choice catalogue buy now pay later problems

Chrysalis

Ok I ordered around £220 worth of stuff from choice catalogue in march on buy now pay jan 2010.

The offer worked like this.

Order stuff and dont have to pay anything until Jan 2010.
No interest if pay off at any point before Jan 2010.
If dont pay by Jan 2010, automatically go onto a 104 week payment plan with high interest rate payable.
The items on the balance include the interest immediatly, and cannot see the balance without interest.
To pay off early is done over the phone.

Ok the first problem I noticed was last month when my statement showed me to be £3 in arrears and small monthly payments due even tho I had ordered NOTHING on weekly payment plans, it didnt show what this payment was for. So last month I decided to just pay of what I brought now instead of december when planned.
When I rang up to do this there was some confusion as they initially tried to charge me with the interest (since the interest was on my balance) I had to explain the interest is waived if pay by 2010, so I then had to wait whilst on his calculator believe it or not the guy had to deduct the interest. Choice seemingly do not on their buy now pay later offers have facilities in place that show whats owed when paying early. Eventually he gave me a bill to pay but said he couldnt work out 2 of the items, so I paid that over the phone.
After I paid my balance was reduced by the amount I paid immediatly however the FULL interest was still on the balance and the arrears of £3 even tho I had just paid £189.
So I rang again (after 24 hours) and this time the women worked out the final few items and I paid a further £24 to supposedbly clear my entire buy now pay later balance. Balance should have been £0. However I still had a balance of over £150 of interest and arrears of £3, the women said she didnt know what the balance was, I told her I know what it is, its the interest I am not having to pay as I have paid of before 2010, she said try waiting 2 days to see if corrects itself. oh dear.
So I waited 2 days and it is still there, this time I filled in a complaints form on their site and waited for feedback.
They sent me an email back saying the interest will fix itself on the next statement date (8th august) and I had absolutely nothing to worry about.
Tried to order a mattress 2 days ago for £149 basic 52 weeks interest free (had over £500 available credit), order was immediatly rejected so rang them up. Women said was because I wasnt making regular payments, I asked what payments am I supposed to be making as I ordered nothing on weekly payments, she didnt know and just approved my order manually. But she refused to talk to me about my pay now and pay later farce. But made the comment my credit rating with them has took a severe drop because of the £3 arrears.
Now my statement date has come and passed, my arrears have gone but I still have over £20 of money owed on the buy now pay later balance, according to the balance since it says £170, it says £20 due to be taken on 31 august even tho the mattress is £1 and something a week and the buy now pay later is not weekly payments, and finally my credit limit has plummeted from £650 to £175 when I have done nothing wrong. I paid off a buy it now pay later early, or tried to but the people on the phone couldnt work out what I owed.

This is a warning to anyone who is considering using their buy now pay later interest free offer. My guess is their system just isnt designed to handle people paying it early and they not happy that I did. The staff dont seem well trained at all and they cant even tell me what my balance and weekly payments are for.

I guess now to clear up this £20 I will write them a letter or try to get a manager on the phone, and to also see if I can get my credit limit back although I expect they will refuse to fix that.

Takoda

At a guess they don't want people to pay it off. They want people to get into arrears because it makes them more money.

Chrysalis

takoda I have thought the same thing, high initial credit limit in hope of trapping in to long payment plans, and then after making lump sum payment sudden withdrawal of credit.

I have now found out that the £3 arrears were for delivery charge of the items. They still havent given me an explanation for all the other problems and my account has been moved to a specialiist team so will see what happens now.

Chrysalis

they seemed to have just left it now, I guess not interested in selling me anything else, I may even cancel the order I got and ask them to close my account.

I have also ordered a credit report to see if they added a black mark because those charges that led to arrears werent rightfully applied.