Bristow & Sutor Avis 

I started receiving SMS, emails and calls to a landline that is only for Internet, addressed to a male person unknown to me with similar last name and first initial. I called and was advised AI computer error they would remove my details !!ok great. A day later ... more emails and calls came through, I then spent all day being given the runaround... we can't help.... different team.... wait for a call back...the person who emailed you is the only person who can sort.....I was not having that at all - correct your information .. unpaid car toll charges ..One extremely call handler ( cant be customer service advisor !!) overly pompous rude and arrogant bully of a male, wanted me to clear security and provide my full name and address before he'd even assist... !! crazy especially as I know you can see the details on the screen, I gave my details reluctantly just to get this sorted ... HE then accused me of lying and that I had given false information and that I needed to clear GDPR OTHERWISE HE would not help me .. and I could look up thier policies and what GDPR means online...he then talked over me shouted barked and accused me of being the person a male !!!! who owed the debt !!! shouting at me ...he ended the call ... I breathed and tried another call and after being transferred for the 3rd time today ( having left multi messages, patiently waited 4 hours for "Wendy" to call me back ) I was finally advised HOORAH my details ( again AI error given for mistake at tracing someone with same initials and or surname and one digit the same in a phone number !! how bizarre) was informed my contact details had already been removed from the debtors details .. probably from the previous unhelpful obnoxious scoundrel who shouted and barked his was through the other call (he was so rude ) having realised the truth and his error !! I am not even in the same county ever lived at the address or have the same vehicle nor am I male. And GDPR I was given by SMS the person name and was given the first line of their address to validate I am and never have lived at that address ... crazy yet this excuse was given as not enough to clear my name by the call handler before ..
Please do your due diligence before stressing and threatening random people which makes no sense unless this company's ethos is scare and bully anyone who answers the threatening scare harassing emails,calls, or SMS into paying another's debts. DIABOLICAL NASTY and DISGUSTING treatment of an innocent individual.

So I talked to them in the morning and told them I would not be able to pay in 3 instalments but they told me that’s not something I can choose. What kind of arrangement is this then ? Tried to contact them many times. Their website is not working their WhatsApp is not working how can council work with them? Such an unprofessional company. I want you to contact me and offer me a payment plan that is suitable for me please

Once i had been served with my debt (council tax). I rang to get a dd in place. The lady i spoke to was lovely, non judgemnetal and patient with me. I couldnt set up a DD at the time. I think they couldnt adjust the date they wanted to take the DD or something like that. I cant remember exactly now, as it was over 1 year ago. I would pay each month on my pay day as a bank transfer, as agreed with the lady on the phone. The only annoying thing was the website doesnt work well on computer, only phone. Well, im always working, so the computer works best but never mind. It was easy enough with your ID number they give you. Sometimes really slow like the website on the phone browser was outdated? Didnt fit the screen properly? idk! I didnt get any reminders, which i peronally prefer. I know in the past, i have paid a day late or a bank holiday has got in the way of the exact date but i have not heard from one member of staff with pressure or rudness on the phone with a day late payment moan etc. I honour this with a company, I truely do. I am the kind of person that if you put stress on, then it isnt happening. I am debt free now, as of last month and i wouldnt be mad if i have to deal with Bristow and Sutor again. Saying that... I would have liked an email saying, congratulations, thank you, well done or you do not owe anything, when paying my last payment on my debt last month. No acknowledgment at all. The small things matter when your dealing with people trying their hardest to make it all work. 'Previous payments, up coming payments, balance owed ?' All very vague for such a big debt collection company. Maybe a little refresh on the website?

Rang today to pay a balance stated on the letter received. I received the letter 2 weeks after it was dated. The call handler told me I owe over double what the original letter claimed as I hadn’t paid on time, but in the same sentence she also admitted they’d been having issues with the postal service. I said I was happy to pay the original amount stated on the letter, as the late post was neither mine or the fault of this company. This is where she started to become argumentative and aggressive, talking over me, not letting me finish what I was saying, she was tripping over her own lies in the end. Rude and unprofessional. Money grabbing individuals, out to take advantage of people. I’m officially raising this as complaint and wish for this to be investigated further!

if i could give 0 stars i would. horrible company, horrible staff. they don’t care what situation you are in financially or mentally, they will continue the send threats. should be shut down.

I received my very first notification of a Dart Charge debt on 21st April, a single letter from Bristow & Sutor. Eight days later, on 29th April, their enforcement agent Mr Hickman arrived at my property and clamped my car. I had never received any prior correspondence as all letters had been sent to an old address.

When I told Mr Hickman at the door that this was the first I had heard of these charges, he dismissed me entirely, saying “legally we only have to send one letter.”

Over the following week Mr Hickman sent me written messages on two separate occasions referencing my mortgage as a financial pressure tool, made repeated threats of vehicle seizure and public auction, and implied that a CCJ was imminent and automatic, all of which I now know to be misleading or false.

On 6th May he arrived at my property at 6am. I am a woman living alone with ADHD and an anxiety disorder. Rather than simply removing the clamp, which does not require the occupant to be present, he repeatedly banged on my front door, back door and windows and looked through my windows. He then told me the clamp was being released because my car valuation was too low. This was a lie. Later that same day I received written confirmation from Dart Charge that they had instructed the warrant to be returned after reviewing my circumstances. Mr Hickman fabricated a reason rather than acknowledge that my position had been upheld and still insisted I make payment even after the warrant had been cancelled.

I have since raised formal complaints. I would urge anyone who has experienced similar conduct from this company to do the same.

I can see why many gave this company such a low rating. They seem to run on some sort of threadmill without the ability for independent thought and investigation.
They sent an enforcement letter to my company address as my company have a similar name to the actual debtor. A quick and simple companies house search would have confirmed this. It took me ages to get through on the phone and their service centre could not help as they needed to refer it to their client!
I explained, that they were enforcing a debt on the correct company but sent the notices to the wrong address, because my company had a similar name. Anyways, I sent them a letter explaining all of this. They responded 2 weeks later, mis-spelling both my first and last names.
You would think that they would be more careful considering they are prone to sending notices to the wrong people.

The company are bullies & act unlawfully. I hadn't received the original PCN due to thinking I had updated my V5. I hadn't. My error. 6 months later I receive an enforcement letter at my new address, with demands for huge amount & additionalcosts. No prior correspondence from them. Contact them & arrange a payment plan as I don't have the money, carer for my 2 disabled sons. No further correspondence & thought issue resolved. Payments being made. Then enforcement officer turns up at my door with control of goods letter. Additional £235 added in costs from nowhere. This company is acting unlawfully & it needs to be investigated. Praying on vulnerable people on low incomes. I'm going to go to Panorama & Martin Lewis. It seems hundreds of people experiencing the same thing. These people are bullies & thugs & should not be used by local governments. It could cause someone to take their own life. It has caused me an undue amount of stress & financial strain because of genuine human error.

disgrace of a company

Threats,wont let me set up payment plan and digusting customer service where i was told its not my fault you cant pay and someone is coming to my house which has now put be back in a very unstable mental place UPDATE spoke to a lovely lady called mundo who was obviously brought up in charm school who then demanded full payment would not accept a payment plan and then basically laughed mine and my partners mental health issues im now taking this further and wont be bullied by this shocking company

This is a review for a member of staff.

Anah has been very helpful and actually helped me to understand the process and steps to take.

I have spoken to few people and have been mainly met with rude behaviour and shouting therefore it was a very nice change.

This company uses bullying tactics and then even goes against what they have agreed with the local authority, and tries to gaslight you when you're on the phone with them and the local authority. Any local authority that is using these needs to stop and use a more ethical company

We’ve had a shocking experience with this company that everyone should be aware of.

After receiving three unprofessional, grammatically incorrect text messages, which we initially ignored as spam, they escalated to threatening a bailiff visit with a reference number. At no point did they state what the debt was for.

Even their website was useless, showing a balance but no source. It wasn’t until we spent significant time trying to reach them that we spoke to a rude representative who tried to "give it large" until we challenged her. It then came to light that they were chasing the entirely wrong person. The debt belonged to a man with the same name in a different town.

The fact that they are willing to threaten people with bailiffs without performing basic due diligence is predatory. Luckily we were aware we had no debt and were able to withstand their threat's, but if they targeted someone elderly or vulnerable, that person could have been bullied into paying a debt that isn't theirs. Absolutely disgraceful.

These scumbags need to be stopped. They don’t care about your life and what they are putting people through financially. I understand that money is owed to the local scum the council but these lot are inhumane. Just want your money or add more costs and it’s really sad to see hard working Brits having to put up with these low life scum of a company that the law back. This country was supposed to be great. Nothing great about Britain anymore. Bunch of lemons the lot!!!

Awful. Keep contacting me about a bill that they’ve agreed is not mine and nothing to do with me. Absolutely laughable (if it was a laughing matter).

I had a bailiff coming to my house to remove the goods. I was asked to pay £590 by end of the day. I told Daniel that I did not have the money in full. I asked if I could do in instalments but he refused to listen to me. He insisted in coming to remove my goods. I called their office and was told the opportunity of paying in instalments is no longer available and I have to pay £590 in full or else they will be adding £110 every time they visit my house. Where do I get the money in full in this current economic climate. This company do not care about anyone. It’s heartbreaking.

Could not afford to pay my normal payment so asked to pay a lesser amount - refused. Explained that I had had to pay for a car repair to enable me to continue working they said no need to pay the amount owed today or expect further calls from baliffs - Surely this cannot be right

If I could score zero I would there scum of the earth this company. Bullys, thieves and have no care towards disabled people are rude aggressive and abusive. This company needs looking into urgently by the government but then again they are only do the same as what the government are doing to us. These scum should rot in hell. Let’s hope the owners don’t have a nasty accident a die !!!

Vile scum, is the only way I can describe them. They're very sneaky, they will do the legal minimum if at all to "contact" you and then rack up made up fees along the way. My second time dealing with them, this time I owed council tax which I had a payment plan set up with the council any way. I owed around £600 left and then I get a threatening letter from Bristow and sutor now saying I owe over £900.

On the letter it says you can set up a payment plan so I ring up and ask to do so as I've literally got £5 to my name until pay day. The ignoramus on the phone says I must pay the full amount immediately or bailiffs will come to my house. I then quote the letter they sent me and he gaslights me saying its not possible yet last time I dealt with them I was able to set up a payment plan.

When I was younger I messed around with credit like fool, so I have dealt with my fair share of debt collectors and contrary to popular opinion most of them are human and are willing to work with you to set up affordable payment plans. These guys have to be the most unprofessional, uncompassionate thugs I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Just read their other reviews, not disgruntled "clients" they go after the wrong people, add on fees for no good reason and will not be willing to help you in any way. Rather than helping me find an affordable payment plan I've now had to take out a payday loan with stupendous interest thus pushing me further in to debt.

Got a call from them at 7am on a Sunday morning to collect on a unpaid toll charge, toll charge was £4 and they charged be £623. They said they were at my business property at 7am on a Sunday morning, CCTV showed no one there. Complete liars.
My issue is, why would you go to a business address or call a business number at 7am on a Sunday morning.

These clowns are a law onto themselves.

Out of all the debt collection agencies I have encountered, Bristow & Sutor is by far the worst. They are unnecessarily aggressive and show zero regard for personal circumstances. Unlike other agencies that work with you to find a sustainable payment solution, this company relies on threats and bullying tactics to demand immediate payment regardless of the impact on the debtor.

The irony is that while they are aggressive in demanding money, their systems are completely backwards. They make it incredibly difficult to actually pay: you are required to have a reference number, yet the number they provide doesn't work on their website. When you try to call to resolve the issue, no one answers. This leaves you in a stressful limbo, waiting for a bailiff to show up at your door for a debt you are actively trying to settle.

The fact that so many local councils, such as Oxfordshire County Council continue to employ such a poorly run, predatory company is a damning reflection of those councils’ own values. Avoid dealing with them if you have any other choice.