My SpeedCredit horror story

prestonlady

Hi all,

This is a bit long winded however I thought I would post my recent dealings with SpeedCredit aka Marshall Hoares Baliffs aka London Treasury Services. I only has £275 remaining to pay to them (now paying £50 a month). This was originally a £400 loan and I have already paid them £925 in total. I have already made a complaint to them about their conduct which still isn't resolved to my satisfaction. Based on my experience with them I want to know whether there's any point in taking this forward and who I should complain to if I do- I just don't feel like I can let them get away with this kind of behaviour. Here we go..

Jan 2012- £400 taken out with SpeedCredit and defaulted on the £501 repayment due to financial hardship.

Feb 2012- Spoke with SpeedCredit and tried to negotiate on several occasions however after several months refused to accept any repayment less than £150 per month. Due to the daily phone calls, texts and emails I agreed for £150 to be paid by the 3rd of each month.

23rd Oct 2012- Paid £150 for November to SpeedCredit online.

5th Nov- Started to receive extremely rude and threatening emails, phone calls, voice mails and texts advising that I had not paid and that I they would be seeking legal action against me if I did not pay immediately. I called them and gave them the reference number from my payment (which I had received via email) however they refused to believe me or look into it and advised a debt collector would now be getting involved if I didn't make the payment to them over the phone immediately. I then responded by email advising that I had already made payment for the 3rd Nov on the 23rd of Oct. After several more days of harassing emails, phone calls and texts I finally got an email response from SpeedCredit saying my payment had been found and that I should always allow 5 working days for my payments to be received- making out that it was my fault that this had happened despite the fact that I had paid at least 7 working days prior to my payment date. I was offered no apology either.

26th Nov- I emailed SpeedCredit advising that due to severe financial problems I would only be able to make a £75 payment for the payment due on 3rd Dec and paid this online again on the same day. Since the very unhelpful and unprofessional dealings with them I had had over the phone with them previously I refused to contact them any other way and I also explained this in the email.

5th Dec- Received an email advising that they had received no payment from me and if i did not pay my £150 by the end of the working day that recovery agents would be sent out to my address. I was so angry I decided to call them and request to speak to a manager. They would not let me speak to a manager and advised I must speak to them instead. I advised them of the issue and they advised that their email address is one way only and that they do not pick up incoming emails- this was clearly a lie as I had a personalized response the last time I emailed them at the same address. They demanded the full £150 to be paid- I explained i had already paid £75 and didn't have another £75 to pay. They kept arguing that this wasn't sufficient and I was breaching my payment plan and my account would be passed to debt recovery etc. I had to hang up in the end as they continued to demand money from me that i physically did not have.

Dec 2012- I then received communication from a Greg Campbell from Marshall Hoares Debt Collectors advising my debt had been passed to them and that I needed to cough up £150 immediately. I replied advising that I had already paid £75 for my Dec payment and wouldn't be paying any more than this. I explained my finanial situation and advised to ensure that I do not fall behind again that I could only pay £50 per month because I could not guarantee that I would always have £150 at my disposal each month which was the extortionate amount that SpeedCredit were demanding of me each month. He agreed to set this payment plan in place.

5th April 2013- This was fine until I started receiving threatening emails, letters etc advising I had defaulted again and they would be sending the debt collectors around. I promptly responded advising that my payment that was due on 3rd April was paid by myself on 25th March via Online Banking which is my usual method and gave them the reference number for this. For a number of days I was still bombarded, at times almost on an hourly basis regarding an alledged outstanding balance.

9th April- I was so fed up with being demanding to pay money I had already paid I logged a formal complaint with Marshall Hoares. Details of this below-

''I have contact Marshall Hoares several times over the past 7 days and have had no response except for threatening phonecalls and voicemails asking me to make payment for something I have already paid.

I have a payment plan in place which I set up via e-mail with Greg Campbell which outlines that I have a payment due of £50 on the 3rd April and that I must allow 5 working days for you to receive payment is I am paying via Online Banking. To keep in line with this agreement I paid £50 6 workings days in advance of this payment being due on Mon the 25th March via Online Banking with payment reference 447887406213 of which I have the bank statement to prove it.

On the 3rd of April I received communication from Marshall Hoares that I had not paid and that my debt would get referred to a debt collector.

I promptly replied advising that I had paid on time and that threatening emails and voicemails was becoming a regular occurance each month despite the fact that I had always paid 5 working days prior to my payment due due. I kindly asked for this kind of compnay conduct to stop because it breaches several Code Of Conduct laws, particulary when I am getting threatening emails and phone calls for something that I have evidence of that I do not owe.

I received no response to this. Instead I received a voicemail from someone threatening a home visit.

I have on several occasions gave Marshall Hoares Baliffs the details they have required off me to locate the alledged missing payment- the amount, date it was paid and the method in which it was paid however these harassing emails and phone calls have not stopped.

I have no other option but to request to log a formal complaint with your company. I will await 48 hours for a formal written response from your company. Do not call me as I am unavailable to speak and I wish to have all documentation in written form in case I need to take this matter to the FSA. If within this timescale you cannot locate my payment and correct my file and also set up my account in a way that I am not being harassed each month by your debt collectors when I have made payment then I shall have no further dealings with your company and forward the matter to the FSA.

I await your response.''

11th April- Email response from Marshall Hoares-
''Dear Angela,
We can confirm that your payment of £50 made on the 25.03.13 has been received and applied to your account. You have 9 more payments to make, which will close your account.
03.05.13 £50
03.06.13 £50
03.07.13 £50
03.08.13 £50
03.09.13 £50
03.10.13 £50
03.11.13 £75
03.12.13 £75
03.01.14 £75
In order for this not to happen again, once you make a payment please message us or call us on 08433811111 so we can make sure the payment has gone through properly.
Please be aware that all paperwork in regards to your payment plan will be issued by NDR.
We apologise for the inconvenience and misunderstanding.
Yours faithfully''

I was now then expected to email or call them to let them know I had made payment- something I thought was very unreasonable however agreed so that I would not be harassed by them the way I had been.

23rd May- I made payment and as usual emailed Marshall Hoares at the email address I had been given to notify that my payment had been received.

5th June- Started receiving threatening calls and emails again regarding non-payment. I emailed them again advising my upset at this. They responded advising my payment had been received and my payment plan 're-activated'- again no apology.

23rd Aug- Made payment and emailed them.

5th Sept- Started receiving threatening calls and emails again regarding non-payment

I am at my wits end. I just can't cope with it anymore, the emails, phone calls, voice mails, letters and texts- it's just ridiculous, especially when I have been co-operating with them. To make matters worse, on several occasions because of my alledged 'non-payment' they have tried to take the whole outstanding amount from my bank account several times in one month and as a result my bank blocked my account and I had to speak to their Fraud department as they thought it was suspicious activity. On one occasion I actually had to go into the bank with photographic ID to get my account unblocked because of the regular fraud flags that kept appearing on it because of this company. Highly embarrassing!

Anyone had similar experiences with them?

Thanks,

Ange

prestonlady

Example of letters/emails I was receiving-

You have failed to honour the payment plan to which you agreed. As a result, your file may be fast tracked to both our solicitors and/or our door recovery team.

You should contact Northern Debt Recovery within 24 hours days on 0843 381 0843 or we will be left no option but to send our door recovery agents to your home in order to discuss your debt with you and obtain repayment.

We reserve the right to pass your file to our solicitors who may apply for a County Court Judgement (“CCJ”) or a Scottish Decree. If this is successful, our legal team may also apply for a Warrant of Execution or Scottish equivalent. This could result in a court appointing bailiffs, who would be able to seize goods in repayment of your debt.

Legal and Recovery fees have been added to your file as per the terms and conditions of the contract you signed. Below is a breakdown of what you owe

Loan and Interest £1648
Cash Transmission Fee 11.03.12 5
Missed Payment Fee 1 (day 29) 08.04.12 10
NDR Accept Case File 22.04.12 200
Missed Payment Fee 2 (day 43) 22.04.12 10
Solicitors - Case Preparation 22.04.12 150
Missed Payment Fee 3 (day 57) 06.05.12 10
Missed Payment Fee 4 (day 71) 20.05.12 10
Missed Payment Fee 5 (day 43) 03.06.12 10
Closing Amount Discount 27.08.12 878

These fees may be reduced if contact is made immediately.

WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU CALL US IMMEDIATELY ON 0843 381 0843. We can, in certain circumstances, put you on a more affordable payment plan but this requires your cooperation.

WARNING: Interest will continue to accrue until a repayment arrangement is come to. It is in your interests to get in touch with us TODAY.

fermi

NDR/Marshall Hoares etc etc are all the same people anyway.

May be of some use ---> https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4766832

sourcrates

Horrible company to deal with, they wont take you to court for such a small amount, nor will they be knocking on your door, its all bluster and bravado, id stop paying them if I were you, you've already paid back more than you should, just because these idiots add charges does not mean you have to pay them, only way to be rid of them for sure is new bank account, debt card, change phone numbers etc, BT do this for free is calls are upsetting you, they can do nothing to you, its all just threats, id tell em go jump, but that's just me !!

happy_bunny_2

Refer your complaint to FOS. See if they can sort these idiots.

sourcrates

Oh, and put a complaint in to the financial ombudsman and the office of fair trading, detailing how they have behaved, also write to the "idiots" too and tell them you have passed complaint to FOS, you might find a change of attitude as they can be fined quiet heavily for behaviour like this.

crossed there lol

LeeSouthEast

prestonlady wrote: »

You have failed to honour the payment plan to which you agreed. As a result, your file may be fast tracked to both our solicitors and/or our door recovery team.

You should contact Northern Debt Recovery within 24 hours days on 0843 381 0843 or we will be left no option but to send our door recovery agents to your home in order to discuss your debt with you and obtain repayment.

We reserve the right to pass your file to our solicitors who may apply for a County Court Judgement (“CCJ”) or a Scottish Decree. If this is successful, our legal team may also apply for a Warrant of Execution or Scottish equivalent. This could result in a court appointing bailiffs, who would be able to seize goods in repayment of your debt.

Sorry, couldn't resist. But it just makes the point that their threats are all ifs, buts and maybes. Treat them with the disdain that you are, complain to the OFT and just keep doing what you're doing.