Vilcol - Surbiton

Mae C.

Service has been amazing. Quick efficient and straight to the point! Highly recommend this company to keep urself safe wish I had found them before! Great company!

Y0ut1n9 S.

I wish I had read all the negative reviews on Google before paying for Vilcol Limited's services. 21.11.2024 I filled in a form via their website for the "in-depth employment trace". I provided the subject's name, date of birth, and an address from 2019. I promptly received an email stating they would be in touch as soon as possible. However, the communication then went silent for five days.

26.11.2024, I received an email containing an invoice for £55 + VAT, marked "work performed, means success." After transferring the payment to Vilcol, I called Vilcol to question the invoice amount, as it differed from what was indicated on the website. I was concerned there might be an issue with the search. Derek confirmed that nothing was wrong and said I was lucky that they had quoted me an old price. That same afternoon, I received a report containing ONLY information found from Company House. Basically, the subject registered a company on the Company House in Feb 2024 and appointed himself as a director, with no other people or any records uploaded. I had already found this information from Company House and visited the registered office address in the summer of 2024, confirming that the address was invalid. Hence, I was willing to spend money on Vilcol to look into this issue for me. Upon reading the report, I sent an email to the customer care team to express my dissatisfaction. I never heard back from Vilcol.

27.11.2024 at 2:00 pm, I rang Vilcol and asked for Derek. I explained that the information was incorrect and that the report I requested was an "in-depth employment trace" as stated on the form and confirmation email. I expected to see the subject's employment trace, not just information from Company House. Derek responded that they would only provide the current employment status, which was a director of a new company. I explained to Derek that I had visited the address and confirmed it was unrelated to this company. It is a new company that was registered by the subject, and he appointed himself as a director. There are no other people or files for this company. Derek replied that this was all they could find. Derek then advised me to pay another £55 + VAT for a residential address trace if I wanted to find the subject. When I asked about the "no trace, no fee" policy, Derek stated that finding information from Company House constituted a successful trace. The call ended abruptly, and Derek never called back. On the same day afternoon, I emailed the Customer Care Team again to keep them posted on the conversation between me and Derek.

28.11.2024, I received an email from the same Derek, who is also to be the Customer Service Manager. They refused to do a refund, instead, they were happy to offer another £55 + VAT to do a residual trace of the same subject.

However, I still don’t agree that Vilcol has provided reasonable care and skill when they provided this service. The disagreement is based on:
1. I was not lucky to be invoiced an old price – this was Vilcol’s intention. They did not find any useful information other than a new company on the Company House; therefore, they reduced the cost without any communication or invoicing me. This is very unprofessional and dishonest. When I was filling in the “in-depth employment trace” form, I provided all confidential information about myself, such as my phone number, my address, my name, my email address etc. I was hoping to receive integrity and professional service from a private investigation agency.
2. The nature of the Vilcol business is “investigation activities”, I am not happy with paying £66 for a search on the Company House. When people pay for a service for an investigation agent, they would expect to see in-depth results as the service they offer is called “in-depth employment trace”.

The Customer Rights Act 2015 says that services must be provided with reasonable care and skill. In my opinion, Vilcol failed to do so.

Callum C.

Update: I have now received a refund, (thank you Derek) but cannot recommend this companies employment trace service with the experience I have.

Astoundingly incompetent. I asked for an employment trace and supplied all information I had, including an old address and a verified current address from another tracing agent.

Vicol proceeded to charge me full price to tell me they had found an address, the old one I had given them to do the job I actually paid them for, finding employment information.

This casts serious doubt on their "no trace no fee" policy. Their employment trace was not successful, so I do not understand why they invoiced me for it. The limited information they supplied me was incorrect, verified by another tracing agent. Their inability to notice the information they were supplying the customer was already in the my application for service also speaks volumes of this organisations "investigative" abilities.

The only reason I can guess they supplied this address is because it is where the subject is registered on the electoral roll, a database anyone can search and a red herring a tracing agent half the price was able to see through.

To give them credit, they have agreed to a refund and I received an invoice a few days ago. However this instructs me to contact their "accounts team" for which no contact information can be found. I guess I am contacting their customer care email again.

Avoid at all costs, you could do better for free.

Barry W.

Derek Bevan of Vilcol had traced him to an address in the south of England but, living in the north, I had been unable to make a visit and my letters and emails went unanswered. After some time I asked Vilcol to make another search, but Derek replied at once that he had checked and still had a very high level of confidence in the address he had given earlier.

Derek also gave me some advice on how I might assure myself of the address, so that I could arrange a visit in advance with no surprises. I couldn’t ask for more; Derek provided both essential information and support. In a busy and distracted world, it’s good to come across someone in the right job and retaining that essential personal touch.

Yi T.

Used their tracing service twice over the span of a few years tracing the same person and both times came back successful and accurate. These people know what they're doing and they do it exactly right. They're intelligent, efficient, respectful and reliable. I can't even find one flaw.

Recently I called in hopes of getting a bit more info about my previous trace from last year - Derek and Del went out of their way to help me get exactly what I would need for an upcoming hearing, at no extra cost. At this point, to me it feels more than just work but kindness and generosity.

In my experience, Derek has always listened to me attentively and never shut me down without letting me finish what I wanted to say. And they always pulled it off and did it right. Incredible people!

vicky M.

Extremely professional. The service will go above and beyond to help you notably Derek. I will highly recommend this company. Derek is knowledgeable and provided a lot of reassurance. Thank you Vilcol

Emma L.

I hired Vilcol to do an In-Depth trace after our chosen debt recovery company failed to find a debtors new address with their own basic search. Vilcol found the debtor within a week! I’m very pleased and impressed with this service and would recommend them.

Edmund B.

Really really impressed with the professionalism and compassion showed. Did exactly what they said they would with a 5 star service, would 100% recommend and would use them again without hesitation if required!! Thank you for all your help