Did Aquacard just damaged my credit rating? Please help

eldaniel

matty747 wrote: »

I would write to Aqua stating that you want the money paid to all three credit reference agencies for the statutory reports refunding and money for postage costs etc. If they refuse escalate it to the financial ombudsman, they will not like that as it costs them hundreds in fees for every complaint that gets referred regardless of outcome.

I had an another lengthy conversation which took me nowhere. Guy on the phone told me to check Equifax (or Experian - dont remember). He said I can do that for free because one month is free and if it appears there then to send them a copy and they will rectify it with all 3 agencies.
I have sent them complain letter yesterday anyway, as I can see that pretty much all of their advisors on the phone are useless.
I told that I am not happy with whole situation and actions taken (or not) by Aqua and that I will go through the Ombudsman. That did not really bother him a lot. I am going to do this anyway as I believe this is totally irresponsible on their behalf.
The essence of the conversation with him was when he said "we TRY to act in a responsible way". It actually made me chuckle. So obviously they are not trying hard enough.

matty747 wrote: »

If Aqua are not collecting money properly by direct debit it may be worth complaining to BACS who run the scheme about their overall administration in relation to the direct debit scheme.

I will check that out. Thank you.

Blue_Max wrote: »

Since the cardholders are not responsible in any way for the errors, Aqua should refund any charges and make sure that the credit rating of the innocent cardholder is not affected.

Obviously they don't care about that.

eldaniel

Iand1 wrote: »

No direct debit taken by Aqua this month so far. was due on Mon 15th July, coming out of a Natwest account.

I have had my £100 cashback this month, so wonder if that counted?

Cashback is irrelevant.
If I was you I would call your bank to ask if the payment was even requested by Aqua. In my case it was not.

izools wrote: »

Looks like I'll be closing my account on it's 12th (month) anniversary.

I am thinking about the same. Never had problem with them in the past, but this issue is the whole new experience.

eldaniel

Assuming that payment will be recorded on my credit file. How bad can one late payment influence someone's credit rating?

Also if I manage to get it corrected. Can it be definitely corrected in a way that no lender would take this into account for 100%?

Many thanks for all your help so far.

matty747

If there is a mark on your credit record they have a legal obligation to remove it because it was down to their systems error and incompetence, if they don't remove it you can complain to the financial ombudsman and Information Commissioners Office and I would expect that you would be entitled to compensation. I think you already should be entitled compensation for the excessive phone calls and inconvenience

eldaniel

matty747 wrote: »

If there is a mark on your credit record they have a legal obligation to remove it because it was down to their systems error and incompetence, if they don't remove it you can complain to the financial ombudsman and Information Commissioners Office and I would expect that you would be entitled to compensation. I think you already should be entitled compensation for the excessive phone calls and inconvenience

Thank you very much matty and everyone else for your input.

skybluesaver

Same problem here with direct debit. Set up on account for minimum payment as i normally make a manual payment as well. No direct debit taken, so i made a card payment to cover it. Hope this doesn't affect my credit report or future cashback.

chrismbt

I had a direct debit set up for the full amount and all payments have gone out for a year.

I received a statement dated 2 July with a closing balance of £16.15, Direct Debit amount £16.15 to be taken on 19/07/2013.

Then next day I received ANOTHER statement dated 3 July, opening balance £16.15, minimum payment £5.00, to be paid by 19/07/2013

So I called them up asking why I had two statements, they couldn't tell me, but did confirm that the direct debit was showing as going to be taken on 19th for the full amount, and not to worry about it.

Today I had a missed call from them, asking me to call 0800 587 5770. They told me I was in arrears and did I want to make a payment. It appears no Direct Debit was ever taken, even though it is still set up on my current account. A £12.00 late fee was added to my account.

They couldn't explain why the direct debit was not taken, but they set it up again, and said they would remove the late fee, but wanted me to pay the current balance on my account of £67. I argued that I should pay either £16.17, the balance due on 19th which they should have taken, or £55, the current balance less the £12 fee, but she said I should pay £67, and then they would reverse the charge leaving me £12 in credit. I agreed to do this.

They've also changed their website (the Login link on the front page still does nothing), and I had to sign up again. Seems there is something badly wrong.

I will keep an eye on my credit rating (noddle.com is free), next months payment and any charges or interest applied to my account.

chrismbt

I must say, I've taken out two things as a result of MSE recommendations, this Aqua Credit Card and a Primus Telecom phone line. That was a nightmare too.

chrismbt

Seems BACS can't get it right either, went over to bacs.co.uk and see this -

Important information from Bacs
An email notice was issued in error to a number of Bacs Service Users this morning, with the title "Direct Debits are being collected from the wrong account". If you are in receipt of this email, please disregard. Our apologies for the confusion, and for our error. We will send an apology email to all affected Service Users this afternoon.

Please be aware: there are a limited number of companies for which the information contained within that email was relevant. We will be reissuing the email notice to those companies in due course.

eldaniel

chrismbt wrote: »

I will keep an eye on my credit rating (noddle.com is free), next months payment and any charges or interest applied to my account.

I could not register due to technical difficulties, as many many other people who reported that before me. Not sure what kind of funny system they are using.