Help please!

coco2

Hello
New here, and have read some of the posts and realise that I am in a very similar situation as others here.
I apologise in advance for the novel I'm about to write!
I am stressed out and thinking of nothing else but my debts.
I arranged a DMP through the CCCS in October 2006 (thank God for them!), having 7 different creditors, 5 of them have been very understanding and have immediately responded and transferred my debts to another company. However I am having trouble with the final 2.

One is a company who operate an extremely unprofessional customer service policy and have only in the last week transferred my debt to another company, however this new company seem to adopt the exact same customer service policy as the previous one. I have contacted them, spoken to one of their agents and explained my situation, I have recieved (in less than a week) three letters from them, one of which was accusing me of not contacting them (when I had, and they had it on the computer that I had when I called them back) and threatening that someone come to my home (this is the last thing I want because I live in one of my family's homes, and due to my situation am living there rent free as I have no alternative). My family realise I am in debt, but they have no idea to what extent and I have not informed them that I have taken on a DMP. Is there any way I can stop these people harrassing me and stop them from coming to 'my home' (without causing a scene)?

The second creditor who has not acted upon the information I have provided is the bank. I had a graduate account with them, with an over the overdrafft limit of £2000, plus a £20,000 loan and a business account. They were contactd in October by myself and CCCS and I have yet to recieve any acknowledgement of this.

Over the past 7 months I have made a number of phone calls to the bank, and on each occasion being transferred to a number of different departments , I just want to speak to someone who can deal with my situation.
About a month ago I finally got passed on to the right person and they said nothing could be done as regards to the DMP, because I had a Business account with them, soooo, I closed the account and since then have been trying to get hold of someone who can deal with my questions and actually do something about the accounts.

On two occasions I got through (finally) to the right person, and we were cut off, (I don't know if this was intentional, but having had it happen twice is making me suspicious).

Last week (Tuesday), I called the business account manager and he said that he would contact the lending department and have them call me, which should be at the end of the week - I'm still waiting!

I have done everything I can possibly think of to try and get some answers from the bank, and try to get acknowledgement that they understand my situation. I have called, and called, and called them, I have been in to my local branch, spoken to the graduate manager and while I was sitting there like a lemon he called the very same people I have been trying to contact all these months - conveniently while I was there the phones and computers went down!

I know I owe these people money, but I am doing something about it, it's not like I'm living a life of luxury (very,very far from it) they are treating me like I'm lying.
How can I get hold of the right person to speak to, without them saying "we'll call you back"?, because I know they won't, who is it I need to speak to?

I am now drafting another letter, to explain my situation, again, but am unsure who to send it to?

Can anyone give me some advice on how to handle this? Particularly the bank, because the interest that is being added to my accounts is HUGE.

Thank you

lynzpower

hello there sugar

sorry to see youve been waiting a while to be replied to.

Personally, i tihnk 2 things.

1) you need to grow a thicker skin. they are harassing you becuase they know that in time youll snap and give them something you cant afford cos of the pressure they put you under.

2) tell your DMP provider and get them to make contact.

the purpose of the dmp is sp that your provider ( ccs or payplan) should be liasing & negotiating on your behalf.

tell them that they are threatening the bailiffs and get cccs/payplan to get them to back off.

good luck nad hang in there
lynz
x

PeachPickle

If you really want to talk to someone yourself rather than leave it to CCCS I advise a bit of guerilla warfare I used to work in a call centre for a bank, years ago, and the thing that was hated most was when a customer latches onto you. Next time you call, take the name and extension of the person you're speaking to. Then every single time you have to call back because you haven't heard anything again, ask for them personally. And again, and again. If you make it their problem they will get onto it and find who you need to speak to. It's a bit annoying and time consuming, but it helps get results

Good luck

immoral_angeluk

I agree with Lynz.. if you're with the CCCS they'll be able to deal with the situation for you or at least give you specific guidance.
Hope you manage to get it sorted soon.

sammy115

And yes a thick skin is what is needed too! I would make sure you make notes about all the correspondence you have made (verbal and written) with the bank, detail it in a letter and send it to someone - recorded delivery- to someone of the highest authority at the bank. See https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk - they have some very useful contact names and numbers of various financial organisations.

Scottish power were also threatening to come round to the house but I managed to get rid of them by telling them that they couldn't get money out of someone who hadn't got any. coming round to the house wouldn't make me suddenly richer only more intimidated. National Debtline should be able to advise you as to the legalities of what they can or can't do.

The company witht the unprofessional customer service dept have probably passed your account to the other side of the building (the same company just different dept masquerading under a different name)

Don't be scared of them just because you owe them money. I finally lost my rag with scottish power last week because I was trying to pay them and they ignored me. They were threatening me with a warrent to cut me off and I threatened to tell the court how many times I had tried to contact them. They dropped the warrent immediately.

needawayout_2

some very good advice up there ^^^^
When I started my DMP with payplan, if anyone rang the house, I would just tell them that payplan was dealing with it now and to contact them. If they got nasty I would just keep repating myself till they got the message eventually. It's hard I know but you'll get there xx

atypicalblonde

Hi Coco, I know it must be really frustrating for you when you are actively trying to do something about your situation, but the banks/companies in question just dont want to play ball! Totally agree as above that it is for the CCCS to speak to them - dont take any !!!!!! off them hun!! Have you told your CCCS counsellor about the problems you are having with them?

Any letters you send, do send them recorded delivery so that you have some comeback if they say they've never received anything from you, its definately worth the extra bit of cash x