Bristow & Sutor Reviews 830

Absolutely horrible company. Sent Baliffs to my daughter’s door a month before Christmas demanding nearly 2 Grand including enforcement agent fees. Agent was showing very threatening and intimidating behaviour on the phone no sort of compassion what so ever. When she told him how much she could afford he told her to ask around family members etc. a MONTH before Christmas? My poor daughter has only had a baby 4 months ago, a new first time mother dealing with post natal depression, still under the perinatal mental health team no sign to be discharged soon as she’s receiving amazing help. All this stress now ontop of that? Give the poor girl a break, when she rang me asking for a lent of 2 grand I immediately had to ask what it’s for, she explained and I was so disgusted and demanded the company’s name. When I ring they keep hanging up!!! Absolute scam and they need shutting down immediately. Surely the police need to be involved soon.My daughter even rang the company when she saw the Baliff letter and they said to call the Baliff direct that they can’t help, even tho if she pays the payment still goes directly to them? I have told her to take this to court, report to citizen advice the council & also involve the police. As a nursing mother she HAS RIGHTS. On the informant letter it says they come back in a week but the man came on a Friday and said he would be back Monday or Tuesday if no payment can be arranged.

Following up from a previous review. I had a shocking experience with them. Most of the agents are incredibly rude and disrespectful. They admitted fault with a debt they had my info for - it wasn’t me, we had the same name but different address. Not rocket science that several Nottingham city council parking fines over a fairly long time period wouldn’t be likely to be from someone who lives in London and doesn’t drive. I had the fine written off but was bullied into paying as my son had unwittingly answered the door to them and he came in and wouldn’t leave. Finally got my refund only after I sent them a letter of intent to take legal action. Disgusting company who don’t care how much stress and anxiety they cause.

AWFUL - Unauthorized Entry, No Communication, Vulnerable Family Ignored

I received NO prior correspondence from Bristow & Sutor before two large, intimidating bailiffs arrived at my home for an unpaid parking fine.

Communication Impossible:
The letter from their first visit had no case ID number - only a B&S reference. Every contact method (WhatsApp, online bot) requires the case ID. I spent hours trying to reach someone via phone - NO ANSWER. I emailed explaining and stressing we are a vulnerable family and requested safeguarding escalation. The auto-response promised contact within 7 days.

Terrifying Unauthorized Entry:
Six days later (still no response from B&S), at 7am, bailiff 'Mr D Anglin' and colleague returned. I spoke through my living room window, explained I was dealing with B&S directly, and re-stated we are a vulnerable family - I'm a single mother with two children at home, my young daughter standing right behind me.
They repeatedly asked me to open the window claiming they couldn't hear me - I could hear them perfectly well. I believe Mr D Anglin was attempting to get me to provide access to my home.
I had accidentally left a key accessible the previous day. When I walked from the living room to the hallway to go upstairs, Mr D Anglin had LET HIMSELF INTO MY HOME WITHOUT PERMISSION and was standing in my hallway. This was absolutely terrifying.
He showed no official warrant - only something on his phone after a substantial amount of time of me saying I have NO PAPER WORK to confirm any of this. Only when police were called they were able to verify B&S legitimacy and only then did his colleague finally write down the case ID. The police attended my house to ensure we were safe.

Still No Response:
I have STILL received no copy of any warrant. My children and I are traumatised. B&S has not responded to any follow-up requests for escalation.
This company employs intimidating tactics and ignores vulnerable families. Where is their duty of care?

In addition - I am now aware of other families they have visited in which they too have had no previous correspondence and that B&S has also not included the case ID, making it impossible to contact them.

I accept I owed the parking fine - my family has had a lot of trauma in the last period - and although I should have ensured the parking fine was paid, sometimes in life things can be out of sight when there are huge things at play and NO ONE, let alone a woman and her children should have this. The impact that this has had on me and my children - well, it will take some time to get over this all. Disgusting.

Disgusting service from the boy who answered the phone today! More like school boy! Proper attitude! No compassion whatsoever! I was only explaining about some parking tickets of got on a car I recently sold! No customer service at all 💩company!

WOW!! thought I was back in the 80s with silly bullies as ballifs!
Hang your your head in shame Bristow and sutor!
Had a guy at the door thinking he was 7 foot, glaring at me behind his body cam obviously.
Telling me no chance of a payment plan and demanding £420 for a dart charge.
Didn't want to listen, or be human in anyway.

According to The Agents Bristow & Sutor employ, they can now legally take away financed vehicles ??????

Do they have there own law now !!!!! or is it another bullying and scary tactics they use.

Harassed my address for ages despite telling them multiple times the person they were seeking had no association with my address. Rude staff. Didn't want to help. They deflected at any query and hung up the phone on me. When queried on their complaints process they told me they don't have one and they aren't regulated which I don't think would be legitimate, but if true I think companies like TfL that work with this company should be questioning their ethics.

Every agent you speak to are very rude and arrogant unhelpful treat you like you are dirt this is the worse customer service experience I have ever experienced not just once but every agent you call on their “helpline” number

I genuinely struggle to put into words how awful this company are. How aggressive, rude, uncompromising and with a total inability to understand that every case they deal with is different. They treat everyone like they are scum of the earth and that they have no intention of paying off debts when this is simply not true at all.

I have now incurred four £285 fines for enforcement agents visiting my home and my elderly parents home (for some reason, no idea why given I haven't lived with my parents for about 30 years. Both my parents have been ill and are now in their 80s but have had to deal with these horrific people twice now)

Throughout all of the threats and the abuse and the harassment I have continued to make regular payments to the debt. On multiple occasions the entire debt would now be paid off but everytime I get close they turn up at my home or where I work and start threatening me all over again and then add another £285 each time.

The fact that these evil people are somehow above the law is insane and I just don't understand why this is the case.

Bristow and Sutor are genuinely despicable and if I could give them minus stars then I would.

They've stolen so much money off me that I simply cannot afford and have caused me obscene amounts of anxiety and mental health issues.

You cannot reason with these idiots either. It's impossible. There is a special place in hell for every single one of the people that work for this deplorable company.

Representative called for council tax debt which was not correct. Forced entry and dislodged his camera so that his assault on me was not recorded. The forced entry is on camera. I was assaulted which has resulted in me suffering damage to my shoulder which has resulted in my needing surgery. I have been in agony for 18 months waiting for surgery. Received an offer of compensation which was pathetic. This company used a thug to enforce a debt which was not payable. They are not fit to represent any council

I just wanted to leave a review about this company I had the enforcement officer attending my property and he was really rude and trying to threaten me.
Few days later I spoke with the costumer service and I was speaking to Kim that was really helpful and resolved it for me in few minutes
Thank you Kim for being so understanding and so helpful.

Absolutely appalling company! If i could put minus stars I would!

I received an email today marked “URGENT NOTICE – ACT NOW” — shockingly, it’s the first time I’ve ever heard from them! I’ve lived at the same address for over 20 years, with the same phone number and email for 15+, and never received a single previous letter or message.

This company claims I owe over £2,000 to Transport for London (TFL) — yet they’re using my maiden name, provide no dates or details of the alleged charge, and claim to have my vehicle number. I don’t own a car and don’t even have a driving licence.

I contacted TFL directly and they confirmed they have no record or account for me. Even TFL were surprised to see this company listed on their site. I wasted a whole day calling and chasing this up and still have no answer.

Contacting the company was a nightmare. Their phone gives two options — press 1 to pay or press 2 to speak to someone — except option 2 doesn’t work and the call cuts off. Their WhatsApp and live chat were useless: they demanded my full name and address (which they shouldn’t need if they truly had my details) and then went offline when I refused. If anyone from this company shows up at my door, I will be calling the police — assuming they even have my address.

I’ve lodged a formal complaint with TFL about why such an unprofessional and potentially fraudulent company is being used. Absolutely atrocious experience from start to finish.

ADVICE: CONTACT the original company to ensure the penalty is correct - do not trust anything these guys say!

@Bristow- you sent me another threatening letter from a different email address telling me you contacted me by phone. I responded and it came back to say that email address is not currently accepting incoming mail.

They have admitted they were in the wrong to take money off of me and have said they will refund but no sign of it and everytime I call I get fobbed off with “no time scale for a refund” “managers don’t take calls”. I am currently instructing a solicitor to get the money owed to me
and compensation

Edit: despite the response on this review from the company I have had no further contact from and despite several more phone calls by me I still haven’t had my refund

I've received the enforcement letter 7 days after you sent it spent 3 hours trying too call you no answer I have an IVA in place and wanted that adding to it you gave too separate dates the 29th and the 30th of this month your shocking too get hold of so I'll wait for the enforcement agent too attended who cannot gain entry too a property with it being council tax and a civil right your not high court if you were then the letters would state high court you can send as many as you want they won't be getting in unless you answer your phone lines I've tried the online chat it said you were closed. Online it states your open until 8pm then if you check again your open until 9pm your just nostalgic people who don't help at all your dates are all different when sending letters make your mind up and communicate with people you wonder why people are in debt because of people like yourselves not answering the phone sent out on the 22/09/2025 received the 27/09/2025

I had what I can only explain as a very compassionate and understanding customer advisor when I rang this company in a very distressed state today. the lady B was a good listener, kind and caring going above and beyond her job description. Not all Baillffs are uncaring in fact quite the opposite. So thankyou for your compassion and understanding.

For over a year I have been tirelessly paying off 2 debts through Bristow and Sutor, all very stressful for me. I have had a couple of hiccups my end with the odd payment but I can wholeheartedly say that these people have been nothing but kind, patient and understanding every step of the way, helping me wherever possible. My debt finished today with a lovely lady called Lisa, I can't thank them enough.

Whilst this isn't anything new in listing a one star review for this sorry excuse of a company, I felt compelled to add details of my experience as well.

This company contacted my partner 2 days ago, about an unpaid congestion charge debt. A despicable individual by the name of Ian spoke to my partner initially and reduced her to tears with his misogynistic ramblings, and bullying, with no interest at all in trying to deal with the issues in a reasoned and rational manner. Common sense doesn't seem to apply to this company, not do any of their staff seem to have an ounce of empathy or a brain cell between them.... maybe that's in the job description for anyone who works here.

Ian tried to bully my partner into paying 330 otherwise he threatened to send bailiffs round to us and scoffed at our ability to prevent any further action from being taken. Ian, you sorry excuse for a human, don't underestimate that when you get under the skin of decent people and try to bully them into submission, they'll develop a siege mentality and do whatever it takes to disprove your lies and see that you get your comeuppance.

It's a travesty that this disgusting company is allowed to operate, and I'm so sorry to read the horror stories on here from other decent people. Shame on the local authorities in Worcestershire for not shutting this company down; I'll be contacting them in the coming days.

All of this, for 12.50 which was unwittingly not paid as part of Ulez, it's an absolute farce

I have spoke on the phone numerous times a they won’t accept a payment plan for a pcn charge and now the fees have racked up to 3000. When trying to express my financial situation I had a rude person on the phone that spoke down to me an didn’t want to hear anything I had to say. I don’t see why they can’t give people a chance to have an affordable payment plan. Instead they try bully an get rude to you. No need for it. I then had a phone call of a Baliff who said that I would be in breech of my car finance an that he would contact the car finance people to take my car! At this point I’m done. This is why a lot of people go through mental health an breakdowns.

Bully boy tactics.
Richard Sutor you must be very proud of yourself and the customer service your employees deliver. 😡
Do you actually live in the real world? Do you know there is a financial crisis in this country?
I spoke with one of your agents who advised that you do not have a legal liability to offer instalments.
It appears that you would rather remove goods.
Debt collection/enforcement agencies get shocking reviews and have/are subject to negative media coverage.
Get a grip show some compassion and empathy and look at delivering training to staff that is more productive rather than destructive!!

It is absolutely objectionable that companies like this are allowed to exist. And it is even more objectionable that councils use them to intimidate people who are struggling into giving money they don't have. Anyone associated with this company or any like it should be ashamed.