01618723897

Hi, What were the references in the Peterborough newspaper??

A quick google search just now found these... There are so many more too!

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/local ... _scam_1_2554310

http://www.ormskirk.gb.com/lancaster/news_lis ... m_-50715023.htm

http://www.qlocal.co.uk/morecambe/news_list/Business_Rates_Scam-50715024.htm

I got a good reduction in my rates you need to give it time the valuation office takes forever to come back and discuss these cases, I think your all jumping the gun.

CVS Surveyors and these keep calling and hang up when I say we are not interested

Do you work for them by any chance ?????

Do a search on this site for 0161 872 7145. I was duped into signing the contract but couldn't get the surveyors mobile no. from the office to discuss the survey the day before the visit so I cancelled the appointment and am now waiting for the return call from their accounts - I WON'T BE PAYING ANYTHING WITHOUT A COURT ORDER - We took a company to the small claims court some years ago for about £700.00. We won the case but never got any money as the courts apparently can't make them pay.

the rude womans name is vicky morgan, she has a major attitude problem and deserves firing!!!

the director is nadine

Lets all stick together I'm located in the north east so this so called company are trying to spread their wings  are they Morgan Whitteker in disguise? At first it was constant calls .Laura comes to visit and informs you I'ts definately No Win No Fee. Beware of this company I am now being hassled for £645 they are getting nothing. See you all in court. Will be contacting Trading Standards in Middlesbrough tommorrow.

WE HAD TWO SALES MEN CALL TO SEE US, OVER A YEAR AGO, WELL DRESSED  VERY PROFESSIONAL LOOKING. THEY SAID THEY COULD GET US A RENT REBATE, BUT WE WOULD LOOSE NOTHING, BECAUSE WE WOULD GET OUR MONEY BACK IN FULL IF WE DIDNT GET A REBATE.

WE PAID OUR MONEY, RANG HARDLY ANY COMMUNICATION THEN FOUND OUT NO REBATE, TRIED GET MONEY BACK - NOT ENTITLED -  DONT TOUCH UM THEY BAD NEWS

OK Sick of these cowboys.

Nadine Worden and Terry Mckenzie runs this so called company.
they live at [residential address removed]


Thought the above would help

I spoke to SJ associates today for the 7th time this month. After my last phone call from the I googled their number and found this site. So when I spoke to the guy today I told him f this website and told him they were all scam artist. Felling quite proud now ........... Warning avoid SJ ASSOCIATES at all costs.

nice to see things have have gone quiet now we have their names and addresses, keep looking down your street and expect the unexpected s.j associates

The MD of S J Associates is a lady called Nadine Worden. She is a completre scam artist and has been at it for years. I worked for them for a short while as I thought they were a reputable company  but i soon found out that it was a complete scam! Do NOT pay them - they will NOT take you to court despite all the threats!!

As soon as you hear the words SJ Associates just hang up this company takes no heed to the fact that numbers are registered with TPS always seem to have a surveyor in the area on a no win no fee basis basic rule of thumb NOBODY DOES ANYTHING FOR NOTHING but be advised they are very persistent they have plagued me since November 2011 so best advice I can give is just hang up on them & certainly do not let them visit your premises as from reading other comments this opens up a whole new can of worms

I've had Oneil Ahmed from S.J. Associates call and he assured me that we would get rebate and nothing to pay until? I told him we would check out his company on Google groups and get back to him. We then had a call today asking if we would like Oneil to call back!

What I can get over is the bare faced cheek of these people and I will be reporting them to Trading Standards in Brent.

did anyone keep a copy of the two side letters accompanying the contract ?
one of these said that there were " no upfront fees"

This company already have a notorious track record within our industry and they are not regarded as legitimate advisors let alone specialists. I have had threaten to personally defend my client against their threats of court action when they failed to perform in accordance with their contract and then wanted payment. The contract itself to a specialist was amateurish sales patter, factually misleading but only potentially convincing to the humble rate payer.

The GOLDEN RULE is DON'T PAY UP FRONT as it is often a sure sign you are about to be conned. You will generally not hear from SJ Associates again once they have your money. They will not generally fight your appeal when it is programmed for discussions with the Valuation Office Agency. The VOA also have little enthusiasm for discussing any appeals with this organisation as they are known con artists throughout the industry and any other similar organisation which charges up front fees involving simpe relail, office and industrial rating appeals is often operating on the same basis.

I had already checked my client's bill at the time of acquisition of their shop and it was correct and not worth appealing The basis of the rateable was also correct in all respects. SJ Associates visited the shop without appointment and stated they could secure Small Business Rates Relief and also highlighted that the property had been incorrectly measured and an appeal would be successful. The client signed a contract but fortunately issued a post dated cheque. No contact with the valuation Office was made after the appeal had been made and if they had discussed it then it could well have even gone up. We withdrew the SJ Associates appeal and offered to support our client in any threat of court action brought on by SJ Associates for not paying their bill.

Their so called in-house 'legal specialist' contacted us and was quite abusive, which was amusing. This individual was a Mr J Stapleton who was a joke in terms of him assuming a position which he was utterly out of his depth on and seemed to know nothing about the ethical and technical procedures relating to rating work. He was rude and tried his best to be condescending but is a failed character of life, just like his employees and the company

The sad thing is, there are other very similar companies taking up front fees and delivering no service thereafter. A genuine rating specialist is payed on a performance related basis which is generally calculated on saving results unless the case is complex and warrants detailed investigation and background work. The fee should ideally be based on a percentage of the cash saving over the life of the Valuation List and not the saving in rateable value as savings in RV can still result in no cash savings on liability through a system called Transitional Relief

Stick to the large national players, Gerald Eve, Lambert Smith Hampton, G L Hearn, Sanderson weatherall etc. Look at their website and see if they have a network of large offices in UK key cities.

The majority of the cold call telesales scammers and unscrupulous 'rating' firms seem to operate from Manchester. If you ask if they are RICS accredited then often they may say they are when they are not. If in doubt whether they are an accredited member of the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) then contact them and they can run a simple check. Make sure the person handling your case is Chartered as it is an initial indicator that they are highly experienced and they also are working within the professional code of ethics. Ideally, they should have MRICS after their name or at the very least, their firm should have the RICS accreditation.

The rate payer needs to wise up to these low life operators.  There has been enough publicity generally about these types of operators and there is no excuse for parting with cash before you have seen the goods. Ratepayers need to talk more to each other and be on guard.

I would like to know your opinion on CVS Surveyors in Manchester - they are incredibly persistant and agressive, have no upfront fee -- but I have seen bad press saying they are still a scam.

There are various companies to watch out for and who have generated bad press. Lawson Merryweather operate on a same basis to SJ Associates in taking circa £700 up front and I know they have not made any effort to contact the valuation officer to discuss the appeal when it has been programmed for discussions. I was acting for a large national portfolio occupier and I managed to get the whole parade reduced even though I was acting only for one occupier. This company then tried to claim the glory for the reduction even though they had missed their own appal deadline. They still took the fee and for no attempt to secure the result achieved by another agent

CVS have a mixed bag of surveyors doing their work, some of which are very poor indeed and they are again a Manchester call centre type business. They did have a very poor rating in the industry and seemed to hold low regard with the valuation office. They are now trying to up their game to operate on a more commercially acceptable basis but it depends on who you get handling your appeal. Best stick with the main national players to ensure receiving a first rate service. as highlighted in the earlier post above. The true specialists will not hound rate payers for the work as they don't need to. You approach them and they will generally perform well.