Oxford to sell our business back in March 2010. As our lease is up in July 2012 we decided to terminate our contract with them after just over 2 years. We never saw a buyer in all that time. Phoenix demanded a management fee of £3000 stating clause's 12 and 4, We managed to get this down to £1250 but we would like to add our voice to this as we know after taking advice we shouldn't have had to pay a penny. [email protected] |
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| I NEVER BELIEVED IN LOVE SPELLS UNTIL I MET THIS WORLD'S TOP SPELL CASTER. HE IS REALLY POWERFUL AND COULD HELP CAST SPELLS TO BRING BACK ONE'S GONE, LOST, MISBEHAV ING LOVER AND MAGIC MONEY SPELL OR SPELL FOR A GOOD JOB.I'M NOW HAPPY & A LIVING TESTIMONY COS THE WOMAN I HAD WANTED TO MARRY LEFT ME 2 WEEKS BEFORE OUR WEDDING AND MY LIFE WAS UPSIDE DOWN COS OUR RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN ON FOR 2YEARS... I REALLY LOVED HIM, BUT HIS MOTHER WAS AGAINST US AND HE HAD NO GOOD PAYING JOB. SO WHEN I MET THIS SPELL CASTER, I TOLD HIM WHAT HAPPENED AND EXPLAINED THE SITUATION OF THINGS TO HIM..AT FIRST I WAS UNDECIDED, SKEPTICA L AND DOUBTFUL, BUT I JUST GAVE IT A TRY. AND IN 7 DAYS WHEN I RETURNED TO USA, MY GIRLFRIEND(NOW WIFE) CALLED ME BY HERSELF AND CAME TO ME APOLOGIZING THAT EVERYTHING HAD BEEN SETTLED WITH HIS MOM AND FAMILY AND SHE GOT A NEW JOB INTERVIEW SO WE SHOULD GET MARRIED..I DIDN'T BELIEVE IT COS THE SPELL CASTER ONLY ASKED FOR MY NAME AND MY GIRLFRIENDS NAME AND ALL I WANTED HIM TO DO... WELL WE ARE HAPPILY MARRIED NOW AND WE ARE EXPECTING OUR LITTLE KID, AND MY WIFE ALSO GOT THE NEW JOB AND OUR LIVES BECAME MUCH BETTER. IN CASE ANYONE NEEDS THE SPELL CASTER FOR SOME HELP, HIS EMAIL ADDRESS IS; [email protected] ...HOPE HE HELPS YOU OUT DONT MISS OUT YOUR OPPORTUNITY |
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I too have been caught by these tricksters, Was told no sale no fee, Oly had to give them 6 month to try and sell at the end of this time I gave them notice that they no longer act for me. Which apparently triggers a £3000 invoice.
Have responded that I was specifically told that no cale no fee and if not sold in 6 months i could cancel at no fee am awaiting a response |
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We were approached by an agent of Phoenix wanting to market our Tea Rooms. He explained that for a refundable fee of £500 they would market our Business for a minimum period of 6 months. After this period, if the Business was not sold, we could either carry on, or terminate the contract, and get a refund of the £500. No mention was made of any £3000 'additional fee' until I came to sign the contract. At this point I spotted the clause and asked the agent was this was all about. He explained it was only payable if we terminated the contract prior to 26 weeks, or failed to sell the Business if an offer was made at the full asking price - all of which was fine with us.
After 7 months and no viewings or apparent interest, I called them to ask what was happening and to ask if they could defer sending any prospective buyers during August as we would be busy. They said, no we can't do that, you'll need to terminate the contract. I said, but if I do that you'll need to refund my £500 fee, to which they said, yes, that's correct, no problem ...
Then sent me a bill for £3000, and gave me 3 working days to do so. That was last Friday.
Today they had the audacity to ring me all sweetness and light to ask if I was ready to make payment !
I said, no, if you want to discuss it further it will be via my solicitor, and that's where we are at present.
Until today, I had no idea that that I wasn't alone in my predicament. Now I am aware, and having got confirmation from my solicitor that their contarct is unenforceable on several counts, I will be formally writing to them declining payment and requesting my original £500 back.
These people need to be stopped, how have they not been put out of business yet ?
Paul |
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| Will be interested to see what response you get Paul, as I'm in the same situation having been conned and pressured into a contract with them. Trying to work out what to do next. |
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Has anyone reported this compant to Trading Standards or the OFT?
I've contacted TS about them today and am awaiting a reply. The more people that contact them, the more likely they are to do something about them and their underhand practices. |
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| I've set up a website to warn people about this company and also to gather evidence against them. Please visit http://www.phoenixcomplaints.co.uk/ and submit your story to help others |
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Conned many more obtained a county court judgement against myself even though i had moved 9 months before and the first i knew about this scam was over 4 years later when i was served papers via a private
detective for £5300 even though c a b office have told them i am broke and living on benefits they are demanding my house.
Total scum be aware he is a convicted fraudster and money launderer having been convicted by oxford trading standards and fined £3000, 00 plus nine month suspended sentence running another company
once again this company seem to run a charmed life considering the director boasts of dealing with drug
dealers and money launderers. |
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My husband and I have also had dealings with Phoenix and their very clever, underhand tactics!
We would very much like to know the situation to date in the fight to put a stop to what can only be described as scamming! Has the complaints group managed to move forward with anything as a whole? If so if sombody would kindly get back to us and let us know, we would be very grateful. |
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hi guys
I am about to go in to a legal battle with this company and i am not scared to show up in court to tell the judge my side of the story even if it costs me more then double the Fee they are claiming for. even if you dont want to get involved but you are invited to watch then spend some money on solicitors, barrister fees.
reading the above cases, they do exactly what most people have described, they invite them selves over, tell you that they can sell you business for X amount (really high figure) suggested by them and in no time.
except in my case i told them i am already using other Agents and i am not prepared to pay them if i sell it thought some one else. and i only want HALF of what they think they can get.
BUT
it looks like the contract is only written for them to benefit in every way no matter what, there is some clause or the other would result them sending you a bill. even having been very careful I did advised
them i am not going to pay a penny should i sell it via other agents. but it looks like they had some small print which seems works in their favour. in this case apparent i did not supply my business accounts and stopped them selling it. even though its been more then a year no news of them, no viewing.. not phone calls and then a letter asking for accounts followed by a huge 8K bill.
guys email me [email protected]
and lets get these guys wasting money too, there are far too many people who get scared an pay them.
and i am shocked, there are some hard working genuine people who dont deserve the stress they are getting. |
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