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Bruce Ford came recommended to me from the internal legal team of a large bank. I was told they learnt a lot from dealing with Bruce and no one could put anything over him.
After I spoke to Bruce Ford, I formed the view he knew exactly what he was talking about so I had no issue in engaging him immediately.
I'm aware that some people start legal action against banks then hit a brick wall, then turn to Bruce Ford to try and sort things out after they had reached a stalemate. My thoughts were to get Bruce Ford involved right from the start of my dispute as we needed to expose a lot of information from the bank to support my dispute. It was only Bruce Ford's knowledge of the system and the internal workings and the corporate behaviour of banks that enabled us to expose the information we needed to show how the bank had been dishonest in altering my financial position on loan application documents.
I have now engaged solicitors and believe we have a solid case and it is only the work Bruce Ford has put in and the informatuion Bruce has been able to expose that has allowed us to get to this position. My lawyer even said to me that with the information Bruce Ford has exposed from the Bank they now have no where to go, except to settle.
My advice to anyone would be to get Bruce Ford involved in the beginning before you and your solicitor start any action. The money that Bruce Ford will cost will easily be saved in the over all cost because you will not end up on the legal merry go round trying to expose information.
The bank does not ignore Bruce Ford as they are fully aware how ugly that practice can become for them.
Cameron
QLD
30 March 2010
I am writing to you today to say a big thanks you for the support help and attention you have provided my company during the period of 06/07 financial year.
Sure this letter is a little long winded but I think it’s important for others to read perhaps potential customers, to that end this it may help to change their lives. I hope so.
I’m sitting back in my office today pondering the thought where would my company have been today if I had not made that phone call to your office in Jan 06. One thing is for sure I don’t think I would be sitting in my office. I have finalised the 08 accounts and sent them off to my new bank, Sales up 63% profit went through the roof, we are now a truly international company. Wow and it all started in my garage 7 years ago. I think again, imagine if I hadn’t called Bruce Ford. I wonder and think to myself as I look around my office, seeing my team busily at work, on the phones writing invoices, selling product, working hard as a team, where would they have been, my people, a handpicked team, home grown over 7 years, where would they be, if I hadn’t picked up the phone to Bruce that day in January. I think about your business, and how it works, what motivates you to help others the way you do.
The financial institutions you deal with, wrestle with, go 3 rounds with, and then some, really they have no other significant opponent to take them on, maybe that’s it. There is no other specialist in disputes. Legal firms and the like may know the law, but do they know their way around internal workings of a financial institution. I think not...not after my experience with you guys. It is a David and Goliath fight, I guess they all are.. My case was not special, but you treated it as special, it was a fight for survival for what I believed in. Not just a fight to save my business, removing the emotion, the fight was about what was fair and reasonable, what was right. You achieved this for me Bruce.
Every time you call a Financial institution, or write them a letter, it’s a letter the financial institution don’t want to receive, its a letter that will cause them grief, make them think and hopefully make them accountable. It’s a letter that may make them react in many ways. But mostly it’s a letter that certainly doesn’t go unnoticed, unread or not responded to. It’s a letter that goes up the ladder to the department of “ oh sh*t its that BRUCE FORD again what should we do” otherwise known as the department of “We better take this seriously and listen to what he’s saying,” That’s what I found with all the correspondence over the period of time I have dealt with you and Wendy. You get a response you understand the issues and you don’t let up.
You have time for your customers, and have been a great mentor to me. The journey has been amazing. I kept thinking ...the smartest thing I did was pick up the phone early, calling your office, before it was too late. Yes I thought that was probably the key. Trusting you and Wendy with all the facts the Good the Bad and the Ugly, yes that’s right all the cards on the table. All the dirty laundry out of the basket. Did I feel comfortable with this, am I showing too many cards. These were some of my thoughts, I trusted your judgement and knowledge. Simply there was nobody else to trust. Least of all the bank.
I got thinking, my, oh my ....what a difficult business you’re in....Nobody ever wishes to be your customer, but thousands should be. And hopefully before it’s too late. I told a colleague about your company his business was in dispute with a bank. Similar position to my own about 12 months ago. I called him yesterday to see how he was getting along and how it turned out. I excitedly told him of my success with Bruce and inquired if he had called Bruce last year as planned… His response floored me. “I think I made a big mistake I didn’t call Bruce Ford. Lost my business 5 months ago and my house. I should have listened. Do you think Bruce can help?” My reply was solemn. “No mate it is to Late but give him a call”.
I don’t wish for anyone to be a new client of yours (not great for your revenue) but.... I know firsthand and understand the pain they must be going through to pick up the phone or send an email asking for help. It was a dark year in parts, some of my darkest hours of worry, anguish, anxiety, at times I foolishly doubted my own ability, this period in my life was something that nobody will ever understand until they got though the “Financial Institution Mill”
Thank you Bruce and Wendy I trusted and believed, when you said to me on more than one occasion, “There is light at the end of the tunnel you may not be able to see it but it’s there.” Every day I worked with Bruce and Wendy the light got slowly, slowly, brighter, now it’s a raging fire a fire in my belly, it consumes me I will never, never, be put in that position again by a Financial Institution . I learned so many lessons on the journey.
Stephen M Goldsworthy
Managing Director - Goldie Marketing & Nintendo Brand Licensing Division - Victoria
25 July 2008
My wife and I first found Bruce Ford and his company Dispute Assist P/L on the internet. Hesitant at first, but after conducting a bit of research ourselves, and at a point of frustration with regard to what to do next with our problems, we decided to give him a go. This was one of the best decisions we have made. Bruce Ford is a wealth of information and his accurate and professional persona shine through when it comes time to communicate and negotiate with the Corporates, Banks, and Solicitors.
He is a one stop shop for everything involving the dispute resolution process and his valuable advice and guidance is second to none. He not only saved us time, confusion, and frustration, but without him we would not have achieved a positive outcome.
Respected and worthy among his opponents, Bruce Ford has an accute knowledge of the process within the various government departments and he is often able to highlight issues that may have normally been overlooked.
Bruce Ford's fees are worth it just for insight alone, and we would highly recommend his services to anyone seeking to resolve a dispute effectively and amicably.
Thanks Bruce.
Richard and Di'anne
Brisbane QLD
17 March 2010
Dear Bruce and Wendy,
Just wanting to let you know that we have almost 12 months of clear Statement and are staying on top of everything, thanks to your Professionalism. I would also like to say, that I would have no Hesitation in Recommending you and your Service to anyone that may be in fiscal difficultly especially with a Home Mortgage, and I have the upmost respect for your Professionalism and dedication that you have in helping people through these very stressful and embarrassing situations.
From my wife and myself a very special thankyou, for saving our home from the claws of the Bank, which, other wise was surely lost and also the knowledge that you gave us along the way to recovery.
Mc Donnell
Queensland.
I just want to thank Dispute Assist Pty Ltd for diligently pursuing my bank dispute with Citibank to a successful resolve.
Previous to contacting you, I lodged my bank dispute with the Banking and Financial Service Ombudsman. After many months of dealing with the BFSO, I received a letter from them that said my: “...dispute raises complex legal and contractual issues...”, “This dispute is currently being further reviewed...” and that they were “...unable to provide you with a clear indication of when that review will be completed...”.
I felt terribly disappointed with their lack of resolve and my experience with the BFSO leaves me with strong thoughts of nepotism. If I had not engaged the services of Bruce Ford I truly believe that my dispute would still remain unresolved. I also believe that the BFSO lacks the intestinal fortitude to be truly effective.
Mr. Bruce Ford brings professionalism, experience and a level of expertise to the negotiation table that is rarely found in these challenging disputes. An honourable man assisting the ill prepared in an unconscionable industry.
Daniel
NSW
29 May 2008
To Whom it may concern,
We had a dispute with St George Bank Australia for which the bank was offering us a settlement of $100.00!! This, of course, was considerably lower than the bank should have been offering but being a husband and wife team we stood little or no chance of negotiating anything better.
I happened to come across the Dispute Assist Pty Ltd website by putting in Banking Ombudsman and coming across Dispute Assist instead. The Banking Ombudsman, I realised later, is actually funded by the banks which means they would find it hard to give you unprejudiced advice. I’d also heard from people having disputes with banks that they were unsatisfied with the way the Ombudsman dealt with matters. With in 24 hours Bruce has written a very formal letter to the bank stating things we would never have considered and had actually negotiated a figure agreeable to us and St George. Bruce was very professional and considerate of keeping us up to date with the proceedings. He had a much better knowledge of the way the banking system works and how best to approach the dispute. We were very grateful for the time he spent and what he managed to get us in compensation. I would have no hesitation in recommending Dispute Assist Pty Ltd and Bruce Ford.
A & A Frost
4 January 2006
I have great pleasure to recommend the services and expertise of Bruce Ford and Wendy Murray in unravelling the complex logistics associated with transactions relating to banking.
After over 10 years of fruitlessly slogging away with lawyers and barristers to protect my interests in relation to business arrangements with a bank, Bruce Ford and Wendy Murray were able to accurately and efficiently pinpoint the significant areas to be targeted for discussion and to set a detailed path towards resolution of the matter. Bruce Ford and Wendy Murray both came highly recommended to me and I will continue to seek their advice in relation to any future transactions with financial institutions in the future.
Lana McLean
Educational Consultant/Agent
Victoria
To Whom It May Concern:
My problem may have seemed small to some people, but to my husband and myself the problem was huge.
I was having a problem with my bank / finance company relating to a payment arrangement that I had made with the bank for a car loan payment. Unfortunately the bank had made an error relating to the arrangement details and subsequently my car was repossed. I was not getting anywhere trying to rectify the problem with the bank, as I was just constantly given the run around. In the mean time my husband and myself were left with no form of transportation for nearly a week (this was made even worse at the time as my daughter is only 8 weeks old and has been very ill, & we had already rushed her to hospital in the middle of the night once). The bank also expected us to pay for costs relating to the situation even though they admitted they had made the error (after first trying to denying that I had called at all to make any arrangements-but I did have proof ). All we wanted to do was to get our car back as quickly as possible. After one quick phone call with Bruce he advised me exactly what the best course of action to take would be. I followed his advise to the letter and after being on the phone with the bank for 25 minutes and quite a bit of heated discussion later, I hung up from the bank and was able to have my husband pick up the car one hour later and the bank ended up accepting all the costs.
I can not thank Bruce enough for his advise. His knowledge over the banking / finance industry is unsurpassed and his advise on how we should approach our situation was superb. He made me feel more confident to stand my ground with the bank and it worked.
Thank you, thank you, thank you !
Danielle Petrovski
NSW
To Whom It May Concern:
Meeting Bruce and Wendy changed my life for the better.
People experiencing bank problems are linked together from the same fear - that is going Bankrupt. These people don't want anybody to know about their predicament. Their Politicians, Farmer Union, ACCC, ASIC and the Banking Ombudsman, Agents and Solicitors are all influenced by the Banks tremendous power and the Regulators are not protecting the customer as you think.
Unfortunately I spent $300,000.00 with solicitors; barristers and accountancy firms only to find out my legal team allowed the bank to get away with serious matters that should have been immediately challenged. Had my legal team done their job properly, this alone would have saved my farm and my stud sheep before any litigation started. I was a specialist at breeding Stud Merino Sheep; not an expert geared to know the tricks played out during the legal process.
Bruce Ford helped to retrieve my file from my solicitor's 12 months after litigation finished. When shown my file he immediately alerted me to certain facts that my legal team should have seen, he assisted me in avoiding wasting further substantial sums of money in futile litigation. Further assistance from Bruce enabled me to realise the bank withheld account balances and that the Bank Officer had overstated my balance by $1,150,000.00 in a sworn affidavit and that my solicitors knew and did nothing!
Bruce knows how the banks work and why. Bruce assists people to understand how bank officers treat their customers and with a few well placed letters we are getting results.
I have learnt my dilemma arose mainly from trusting Bank Officers and Solicitors. Had I known of and had access to Bruce's expertise at the time, to help me understand how these so-called trusted Bank Officers operate, I would today be millions better off.
Bruce Ford and Wendy Murray are the experts in banking who could have saved my way of life had I engaged them when the first letter of demand arrived in the mail. In hindsight and with what I know now, Bruce has showed me how a bank prepares you before it issues a demand, and most importantly what I could have and should have done beforehand to prevent the bank doing whatever they want.
Robert Coddington
NSW
To Whom It May Concern
If only I had met Bruce when my problem with the bank first began or if only I had his knowledge I would not have lost our family farm and my engineering business 5 years ago. The bank withheld the details of our accounts and bankrupted me on an amount that was vastly different to my account balances.
In 2002 with the help of Bruce, I was shown how to establish the real balance of my accounts and to obtain my true account balances. Thanks to their knowledge, I was able to establish that my bank has submitted proofs of debt to the Court that were more than double the amount stated on my account balance.
If I had met Bruce earlier, I know this would not have occurred. We knew something was wrong, but we did not have the inside information to expose it at the time. There would not be a solicitor in this country that could match 10% of their knowledge, solutions or strategies to keep the bastards honest.
A word of advice, if you are having trouble with your bank, do not, because of self pride, or worse still, stupidly thinking that you or your solicitor can fix it, leave it to the last minute to contact Bruce. He is an excellent thinker in providing resolutions to your banking problems - BUT HE CAN NOT REVIVE THE DEAD. I can say from my experience, once you have lost your business or your home it is nearly impossible to get it back.
Richard Cooper.
South Australia
To Whom It May Concern
We have had all of our assets sold by the Bank and were being pushed into Bankruptcy by the Bank without any care for our rights whatsoever.
An Accountant who specialises in Bankruptcy recommended Bruce Ford to us.
Bruce has been an invaluable source of information and support during our FIGHT BACK against the Bank; we now have access to the information and tools necessary for us to fight the Bank in the Courts, their actions have been clearly without substance and Bruce was able to point out all of the facts to us in regard to the Banks actions.
We are in the process of contesting the Banks actions in Court without any Legal assistance and we certainly would not be in this position without the assistance that Bruce and Wendy have given us.
I cannot speak highly enough of Bruce Ford's integrity and knowledge of the Banks processes in what we believe is a deliberate illegal action against us and our companies by the Bank.
Anybody with a problem with a Bank would be well advised to speak to Bruce Ford before taking any action.
Don Greyson.
Western Australia
To Whom It May Concern
In October 2000 Kangaroo Explorer Cruises was experiencing its worst time since first commencing in 1990. Tourism bodies had predicted that the Sydney Olympics would bring an influx of tourists, but this had worked in reverse in the Far North and we found ourselves in the midst of the worst season we had ever experience.
At this point we thought things could not get any worse. Then our lending facility threatened to foreclose on us. We were bewildered, we were not behind in our repayments and we couldn't understand why this was happening to us. However, times were tough and we were not in a position to afford huge legal costs fighting them.
At that time a mutual friend put us in touch with Bruce Ford who, we were told, had a similar experience with their lending facility. We contacted them hoping they might be able to give us some guidance on how to deal with the matter.
Since that time, Bruce has worked tirelessly to reverse the situation we found ourselves in. They provided us with the tools to fight back and we are happy to say that as a result we are still operating today. Without Bruce, we would have been facing certain bankruptcy.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Bruce to any person requiring professional, capable people.
Kevin G. Smith,
Queensland
I am pleased to write a few words in support of the services offered by Bruce Ford and Wendy Murray.
My bankruptcy consulting service attracts enquiry from all over Australia from people in all walks of life. As a result from time to time I come in contact with people who I recognise that I can't help but who I expect that Bruce and Wendy can. In these circumstances I have no hesitation in seeking the permission of my client to introduce them to Bruce and Wendy.
I am aware that such introductions have resulted in some very satisfactory outcomes for the client.
There is no formal business relationship between our separate businesses, nor does any remuneration pass for such referrals.
I am a semi retired former Chartered Accountant, and for a number of years I have operated a bankruptcy consulting service, through the internet at www.fredappleton.com.au
I have been quoted on the subject of bankruptcy in national newspaper articles and in a highly respected national business magazine.
Fred Appleton,
New South Wales
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