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Original poster

Those bailiff programmes....

67 replies

CurlewKate · 23/10/2023 22:27

...who the fuck watches them? I got caught in a TikTok rabbit hole for 30 minutes before I came to my senses-why do people watch distressed poor people being evicted? It's awful!!! I'm actually ashamed of myself for carrying on watching....

OP posts:
MadamVastra · 23/10/2023 22:29

Back in the day (not that long ago) the sheriffs are coming and don't pay? We'll take it away was essential viewing

FloweryName · 23/10/2023 22:31

People like you watch them!

There is other trash to that is much worse. With the bailiff ones, the people on them deserve to be evicted or threatened with having their stuff taken away because they haven’t paid someone else what they owe. Some stories are sad, most are just life.

Loubelle70 · 23/10/2023 22:36

Ive watched a few, but its only so i can b*ock the tv! I hate the premise of it all. I understand if business owes money...but poor families to big companies?;!! Angers me so much. I can not honestly put on here what i feel. Its cheap tv..using vulnerable people, also to frighten anyone watching that this is what could happen if you don't...etc etc. Its misleading scare tactics tv show....Bailiffs can not enter your home unless already been invited in...they cannot break in... do not leave doors windows unlocked..dont open door to them. They can force into businesses but not homes. Do not let them in. If struggling to pay Debts offer a payment plan by phone ..if struggling.. contact step change.
I wont watch any more

Loubelle70 · 23/10/2023 22:36

bollck lol

MadeOfAllWork · 23/10/2023 22:38

I was amazed that when I put the tv on in Germany they were showing a British program where they were evicting people!

Original poster
CurlewKate · 23/10/2023 22:47

@FloweryName
"People like you watch them!"
0h, so it's only people who get drawn in to a whole lot of clips for 30 minutes. That's good. For a while there I was thinking there were people vile enough to keep watching.

OP posts:
jedwardscissorhands22 · 23/10/2023 22:50

It wasn't that long ago that people used to watch working class people take DNA tests and lie detectors in the name of entertainment.

Those bailiff shows were crap but a lot of the time the people getting evicted were far from innocent and vulnerable. They'd trash rental properties and not pay. There was a particularly memorable one where they were getting threatened with violence by the father of the tenants baby. Grim viewing all round.

Cynderella · 23/10/2023 23:36

My daughter watched them years ago - she was shocked, as in her sheltered life, she was unaware such things could happen. It stuck with her, and she's been careful about debt, so maybe they can serve a purpose.

Original poster
CurlewKate · 24/10/2023 00:08

@Cynderella I'm sure the people on the programme would be delighted to know they were being used as a kind of modern day Aesop's Fable!

OP posts:
jedwardscissorhands22 · 24/10/2023 08:29

CurlewKate · 24/10/2023 00:08

@Cynderella I'm sure the people on the programme would be delighted to know they were being used as a kind of modern day Aesop's Fable!

I'm not sure why you're being so rude to people who watch these shows having just admitted you also watched it....Confused

LakeTiticaca · 24/10/2023 09:10

Can't pay, we'll take it away. I used to watch it. Some proper con artists who refused to pay for legitimate services, refused to pay rent, etc deserved everything coming to them.
Others were sad cases who found themselves in dire straits through no fault of their own. There was an older bailiff, Paul I think he was called, who was really compassionate towards some families and had actually been known to pay from his own pocket for a night in a hotel for families who had literally nowhere to go x

Original poster
CurlewKate · 24/10/2023 09:36

@jedwardscissorhands22 "I'm not sure why you're being so rude to people who watch these shows having just admitted you also watched it...."

Because it would be outrageous of me to criticise people for watching something if I didn't know what I was talking about. HTH

OP posts:
jedwardscissorhands22 · 24/10/2023 10:28

LakeTiticaca · 24/10/2023 09:10

Can't pay, we'll take it away. I used to watch it. Some proper con artists who refused to pay for legitimate services, refused to pay rent, etc deserved everything coming to them.
Others were sad cases who found themselves in dire straits through no fault of their own. There was an older bailiff, Paul I think he was called, who was really compassionate towards some families and had actually been known to pay from his own pocket for a night in a hotel for families who had literally nowhere to go x

I actually think most of the bailiffs came across as professional and compassionate. Stuart was another one (I think) who was always calm and respectful in what must be very uncomfortable circumstances. I agree there were an awful lot of con artists and people who simply chose not to pay, often while wrecking the properties too. Occasionally a young mum who genuinely was struggling and those were very sad. I think they were always pointed in the direction of help and support though.

It's part of life. There are documentaries with serial killers, prisoners, entertainment/drama shows focusing on people like Fred and Rose West, Jimmy Saville and Jeffery Dahmer ffs.

I'm not sure why the op is getting herself so worked up and being so aggressive over it. Odd.

Original poster
CurlewKate · 24/10/2023 11:10

I'm sorry if I sounded aggressive. I just hate the fact that human misery (and even if the individual deserved it, their families don't) is being made into entertainment. And that the bailiffs seem to get a kick out of being the person who evicts children. However professionally they do it.

OP posts:
MrsSkylerWhite · 24/10/2023 11:11

Poverty porn.

GasPanic · 24/10/2023 11:13

A lot of bailiffs aren't very nice people.

But then the people they are evicting often aren't very nice people either. It's a job that needs to be done IMO, and very much a case of fighting fire with fire.

I suspect experienced bailiffs get very good at sizing up the difference between people who are generally in terrible trouble and ones that are just trying to game a situation to their own advantage.

Original poster
CurlewKate · 24/10/2023 11:21

I can accept that it has to be done. But I can't accept that we make entertainment out of it.

OP posts:
hangsangwitch · 24/10/2023 11:43

My parents old house was on it. After dad died we sold it to a neighbour who told us he was moving in and not to worry about the furniture etc we didn’t need, he would arrange for it all to dumped while he was renovating. What he actually did was let it out to a single man (it’s a big 5 bed house), who they were obviously aware was going to sublet the rooms. Thereby circumnavigating the fire regs etc for an HMO.

Tenant stopped paying. Can’t Pay Take It Away cameras turn up with the bailiffs. The guy was sleeping in my mum and dads bed that was still there - the same bed my mother died in.

There were 10 people living in the house that looked exactly as we had left if it, with some old artwork on the walls we had left. The tenants were filmed crying and being thrown out, and apparently the owners were waiting at the end of the drive with a new tenancy agreement for them and they were back in later the same day, they just wanted the original guy out.

It sounds daft, but it was incredibly distressing for us to see our lovely old family home swarming with bailiffs and cops and crying people. I’ve seen it repeated a few times and always get a phone call from someone saying they’ve seen my mums kitchen on the telly!

x2boys · 24/10/2023 12:25

CurlewKate · 24/10/2023 11:21

I can accept that it has to be done. But I can't accept that we make entertainment out of it.

What do.you like watching ,be cause I remember you complaining on the true crime threads too?
The thing is people watch all.kinds of things , I don't know why anyone would watch love island ,big brother etc but they do
Soaps have gone really down hill in the last decade or so.imo,so I personally don't watch them but many people do .
Just because you find somethings distasteful.not everyone will.

Original poster
CurlewKate · 24/10/2023 12:37

@x2boys I watch loads of things-comedy, drama,quiz shows. I just think it's objectively wrong (so not just a matter of taste) to make entertainment out of other people's misery. I accept that it's a job that has to be done. I don't think anyone should be enjoying it.

OP posts:
Crinkle77 · 24/10/2023 12:47

Loubelle70 · 23/10/2023 22:36

Ive watched a few, but its only so i can b*ock the tv! I hate the premise of it all. I understand if business owes money...but poor families to big companies?;!! Angers me so much. I can not honestly put on here what i feel. Its cheap tv..using vulnerable people, also to frighten anyone watching that this is what could happen if you don't...etc etc. Its misleading scare tactics tv show....Bailiffs can not enter your home unless already been invited in...they cannot break in... do not leave doors windows unlocked..dont open door to them. They can force into businesses but not homes. Do not let them in. If struggling to pay Debts offer a payment plan by phone ..if struggling.. contact step change.
I wont watch any more

Edited

Court bailiffs can enter the home to seize goods or evict people, debt collectors can't.

Original poster
CurlewKate · 24/10/2023 12:52

"Court bailiffs can enter the home, debt collectors can't."

I think court bailiffs collecting a debt can only enter through an open door-but once they're in, they can keep going in. It's different for repossessions.

OP posts:
MargotMoon · 24/10/2023 12:53

As a debt adviser I used to watch those programmes and get so wound up Angry
The rule-breaking was unbelievable, and the lies the bailiffs tell people are so misleading about what their powers are. I wrote a complaint to Channel 5 and they basically wrote back saying, "We don't give a shit".

I don't watch them any more, my blood pressure can't take it.

Anyone dealing with a bailiff and wanting trusted debt advice can get in touch with an adviser by webchat at www.citizensadvice.org.uk - go to the Debt pages and look for the pop-up box. There's also lots of useful info on there about dealing with a bailiff.

ButterflyDream · 24/10/2023 12:58

They’re awful. My childhood home was repossessed and the thought of having it filmed for entertainment is horrific. My parents left it for me to deal with (I was 18, so technically an adult) and it still sometimes makes me sad thinking about it.

54isanopendoor · 24/10/2023 12:58

I agree @CurlewKate It's misery pornography.
Like 'Tru-crime'. Like afternoon 'judge' shows. Like DNA/family fight shows.
Like other kinds of pornography: it's Revolting.