Please help: Abbey messing me around, damaging credit rating...?

leachyd

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

Welcome to the world of shAbbey

Oh dear, is that all you ever say on this forum!?

OP - what a mess they've put you in. Not got any real advice other than to fight it through as best you can. Specifically though, once it is resolved, they have the power (i think!) to change the incorrect records on your credit files, so once you do sort it, dont forget that. Think you just need to get all of the detail in a complaint, such as call dates, payment dates from statements and present them with all the facts.

D

RobertoMoir

If you're going to complain (and I suggest you do) write a real letter, with stamp and everything, not just an email. Don't discuss the matter with them over the phone, do it by letter initially then email afterwards if you really must.

You need to start keeping records then when they write and tell you 'yes you're up to date' you'll have it in writing and can do something with it. Phonecalls are no good for this.

Oh and: People take written complaints on a bit of paper far more seriously. I've produced a handy cut out and keep list of different methods of complaining in order of effectiveness (least effective first) below. And yes I am being serious.

1. Phone call (is less well regarded than)...
2. Bawdy rumours on pub toilet walls.
3. Drunken midnight blog posts
4. Letters to the sun
   
5. Letter to a real newspaper.
6. Email
7. Written letter "to whom it may concern"
8. Wishes for them to "sort their act out" made in a nearby wishing well
9. Seance
10. Persuading 4Chan (if you don't know what that is count yourself lucky) that "great lulz" can be had by creating a meme out of a funny video clip of the bank's chief exec or latest advert talking head.
11. Letter written to a named person (head of complaints dept, managing director, whatever)
12. Complaint from your MP to chief executive over drinks at the club / a round of golf.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for all your replies, very helpful!

I sent Abbey a letter (recorded delivery) and backed this up with an email to [EMAIL="customerservices@abbey.com"]customerservices@abbey.com[/EMAIL] (an address they don't publish on their website, it seems!) as follows:

---

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to complain about how my unsecured personal loan repayments have been managed by Abbey and to seek correction to my credit report. I would also like a clear explanation from you as to what exactly has happened with regards my account, the facts for which I have outlined below.

There are two key issues about which I am writing; I have separated these queries out as follows:

Loan restructure problems and outstanding ‘goodwill gesture’

I first took out an Abbey unsecured loan on 2nd September 2006. This was then restructured on 17th May 2007.

During the restructuring process I dealt with the manageress of the Balham branch, which is where I lived during that time. There were a series of errors with how my application was processed – including quite major delays on the branch’s part (the reason I required the loan was time-sensitive, so I suffered as a result) and the branch manager advised me that they would be making an offer of compensation (a ‘goodwill gesture’. This was in 2007, so I cannot remember the exact sequence of events, hence my first set of questions:

·Please could you provide me with all correspondence, notes and information on my account during that time relating to my loan restructure application as dealt with by the Balham branch? In making this request I am exercising my rights under Section 7(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998.

·Please could you clarify what happened (including timescales) during the application/restructure process – and clarify whether any notes exist on my account explaining what complications arose with my application?

As indicated previously, the branch manager at the time advised that a goodwill payment would be made as an apology for the errors and delays in processing my loan restructure, but over two years later I have yet to see anything; are there any notes on my account from the manager explaining this?

Delayed payments and damage to my credit rating

With regards my next query, I am particularly confused by what has happened to my account so although I set out the facts below, I would be grateful if you could clarify whether my recollection of events is correct – and could you provide a definite explanation of how my account has been managed based on the following events?

In February 2009 I was late in making a payment to my Abbey loan – the original payment was taken, but bounced, and I did not notice that it hadn’t left my account correctly.

Once I realised this, I phone up to make a payment manually over the telephone and this was accepted. I asked the Customer Service Advisor specifically whether this had brought my account up-to-date and was told in clear terms, ‘yes, your account is now up to date’.

In March I received a letter from Abbey advising that my account was in arrears. I thought this might be related to my late February payment so I contacted a customer service advisor and asked them ‘is my account in arrears?’. I was told ‘no, your account is not in arrears – it is fully up to date and you can ignore the letter’.

In April – after making a payment on my loan – I received a more threatening letter from Abbey advising me that my loan was now two months in arrears and action would be taken against me to reclaim the monies owed. I was concerned about this as I had phoned up three times recently (each time I was told that my account was up-to-date) and so I phoned up once more to investigate. I asked the customer service advisor what this letter was regarding and was told that my account ‘was not in arrears; instead, it was fully up-to-date and so I could ignore this letter’.

Each month since I have phoned up to make payment and each time I do this I always ask (and recordings of the calls will prove this) ‘is my account up to date?’. Every time I have been told ‘yes, your account is up-to-date’.

In June, I received a call from Abbey Collections at work advising me that my account was in arrears. I got very angry with the customer service advisor as I had made a payment less than 24 hours previously (and had been told, as always, that my account was up-to-date). I asked what on earth was going on and was told the following:

·That I had missed a payment in February

·That when I had made payments subsequently, they had not been put towards February’s payment, but instead had been applied to the ‘present month’ (e.g. when I phoned up in March I was told that my account was one month in arrears, but because – by chance – I had phoned up on the day that March’s payment was due, my payment was not applied to clear February’s late payment, but instead was applied to March’s).

·That because of the system that Abbey uses – and because each time I had phoned I was doing so to make a payment – the system was confusing and suggested I was up-to-date with payments when in fact I was in arrears. This is because of a delay in your systems.

·That the missing payment from February was being carried forward each month and had never been cleared.

I was very angry, yet again, so I made a further payment to clear this backlog, despite having been told less than twenty-four hours previously that my account is now up-to-date (and several times previously).

In late July I went on holiday but was concerned that I hadn’t made payment for that month yet, so I phoned Abbey (from Cyprus, at a premium rate!) and on 10th July asked whether my account was up-to-date. I was told that I was late in making the payment for July, so I did this over the phone at that time and then asked – once again – ‘is my account up to date?’. I was told ‘yes, it is now up-to-date’.

I have now returned home and, purely by chance, checked a copy of my credit report from Equifax, in which the following is shown;

·My account is ‘in arrears’

·No payments have been recorded on my account since June

·An ‘arrangement to pay’ has been added to my account for April

·February, March and June’s payments are noted as ‘1 month late’

I was obviously confused by this, so contacted Customer Services earlier today (2nd September) where I was told:

·My account is one month in arrears

·The arrears is the February payment (despite my understanding that this had been cleared...twice!)

·When I paid on 10th August, I was not behind with July’s payment

·When I paid on 10th August, rather than applying the payment to the overdue February amount, instead it was applied to clear August’s payment, even though that wasn’t due for a further 16 days!

I am appalled and angered further upon learning all of the above, so have some further questions:

Why – despite me asking around ten times over the course of seven months and around ten phone calls – does Abbey tell me my account is up-to-date when it is (in your view) not? Not just once, but EVERY time I have called?

Why has an ‘Arrangement to Pay’ been added to my account – and what is this for? I have no recollection of there being any problems paying in the past few months.

Why should my credit rating be marked negatively by Abbey when it is completely your fault that February’s payment has been made late? I have called around ten times and have checked that my account wasn’t in arrears – your own staff have told me my account wasn’t in arrears – and yet it seems you are entitled to place negative markers on my credit report despite me being completely innocent in your errors?

Why – when payment is made – did you apply this to a future payment that wasn’t due when your own systems told you that there was an earlier payment outstanding?

Why did your staff and systems completely fail over the course of seven months to show that I was behind with payments – and why should I suffer because of this?

I would appreciate a full explanation of what has happened to my account as I am terribly confused and angry at the way I have been treated. My credit rating has been damaged and I would like my report to be corrected by Abbey once you have identified what has gone wrong at your side.
In the event that you are unable to provide clear answers to the above, I would like to request:

·A copy of all telephone calls recorded between myself and Abbey from 1st February 2009 to present

·A copy of all notes and remarks left on my account, as per my earlier request, from 1st February 2009 to present.

Both of these requests are made in the exercise of my rights under section 7(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998.

I look forward to receiving your response promptly.

Yours faithfully,

[Deleted User]

Abbey really are pretty useless in most of the dealings I've had with them, so I'm going to push them for an apology and rectification of my credit report at least; anything else will be a bonus, though I don't even expect an apology based on past experiences!

Paulgonnabedebtfree

Deleted_User wrote: »

Abbey really are pretty useless in most of the dealings I've had with them, so I'm going to push them for an apology and rectification of my credit report at least; anything else will be a bonus, though I don't even expect an apology based on past experiences!

If my experience of Abbey is anything to go by, the next step will be for them to tell you that you don't exist. Apparently, it's easier to deny someone's existence than to correct a problem.
My previous "non-existence" is gradually coming true as I move my business elsewhere and reduce my dealings with Abbey to a trickle. It seems that they have made a self fulfilling prophecy.

Although I am trying to be a little humorous, I do know how difficult it feels when a bank makes one screw up after another. I suppose I should be grateful that my mortgage isn't still with them. I would probably end up being evicted for being 10 years ahead with my mortgage payments.

[Deleted User]

Paul, I know how you feel.

Throughout all of my life's dealings with banks, often it's not the fact that they screw up that irritates me. Everyone makes mistakes and I can see - quite clearly - how a big organisation is probably going to be prone to quite a few administrative errors. Fair enough: I can deal with that.

Instead, the bit that makes me angry isn't the error, but how banks deal with it - Abbey and Barclays are the worst. 'Customer Services' has become a by-word for streamlined, one-size-fits-all automated process, whereby if you have any sort of complaint that doesnt' fit into a very narrow easy-to-deal-with pre-templated response, they struggle and can't help you. Call centres that don't understand what you're saying; staff that don't have the authority to respond in situ; a referrals process that just pushes a complaint from one person to another until they find the correct pre-drafted letter to send you. It's SO frustrating - and that's the bit that angers me most.

I would love to see in the future some kind of watchdog capable of imposing fines on banks and other quasi-public bodies for poor customer service. Sometimes people can't vote with their feet, especially if they're tied into a longer-term financial product like a loan. I can't 'just' leave Abbey, unfortunately.

[Deleted User]

Just spoke with Abbey on the phone as it's been almost two weeks since my letter and no acknowledgement of receipt.

They said:

They don't check customerservices@abbey.com (even though it works and gives you an automated reply telling you they're looking into it) so won't have received my complaint there.

The Triton House address is just a forwarding address for complaints and these are then forwarded onto the individual teams to be sorted. Triton House haven't logged my complaint and the loans team haven't logged it either, so can't have been received, so please resend to the Fareham office.

If I want them to update my credit report then I should put this in the complaint (which means waiting even longer - it hasn't been updated by them in 3 months and is showing as in arrears, which it's not).

She also said she can't understand what's happened on their system with my account as the payment dates don't make any sense, so just wait and see what their response is.

So, ten minutes on the phone to them and no further with my enquiry. In fact, I've gone backwards as they haven't even received it, despite sending it via email and post.

roni08

Deleted_User wrote: »

Just spoke with Abbey on the phone as it's been almost two weeks since my letter and no acknowledgement of receipt.

They said:

They don't check customerservices@abbey.com (even though it works and gives you an automated reply telling you they're looking into it) so won't have received my complaint there.

The Triton House address is just a forwarding address for complaints and these are then forwarded onto the individual teams to be sorted. Triton House haven't logged my complaint and the loans team haven't logged it either, so can't have been received, so please resend to the Fareham office.

If I want them to update my credit report then I should put this in the complaint (which means waiting even longer - it hasn't been updated by them in 3 months and is showing as in arrears, which it's not).

She also said she can't understand what's happened on their system with my account as the payment dates don't make any sense, so just wait and see what their response is.

So, ten minutes on the phone to them and no further with my enquiry. In fact, I've gone backwards as they haven't even received it, despite sending it via email and post.

Have you checked the Recorded Delivery barcode/tracking number for the letter on the Royal Mail website?

It will show if it has been signed for at the address you sent the letter to.

[Deleted User]

Good idea - will do that now!

Paulgonnabedebtfree

Deleted_User wrote: »

Paul, I know how you feel.

Throughout all of my life's dealings with banks, often it's not the fact that they screw up that irritates me. Everyone makes mistakes and I can see - quite clearly - how a big organisation is probably going to be prone to quite a few administrative errors. Fair enough: I can deal with that.

Instead, the bit that makes me angry isn't the error, but how banks deal with it - Abbey and Barclays are the worst. 'Customer Services' has become a by-word for streamlined, one-size-fits-all automated process, whereby if you have any sort of complaint that doesnt' fit into a very narrow easy-to-deal-with pre-templated response, they struggle and can't help you. Call centres that don't understand what you're saying; staff that don't have the authority to respond in situ; a referrals process that just pushes a complaint from one person to another until they find the correct pre-drafted letter to send you. It's SO frustrating - and that's the bit that angers me most.

I would love to see in the future some kind of watchdog capable of imposing fines on banks and other quasi-public bodies for poor customer service. Sometimes people can't vote with their feet, especially if they're tied into a longer-term financial product like a loan. I can't 'just' leave Abbey, unfortunately.

I do genuinely sympathise and understand exactly what you are referring to. It will probably be another year before I completely finish with Abbey as I have a personal loan with them until next October. With most organisations, it would be a simple matter to instruct them to change the direct debit payment so that it is taken from a different account. My trust of Abbey's competence has dived so low that I cannot even trust them to do this. So I will leave the Abbey bank account open so that my Abbey personal loan can continue to be taken from it. Also, I do still have a much reduced overdraft with Abbey that I need to access sometimes as I slowly pull myself from the debt quagmire. So the overdraft facility is still useful to me while I try to build up brownie points with another bank.