To: All at the CCTA, Watchdog, OFT and all staff and directors at CarCashPoint.
I had a meeting today with Mr Gilbert and Mr Hilburn, both of CarCashPoint (CCP) and would like to correct the record on what my position is with regards CCP account 518.
I am completely satisfied that CCP have acted fairly and complied with relevant legislation, further more they have acted more in my interests rather than their own.
I made a mistake in acting on principle, when the principle was wrong - and I did not understand key facts and failed to consider the position reasonably.
Mr Hilburn, on behalf of CCP, has acted fairly in all regards, in fact he has been very helpful, and I would like to apologise sincerely to him and his company for the effort I have put him through, and the unfair comments I have made about him and his company. I would especially like to apologise to Mr Gilbert - who should not have been put through this and is a completely innocent party who was not in a position where he should have to defend himself against my comments to your organisations. I would like to state further that any pressure I felt in dealing with Mr Gilbert was due to circumstances and not down to Mr Gilberts actions - he was professional and helpful.
To Mr Hilburn, I failed to grasp the legal backing behind his actions and the fairness in his and CCPs processes. Despite all of this, Mr Hilburn was man enough to continue to deal fairly where I had long stopped seeing things in a fair way.
I failed to trust in CCPs statements and treated them in an unreasonable manner. I became prejudiced against them having read horror stories of a company no longer trading in the industry, and became prejudiced against the industry in general. This was despite a complete lack of reason to suspect CarCashPoint.
To the CCTA I would like to apologise for making them investigate a situation that should not have been, failing to settle on the conciliation offer they arranged, and for failing to correspond in a complete way.
To the OFT I would like to state my support for CCP - I now see they have exceeded the requirements, fairness and the industry norm.
To BBC Watchdog, there is no story here.
Lastly I would like to personally thank Mr Hilburn and Mr Gilbert for providing a valuable service, that is high risk to people when they need it most. Whilst there is a high interest rate in the industry and the rewards for well kept accounts are high I appreciate the high losses that go alongside them and recognise and commend Mr Hilburn and Mr Gilbert for seeking resolution even when they need not and it is not necessarily in their financial interests, but in the interests of their customer and reputation.
I would like to undo any damage I have done to Mr Hilburn, Mr Gilbert and CCPs reputation. The result of this shows that they should in fact be considered more highly as a result of the past weeks problems.
I would like to try to explain and justify my actions and comments, but the easiest explanation is that circumstances were involved that were beyond my responsibility and were not related to CCP or their employees/directors. This explanation is only partial at best - CCP, Mr Gilbert and Mr Hilburn have always held the higher ground on this - legally, morally and ethically.
