NYGman wrote:While Ceylon is a major promoter there, many ideas promoted there have no legal basis and do not work. While I am sure debts have been written off as noncollectable, I can assure you it was not because of the 3/5 letter ploy, that the site is most known for. The Direct Debt Charge back scheme is another dubious idea, that while may result in cash returned, opens up exposure t the party you had originally paid. At the end of the day, many of the people who do these things have no money to start with, and you can't get blood from a stone as they say. They don;t mind the trade off, debt erased, credit in tatters.
In my mind, to make a causal connection between the advice given on GOOFy and the release of liability is tenuous at best. Can anyone point out any scheme on GOOFy that actually has a basis in law, and actually works (ie. debt deemed repaid, no credit impact). There are legitimate mistakes lenders and banks make, that can invalidate their claims, and that is a leal avenue to explore, but these issues are few and far between, they are the exception not the norm.
The 3 letters: Asking a debt collector to prove they have the legal right to collect on a debt certainly does a have a legal basis and does work. Whilst I agree that many of the debts are simply written off as noncollectable, there are also many debts that they are unable to chase because they have no right to chase them in law.
As for people's credit being left in tatters, this can be sorted especially if the debt collector or original creditor has failed to provide evidence that they can collect on the debt or have failed to follow procedures. I personally have removed 9 defaults from my credit file.
Another reason why so many people find sites like GOODF is because they are so fed up in the way that the banks are run and how they abuse their positions. One simple mistake (often not even your own fault) can lead to a default being placed on your credit file which could effect your ability to get any future credit for 6 years, or worse still, stop you being able to find a certain job or even rent privately. There have been so many cases of wrong credit reporting by financial institutions it is quite scary. You can visit places like CAB etc but they wont show you how to try and repair your credit file.
Direct Debit Chargeback: Whilst I have seen this abused on one particular site and people claiming back money when they shouldn't, the whole point of the chargeback is to be able to claim back your money when it has been taken wrongly, which happens far too much and often leaves people worse off and sometimes overdrawn, resulting in bank charges which then creates a chain reaction that can result in other bills not being paid and charges added to those bills, and then even more bank charges added to that, so it is hardly a dubious idea.
Everything is not black and white and without sites like GOODF etc, so many more people would be in dire situations. You might not agree with what GOODF stands for, but I have seen how it has changed people's lives, people who were on the verge of suicide, people who were afraid to answer the door, people who were scared to open letters or to answer the phone, people who were giving up. GOODF has changed peoples lives for the better and yes there have been loses and stupid cases like Tom Crawford, but there is a bigger picture to be seen.
