Advice please? re:Littlewoods

pretty_things4

I'm a relative newbie to the forums, so I hope that I am posting this in the right place! I was just hoping that someone might be able to give me some advice on the following as it is causing me a terrible headache along with being short of money and having a bad credit score:
Basically, I ordered 2 pairs of work shoes on the interest-free 20 week credit plan, totalling something like £45. A month or so later, I ordered my laptop, which was £500. I went through it all and suddenly thought; they gave me £500 total credit when I opened the account to order the shoes, so they won't let me have it. However, it all went through, so I thought BONUS, presuming that it was because they were 2 different length payment plans. It turns out, they created me 2 separate accounts, and the direct debit I set up only covered the laptop one, not the shoes one. Hence I kept missing payments, and because I had just moved out after splitting with my boyfriend, I didn't realise until I started getting final warnings. I've just had another through for £109, when a few days previous to that, they took £100.44 from my bank account, as I set up another direct debit in order to avoid running up anymore missed payments...
I still haven't paid of the shoes account, even though I've paid Littlewoods over twice as much as they were worth in the first place!
I complained to Littlewoods and they basically said 'yes OK, we accidentally created you 2 accounts, but we no longer amalgamate accounts so you will have to suck it up and pay both including all the charges'. I would have just paid off the full amount for the shoes in the first place if I didn't need them for work right away and had the money in my bank account (it was a couple of days before I got paid and I am already trying to pay off other, bigger debts)

I would most appreciate any advice, but not a lecture, as I have already had that from my father!
Thanks
Louise

Jesthar

Hey Louise

Ouch, what a mix up! It's not my specialist subject, but I'd try escalating your complaint as high as you can. Did they put the admission of their error in writing, or just say it on the phone? If you only called them, you should definitely put your complaint in writing and send them a letter, as they have to be far more careful what they put in writing than what they say on the phone.

I have to say I have no idea as to how the direct debit only worked for the one account (although at least it worked for the more expensive item!) - but direct debits are set up by the organisation receiving the money, not the person paying, so providing the details you gave them were correct, the set up error(s) can only be theirs.

Whatever happened, a written complaint is the way to go, as 'sorry, we made the mistake but you need to pay off for us' is not really fair, is it?

Anyway, hopefully some of our more experienced people will be along to give advice in the morning, weekends tend to be quieter!

~Jes

Hannah_10

They want to penalise you because they made a mistake? Um yeah Ok.

Step one is get a written complaint in. They will likely be useless.

Step 2 if you aren't satisfied with the results of step one is send a copy of your original complaint, the reply you weren't happy with and as many details as you have, including dates, sums or statements to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Littlewoods

@ pretty_things4

If you would like us to take a look into these accounts for you you can email your details (name/address/account numbers) into us at [EMAIL="facebook@littlewoods.co.uk"]facebook@littlewoods.co.uk[/EMAIL] and we can look into this for you. We'll also email you back with a response.

Regards

Chris

Littlewoods Network Team

Maverick_Gypsy

I check Martin's website daily but have never registered with the forum until now, and that's because I wanted people to know just how helpful Littlewoods have been over the last few months. I have had severe health problems and wasn't capable of very much, let alone sorting out my finances, but my daughter did her best to make sure some of my bills were paid. Initially it was very much a closed door, but like any workplace, once you get past the 'jobsworth' on the telephone you can speak with some very helpful people. I had only owed about £100 at the time, but I was allowed to pay £12.50 a week until the account was almost cleared - last week. The very helpful lady at the time even asked if £12.50 would be okay for me to pay and 'not too much' - my goodness, real customer service and someone with people skills. My account's now back on track and I'm able to order items, should I want to.

The one other catalogue company I had been dealing with, SIMPLY BE, have been nasty from start to finish. My daughter thought that setting up an 'instant payment' facility with their bank details via her bank would be easy and would ensure that they were getting something whilst she was attempting to look after me and her baby son. Even though she and I have both asked for acknowledgement for those payments - nothing. Just letter after letter from them and then from 'Reliable Collections' ... who are of course Simply Be. I am paying them what I can when I can via their archaic system and they just keep on putting £31.00 charges on top of what's owed every month. I've now decided to pay nothing at all, let the bill go to an independent debt collection agency, and pay what I can when I can - about £10 per week for the foreseeable future.

So a big thank you to Littlewoods - your competence, professionalism and customer service has been relayed to others.

Simply Be - yet another big, corporate and faceless company who now won't get a penny until I get a letter from an independent collection agency.