Black Horse C*ck Up with finance

vix2000

Hope this is in the correct section, and sorry for the length of the post, but its complicated. PLEASE can someone help me with this.

I bought a suite from DFS before christmas on 0% finance. When I signed the papers I only had my bank details for my spending account, not the account I wanted the payments taking from. I was advised that, when I received my first letter from Black Horse If I contacted them I would be able to change my bank details.

When I received my payment details I immediately telephoned and requested this. I was told that I would be sent a DD mandate, and if I returned it immediately on receipt there would be no problem changing the account the payment would be taken from before the first payment date. I was sent a direct debit mandate and returned it the day after, signed.

I checked before the payment was due and a DD mandate was set up on the correct account, however the payment wasn’t taken on the 14th January as scheduled. I telephoned to query this, and was told that a payment had been requested, however on being told the account number it was the original (wrong) account. I was also told that they had received no DD mandate.

On checking the other account online, however, a payment for £95 (wrong amount) was taken on 16 January. I enquired about this, (as how can a payment be taken from an account there is no mandate for). On being asked for, and giving the DD reference, I was told it was for my MFI account. I explained that I had no MFI account, and CS told me, oh, yes, the account isn’t in your name. So £95 had been sent to pay some-one else’s account. I was told to get it paid back by the bank under the DD guarantee. I was asked to pay my payment over the phone and was told I would be sent another mandate. I was not happy about this as a) £95 had already gone from the account, and, b) if a dd had been requested from the wrong account I would be charged. We agreed that I would telephone the bank for further information, and CS would investigate further and I would ring back.

On telephoning the bank I was told that Black Horse had requested the money from the wrong account, and as it is their mistake they should refund the charge. Also, to request a call back of a direct debit, you need to go to the bank in person to do this.

I again telephoned CS. I spoke to a different person, who told me that they had found my DD mandate attached to someone else’s account. I was also told that the wrong account number had been filled in and it was in my hand writing. I said that this was impossible as I only have the one letter, and it only has my agreement number on. I was told that I needed to organise getting the £95 back myself. I asked about the charges, and was told that I would be put on hold whilst a manager was consulted. I was then told that I needed to put it all in writing and a decision would be made about whether I would get them refunded or not.

I then requested a copy of the DD mandate. I was told I couldn’t possibly be given this as it related to someone else’s account. I said, but it has my signature on it!!! Yes, but it has other account details, and because of data protection, etc. etc. I was told. But you are saying the agreement number is in my writing, I said. Oh, well, sometimes we fill the agreement number in before we send them, and I think a mistake has been made and the wrong number has been written on, she said. (This is an approximation of the conversation).

So, from where I stand, someone in their company has made, not only one BIG mistake, but two, firstly whoever filled in the incorrect agreement number on the mandate, and secondly, on reciept, obviously not being capable of reading a mandate and matching the name with the agreement, thus resulting in money being taken from a bank account to pay someone else’s debt, resulting in a dd with an incorrect name and signature being assigned to the wrong account, and the data protection act is being quoted to me!!!

Because of this total incompetence, I am told that it is my responsibility to sort it out, ie. spend half a day trying to recoup the funds taken because of this error, and to cap it all, put the mistake in writing to them, for them to magnanimously consider whether they are prepared to repay my losses caused by their incompetence!!!

I think you all might agree that this situation would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.

I have sent, as they requested, a copy of the letter from my bank informing me of my charges, which I expect to be refunded by them. I would also like to be compensated for an afternoon spent trying to reclaim the money they took from the account and the numerous telephone calls I had to make.

I am sending a cheque for my payment for January with a letter as requested, detailing the above. I have also asked for confirmation in writing that my account with them will show no late payment or default due to their mistake, and thus my account will show payment up to date on all credit files notified by their company.

Can anyone tell me if I am being reasonable asking to be compensated, and, if so, what would be reasonable to expect. If they refuse have they contravened the data protection act? Have I covered all problems credit wise that I might encounter because of their incompetence.

This has really messed me about and upset me this week and I hope I am not overreacting here!!!!!!!!!!!

scotsgirl_3

Hi

I just want tocheck some of the info - what are Blackhorse now saying that they will do with the funds - are they refunding them ( the £95,) or are the still telling you to reclaim them

do you know where the people you spoke to were based? and did you actually speak to a manager at any stage?

When was the payment that is " missed" ahem ahem actually due?

i know these may seem random questions but if you can let me know i'll try to give you more info to resolve

vix2000

I had to go to the bank and arrange to reclaim the £95. I spoke to Black Horse Customer service in Cardiff. The CS girl referred to a manager when I requested my charges refund, but I never spoke to the manager. My payment was due on 14th Jan. Thanks for replying. I really appreciate someone elses opinion on this because I'm really angry about their reaction to this, ie. sort it yourself.

scotsgirl_3

Hi

Ok, first up, then can transfer the £95 from the wrong account into yours - this would be able to be done overnight. Not everyone who works there knows it an be done, but it can! i don't know if this was more or less than your normal payment if it's less then you would need to make a payment for the extra - I completely agree that it's their fault, but I would suggestif it's extra that you pay it. If you have already reclaimed the money through your bank then it may be too late to get it transferred though - find out if your bank has actually reclaimed it yet and if not, phone back and insist that they do a transfer of funds between the accounts.

In terms of fees or credit rating issues from BH, then at the moment you are probably ok - in general your credit file would not be updated to show as behind until you were 30 days late ( or persistently late paying) - this isn't true for everyone, it's just the way their system generally runs. The first time a fee would be added to your blackhorse account would be, at the earliest 10 days after the payment was due. However, if they do this they can take it right back off again, and don't let the agent tell you otherwise!

To get the bank charge refunded you will need to send a copy of the letter - unfortunaely there is no way around that one, however, i would suggest sending it recorded delivery so it doesn't go walkies. Generally they are actually pretty good, in my experience, at refunding bank charges in these circumstances.

Hope this helps a little

P.s. assuming that the payment doesn't reach the account by the 21st, then a letter will come out telling you that you are behind - it's automated and sounds scary but is sent by a computer system - just thought i'd warn you in advance

vix2000

Hi. My bank has already instigated the recall. I am arranging to send a cheque for my payment, with a letter and copy of my bank statement.

It still looks like their incompetence is down to me to rectify and they just sit back and do nothing. I lost half a days work sorting this out and I still need to make sure everythings sorted out.

It surely can't be right that they can get away with paying someone else's debt with my money.

scotsgirl_3

They can't pay someone elses debt with your money - mistakes ( for whatever reason) do happen, but they should have transferred the money and sorted it out straight away rather than giving you this run around you should never have had to get the bank to recall the money when they ( bh) knew where it was. It sounds like this was dealt with really badly when it coud have been sorted out far easier.

If you know the names of those you spoke with I would suggest putting in a proper complaint letter about the way this was handled.