I will get there - No matter what!!

Lea74

Very frustrated!! I have my new budget set up and ready to roll. However just received a letter from my CC bank saying that they are terminating one of my CCs. About to scream.

Back in December I sent in a letter with a SOA for the two credit cards I have with them. I then phoned to chat to them about it and was advised by one of their colleagues that I should just do a short term payment plan as I could afford it and then it wouldnt affect my credit rating in the long run. I phoned back a couple of times in December and again in January to confirm all the details. It seems that the one payment plan was set up but the other one wasnt. I guess having two CCs with the same company is too confusing for them. They say I defaulted on one card, however I know that I paid them both. I pay them both together and have dealt with them together.

I even remember asking if I had to make a payment and was told no.

Today I phoned and got moved around three different people and eventually spoke to someone who was not particullarly helpful and said I need to send in a letter.

This is so annoying. I dont have all the dates etc I phoned as it was during the christmas period and I had also had a car accident and my grandmother had died so didnt note everything.

Any suggestions how to get this sorted??

fleur38

hi
sorry to hear of your difficulties and well done on your DFW resolution for 2011. sometimes when these horrible events occur, we come out the other side stronger people.
somebody more knowledgable than me will be able to help you with the credit card problem, but in the meantime i did have a few DFW ideas that might help:

- have you thought about renting out a room? do you have a spare or could the kids share for a while?
- i started to be an avon lady a few months ago and it's working out well. you don't have to knock on doors, no outlay required and you can get free and discounted products for yourself. best of all you can choose the hours to suit you. if you want to PM me then i can let you know how it all works and how to get started if you like.
- have you considered a 'house swap' to give you and your kids a free holiday (you pay an annual fee which was about gbp65 last time i looked)? intervac is a company that is well known and has been shown on tv but there are others too. you can swap in the uk or abroad.
- do you have boys with short hair ? you could invest in a pair of electric clippers from argos rather than keep paying for all those back to school haircuts
- instead of taking kids out have you tried getting them to invite friends over to play and for lunch/dinner or dvd and pizza/popcorn evening, sleepover etc? cook a basic pasta which they'll love and it will work out cheaper (and hopefully their friend's parents will be polite enough to reciprocate).

anyway, just wanted to give you a few words of encouragement and hopefully at least 1 of the ideas above will be of use to you.
Keep your pecker up!

Ihatecameron

Well the first step you need to take to get out of debt is to get rid of credit cards and use debit cards instead.

dirtyepic

Hi Lea74,

I have just found you via the link on the MSE weekly email that I received today. (You're famous!!!)

Well done on all you have achieved so far, you have taken tons of steps to get to the Debt Free goal that the majority of us are chasing.

It's going to be a hard slog but please stick with it.

I have found that keeping my diary up to date is a massive help. I just type and chunter on about all sorts of stuff that's going on, in work, at home, finances, my thoughts and feelings and it's great to look back on how things have improved or changed. I have had a few hurdles to jump and there's been tons of ups and downs!

My dfd is currently 23 months but circumstances change and I know that this time next month I might be able to improve on that due to events currently ongoing in my life.

You will receive fantastic advice on these threads, inspiration and make new friends. I love it. Whenever I feel a bit low I start to read another debt free diary and it spurs me on.

Take care, stay strong and good luck. I will be popping in to keep up with what you have been up to

T
aka dirtyepic
x

lornz23

Well done you for picking your self up! I really hope 2011 is a better year for you.

Thank you for sharing your story with us x

Baldybear

Lea, Just a quick reply, good luck with your journey

With regards to survey sites, One Poll you need to check 2/3 times a day if you have time. The others usually send out e-mails when surveys notified so not too bad. I use Pinecone (great if you can get onto it) Valued Opinions, Toluna, Harris E-Panel, Springboard, MySurvey (was lightspeed) and Rewarded Opinions. Sure there must be more! If you arent signed up to any of these always worth checking the cashback sites as you can often earn cashback by signing up.

Lea74

Gosh, thanks so much everyone for your input. Really didnt expect it. Your support is fantastic and it really helps when you are feeling so alone in a situation which, can be for some so stressful and humiliating.

Good luck everyone.

glittermonster

Just an idea - can u use your phonebill to work out when u called them?

primowino

Hi, re your cc payments that the bank are messing you around with. What you need to do either on the phone or in a letter is make an official complaint. State clearly that 'I want to make a complaint about .......' and say ' it is causing me material distress and inconvenience' they then have to follow the proper procedure about complaints so (1) they should clear it all up to your satisfaction by the end of the day or (2) they have to assign a complaint handler to you and deal with the complaint until you ate satisfied, this should result in a letter to you which will also outline what rights you have to complain to the financial ombudsman should you still not be satisfied. Complaining to FOS is easy and user friendly so do nit be put off. I work in financial services and more people should complain to get their problems sorted out to their satisfaction. Always make it clear you are complaining. Look at the FOS website for further guidance if you need it! Good luck. By the way passing your complaint to FOS does not cost you anything, but it does cost the banks a fee per complaint, so do not be scared.

CH27

Good luck Lea:)
You are doing really well.