01616090630

If you save someone money for 7 years , why would you not charge for 7 years ?
How do you explain 200 000 appeals lodged by the "reputable firms" on deadline day , 31st March this year , do you really think they inspected them all first ?
But that doesn't fit with your little story does it so you will choose not to believe it
Go check with the VO as all this information is available online
Those are the FACTS that are indisputable you moron

As usual you miss the point.Contracts which were signed before the rating period was extended were for a five year period,fact.Secondly name me one other firm which charge fifty percent anually on a seven year period.And finally if your rates have gone up because of negligence,do you not think the company should be sued for negligence.

Listen you moron , do you not think if that happened on a regular basis ( and of course they would be sued for negligence ) , there would be no CVS as they would have hundreds of claims against them so again you select an odd incident that suits your story.
Re 50 % - it's called economies of scale , CVS have some big clients , do you really think they pay 50% , of course they don't .
If you have 1 shop with a £20 k RV , how much should you pay - do the maths you moron

An odd incident,I think not.And why not screw the small business.The fact that the two previous posters have both called me a moron,or are they one of the same,show me that you cannot take constructive criticism.No further point in carrying on with this discussion.

As usual see what you want to see.. answer what you want to answer. Answer the original point curious person Come on ??

Fact 1, 196,000  appeals lodged pre March 1st by every agent including most of them by the so called reputable firms. they couldn't possibly have inspected them . Has this put thos clients at risk ... Absolute fact .. Do you want a list by agent of what was lodged ..? Would  you then comment on that .. No you would ignore it. Have these appeals blocked the system 100% ..

Fact 2 , by agent the percentage of cases that have been subject to an increase within 6 weeks of the appeal being withdrawn. Do you want % amounts by agent ..? Would you then comment on that .. No you wouldn't

Fact 3, list of agents charging for savings on cases lodged and reduced pre the governments extension Do you want a list of businesses to contact No you don't .

Why because it spoils your story and in reality you don't really know what your talking about.

Get Real .

Regarding fact two and three I would like evidence and cases if you can provide them.Until you respond with evidence,I will not get into a slanging match with you.Goodnight.

So you obviously understand the maths behind fact 1 and as I thought you cant comment on it and on that basis fact 2 applies to those appeals because those sites have been put at risk by the so called reputable firms.

I'm not in any match with you just stating the truth which you will not like or acknowledge.

SS

This is a website about telemarketing companies and complaints thereof. CVS are a telemarketing company whose business practices are sufficiently dubious for the Telegraph to publish 2 articles on them. The only other articles published about dubious rating firms in the Press seems to be Strattons, CVS's former trading name. So what CVS are doing isn't normal practice. How the RICS are allowing themselves to be associated with them is beyond me particularly given the owners criminal past. Indeed the whole RICS Rating Code of Practice was brought in because of the Strattons fraud. Anyone aggrieved by their treatment by CVS or their small print should complain to the RICS

listen moron, why cannot you deal with the facts ? You have to revert back to cheap shots as your arguments are so weak.
Do you really think laws and rules have been made because of CVS or Strattons ?
You are clearly deluded and insane and have an agenda at work so suggest instead of posting vile on here , you seek medical help for your condition , moron

Being beyond you is not difficult

As per every post. you deflect from the facts .
Post a credible response with some honesty attached as apposed to you having your own agenda.

Telemarketing is carried out by at least 3 of the so called reputable firms 2 of which have mostly ex CVS staff.  is this a crime...  Absolutely not , do you know how they go about what they do , absolutely not you guess and add in what you think they do. Do you have any real idea what they do , no you post untruths based on what you would like to think happens.

Fact , the thrust of the Telegraph article was appeals being lodged without inspection, do all agents do this .. Yes look at Jan , Feb , March 2015 , work the numbers out . EXPLAIN

Fact , part 2 of the telegraph article about increases. if you have the right software take total appeals lodged per agent take all appeals with a withdrawn status where the original Rateable value has increased 6 or 8 weeks after settlement .. CVS are not in the top 8 hIghest percentages . EXPLAIN

Fact , every agent is charging for the 7 year savings .. EXPLAIN

Fact , CVS and the current business model has got nothing what so ever to do with a company one of the directors , directed 20 years ago .

But none of this fits with your  story and no I don't expect you to reply direct to my points as i have with yours but if you can reply to each point in an honest and civil way it would be a first .

What doesn't spoil our story is the fact that the same director went to jail for his part in two multi-million pound business rate reduction frauds.

Your story is invalid not spoilt .

What a surprise though no response to the facts above one of which covers your posting.

Explain the above ..?

FACT - the offences you refer to were in 1996 - that is 20 years ago, have you ever heard of the rehabilitation act ?
You were probably happily married 20 years ago and had a life ?
Or maybe not , as I don't think you are the sort of person to ever be happy, that's why you have to vent your bitter , twisted vile on these sites , to somehow compensate for what is missing in your life.
Have you ever tried to be a positive person rather than one that always sees the worst?
Probably not , that's why you have been left on the shelf with nothing better to do with your sad, dreary life
Indeed if you had a partner they would question why you sit up at night posting rubbish on a site like this
Goodnight lonely weirdos

PARASITES was the word we used to describe the crooks behind a systematic multi-million-pound fraud.

Trading first under the name Oldfields and then as Strattons & Co (Consultant Surveyors), the conmen preyed on tens of thousands of small businesses all over the country.

The company complained bitterly about our expose and demanded a retraction.

So we ran a second article, under the headline "They're still parasites". As complaints from victims continued to flood in, Sorted ran a third report.

That was back in early 1997.

Now, thanks to the largest single investigation carried out by Trading Standards, which included sterling work by officers from North Yorkshire, Cheshire, Lancashire and Trafford, the scum behind Strattons have ended up in court.

The Manchester-based outfit promised to help businesses get a reduction in their rates.

In reality, they stung thousands of firms for huge fees even when they failed to achieve a rates cut of a single penny.

Their contracts stated: "Only if Strattons & Co are successful in gaining acceptance of a valid appeal does the fee of pounds 340 become payable."

This meant that victims had to pay up if Strattons did nothing more than get a standard letter of acknowledgement from the local rates valuation officer.

For our article of February 4, 1997, we recorded a phone call between publican Dick Brooks and a bullying Strattons rep.

Mr Brooks's rates had not been cut, yet the rep threatened legal action if he did not pay the Strattons bill.

MR BROOKS: As far as you're concerned, I owe you this money although I've received nothing.

STRATTONS: We've performed the contract as per its terms and we're looking for you to do likewise.

BROOKS: So I'm paying for nothing more than the rates office saying they are in receipt of a letter from you.

STRATTONS: Well, the terms of the agreement are as I've read out to you.

Now every word we wrote has been confirmed by evidence heard this week at Leeds Crown Court.

Fraudulent trading charges were admitted by Strattons' bosses Jason Peter Clarke, 32, John Stenson, 36, Lee Hilton, 30, all of Manchester, and Anthony Dardis, 31, of Birmingham.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of a fifth man, Manchester-based Peter Hilton, 57, after he failed to appear in court.

Judge Peter Armstrong heard how Oldfields and Strattons conned tens of thousands of businesses.

At one point the companies' annual turnover was more than pounds 8 million.

Prosecutor Robin Spencer QC, said the firms presented a "slick, professional veneer" but in reality "the whole trade was dishonest and fraudulent".

He added: "It is a case of small business being systematically defrauded by paying for a service which was not provided."

Even those companies which managed to get a reduction in their business rates found that Oldfields and Strattons doubled their bill by taking commission not just for that year, but for the previous year as well.

Many customers even found their appeals had been withdrawn without them ever knowing.

There must be 50 or more reputable firms carrying out business rates appeals in England. 3 doing telesales, as you suggest, doesn't suggest it is the norm. It is the exception and you don't say who these reputable firms are.

The key issue with CVS is the majority of its staff are not Surveyors but are telesales staff, presumably, paid on commission.  As the articles say, CVS appeal everything and only after the appeal is made does a Surveyor, as they are mostly subbys,  get involved. CVS recognise this to be a gamble that could result in their client's rates going up or and so they protect themselves by putting in clause 15 in their Terms and Conditions. With other firms the majority of their staff will be Surveyors and they can make a judgement of whether or not an appeal should be made.

Not all properties need to be inspected before appeal.

It is very difficult to work out why an increase has taken place but that isn't the issue. CVS's approach opens the client up to much greater risk than the traditional approach and CVS know that.

Are all agents charging 7 years savings? I find that very hard to believe as some will be on monthly retainers.

The Strattons business model was to telephone businesses from Manchester and claim to be able to save them money on business rates and have a team of Surveyors and charge them an upfront fee. That was shown to be fraudulent and consequently the directors went to jail.

CVS, according to Companies House, is just a name change of the Strattons company and seems to have the same address and is still owned by the same people.

It is still telemarketing, just as Strattons did, but is not charging an explicit upfront fixed fee. However clause 25 of the Terms and Condtitions, viewable at http://www.cvsuk.com/sites/default/files/CVS% ... 0Conditions.pdf
has a myriad of clauses enabling CVS to charge a "fixed fee" for any reason CVS chooses in what is, to all intents a penalty clause.  Penalty clauses are not lawful and, crucially, that clause and much of the Terms and Conditions are in breach of the Rating Consultancy Code of Practice, which CVS should be following given that it claims to be an RICS firm.

Equally, how many of the Surveyors on the CVS homepage are actually salaried employees of CVS? Are they not all subcontractors. And if they are, how can they call themselves Directors?

Undoubtedly CVS do conduct successful appeals and many elements of their operation are worthy. But a lot of this other stuff is just not appropriate for a firm that seeks to uses the RICS name

I'll be straight the point .

3 = Colliers , Altus , LSH all have Telesales staff .mostly ex CVS .

CVS surveyors out weigh Sales staff by 3 to 1 , fact.

ALL of the surveyors on the website are full time PAYE staff of CVS bar a handful , there it as you put it not subbys .

CVS DONT appeal everything , fact .

Some of the most so called reputable firms have  the highest increase % cases post settlment, get the software, it's a joke. The judgment calls as you put aren't workin

All main agents are charging for the 7 years,fact they read these posts .. Let them deny it ..

To be fair !!!!!!!!!!!!

It is not a fact as you claim. There are agents who charge a one off fee based on an agreed % of the reduction in rateable value rather than savings in rates payable. Don't try and pull the wool over everyone's eyes.

A Surveying firm would be expected to have some sales staff supporting its Surveyors, but it is the ratio that is the key.

CVS website says

"We have over 275 specialist staff and a national network of trusted Chartered Surveyors"

There are 50 surveyors shown on the website.

How is that 3 surveyors to 1 sales staff?

It is 4-5 sales staff to 1 Surveyor, which is a telemarketing firm.

Go to Reed Employment website entry for CVS and you will find a welter of jobs in Telesales. http://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/c-v-s-commercial-valuers-and-surveyors-ltd/p6376

A "national network of trusted Chartered Surveyors" is subby's not salaried employees.

So this is facts straight from the CVS website.

...and I must say his mentality matches exactly the treatment which their 'army' of telesales executives are giving to businesses on the receiving end of their cold calling. They are a business with a very shady past and operating on a very very hard sales model. All they care about is driving more revenues and they have absolutely no concept of scrupulous business practice. AVOID AT ALL COSTS...