Barclaycard repayments

pipsi_2

Just wanted to write a quick note to let others know about what happened today.

Brief background: My debt with Barclaycard was passed onto Wescot, when i initially called them they offered me a final settlement figure of £165 (the debt was around £825) i had called at about 1700 on a Thursday evening so told them i would need until the morning to arrange to borrow the money from my Mum or sister. Called back the next day and was told the offer no longer existed and a settlement figure would be in the region of £600. Couldn't raise that much money, told them as much but wanted to complain because i thought it was crazy that they expected me to get access to the cash between 1700 and when their lines closed on the Thursday. Every time i called back i was told i could only speak to one person who was always busy.

Anyway, after a few weeks of making lots of calls and never getting to speak to the elusive person the debt was returned to Barclaycard. Wescot gave me a number which was wrong, i spent literally hours trying to get to the right department at Barclaycard. When i eventually got through the the right department i asked for some sort of reimbursement but was basically told to get lost.

The payment for this month is due in a few days so i called them today to make a payment. My phone bill came a few days ago and i spent in the region of £30 on calls to them. I explained again to the person i got through to today and without any argument he offered to credit my account with £30 as a goodwill gesture.

Moral of the story is that it's worth trying again with requests like that. If i'd just put it down to a bad experience last month when i called to set up my repayments i would have been out of pocket. As it stands there's another £30 off my debt, although my phone bill is an extra £30 this month. But at least i got the money back even if i don't get to see it.

DJO9

Whenever I phone companies, I will use my mobile if it's a standard number (01,02) so that it's included in my free minutes.

If it's a 0845 etc number, have a look at this website - saynoto0870.com, for the alternative 01 or 02 number. (Also check your statements, as they will often include a +44 'calling from abroad number!).

Will save alot - if you have a mobile or free calls after a certain time!!!

masterlumps

and ask for them to send said settlement figure in writing

pipsi_2

DJO9 wrote: »

Whenever I phone companies, I will use my mobile if it's a standard number (01,02) so that it's included in my free minutes.

If it's a 0845 etc number, have a look at this website - saynoto0870.com, for the alternative 01 or 02 number. (Also check your statements, as they will often include a +44 'calling from abroad number!).

Will save alot - if you have a mobile or free calls after a certain time!!!

I do that already, if there is an alternative number i use that, the only alternative for all of the numbers i had was for the generic customer services line, the 'international' number only gave a small number of options as i guess it's tailored to people who have cards lost or stolen abroad and there wasn't an option for me to select for what i needed so i was forced to call the 08 number.

I only have mobiles and no land line otherwise i would have used the land line to make 08 calls.

pipsi_2

masterlumps wrote: »

and ask for them to send said settlement figure in writing

I'm not settling it now as they won't offer me anything near the £165. At the time i did ask the DCA to send it to me in writing but they said the offer was only available for 24 hours from my call (although this turned out to be untrue).

It's not one of my priority debts, i have a couple with interest which i'm paying back first, when this gets to the top of the list i will try to negotiate a settlement figure and follow all of the usual advice given on the forum when doing it.

DGJsaver

why phone , when pen and paper is all you need ? anything important to say (eitherside) should be done in writing , the phone is the devil when it comes to debt and creditors