Advantis - Stoke-on-Trent

Nikki R.

Received a text from Advantis that claimed to refer to a debt with HMRC. I contacted HMRC and they have advised that there is no such debt. I am not sure what I am supposed to do with this. Supposedly a reputable company from Trust Pilot reviews so what is happening here?

George K.

Staggeringly incompetent. I phoned them after receiving an email (no idea what it's for) it took 40 minutes for someone to answer.
I was immediately asked for personal details, I gave my name and D.O.B. as I recognise they have to go through data protection. I told them I was happy to give information to identify me but as I had no idea who they were I would require a little information before I could give my address. After lengthy discussion where the girl told me "I understand" in every sentence and "bear with me" while I was put on hold about 4 times. I eventually relented and gave my address, the girl told me the address was wrong, I gave my previous address, it also was wrong. I asked the girl if the address they had was similar to any of my addresses, eventually between some more "bare with me's" and a few "I understands" I managed to establish they had my current address but the postcode was wrong and they couldn't continue the conversation. So I have now given my full name, current address, DOB, volunteered some other information and been told that because the post code is partially incorrect they can take it no further.
Am I being scammed or is there really no other way to go through data protection? (Rhetorical question, of course there is) So if anyone reads this please be aware, I waited 40 minutes on you to answer the call that you asked me to make.
I waited 4 times while put on hold for no apparent reason.
I offered you a solution
I suggested we try and work around the information you had, I even offered my driving licence to authenticate my address post code and DOB.
So here's the thing, I tried, any letters will be ignored, your emails are already blocked, phonecalls should only be made by people with a thick skin.
You had your chance, I tried to help you through your inabilities to do your job, you blew it by being unable to compromise or genuinely search for solutions.
All future correspondence will be ignored
As an added note having read through some of the other reviews I was interested in the response to comments about wait times to answer calls. The person known as "owner" responds by asserting that "regardless of the amount of staff available, it still would not always be possible to service every call during our opening hours" What an astonishingly stupid thing to say, it's an arithmetic question for a five year old.
Update three weeks after initial contact I received a letter from Advantis and immediately phoned them. I have a fairly simple question but one I doubt will be answered on a public forum.
QUESTION: Do Advantis (or any other debt recovery company) have any interest in establishing the validity or legality on any "debts" they pursue?
Advantis are pursuing payment for a Virgin media account that I had. After 18 months of intermittent service due to a fault with their equipment, not to mention the wrongful billing for 18 months and the numerous broken promises from virgin to rectify both issues I walked away before the end of my contract hence the bill.
Companies like Advantis are quite literally the bottom of the food chain, feeding off the residue of another's kill, they don't contribute, they don't create, they are clearly not interested in the legality or morality in a debt they pursue just that they can.
So my advice is this, take me to court or leave me alone, any calls will be treated with indifference, letters go straight in the bin. I will not be paying money to someone who has simply chosen to mop up other people's slop for financial reward

Sarah F.

Very helpful. I am very stressed about the debt & the chat was friendly & not pressuring as I expected. I have been given time to complete some more details & so we can hopefully come to a resolution.

Nick B.

Fraud. Sent me a letter saying my business owed the HMRC £7,376 for unpaid PAYE in 2023. Checked the HMRC website and a £0 balance owed

I think they use figures large enough to make it worthwhile for them, but small enough that businesses will just panic and pay

Call them and they tell you to speak to HMRC! Well if HMRC have passed the debt to you, surely you know everything there is to know to collect it

SCAMMERS

Jim C.

Automated call allegedly from a 01702 number bearing all the hallmarks of attempted fraud. If the call was genuine then you need to put some serious effort into making your communication more credible. If it was a genuine call then it would be comically easy for a fraudster to replicate it.

Callum S.

Keep getting calls marked as suspected scam with VM to call back. I have called and provided details reluctantly, as I still don't trust this process. Record of address does not match so they are unable to tell me what they are even calling for as I cannot pass Data Protection. It's obviously extremely concerning that a recovery company is attempting to contact me about a supposed debt I know nothing of and that I cannot even dispute or resolve this. Called 04/08/2025. Leaving this as a record as I don't want to be penalised for something out of my control.

Jay D.

Got a missed call - Called back, guy I spoke to was friendly enough - That’s not my issue. My issue is when I asked what it’s about and who they’re looking for “we use data to track numbers to addresses to look for people, and because of GDPR we can’t tell you who it involves” - So it’s okay for YOU to track my number to the address where I live and phone me on a Saturday Morning, for something that doesn’t even involve me? Kindly explain how you got my number, on this open forum or expect a long drawn out cr@p throwing session with an ombudsman of some kind, it seems to be a common theme in your reviews.

The kind gentleman removed my number, which I’m sure he did, but do you see how absolutely insane it is that you can do this? DO BETTER, YOU’RE TAKING THE PISS.

1970johnpaul

Absolutely clueless.
Paid a DVLA payment for a cancelled direct debit on a car I haven't owned since September 2024!!
Was paid on 1/5/25 (£80.00
27676649 - look it up Advantis - AGAIN!!)
They couldn't find the payment.
Numerous phone calls, plus email sent with proof of payment. Still no acknowledgement it's been paid. Very rude and unhelpful telephone operators.... takes 20+ mins to answer when ringing.
God help you if you unfortunately have to deal with these morons!!
Phone calls recorded for monitoring and training purposes.... well it certainly isn't working!!!

Don't bother replying with your sorry or any other rubbish, because you aren't!