Vanquis Direct Debit

digitalphase

I have a direct debit set up with Vanquis for minimum payment. I changed banks, so gave them plenty of notice for changing my details. They have sent me out a confirmation letter with my bank details on and I can see the DD is set up on my bank's online banking.
However, my payment was supposed to be taken 'on or just after the 12th October' and it hasn't gone out yet. I am worried about this. I've tried phoning just now on the cheaper numbers but it says user busy. I'm at work so will have to wait until 1pm to phone them!

They messed around with my DD before. The first one I had was all setup, they took the payment out then put it back the same day. When I phoned she said I could pay now over phone or let them try and take it again which they may do. I said I'd pay. Good job I did as they didn't try and take it again.

Annoyed as I am getting stressed over £6 now. Will be paying this card off at end of month and just leaving open. Don't like not having online banking to track my money and details.

Any ideas where I stand with the DD - it is set up so surely that is all I can do?

izools

Best bet is to make another payment to vanquis to cover yourself.

It may be that the new DD instruction takes effect from the next statement - when I moved to Barclays after taking out my Vanquis card there was a month where no DD was taken and I had to pay manually

digitalphase

The issue is now a possible late payment marker and charge :mad::mad::mad::mad: Just spent whole of lunch on phone to them and my bank.
Vanquis said that I set up the new DD, on such and such a date last month, then cancelled it about 10 days later. No WAY did I do this. I explained I had a letter from them detailing my change of details and that it was showing on my new bank's online banking as an active direct debit. She says that my new bank has put a block on it! !!!!!!? There's money in there for it - well over the damned £6 payment :mad::mad::mad: She says there's nothing she can do, I have to phone bank. I made payment by card, but she's saying I have to wait for next statement then they will refund the charge and I would need to contact Experian about the late payment marker :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

I phone bank and they say they can see it's all set up and enough funds, but Vanquis didn't even try to claim it. They would only put a stop on it if there was insufficient funds. So no reason why not.

I phone Vanquis back again, speak to different woman. She says initially I didn't give enough time between changing the account details over and my statement being produced, then says it went through anyway and the details they have on file are for my current account. She reads back to me the account they tried to claim the momey from - it's my new bank details. We argue for awhile as it seems to be going nowhere. What the hell is going on, I've set the DD up, got the funds in there, what else can I do? I couldn't even pay yesterday evening when I got in from work as didn't have a preapproved debit card registered :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
She says they have a letter saying I've cancelled the DD but she doesn't know which bank this is from. I put it to her that there's been an error where they received this letter at a later date, and presumed that I had cancelled the new one, when I cancelled the OLD one. (I think I cancelled the old one, don't have Pinsentry at work so can't check).
She keeps me on hold ages speaking to accounts, they may have made a mistake. They are phoning me back.

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo p!$%$$%$%£$%£$%$% all for £6! I was going to pay the remaining money off when I get paid at the end of the month as I don't like not being able to check my account online. Was going to leave it open, just not use it.

I feel sick and a bit hungry as had no lunch. The only reason I got this card was to rebuild my history. I had already been accepted for Cap1, then got accepted for Aqua. Didn't think I'd get Cap1 or I wouldn't have applied for the other two!

izools

1. You've paid by card so that's fine
2. They've admitted it's their fault so the £12 will be refunded next month
3. You don't need to contact Experian, you need to demand Vanquis contact them
4. Once they see you have cleared the balance they will ensure not to mark a [1] on your credit report

Don't worry! Vanquis are treating a lot of people like $h1t at the moment their customer service is absolutely diabolical. You aren't alone. I'll be closing my Vanquis account once I've managed to get a Capital One, will reapply next year fingers crossed!

digitalphase

Thanks, she reckons the DD was due on the 11th October but on my statement it says that the payment will be requested 'on or just after 12th October'.
I have spent around 2 hours on phone to them and my bank (because of them).

I just phoned back for an update, spoke to another woman as the woman I spoke to before has gone home (lucky her!) and the woman says accounts are dealing with it to see which DD was cancelled. Surely as the only DD to have been cancelled was my old bank's one, it should go in my favour?

Just seems so unfair that they have my details, even sent me confirmation out of them, it is clearly setup with my bank, funds are in there - yet I am very stressed out and it may damage my report further, just as it was starting to recover :mad:

So, if I clear the balance by the end of the month, they will not mark my file? Think my statement for November is generated on 16th October, I think she said. So does this mean I should pay it off before then? Can I ask how you know this, thanks

digitalphase

An update: spoke to Vanquis again, she is saying what happened is that my old bank sent an electronic signal to them saying I had cancelled my direct debit and they went and cancelled the one from my NEW bank not my old one!

I have to write into them explaining this (not sure why I have to do this as they have it all on file) and to get my late payment charge refunded. I have to speak to Barclays about what to do and try and get them to write to the credit referencing agencies to remove a late payment marker.

I have nothing showing on my account at the moment she says, and I paid by card over the phone today.

Anyone got any advice on where I stand with this? Surely it isn't my fault? I can't understand why it doesn't even say what bank is cancelling the DD.... There are two different banks involved, how can they get confused?

NID, I hope you read this!

izools

My OH paid his Vanquis account late at the beginning of September, as the Due date was too close to payday (paid 28th, due 1st, not good!) but paid over the phone by card on the 2nd or 3rd september, can't remember which, OH called them up and got very shirty quoting various regulations (that I'd written down to quote - hehe) and got the fee refunded.

Credit report was updated today shows all green [0]s still no late marker

Just get on the phone, get shirty, don't cave in, and basically state "This is what I want, if you can't give it to me, put me on hold whilst you get hold of someone who can".

Call them on their 0800 number, too. 0800 781 6314 still works

Couldn't hurt to follow it up in writing either. Scummy card company they really are - they know they can get away with it though because most of their customers have nowhere to turn. Not us though! You've got Cap1, and I've got Aqua. Leaving my Vanquis A/C open but the first sign of rubbish service its getting closed.

My OH has closed his, just clearing the balance down at the moment (they increased the limit to £2K then slammed a higher APR on the account after promising to reduce it).

Innocent_Guy

Hi There,

The late payment marker will only show to the CRA if you are more than 1 statement behind for example your bill is due the 12th oct and on the 12th nov the payment has not been made, this will then refect.

If there was a marker applied, although I doubt it very much, Vanquis will need to contact the CRA's to remove it. You could also if you wanted open a dispute however I think this would not be required.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

digitalphase

Thanks very much, both of you I have been so stressed today over this. I am very sensible with my payments now, having learned the hard way in the past, and my report was just starting to improve so don't want them scuppering my chances!

My next statement is due 16th October, so will show the late payment fee. I will ring then to get it refunded as she said to do.

Should I wait and see what happens next month and hope they don't put a marker on my file? Then can send letter. Or is it worth sending it now. Time is precious and thin on the ground at present, still haven't found a spare hour to claim some bank charges and appeal my marker from Marbles :mad::mad::mad:

Thanks again for advice

izools

Well next time you are sat in front of the PC and have a spare 10 mins, keep both hands busy by bashing out a letter to them. It'll do more good than harm!

That way you've nipped any possible outcome in the bud and there's no way Vanquis can later evade the issue they have caused.

Good luck matey, and keep us posted!

digitalphase

Thanks very much, will do a draft at lunch at work tomorrow then send it off before the weekend.

Any idea what to put? Seems stupid as they already know what's happened :mad: