Vanquis Bank Phone Calls Driving Me Mad!

Truegho

Can somebody PLEASE tell me how I can stop one of my creditors, Vanquis Bank and their Impact Debt Collectors, from constantly harassing me with phone calls?

I have sent a letter to this effect in to them, warning that if they continue to harass me, I will report them. Unfortunately, they have ignored this letter, and are now threatening me if I do not up my monthly payments from £5.00 per month to £28.00. They know I am on JSA and in poverty, but still harass me.

I was in a debt repayment plan with the CAB, but this was drawn up a few years ago, and so when I approached the CAB to report Vanquis, I was surprised to be told that my case file has now been closed and that I would have to make fresh appointment with them. Why did they close my case like this?

Vanquis are the only creditors pestering me, as all the others are content with the CAB payment plan. However, I desperately need advice on how I can stop these annoying calls.

Please help, as I am at my absolute wit's end with this.

Thanks.

fatbelly

You could try 'choose to refuse' or 'anonymous call barring' if they are blocking their number.

But looking at things holistically I think you should go back to the CAB for a review. It sounds like you have been making payments for years but made little inroad into the debt. There are other options since 2009 if you originally saw them before that.

Once they are involved again the creditor should deal with them (OFT guidance) not you.

Closing your file at the CAB just means it's been moved to the archive (where it must stay for 6 years) and so doesn't require regular contact from the adviser. Most files are closed after 3 - 6 months.

fil_cad

VANQUIS are the scum of the earth all there calls are from automated dailing system, if you have call reject on your phone it will help, dont let them worry you if you want a better DMP look at CCCS you may find them more helpfull to YOU, and vanquis have to abide by what you can afford to pay if you take CCCS on to manage your debts :money:

fatbelly

Bear in mind that CCCS have a minimum of £5 per creditor per month. I don't know the whole situation but if you have multiple debts and are on £67.50 per week then that might be difficult.

CCCS do differ from CAB in that they manage your payments, i.e. one payment per month in to CCCS and they distribute ALL of that to your creditors.

Both CAB and CCCS use the Common Financial Statement and Vanquis are (theoretically) signed up to The Lending Code. Don't allow yourself to be bullied.

KirstyO

I've had issues with Vanquis letters. Up to three a day some days. I've always refused phone calls from them and Lloyds (both automated systems, but easily identifiable by unrecognised dialling codes). Now I'm on board with CCCS things have slowed down a lot, even in a couple of weeks. Get on board with a debt charity, or CAB and things will get quieter very quickly, but find the best plan for you, given your current financial circumstances

estimagal

Vanquis are a nightmare with phone calls ,I have unplugged my house phone due to them disturbing my children. I have written to them telling them to only correspond via letter ,they dont need to ring me they have everything they need on paper .They agreed to reduced payments and lowered the interest slightly but still continued to add on overlimit fees and late payment fees and now they text me telling me I'm over my limit and can I please pay it !! I wish I could pay them off so they would leave me alone :0(

kamran1234

I have worked in this company for 1 year and when I started at this company in training we was told that at vanquis bank it's strictly targets based environment if targets are not achieved then there is procedure they follow and most likely they will have early probation review to get rid of the agents who do not achieve their targets. Well I left this company 1 month a go and I have also got my solicitor working on this as this was so pressuring and most of all harassment to myself as I was the best sales person on the floor. I achieved targets from day one and had never missed target for the whole 11 months and also received £500 capped bonus every month except for 1 month. But just before Christmas time I had failed 1 of my calls which compliance were marking and I did not receive my bonus just for that one month. Just to make the long story short I always give my 100% at whatever I do and never slack especially when it comes to work related stuff. But in the month of December I missed my target once and then what happened after that is the most disrespectful treatment I had received from vanquis bank and (Mel, Pauline and Dan) these three people are the main people who look after all the mangers on the floor and treat all the Asians like animals if not worse, their are mostly Asians in that company as it is based in West Yorkshire Bradford. There is a lot of pressure put on the agents who work in this company and they have different grades for each agent starting from grade 1 to 4 1 being the lowest and 4 the highest in terms of salary. Targets : repayment option plan 55% being the lowest and 62.5% being the highest again depending on what grade you are on. Protect My ID : 10% to 20%. I achieved targets every month as I mentioned earlier and always on time I had no issues with any one as I loved working on what I was best at and that was achieve the maximum sales and always number one but when I had missed my target for that one month I was pressurised by manger which I don't want to mention the name as she was only doing what she was told to do but she was advised that to advise me that I'm not trying and my motivation is not there and I am slacking and so on which was not the case because i just had a bad month and that was the truth but they had pressurised me so much that I could not get on with my work. All the managers in the call centre are white and only 4 or 5 are Asians but mostly 95% of agents in the call centre are Asians and the mangers are all racist and disgusting. No one has guts to speak out as they have fear of losing their jobs as I had the same fear as well but as I am not employe of that company I have no fear and also as my solicitor is dealing with this issue of harassment, pressurising and unfair treatment because of the colour of my skin.

Monkeyballs

Hi,

Call Step Change, Christians Against Poverty or Payplan, any of the free debt advice charities to discuss your options.

You make no mention to your other debts but if you are currently paying £5 pcm then that is enough to cover a DMP payment... The other option is to go self managed in which case you can (or so I believe and you'll need to check) make payments from as little as £1 so long as you provide an income & expenditure form showing your state of affairs...

It may even that another option is more appropriate - check out the SC website for more details; http://www.stepchange.org/

MB

fatbelly

kamran1234 wrote: »

I worked in this company for 1 year.When I started at this company in training we were told that vanquis bank is a strictly targets-based environment. If targets are not achieved then there is a procedure they follow. Most likely there will be an early probation review to get rid of the agents who do not achieve their targets.

I left this company 1 month ago. I have got my solicitor working on this as this was so pressuring and most of all harassment to myself as I was the best sales person on the floor.

I achieved targets from day one and had never missed target for the whole 11 months and also received £500 capped bonus every month except for 1 month. But just before Christmas time I had failed 1 of my calls which compliance were marking and I did not receive my bonus just for that one month.

Just to make the long story short I always give my 100% at whatever I do and never slack especially when it comes to work related stuff. But in the month of December I missed my target once and then what happened after that is the most disrespectful treatment I had received from vanquis bank and (Mel, Pauline and Dan) these three people are the main people who look after all the mangers on the floor and treat all the Asians like animals if not worse, their are mostly Asians in that company as it is based in West Yorkshire Bradford.

There is a lot of pressure put on the agents who work in this company and they have different grades for each agent starting from grade 1 to 4 1 being the lowest and 4 the highest in terms of salary. Targets : repayment option plan 55% being the lowest and 62.5% being the highest again depending on what grade you are on. Protect My ID : 10% to 20%.

I achieved targets every month as I mentioned earlier and always on time I had no issues with any one as I loved working on what I was best at and that was achieve the maximum sales and always number one but when I had missed my target for that one month I was pressurised by manger which I don't want to mention the name as she was only doing what she was told to do but she was advised that to advise me that I'm not trying and my motivation is not there and I am slacking and so on which was not the case because i just had a bad month and that was the truth but they had pressurised me so much that I could not get on with my work.

All the managers in the call centre are white and only 4 or 5 are Asians but mostly 95% of agents in the call centre are Asians and the mangers are all racist and disgusting. No one has guts to speak out as they have fear of losing their jobs as I had the same fear as well but as I am not employe of that company I have no fear and also as my solicitor is dealing with this issue of harassment, pressurising and unfair treatment because of the colour of my skin.

I started trying to edit this to make it readable and then quickly realised that it's in the wrong place. The mods may well remove it. If you read this before they do, then I wish you well with your claim for (I assume) constructive dismissal on grounds of racial discrimination. But it's an employment issue, not a debt-free wannabe issue.

[Deleted User]

I would offer them £1 per month; if they take it to a ccj, then a court is extremely unlikely to make you pay more since you are in receipt of jsa. Vanquis know this, and when they realise you know it too, you have the upper hand. Take back control.