PluseNet sells thousands of customers details for cash

[#1]

Not true.
You have the right to refuse entry to any bailiff, unless it is a court bailiff with a criminal fines warrant, so if a bailiff sticks his foot in the door and wont move it, you have every right to kick his shin or shut the door on it.

[#2]

Quote

you have every right to kick his shin or shut the door on it.

at which point several more get out of the car and kick your teeth in.. ? 

[#3]

Quote from: torbayguy

Yes I do. I had a bailiff at my door the other week because I had apparantly driven through London and not paid the congestion charge, however I have never taken my current car to London, it was cloned. I asked him to produce proof, he couldnt, so I invited him to leave rather more quickly than he came in, and told him to bring proof or [Censored] off. He hasent been back. That is the same response I would give these people. A great big UP YOURS! If you are stupid enough to pay money for something you havent done, then its your own stupid fault at the end of the day.

Well, to avoid that situation, you should have read the stuff you've received in the post previously shouldn't you.
The bailliffs are only instructed 77 days after the time you should have been in the zone from my reading of the process and they write before turning up as well, so there really should have been no need for them to attend if you were innocent.
Quite frankly, it is people like you who leave stuff to the last minute before saying "it wasn't me guv - prove it" who end up costing the tax-payer the money.  If you'd have dealt with the issue as soon as it had arisen, you'd have saved an awful lot of paperwork/admin costs which are now being passed onto London tax-payers.

[#4]

My only dealings with bailiffs were scary - when younger and not so bloody minded as I am now,
a bailiff (twice as big as me) arrived asking for money in the name of the previous occupant of the flat.
I said I wasn't him - and the bailiff went away.
I found it extremely scary - if that bailiff had threatened me, I'm sure I would have paid up.
I didn't know anything then about whether he had the right to enter and seize possessions.

[#5]

That's the funny thing about the DEBill.
You'll get a couple of letters (maybe even emails that get eaten by spam filters!), then your internet connection will just stop working.  No baliffs, no police, no knocking at your door.
B.

[#6]

So you move to another ISP - AFAIK the letter business doesn't involve transferral of personal data.
Too bad that Plusnet didn't defend the customer when it had the chance.

[#7]

Quote from: geofftswin

Well, to avoid that situation, you should have read the stuff you've received in the post previously shouldn't you. The bailliffs are only instructed 77 days after the time you should have been in the zone from my reading of the process and they write before turning up as well, so there really should have been no need for them to attend if you were innocent. Quite frankly, it is people like you who leave stuff to the last minute before saying "it wasn't me guv - prove it" who end up costing the tax-payer the money.  If you'd have dealt with the issue as soon as it had arisen, you'd have saved an awful lot of paperwork/admin costs which are now being passed onto London tax-payers.

People like me?
You mean a hard working person that has never claimed benefits, never been arrested, pays all my bills, and generally gets on with life happily?
How do you know I didnt phone transport for London, and write to them?
How do you know I didnt contact the bailiffs before they arrived?
Take you assumptions and stick them where the sun doesnt shine. 

[#8]

Because in my dealings with bailiff companies, they pretty much always abide by the law.
Your comment

Quote

I asked him to produce proof, he couldnt, so I invited him to leave rather more quickly than he came in, and told him to bring proof or [Censored] off. He hasent been back.

Suggests that you were being overly aggressive which makes it appear that you had ignored the issue.
If you had stated

Quote

I showed copies of all correspondence issued and asked why nobody had responded and could they prove it

that would have suggested that you were following the guidelines and working within the process.
We deal with bailiffs frequently on my line of business and I generally find that if you are polite to them that generally works wonders.  Your attitude does not help.  I should at this point make it clear that we do not legally have to serve notice that we are sending the bailiffs in when debts are unpaid after the due date.
The only time I have personally encountered a bailff on my door was one morning not long after we'd moved into our first flat - they left a note regarding unpaid council tax.  I went straight round to the council offices that day after work and got it all sorted within half an hour. 
In your case given the number of opportunities to resolve things before the bailiffs turned up, I have to say I believe that you were in the wrong as somebody should have got back to you to resolve the issue.  In fact, if it was me, I'd have written to them, given it a week and then written again, possibly recorded delivery etc and then followed up a few days later with a phone call.

[#9]

A bailiff deserves the contempt usually reserved for particularly evil traffic wardens.
They go to steal the possessions of those who (usually) cannot afford to replace them.

[#10]

Geofftswin, as AFIE says, bailiffs are leaches, just like the lowly traffic warden.
I showed my proof that I was in London at the stated time, on no less that 7 different occasions.
$ times to transport for london, and 7 times to the bailiffs before they knocked on my door.
When they arrived I treated them with the contempt they deserve.
How this thread has been turned into an attack on me by you I dont know, but I tell you what, it most be blimmin cold up there on that pedestal mate.

[#11]

Quote from: A

A bailiff deserves the contempt usually reserved for particularly evil traffic wardens. They go to steal the possessions of those who (usually) cannot afford to replace them.

God forbid you ever become a landlord then.
We use bailiffs as a last resort for those tenants who cannot pay their rent under the terms of their lease.
We will normally accept payment plans if appropriate, but when these fail, our clients have a right to recover what is owed to them.
How else do you suggest we go about it?  Ask nicely time and time again for them to pay up.  If they are in difficulties, they need to speak to us to come to an arrangement - without this, we have no idea that they may be in difficulty.
We don't like to use bailiffs, but sometimes tenants leave us with no option.
Whilst you could say well it's just tough on the landlord and they won't become as rich as they might, but a number of the landlords more likely to instruct bailiffs are those that are investment funds to which you may well be investing in through your pension schemes, so if we go easy, you'll lose out in the long term.
I'm not attacking anybody personally, but I am trying to show both sides of the issue with regards to bailiffs - most people just assume them to be greedy money grabbers, but that is frequently not the case - nobody ever seems to state the case for the landlord who has troublesome tenants who fail to communicate properly.

[#12]

who menioned Landlords?
I used an example of transport for london holding incorrect data, and refusing to admit that, then passing that wrong information onto bailiffs, who then attempted  to bully me into money I dont owe, in the way these law firms are doing.
Even though I provided plenty of evidence, EARLY on.
So when the bully boys walked into my home unannounced through an unlocked door, I went nutts and physically threw them out, and called the police.
They havent been back, but I have had no appology either.

[#13]

Hmmmm...
This topic seems to have gone way off topic and doesn't seem to bear any resemblance to the OP..
You lot should just kiss and make up and move on before one of the friendly mods comes along with a uber sized padlock 

[#14]

Quote from: torbayguy

who menioned Landlords? I used an example of transport for london holding incorrect data, and refusing to admit that, then passing that wrong information onto bailiffs, who then attempted  to bully me into money I dont owe, in the way these law firms are doing. Even though I provided plenty of evidence, EARLY on. So when the bully boys walked into my home unannounced through an unlocked door, I went nutts and physically threw them out, and called the police. They havent been back, but I have had no appology either.

The principle is the same - it's still an alleged non-payment of a debt.
In your case, I would be contacting the council & bailiff company on a regular basis until I got some sort of apology from them - including compensation for wasting your time.

[#15]

http://www.lgo.org.uk/making-a-complaint/