Advice needed for my gran

HRB

Hello,

this is the first time I have posted here so i hope I am doing this right and in the correct place!

Basically, I am looking for some advice for my grandma. She started geting frozen meals from a company about 2 years ago but a year ago, when she started having some financial problems, she ran up a bill of £170 with them that she couldn't pay. She had some arrears with other bills too but these had been sorted into regular monthly payments and so were not a problem. Normally I would have helped gran deal with this company but I had just had an acident breaing part of my back and so it got forgotten about. Earlier this year they started to chase her again for the money but again health prblems for me and lack of money for her meant it got left again.

About a month ago, my gran received a leter saying that she had two weeks to make arangemnts to pay the debt or it would be sent to a debt management company. I phoned the company up (My gran cannot hear on the phone very well anymore and was scared to deal with them) and we all agreed to her paying £10 a week to get the debt cleared starting that Friday. On the friday I phoned from her flat to make the first payment and explained to the man that answered that I was paying £10 off the balance as arranged (This was the 17th November). The following week we forgot about it but the week after I poned up and asked if I could pay it instead and set up a direct debit weekly from my account. I was told this was fine and that they would get back to me - this was a few weeks ago and I heard nothing.

Now for the problem! (Sorry this is so long!)

Yesterday my grans bank statement came and it showed that on the 17th November the company took the payment of £10 and then immediately afterwards took out of her account the other £157 which was outstanding with no permission. They must have written down her card details and resubmitted them after I had finished talking to them on the phone. As a result gran has gone overdrawn incurring charges and is very upset about the whole thing.

Yeserday I phoned the company to ask them about it and they said I couldnt prove anything and they "supposed they would have to give the money back but they didnt want to as it had took them so long to get it in the first place" I'm so angry - surely this is fraudulent use of her card details or stealing? I asked for the manager to phone me but he hasn't and when I call up they dont answer my calls (They use a caller display to now which account is calling) We don't dispute that she owes the money but taking it like this is surely wrong?

What can we do?

Thanks you for reading,

H

jude47

Hi HRB and Welcome

Oooh, stories like this really make me angry!!! Right, first things first, I reckon your Gran should bring out the big guns right away. In her case, as a vulnerable person (hearing impaired as you say), I'd recommend she (or you) contact Help the Aged as they'll take the case up on her behalf. They'll be in your local phone book or PM me her location (town only) and I'll find it for you. As she's on a low income, she would also probably qualify for free legal advice and help and should contact Community Legal Advice (government funded free legal service for people like your gran). Their number is 0845 345 4345 and they're open 0800 - 1800 Monday to Friday. They'll put you and your gran in touch with a local solicitor who can hopefully help to sort this out and give these dreadful people just what they deserve. I'd also speak to your local Council to see whether they are recommending this bunch of shysters and give them some feedback so they can take action as well.

Hope this is of some help and sorry I've rambled, I'm just so mad on your gran's behalf. Let us know how it goes.

Jude x

(Land_of)_Maz

I'm pretty sure that the bank would be understanding and sort out a refund for any charges applied too, if you were to explain the situation to them... that might help a little too...

call them up, you do the button pressing, have gran with you, so they can speak to her and verify her details, then get Gran to give them authority to speak to you and explain the problem.... any teller can usually refund charges, if they won't do it. ask for a supervisor/manager and they almost certainly will....

Great advice from Jude!


good luck, and let us know how you get on.....

HRB

Thank you for your replies. I was so angry yesterday I was literally shaking and the anger still hasn't subsided today!

I phoned the bank and they have registered it as a unauthorised transaction and there is some paperwork to fill in but then hopefully they will sort the charges out for her (£125 worth!)

I am just so angry that they were able to do this and that they think it was an acceptable thing to do. I want to phone them and yell and the manager who was supposed to phone me hasn't bothered but I also want to make sure that legally I am doing everytign right so there is no comeback so I am just having to sit on my hands and the moment and wait (and it is killing me!)

I am going to try help the aged next and see what they say, if anyone else has any advice or knowledge of the legality of what they have done then I would realy apreciate the information.

Thanks again for both taking the time to read my message and replying,

Heather