Something Fishy going on

pjread

Some rough calculation says the interest per month would be about £11.20 on that amount at that rate. So if you've been paying £13 a month, that would drag on a while and be very expensive... I'd argue it anyway though, you might have some luck.

zenmaster

ticiag wrote: »

You have been making payments from 2007 to 2013, around six years, which seems odd. You say you have already paid around £1000, have £300 left to pay, (£1300 :eek:) plus have had no updates on the repayments from either company.
This sounds very dodgy and in your shoes I would be expecting money returned not to pay even more.
Once you have all the information you will have a better idea if you have been overcharged or not. The next step is then to approach the credit agreement company with your suggestions to settle the matter. Personally I would be asking for anything I had paid over (£509 plus interest at 29.9% £662 to be refunded to me.

It's 29.9% per annum, not simple interest.

£509 at 29.9% paid at £13 month works out at approximately 10 years to repay a total of around £1300, which sounds about right by the OP's calculations. He certainly wont be getting anything back.

ticiag

zenmaster thanks. I know my quick computation was simplistic but OP had mentioned paying £20 per month at first. He will check when he has info from Santander.
Support was a bit thin/negative and I tried to point him in right direction. The lack of paperwork was fishy as OP had nothing to check.

rhodod

pjread wrote: »

Some rough calculation says the interest per month would be about £11.20 on that amount at that rate. So if you've been paying £13 a month, that would drag on a while and be very expensive... I'd argue it anyway though, you might have some luck.

Hi first payment was in may 2008, which is as far as i can see, to GE Money for £20.84, it gradually comes down each month and last payment was in july this year around £12

rhodod

ticiag wrote: »

zenmaster thanks. I know my quick computation was simplistic but OP had mentioned paying £20 per month at first. He will check when he has info from Santander.
Support was a bit thin/negative and I tried to point him in right direction. The lack of paperwork was fishy as OP had nothing to check.

Yes, i have nothing at all, no paperwork. im 99% sure i would not sign an agreement for a set of alloys that were at 29.9% interest, if i did, i wasn't informed, as far as i was aware it was over 4 years and on finance.

Still no paperwork from Santander. On the phone they told me it is my fault for not informing them of my change of address, which i pointlessly argued that i didn't know santander took over so how could i inform them....

will wait for the credit agreement paperwork to come through, but im probably going to have to pay the settlement fee and bite my tongue.

any idea why the direct debit guarentee would not take affect in this case?

ticiag

The Direct Debit Guarantee applies to all Direct Debits. It protects you in the rare event that there is an error in the payment of your Direct Debit.
Direct Debit Guarantee

• The Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits
• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the organisation will notify you (normally 10 working days) in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request the organisation to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request
• If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society
  • If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to
• You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify the organisation

Rhodod, I copied the direct debit guarantee above. I originally thought it may apply as the company have not notified you and you said the amounts differ. I would not have accepted Santander advising me it did not apply, unless they explained in detail and I was happy with their reply. I would have insisted it did and spoken to a manager until I had a full explanation.
Santander have "blamed" you for not informing you of the change of address - which is pointless as you say you were not aware of the debt.
You have no paperwork and are pretty sure this debt agreement is not the type you would have entered into anyway. Wait and see if Santander comes up with a copy of the agreement or not.
If they cannot prove the details of the agreement there may have been an error and you have a case for a refund.
Give them a few more days to supply you with the paperwork. It all sounds fishy as originally they told you to stop paying and you may get a letter from the direct debit taker, as they could not explain what the debit was. It turns out it is handled by them, having been a company they took over, so that is clearly unprofessional.
In your shoes I would then be writing a very strong letter clearly explaining all the background in full detail (don't miss any of the story out, including all the times you have spoken to Santander and their replies) (especially the first one) and asking them to settle the matter by returning (say) £400 to you. I would give them 10 days to reply and ask them to make sure a senior manager had reviewed your formal complaint "case".
If you have no joy, then you can refer the matter to the financial services authority, sending the letter you sent to Santander and their reply and asking the fsa to help sort it out for you.
It is fairly easy to deal with and a letter only costs the price of a stamp and your time. Always worth it to give it a try.
This is all jumping the gun as Santander not come back with the paperwork yet (or to say they can't find it).

rhodod

Recieved 2 letters today

1st :

From data protection officer, in his letter he says he has included a copy of the agreement yet there is no copy.

2nd

Default Notice Letter.

I am getting very frustrated, all i want is to see a copy of this paperwork i signed for, yet everytime it fails to appear or there is an excuse.

I have asked to speak with a manager but im always told this is not possible

rhodod

Phoned again today,spoke with someone, who passed me onto someone else, who passed me on to someone else, i asked to speak to a supervisor but supervisors and managers do not take calls, and i was told i will get a call back ( again) within 48 hours from monday.

No one at santander cards are helping me, everyone seems to be fobbing me off to someone else, and in the mean time i keep getting letters

I am getting know where with this, really stressing me out.

Archergirl

Do you have a local newspaper? Sometimes they have someone who will take up these sort of cases for you. Or Tony Hetherington in the Sunday mail is very good.
But it is a very pleasent change that you aren't saying you've been 'ripped off.'
You admit you made an oversight and are trying to sort it out.

ticiag

rhodod wrote: »

Recieved 2 letters today

1st :

From data protection officer, in his letter he says he has included a copy of the agreement yet there is no copy.

2nd

Default Notice Letter.

I am getting very frustrated, all i want is to see a copy of this paperwork i signed for, yet everytime it fails to appear or there is an excuse.

I have asked to speak with a manager but im always told this is not possible

Hi Rhodod,
You must be very frustrated. You cannot check the debt is correct or not without something to refer to.
Companies will give you a good run around with the call centres and there is no paper record, so they will not be as professional as you want them to be. Time to take control. Get serious with them and stop using the phone to allow them to **** you off.
Write a letter to Santander complaints dept. Put all details and the sequence of events in the letter, all calls, all fobbing off, including the new non-inclusion of the credit agreement copy in the letter.
Then ask for the letter to be dealt with as a formal complaint and for a senior manager to deal with the complaint. Ask them to give you a full reply within a reasonable amount of time, 14 days is more than fair.
Explain that you have paid far more than the cost of the item and was unaware of the debt at all. This is because you relied on your partner, who thought the deduction was something legitimate - this is perfectly reasonable. Deductions have been made since 2008 and you are unable to check the validity as THEY have no paperwork (evidenced by the non appearance of the credit agreement today). You have never been given paperwork, which is dodgy as it was supposedly a credit agreement and you should have been given something at the time.
Say you are willing to accept a quick settlement as this is causing you UNREASONABLE STRESS. Give them a figure - say refund me £400 and we will settle. That is more than generous on your part.
Send the letter off - KEEP a copy - and GET on with your life.

After 14 working days - you can check again and deal with it as appropriate.
Good luck - stop stressing - just write a letter.