What should I do? I made a mistake and I am paying the price for it!

tomlancaster

Dear all MSE members,

I bought a Laptop on 0% finance for 12 months and I made a payment to settle the account early December.

The finance company charge a £10 admin fee to close the account (which I knew about) but also charge a % fee to settle by Debit/Credit Card. It's free to pay by bank transfer.

Anyway, I paid by Bank Transfer but I noticed less than 2 weeks later a Direct Debit payment was taken by the finance company.

I immediately contacted my bank, explained to them I have settled with the finance company and got them to cancel the DD and reversed the transaction. I emailed the Finance Company informing them of what I have done and mentioned the account has been settled and to contact me if there are any problems... I heard nothing.

Last week another payment was taken from the finance company so I contacted the bank again. Reversed the transaction and cancelled the DD.

Today I have had a letter from the finance company notifying me the DD was cancelled and they will levy a £30 fine if I do not reinstate is ASAP.

I telephoned them querying the letter and informing them I made a settlement last month and also sent an email last month to inform them the DD was cancelled intentionally as a result of this. They have now explained when I paid them last month, I didn't pay them the full amount.

I have looked at my statement and they are right... I have made a silly mistake of typing in the wrong amount by £100 less than I should have. I believe they purposely charge for card payments to deter people away so they pay by transfer instead, creating this opportunity to make an error.

They said my 0% interest free offer expired and I need to pay £315.30 to settle.

I have paid this but I feel so annoyed... So annoyed they have slapped on £215 in additional interest in just over 1 month. So annoyed they failed to contact me following my email sent last month. I think if they contacted me last month the settlement would have been less than the extra £215 they asked for today.

What do you guys think? Do you think I have a right to get this money back, given that it was a mistake? I had every intention of settling the account, and was only £100 short - I would have expected the person processing the payment to easily identify this as been a mistake... Especially after charging £10 to do so.

Yours sincerely,
A very gutted MSE member.

buttscratcher

gosh that really is a tough break- I'd be livid! However, most of these 0% deals are done hoping that you will forget to pay the right amount at the right time. I very much doubt they will show even a miniscule amount of good will/spirit to help you.

However, I would try and maybe send a nice letter to the finance companies head office to see wether thay can help considering you obviously intended to pay up to avoid the interest but as you said yourself, made a silly mistake

poppasmurf_bewdley

tomlancaster wrote: »

Dear all MSE members,

What do you guys think? Do you think I have a right to get this money back, given that it was a mistake? I had every intention of settling the account, and was only £100 short - I would have expected the person processing the payment to easily identify this as been a mistake... Especially after charging £10 to do so.

Regrettably, they could say the same about you. With more than £300 at stake, they could just as easily say YOU should have been able to identify this as being a mistake.

These companies rely on people making mistakes like this to get around the interest free promise and bring them income.

Sorry to say I don't think you have a leg to stand on. You'll just have to put it down as a very expensive mistake that hopefully you won't make again.

Simon11

I don't understand why people take out such finance. Just pay it off in full when you purchase it and have no more worries....

If you can't afford to buy it, then get a cheaper model or save

AHAR

The interest will have been accumulating since you obtained the laptop, not just since the end of the 12 month period.

silo24

It does sound a bit harsh in that they are charging the full interest for the 0% period, but not unusual unfortunately. Is suspect that if you kick up enough stink they may make a goodwill gesture just to get you off their backs, but it will be out of their goodwill not out of any sense of obligation or term of contract.

That 3% for a debit card payment seems cheap now no doubt....

Off Topic:

Simon11 wrote: »

I don't understand why people take out such finance. Just pay it off in full when you purchase it and have no more worries....

If you can't afford to buy it, then get a cheaper model or save

If you can't get it any cheaper by NOT taking the finance, the prudent thing to do (assuming you can afford it in the first place that is) is to take the finance and keep the money in your bank account until it is due.

I couldn't believe it when I went to DFS and asked for a discount for an immediate payment. They said not possible, so I said ok, let's do the finance route, what terms have you got?

For a £2200 purchase that I could have made immediately, I am paying nothing for a year (So that's roughly £100 in interest) plus paying the remainder off over 3 years (Assuming depleting capital from the money in the bank, that's another couple of Hundred quid over the life of the finance).

The key is to assume the money has been spent and only what's eft in the account after the agreement is settled is yours to keep!

It's basically stoozing with something to sit on in the living room instead of a piece of plastic in your wallet.

tomlancaster

silo24 wrote: »

That 3% for a debit card payment seems cheap now no doubt....

:rotfl:

I'd say my only valid argument is they failed to reply to the email I sent a week after my interest free period ran out. The representative even admitted it would have been cheaper if I spotted the mistake at the time. However their system required the payment with interest to date. Somewhat annoying! I have sent in my complaint and fingers crossed they kindly return the money, or at least what would have been owed last month. I suppose there's always the FOS... Do they charge a case fee should I go through them?

jonesMUFCforever

I do sympathise but why involve the FOS?
You are in the wrong and you know you are in the wrong and everyone on here tells you its tough and your fault.

If you had overpaid you would expect the company to refund you - so you did not pay the total balance on time but expect them to be nicey nicey to you when you have had a year's free money. Sorry if you don't pay expect black marks on your credit files.

telboyo

With these "interest free" the interest accumulates from the day of purchase- this is then waived if all of the principal is paid on or before the due date. If not paid by the due date this interest is added to the outstanding balance and the interest accumulates on that new total.
I know it seems unfair but the shop has to actually borrow the money in the first place to get stock in the store- those pesky people in factories want to be paid.
Better luck next time.

tomlancaster

Yes I admit it's my fault I didn't pay of the full balance before the interest free period had ended. But I do not see how I should have been made to pay an extra month interest because they failed to respond to my original email outlining my actions and the reason for them. Should they have replied last month, instead of ignoring me, I would likely have more money in my account. I will only involve fos if they decide not to admit liability of failing to alert me last month my account was in arrears.

somethingcorporate

I'd just write to the company to see what they say. I cannot see this getting anywhere with the FOS. The original mistake was yours.