Help! Next Directory Default Problems

gcbrit

Hi all,

I hope I'm posting this in the right section but apologies in advance if I haven't.

My other half & I went to Nationwide a couple of days ago to apply for a mortgage and were declined due to a default against her from Next Directory, of which she was unaware of. Now this is where the fun begins...

Back in 2008 my OH was living in rented accommodation. She moved home and tried to notify Next Directory, over the phone, of her change of address but was told she would have to put it in writing as they couldn't change it over the phone. So she wrote to them confirming her new address and thought that was that. However, after not recieving any statements for a few months she decided to write to Next re-confirming her new address and to request her most recent statement.

After waiting a month and still no statement she wrote Next another letter, containing her new address (yet again), requesting her latest statement, a complaint about customer service and her wish to close the account after settling any outstanding balance. 2 to 3 weeks after sending this letter my OH recieved a letter from a debt collector, at her new address :huh:, demanding payment of just under £80 on behalf of Next Directory. My OH replied immediately to the debt collector enclosing full payment in good faith. She also sent a copy of this letter to Next Directory again requesting a statement to confirm that the amount claimed to be outstanding was correct and to also confirm the closing of her account.

To this day she has never recieved any response from Next to her requests for statements or complaints about customer service. She has never recieved any default notice in writing or other such communication from Next either. From the time of her moving home the only communication she has recieved that's related to Next Directory in any way was from the debt collectors. Funny how they could give the debt collector her new address but they couldn't manage to put it onto any of her requested statements, don't you think? :mad:

What we'd like your thoughts on are whether she has a valid justification for getting the default removed from her records? Also, are Next at fault for not changing her address despite the OH sending them 3 seperate letters stating her new address? Your thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

PS: She doesn't recall ever signing any credit agreement with Next Directory and she opened the account in the late 1990's, if that's of any significance? :huh:

ceejaydee23

I think pretty much requesting the directory in itself creates an account, I have online statements from Next Directory, and it clearly states on their website any change of address has to be done via the customer service telephone number! well thats certainly the case now,

tasha-debt

Did she send the letter's recorded delivery, does she have proof that the letters were sent???
x

savingmummy

Letters can go a miss unfortunately so she would of been better off sending them recorded.
I do my changes over the phone by using the customer services dept and never had a problem.
Regarding the credit agreement i have no idea tbh i have no credit agreement that i know...In the absence of a Credit Agreement, any debt on the Credit Account would not be enforceable. If she phones they can tell her if she had a credit agreement.

I would call them again and explain everything and see what they say - their customer service has always been very good! If she sorts it out over the phone get them to send written confirmation.

captainhaggis

Sadly, it took her a few months to decide to speak to Next about getting a statement and, thus, making a payment. It's annoying that Next have delivered such awful service (I never understand why companies still insist on ANYTHING in writing, unless it's going to be used in a court of law) but without a statement she could still have made her payments.

gcbrit

Thank you for your responses!

ceejaydee23: She apparently tried to change her address over the phone but was told she had to put it in writing.

tasha-debt: No she didn't send the letters by recorded delivery, unfortunately. She has still got copies of the letters she's sent though but I'm not sure how much that will help. With the benefit of hindsight I'm sure she would've sent them recorded but I don't think she would have thought that it would end up causing so many problems now.

savingmummy: She has called their customer services and has been given a complaint reference number. Their immediate response was that there was nothing they could do, which I guess I pretty much expected, but we won't leave it at that. No way!

captainhaggis: I've asked her why she left it a few months before contacting them again and she doesn't know why. She was under the impression that she didn't owe them any money.

RIANNA30

There are certain circumstances where a customer is asked to write in (like if you can't quote your cust number) and there was a time a couple of years ago when you had to write in for any change. However, most of the correspondance that is sent in is sent abroad for processing.....its pretty common for customers to write in several times to action something straightforward.
An Next account falls into arrears automatically if payments (however small) are not made, nobody actually looks at the customer history (it should state that she called to change address and was advised to write in). Once 3/4 payments are missed, it automatically gets passed to a DCA. I think the fact that she paid as soon as she realised there was a balance goes in her favour...if you have a complaint reference number then it sounds like their Customer Relations team are handling it...they can pretty much agree to anything and they should certainly be able to remove the default...I think your OH can show that she did everything she should.

As far as the CCA, I don't think they could produce one going that far back, probably an application form at best. Chasing this can take a while though....
If you don't get any joy with their Cust Relations, I would put the complaint in writing and advise that you're prepared to take the matter further, they will have had their money from the DCA, it won't hurt them to remove the default.

pinkerton_angel

subbing with interest and you have my fullest sympathy. I too have an ongoing default issue with Next.
The account is now with Cabot and to cut a very long story short, they defaulted me whilst my account was in dispute and have admitted they cannot provide a CCA.
I have offered a F&F settlement, Cabot agreed but would only mark the default as satisfied and not remove it so I've not paid it and told them so.
I had problems with getting statements too, I asked them many times to send them and I didn't receive them, their response was that they were satisfied I'd got them and also said they could confirm what I'd taken delivery of as they had proof of delivery, when I asked them for this they said "er actually we don't have it" jokers!
I'm a bit stuck now but desperate to get this default removed!
pinky

gcbrit

Just a quick update to let you know that Next have agreed to remove the default from my OH credit file.

Well that turned out to be a lot easier than I expected. But I guess I shouldn't get too carried away untill we've recieved actual confirmation.

Thanks to everyone for your comments & help!

savingmummy

gcbrit wrote: »

Just a quick update to let you know that Next have agreed to remove the default from my OH credit file.

Well that turned out to be a lot easier than I expected. But I guess I shouldn't get too carried away untill we've recieved actual confirmation.

Thanks to everyone for your comments & help!

Great news!! How did you get this removed in the end??x

Tradergirl

Hi

The exact same thing happened to me when I was trying to get a mortgage in 2008.

I phoned Next to explain what had happened i.e. I moved house, told them my new details then never heard from them again. They were very understanding and sympathetic to my situation (so it clearly happens a lot with them). They immediately sent me a fax to apologise and explained that they would tell Experian about the mix up. This fixed the whole problem, although it still shows as a defaulted account at Experian it now shows as settled. The original fax they sent me was enough to persuade the Lender to complete the mortgage.

Hope this helps.