My Friend

soupdragon10

With regard to his work situation, it may be useful to give him the information about NextStep, https://nextstep.direct.gov.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

They can give online, phone or face to face advice about possible career options, if he wants to be an engineer they may well be able to point him in the direction of training or further qualfications that he could take while still working.

For example Open University or something similar (and there is often help with funding). May just give him some ideas about what he might do to develop his career in the way that he wants.

McCuddly

barbiedoll wrote: »

Ok, with the debt stuff, we can definitely help him. Or at least help you to help him!

Tell him that Moorcroft are well known as a bunch of charlataans whose whole purpose in life is to send scary letters to people in the vain hope that they will pay for debts which aren't theirs. Tell him that there's no chance of them coming round to "break his legs", they have absolutely no rights to send ANYONE round to his place at all. We can provide letters for him to send to tell them to basically f**k off, so he need not worry on that score.
As a first step, can you get him to send this letter?.......(Tell him not to sign any of the letters, just print his name, and to keep a copy)

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=11570893&postcount=2

I told him they are bottom feeders I had a letter off the "Home Collection Division" regarding a Lloyds TSB debt, I sent the prove it letter and they never replied.

If they have threatened to come round to his flat, get him to send the letter shown in post #3 in this thread...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2701383

I think he is frightened by this, as he doesn't want his landlady to know about his issues.

Barclaycard: If he is having trouble meeting his repayments and especially if they have recently raised his interest rate, we can sort that out too. BUT.....he really needs to open letters, work out exactly how much he owes and then he can get help to pay off his debt within a reasonable time frame and at a rate that he can afford. He absoultely must not get into any more debt though, no payday loans or anything like that. And he should ensure that his priority bills are paid, i.e. rent, utilities and council tax. Can you get him to go through his finances with you? He really could do with coming on here himself, it's not really right that you post details of his finances, unless, of course, he knows that you are doing it.

I said to him I'd sit down with him and see how we can sort it out. I don't think its due to any rate increases, just the lack of money and seeing the card as a short term cash flow problem, I don't think he would come on here as he would be ashamed of doing so, pride means alot to him and I don't think he is ready to post such details admitting he has an issue

With regard to his family problems, I guess there's not much that you can do about that, other than to be a good friend and a good listener. It sounds as though there are a few issues there, but being thought of as a criminal by his own family, just on the say so of Capital One, is outrageous! Cap One call centre staff are not known for their sympathy or indeed, their knowledge of the law but to suggest that a family member must be responsible for card fraud is very poor practice. Almost everyone I know has had their card cloned at least once, myself included, unless his family have very good reason to suspect that he was responsible, (other than him being poor), I cannot believe that they would just assume it was him! By the sounds of things, he is better off without them, although I daresay he doesn't see it like that. Do you know his family? Could you speak to his mum and find out what's behind all this bad feeling?

Basically because he was between jobs, (He finished a contract and waited to start another job) and was generally just getting by without much surplus, The cash withdraws appeared, He could vouch for every transaction where he was. Capital One said it was either him, his mum or nurses at the hospital (as his dad was having tests at the time), this was formed on a single phone call he was saying

And do ask why he thinks that you "hate" him. Does he worry that he's taking you away from your partner, or wasting your time? Try to reassure him if you can, it sounds as though he needs a good friend at the moment.

I'm not sure why he thinks that, he just says that I'm too good for him and I should ditch him, I'm not sure whether he thinks he is taking me away from my partner, He always thinks he is a waste of time to me yes.

soupdragon10 wrote: »

With regard to his work situation, it may be useful to give him the information about NextStep, https://nextstep.direct.gov.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

They can give online, phone or face to face advice about possible career options, if he wants to be an engineer they may well be able to point him in the direction of training or further qualfications that he could take while still working.

For example Open University or something similar (and there is often help with funding). May just give him some ideas about what he might do to develop his career in the way that he wants.

He has an engineering degree, He just gets down thinking about work. He is trying to better himself.

I'm just really worried about him. I can't speak to his parents as I never really met them. but I know he wouldnt have took the money, Its just so hurtful to think because a bank said so they assume it was him. They had no other reason.

I just hope I can help him

Wilma33

McCuddly wrote: »

Told a few of our mutural friends (and shown this thread) and we all agreed a plan of action.

You have told mutual friends that your friend has money problems?! :eek:

rozmister

McCuddly wrote: »

I'm not sure why he thinks that, he just says that I'm too good for him and I should ditch him, I'm not sure whether he thinks he is taking me away from my partner, He always thinks he is a waste of time to me yes.

Sounds like he has self esteem issues which could well be something to do with his parent's rejection and the fact he fails he has failed in his chosen career. Helping him to take control of his financial situation and make progress in other areas of his life could help with this as could socialising more or taking up a hobby.

barbiedoll

McCuddly wrote: »

Basically because he was between jobs, (He finished a contract and waited to start another job) and was generally just getting by without much surplus, The cash withdraws appeared, He could vouch for every transaction where he was. Capital One said it was either him, his mum or nurses at the hospital (as his dad was having tests at the time), this was formed on a single phone call he was saying:(

When I worked at my last hospital, a lot of my colleagues had their cards cloned at the same time. We found out later that it was an employee in the newsagents that was situated in the hospital foyer. It was next door to the cash machine and if the machine wasn't working, everyone would go to the newsagent, buy something small and then get cashback. The employee apparently had a cloning machine!

I guess that feelings were running high as his dad was ill but for Cap One to suggest that he is a criminal, is verging on slander in my opinion. They have absolutely no concrete evidence, as they know full well, anyone could have cloned the card. Are they saying that it was only used whilst his dad was in the hospital? It could have been cloned weeks before, his parents may have used it on the internet for example. It's a pity he's so stressed at the moment, otherwise I would suggest that he write and complain to Cap One, their call centre staff have no business suggesting that a family member must have stolen or cloned the card. :mad: They just want to wriggle out of paying for the fraudulent transactions, by suggesting that his mum/dad didn't take care of the card, they can pass on the liability to them. It's a pity his parents don't have a higher opinion of their son, he sounds like a hard-working, intelligent young man. I'm not surprised that he's depressed if that's what they think of him.

PS, if he sends the "no doorstep visit" letter to Moorcroft, there's no reason why his landlady should find out. They won't come round anyway, not if you send a "prove-it" letter. They're just trying it on.

McCuddly

Wilma33 wrote: »

You have told mutual friends that your friend has money problems?! :eek:

No, just him being down, and when I said shown my friend this thread, just what I wrote

McCuddly

barbiedoll wrote: »

When I worked at my last hospital, a lot of my colleagues had their cards cloned at the same time. We found out later that it was an employee in the newsagents that was situated in the hospital foyer. It was next door to the cash machine and if the machine wasn't working, everyone would go to the newsagent, buy something small and then get cashback. The employee apparently had a cloning machine!

I guess that feelings were running high as his dad was ill but for Cap One to suggest that he is a criminal, is verging on slander in my opinion. They have absolutely no concrete evidence, as they know full well, anyone could have cloned the card. Are they saying that it was only used whilst his dad was in the hospital? It could have been cloned weeks before, his parents may have used it on the internet for example. It's a pity he's so stressed at the moment, otherwise I would suggest that he write and complain to Cap One, their call centre staff have no business suggesting that a family member must have stolen or cloned the card. :mad: They just want to wriggle out of paying for the fraudulent transactions, by suggesting that his mum/dad didn't take care of the card, they can pass on the liability to them. It's a pity his parents don't have a higher opinion of their son, he sounds like a hard-working, intelligent young man. I'm not surprised that he's depressed if that's what they think of him.

PS, if he sends the "no doorstep visit" letter to Moorcroft, there's no reason why his landlady should find out. They won't come round anyway, not if you send a "prove-it" letter. They're just trying it on.

I told him what everyone thinks of Moorcroft even shown him a few links and he seems to be happier knowing how much they are hated.

As for the cloned card, they apparently used the chip on the card according to Cap1 (I've had some fraudulent transactions on Cap1 and they said exactly the same thing!!) and the pin so its not them and they dont care.

As for his parents they believe because the bank told them it must be true (they are old school people who believe the bank is a good honest institution) My friend is really worried that he'll be hated forever by everyone

We are talking tonight, can someone give me any tips on the Barclaycard subject and how I can improve his self esteem?

barbiedoll

You could start by telling him that having debt problems is nothing to be ashamed of, it happens to the best of us. Let him know that he is lucky to at least be working at the moment, and that things will get better for him, sooner or later.

Ask him if he is behind with his repayments to Barclaycard and how much he owes them at the moment, also what his monthly repayments are. (I'm guessing that, as you have seen red letters, he is behind by at least one monthly repayment, if not more.) Although the letters will say that he should call them if he is having financial difficulties, to be honest, they are unlikely to be very sympathetic towards his plight and they may well be condescending and possibly downright bullying on the phone. Their job is to get the money from him, they do not care about his mental state. He would do better to write to them and to offer a smaller repayment that he can afford. He should also request that they close the account, this won't mean that he has to repay the balance in one go but it will mean that they cannot raise the interest rate, which they may well do, once they realise that he is having trouble repaying what he owes. :mad:

If he is in serious debt and owes a lot of money or has more than one creditor, he could always call one of the debt charities for some free, confidential advice. Or he could go online and do the debt calculator to see what options are available to him. CCCS and Payplan are a good place to start.

As other posters have said, get him to check to see if he is entitled to any benefits, also, can he reduce his utility bills at all? The Barclaycard debt won't go away but if he cannot afford to pay it, they will just have to wait for the money. As long as he lets them know the situation and offers a regular repayment, however small, it's unlikely that he will get taken to court. And even if he does, it's not the end of the world, a judge won't expect him to suddenly repay a large amount of money that he doesn't have. There's no chance of bailiffs coming round for this debt, not as long as he stays on top of it. A court case is a long, long way down the line so he needn't worry about that for the time being. But he really does need to face up to this, and remind him that his rent, council tax and utilities are more important, we can help him to deal with anything that Barclaycard throw his way.

jenhug

he could look at payplan or cccs for debt advice. could he look for a second job in a pub or shelf stacking to pay off his debts faster?

McCuddly

He works odd hours.

We've been talking, Im going to come up with a budget with him. He was talking the crazy talk tonight. He wouldnt talk to a debt charity, He feels ashamed enough talking to me about them