FOI Request OF Complaints to Bridgend Trading Standards regarding Rapid Data Recovery

The request was partially successful.

Dear Bridgend Council,

I request details of all complaints to Bridgend standards for the Group of companies registered at Fields House (Field House) 12/13 Old Field Road Bocam Park Pencoed CF35 5LJ

Namely

Rapid Data Recovery Ltd

Yours faithfully,

A Butler

foi, Bridgend County Borough Council

Dear Mr Butler,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST 2417/2418

We acknowledge your request for information received on 21 June 2010.

We are considering your request and you should receive the information
requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, unless the
information is exempt or we require additional time to consider whether
disclosure is in the public interest in accordance with section 2 of the
Freedom of Information Act.

We will try to supply information in electronic format by email, but if
this is not possible we will let you know. If you have any special
requirements e.g. language, audio, large print, etc. then please let us
know.

The Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the
information you have requested. Before we provide the information we will
consider whether it is proper to release it and if any of the exemption
categories do apply then the information will not be released. We will
tell you if this is the case, and will have a right of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to
release the information to you. We will tell you if this is the case.

You may have to pay a fee for this information. We will consider this and
let you know. If so you will have to pay the fee before we process and
release the information. The 20 working day time limit for responses will
not start until we receive your payment.

If you have any queries or concerns, then please contact me directly. You
can find out more about the Act from the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office - Wales
Cambrian Buildings

Mount Stuart Square

Cardiff, CF10 5FL

Telephone: 02920 2044 8044 Fax: 02920 2044 8045

Email: [1][email address]

[2]http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.u...

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Office
Bridgend County Borough Council
Level 2, Civic Offices
Angel Street
Bridgend
CF31 4WB
Tel: 01656 643129
Email: [Bridgend Council request email]

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Dear foi,

I have requested that Bridgend trading standards supply the number of complaints regarding Rapid Data Recovery based at Fields House Bridgend.

As a competitor having to deal with the calls from the many victims of this "brands" parent company I would be interested to know if the complaints are collated correctly since they all surround UK Digital Solutions and Fields Group bases at Pencoed HQ Fields House .

I hear from victims year in year out and this is costing my business time and money and it appears that trading standards are not aware of the full extent of this companies collusion to malign competitors in order to win business but then expect us not to complain when their victims contact us.

Rapid Data Recovery are also the part of the same marketing operation with other data recovery brands

Dataphoenix
Fields Associates
Fields Data Recovery
Rapid Online
IT-24 Services DatenRattung
Clinca De Datos

An expose on this company was done for German TV

http://www.heise.de/ct-tv/artikel/Hinter...

Yours sincerely,

A Butler

foi, Bridgend County Borough Council

Dear Mr Butler,

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Information Request 2417

I refer to your email dated 21 June 2010, which contained a request for
information. Following consideration of your request, and in accordance
with the Freedom of Information Act, I respond as follows:

Following a search of our records and having checked five limited
companies associated with the Field Group and 36 trading names, I can
confirm that since 1 January 2009 a total of 37 complaints have been
received by the Authority either directly or referred by Consumer Direct.

I hope that this information satisfies your request. If you are
dissatisfied with the handling of the request, please write to:

Mr P A Jolley

Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Regulatory
Services

& Monitoring Officer

Bridgend County Borough Council

Civic Offices, Angel Street

Bridgend, CF31 4WB

You can also contact the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office - Wales

Cambrian Buildings

Mount Stuart Square

Cardiff, CF10 5FL

Tel: 02920 2044 8044

Fax: 02920 2044 8045

E:mail : [1][email address]

Website: [2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Office
Bridgend County Borough Council
Level 2, Civic Offices
Angel Street
Bridgend
CF31 4WB
Tel: 01656 643129
Email: [Bridgend Council request email]

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Andy Butler left an annotation ()

Do trading standards seem to think that 37 complaints is a small proportion when compared to the 3000 data recovery jobs Fields claimed to have charged for in 2009.

However a large proportion are charged for parts not used or a report that explains that the drive is not recoverable - yet often they are recoverable.

It is only because consumers are unaware of how they are being defrauded that more complaints are not made.

Fields Group routinely put up fake reviews and testimonials on various websites.

They also put up fake review sites themselves.

There are lots of them.

If you have been scammed by Fields report it to Trading Standards

Andy Butler left an annotation ()

Some sites where fake Fields reviews are put up

http://www.best-pick-data-recovery.com/f...

http://www.data-recovery-europe-blog.com...

http://www.clever-datarecovery-europe.co...

http://www.data-recovery-europe-review.c...

http://www.best-data-recovery.co.uk/fiel...

Beware of smart , woderful, clever, comparison, compare related websites put up by Fields

This is not competitor bashing, my company is contacted daily by consumers who have paid Fields substantial amounts for nothing and I the best we can do is tell consumers to contact trading standards or warn others.

We cannot compete with e-Warfare experts, Marketeers and Internet Gurus if they are allowed to scam people for small amounts of money and employ their own solicitors to defend their actions against consumers who cannot afford to spend thousands chasing a few hundred pounds.

Read more of how the scam works here:-

http://www.datarecoverycompanies.co.uk/d...

A Butler left an annotation ()

Unfortunately it turns out there is much more to this problem than first thought.

At the time of writing we are awaiting the outcome of legal action brought against the victims blog www.data-recovery-blog.co.uk and www.data-recovery-blog.com

Rapid Data, Fields Associates, Action Direct and Quickie Divorce amongst many others are all part of the same group found to be defrauding consumers over many years.

Not only have consumers been affected, but also Fields Sector Domination affects more than just the Data Recovery Market. They are Welsh Assembly and Welsh Fincne backed and allowed to defraud and damage consumers through various online scams.

Credit card skimming, fake data recovery reports and substantial grants mean that genuine data recovery companies cannot compete with this industrial paper mill.

The online divorce market has been similarly affected.

Action Direct UK Ltd is another of Fields ISO 9001 Quality Assured companies which has been investigated by the Ministry of Justice and had its licence varied.

570 complaints to Bridgend Trading Standards is unlikely to be all the victims, most do not understand how they are defrauded or how their money is spent preventing others getting their money back.

Unfortunately for me my helping the victims resulted in me being physically assaulted by a Fields Associates representative called at my house to serve papers on me.

http://www.datarecoverycompanies.co.uk/f...

I managed to win one court case against them but the injuries I sustained have been debilitating.

http://www.datarecoverycompanies.co.uk/a...

It is shocking that Trading Standards cannot protect consumers let alone ensure fair competition.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/fi...

I am sure the Welsh Assembly can explain why their funds are used to finance corruption, intimidation and jobs in Thailand.