Santander are now refunding interest payments on Cahoot flexible loan's

byebyedebt

Received my reply from Michelle in the CEO Complaints team after I complained about 3 weeks ago. I was hopeful of a quick resolution as she was acknowledging some of the problems I had had with Santander. But then she told me that she did not agree with my complaint.

Now Im furious. I rang back about 10minutes later and asked for the statements and the T&C. They arrived today with her letter.

Her main justification for turning me down was that that they only had to give 30 days notice of a change of interest rate. Therefore they have not acted unfairly.

Now it really annoys me when companies hide behind T&Cs so I read them. I noticed that Para 15.4 states they have to give 60 days notice. They only gave 30. Therefore they failed to give the correct notice of an interest rate hike. So I beleive they have broken their own terms and conditions. Also going through the documentation it would appear that my rate was increased 9 times since account opening. I only ever recall receiving one notification.

If they had offered me £500 I would have accepted it last week as I hadn't calculated how much. Neither had Santander. Having spent 45 minutes on Excel going through my transactions and calculating the different interest changes it would appear that they owe me about 2K.

All I want is my money back, so I have sent a new letter in. They can pay up, or I will take to the FOS, then the small claims court.

Denza

byebyedebt wrote: »

Now it really annoys me when companies hide behind T&Cs so I read them. I noticed that Para 15.4 states they have to give 60 days notice. They only gave 30. Therefore they failed to give the correct notice of an interest rate hike. So I beleive they have broken their own terms and conditions. Also going through the documentation it would appear that my rate was increased 9 times since account opening. I only ever recall receiving one notification.

All I want is my money back, so I have sent a new letter in. They can pay up, or I will take to the FOS, then the small claims court.

Whether or not those T&Cs - with respect to the Variation of Interest Rates and Charges - are fair and just, and comply with the Office of Fair Trading guidelines is another question entirely.

And in my opinion the answer is that they do not, by an extremely wide margin. Details as per previous posts.

Good luck to all.

byebyedebt

Cahoot put my rates up four times since 2007.

If they did it to you, complain!

bobdauilda

Imagine the surprise and delight when I came across this thread reporting the huge refunds folks with a Cahoot (in)flexi loan were getting, only to be brought down to earth with a bump after getting to the threads end.

Both my wife and I have had Cahoot flexi loans since 2001 and like others here the loans have been subject to massive interest rate hikes throughout that time. Her loan was paid off in Jan 2010 but mine is still ongoing with around £4.5k still owed after all this time. I wrote to Cahoot many times upto 2009 to complain about their interest rate hikes all to no avail.

Given the lack of interest from the FOS is there any recourse left for action at all? Is Watchdog or even our hallowed website founder Martin Lewis prepared to take on our case and fight for justice?

byebyedebt

Could I suggest that you resend your letter to [EMAIL="ceo@santander.co.uk"]ceo@santander.co.uk[/EMAIL]

Dont give up. The normal complaints team can be a bit slow. Keep the pressure up and give it a go again.

bobdauilda

Not sure if there's much point to be honest as it looks like the writing is on the wall from the FOS.
From very bitter experience the FOS are pretty toothless when it comes down to the nitty gritty with big financial institutions. The adjudicators are usually transient foreigners on a jolly through Europe stopping off in the UK to earn some extra cash for the next stage of the worldtrip. I have never heard of an adjudicators decision being overturned by the Ombudsman when escalated. Basically all they do is regurgitate what the Adjudicator said and say accept it or lump it.

WHERE IS MARTIN LEWIS ON THIS MATTER OR GUY ANKER??? COME ON GUYS SHOW SOME SUPPORT FOR US PLEASE!

Post 586 on 21/02/2012 mentions the MSE news bulletin http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/loans/2012/02/santander-offers-massive-refunds-on-cahoot-loans-after-rate-hike which interestingly corresponds to the timing of the wholesale change in Santander's attitude to claims, with the net result of rejection. Is this why Guy Anker is no longer around to help the cause, as the article was detrimental to further claims??? Does anyone know the email address of Guy Anker ?

bobdauilda

Sorry to harp on but another thing I find highly annoying about the Cahoot flexi loan is that any complaint/query I have sent them in the past has had a reply like this :

Dear XXXX
Thank you for your email, the contents of which have been noted.
As email is not a secure form of communication, I have responded via secure web message. This can be viewed by accessing your secure homepage on the cahoot website at www.cahoot.com
. If you wish to discuss this matter further, please contact me on 0845 6070004 (International Number 00 44 114 2704703). I am available 8.30am to 7.00pm Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 5.00pm Friday and 9.00am to 1.30pm Saturday.

Kind Regards
cahoot Collections & Recoveries


or this



Dear XXXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting cahoot in Coventry.

I can confirm that I have sent you a secure message detailing the answer to your query.

Please log onto your personal homepage to view this.

I hope that I have fully answered your query and you are satisfied with my response.

If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind Regards,

Basically all these 'secure messages' they sent are inaccessible for my information purposes, as the portal for servicing the account has long since ceased to exist. In other words I have no evidence to access with respect to their responses or indeed my original requests other than the standard 'thank you for your contact' type replies.
Surely this in itself is illegal and we should be able to access all of this information to provide the FOS with as much info as physically possible? Why have Santander removed our access to this information and what are they hiding?

bertatswad

I have had a Cahoot flexi loan since 2001 with an outstanding balance of £1700. I have refused to pay any payments for over a year and am now being chased by DCA for the outstanding balance which I am refusing to pay until I am refunded overpaid interest. My account is now in dispute. Will Santander pursue me through the courts for the outstanding balance ? :mad:

bobdauilda

All seems very quiet here, which I hope doesn't mean that everyone has given in? Let's get this issue out into the public eye again and start kicking some butt at Santander HQ. Denza I have just pm'd you with a few questions.

UncleDennis

Yeah it does seem to have calmed down a bit! My last communication from the FOS was last week which read.....

"Further to my previous emails I have made significant process on your complaint but have not completed it yet. I am hoping to finalise everything over the next couple of weeks and will be in touch in due course."

Obviously it's not looking good as far as the FOS is concerned, but I'm not about to give up! I'm prepared to take it as far as I possibly can. Santander are screwing people on a daily basis and need a nice firm kick where it hurts........followed by another one to make sure they got the message!

I'd camp out all night to be the first in that queue!