Help please im on tears

narabanekeater

I decided to get a copy of my credit report from Experian as this end of yearD336JEWT year we can finally afford to move :j
Ive just found out that onetel have given me a default on 1/7/05 for £39
Some time ago I tried the service for a few months but after a while decided against it. I didnt realise that I needed to contact them and cancel the account. My last bill was for £39 which I sent by cheque.
I never really thought much about it till around 3 weeks ago I got a letter from a debt collection agency. Onetel has passed my account over to them. The lasy on the phone was very helpful and told me as the amounts matched that they couldnt have recieved the cheque could I send them another please. No problems I phoned the bank with the cheque number and they hadnt cashed it so I sent another which is now cashed. I didnt know at this point about the default.
Im in tears. Having just spoke to the bank who we were going to remortgage with whos just told me they dont accept clients with defaults.
Ive spend over an hour on the phone to Onetel and finally spoke to a supervisor. Without sounding ude nobosy seamed to speak English so it was hard to make him understand. The cheque must ahve got lost in the post. They never had payment so they passed it on to a credit agency. I dont have the same email address so if they would have emailed me I wouldnt have got it. One thing I did say as they had my home phone number but they never phoned or wrote to me.
They have said they cannot remove this for me. But hes going tot send a form to Experian. I dont think he will as I really dont think that he understood me. My hubbys screamed down the phone at me as we now wont get this decent remortgage deal. I would never risk a default for £39
I have never actually receieved a default notice (have been reading up on the net) shoul;d I have done or do they not need to tell me.
Please can anyone help me. I dont even know if my hubbys going to be home now tonight.
Is there part of an act that quotes that you must tell a person if you are issuing a default.
If just tried contscting Onetel again and spoke to an American sounding lady. This was on the landline not the customer servies number and they passed me through to the indian call centre again.
I cant believe this is happening all over £39. Can anyone alsp please explain how bad or good that 630 credit score is please?

narabanekeater

Just checked my credit file number rating and its 630
Ive just been accepted for a nice low rate c/c as well from Capital one with £3000 limit. Why if I have this default

skintchick

Onetel are part of Centrica Communications, whose HQ is:

Millstream, Maidenhead Road
Windsor SL4 5GD, United Kingdom
Phone: +44-1753-494-000
Fax: +44-1753-494-001

HTH

I am with Onetel and the indian call centre people drive me NUTS! They are very sweet but just read their scripts regardless of what you say to them!

System

Some may think this really rude, but what I've started to do with OneTel's Indian call centre is this...

If the person you are talking to has poor spoken English or can't understand your English (I'm from B'ham but don't have a strong accent at all), then I just put the phone down and redial.

Their English is far better than my Hindi , but if they can't fluently communicate in business English, they're wasting my time. (Once had to repeat a ref number to an operator four times - she simply couldn't understand me.)

Generally, if someone sounds young, they'll usually have excellent English and the women who sound middle-aged are the ones who'll have trouble understanding you.

The sad thing is that I've always found them really helpful, but at the back of my mind I'm thinking "do they really know what I'm on about"?


I think your best bet is probably to sort this out thru Centrica in the UK.

Best wishes
Dave

bluezone

Get in contact with experian and see what they say. You hubby shouldn't have shouted at you down the phone without listening to you. My hubby tried the old shouting thing and I just replied 'yes dear' and then said 'I am going to put the phone down now and will talk to you when you have calmed down' and then did put the phone down, ok we didn't talk for a couple of hours but in the end he came round

narabanekeater

ok and update from me
I had no hustband arrive home last night
so need to get this sorted
One thought I have signed nothing with them at all
So could I treat this like some debts that people have had from Littlewoods and ask for a signed credit agreement? They havent one
At the end of the day if you just set something like Onetel up online whats to stop people doing it in false names?
Would me not having signed anything here help me. I dont owe them a penny

newmum1

to be honest most of the time i dont think that they understand, but bham dave, im from brum too and we all have strong accents!!!

inmypocketnottheirs

Sorry to hear of your problems. Not my business I know, but as a male, I would proffer that your husband has shouted at you out of sheer frustration. It is not excusable, but I am afraid that some men are like us!! We don't really mean it, but that doesn't help matters!!

Anyway, what I would do now is write to experien and ask them to put a note that can be seen by prospective lenders explaining what has happened. I would also explain to experien in the letter that you have never received a default notice, and ask that they remove this from your file. They may or may not do this, but they will write to onetel and ask them to clarify. If onetel do not respond within a time scale (28 days I think) then experien will remove the default notice automatically.

Also suggest you write to Centrica above, giving them 7 days to rectify the situation, otherwise you will take legal action. Keep a copy of your letter, and send the letter by recorded delivery.

Organisations like experien/equifax really get my goat. Whilst we need to have a credit reporting facility, I see them as nothing other than gossip mongerers who often spread malicious rumours about individuals, without a care about their accuracy.

Anyway hope you get some satisfaction.

All the best.

System

narabanekeater wrote:

One thought I have signed nothing with them at all
So could I treat this like some debts that people have had from Littlewoods and ask for a signed credit agreement? They havent one
At the end of the day if you just set something like Onetel up online whats to stop people doing it in false names?
Would me not having signed anything here help me. I dont owe them a penny

I'm not really sure that would help you.

It's my understanding that Catalogue debts are difficult to enforce in the courts without a signed credit agreement. But that doesn't mean that the Catalogue company won't register a default on your Credit File.

You could look at attaching an explanatory entry to the Onetel account on your credit file. You'd have to do this thru the Credit Reference agencies yourself, something like:-

"The above Default with OneTel is due to my cheque getting lost in the post without my knowledge. As soon as I discovered the error, I paid OneTel in full and am in the process of asking them to remove this Default."

Whether that will help at all and how long it will take to do, I can't say.

Dave

narabanekeater

can anyone please tell me what I need to say in a letter to Experien. How much detaial do I need tog o inot and what is their address please?

homersimpson_3

answer to question can be found at https://www.creditreporthelp.experian.co.uk/experian/consumer/faq.aspx?bc_pgs=0&pg_id=34

your husband shouting down the phone was wrong but understandable- we're all human and he just took out anger and fustration on you. People usually hurt the ones they love the most. you're an easy target- there's no one to shout at. sounds like, he's just licking his wounds or trying to make a point by not coming home. ok he may be angry but you're a couple and surely your relationship is more important than any house which is just brick & cement. even if you have to rent for say another 6 months (or whatever) is it really the end of the world- it's only 26 weeks. the way time flies it'll be gone in no time!. try and get the mess sorted out and keep your chin up- and yes i agree it's absolutely ridiculous over £39. if this lender won't lend you the money visit some more- be totally honest with them- take details of income and outgoings and prove to them you can afford to meet payments and will continue to do so.