dealing with the vultures !

jmhgibson123

hi, i have issues with vanquis ( im sure anyone that has had a card will be feeling my pain) i took out a card a few years ago and all was great...then the cash flow problems started. a few missed payments later and charges that you will all know are massive its snowballed i am currently around £600 over my limit....have not used this card for well over a year so its the intrest and charges that have taken me to this level. anyway finally got my head out of the sand a thought i had better get in touch and offer payment (reduced) and 2 letters and 3 emails later they have not responded!! they have sent me the normal monthly statement adding more intrest but no yes or no to my offer of token payments!! i know they have responded to one part of the email which i told them i was making an official complaint about the harrassment of me and family members by phone so i know they have read them.
has anyone had any luck negotiating with these muppets please ?

R_P_W

Vultures and muppets?? Grow up.

So you borrowed money from them, didn't pay it back and now they have charged you for it?

Monkeyballs

Hi Gibson,

I have to agree with RPW, calling them names and complaining on this forum isn't going to help matters because at the end of the day you borrowed the money then fell behind and as such you have accrued charges.

That said, you mention that they responded in part to a complaint you made to them re. phone calls and harassment? At any point did you ask to discuss repayment options with them? If you did, what was the outcome?

I think I must be in the minority when it comes to experience with Vanquis because in the past whenever I have missed a payment or not been able to make a payment on time I have always called them and they have been very accommodating to the point of putting in place a 6 month repayment plan to get my account back in order which included them writing off a significant amount of what I owed in the process?

My advice is to call them as opposed to relying on emails and letters and keep a note of date, time and name of who you spoke to telling that person what you are doing and why then sending an email with all of this information in it - for as long as you are not making payments, they are not making money (despite adding charges on interest, it's all for nothing if you go bankrupt or get an IVA, etc).

BUT go to them cap in hand to negotiate and even if you're just pretending to be sorry for the state of your account they'll likely help you in the short term - if you go in all guns blazing calling them vultures and muppets you probably won't have such a pleasant response...

MB

jmhgibson123

wow r pw what a useful response!!! from reading on here i understand phone calls are a bad idea which is why i have wrote and emailed, i do wish to pay back my debt but if they wont help by stopping any more charges it willl be impossible, i have been on a dmp and had to cancel as could not keep up now although the vanquis was not part of that dmp, i have tried to negotiate with all my creditors by post..and all have been amazing except vanquis they responded to the email about phone harrassment with a letter saying they will look into it, but on the same email was my offer of payment which they ignored. i refuse to phone them as then i would rather have it all in writing

Monkeyballs

Morning Gibson,

I know what others say on here about phone calls but personally I prefer an initial call to get communications going and then revert to emails and letters.

But this is only my experience and I tend to get in touch with creditors straight away if I know there is a problem so this has perhaps put me in better stead than other? I don't know...

The one thing I would say is that if you have contacted all creditors and all but Vanquis have replied then I would do what Step Change do which is not wait for a reply - send them an offer of repayment and then start to make those payments in good time and without fail...

I also suggest you post on the DMP & Mutual Support thread which is full of people who are on or entering into a DMP and several regular contributors are going it alone without the help of a debt charity https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4437925 I'm with Step Change and all the sample letters to send to creditors which I have seen make reference to seeking help from them...

MB

jmhgibson123

Thanks monkey, i have done that and made the token payments, i really dont want to phone them so i will write again and email and once again send a copy of my soa will keep my fingers crossed

Monkeyballs

jmhgibson123 wrote: »

Thanks monkey, i have done that and made the token payments, i really dont want to phone them so i will write again and email and once again send a copy of my soa will keep my fingers crossed

Horses for courses Gibson, horses for courses

You might get a few calls and letters but take them on the chin (it's not personal) and keep posting if and when you need help or just a morale boost!

MB

jmhgibson123

in respect of the complaint about harrassing phone calls they have now taken all numbers off file which is brill news as somehow they had my 12 yr olds phone number which was not nice. i will accept this and not take the complaint further and the letter says they will not offer intrest free credit cards .. but will try again to get my intrest frozen so i can play catch up will be resetting dmp up within a few months but would like them to accept my offer in the meantime :-( i will keep paying them my token payments for now in the hope they see i am trying

National_Debtline

jmhgibson123 wrote: »

in respect of the complaint about harrassing phone calls they have now taken all numbers off file which is brill news as somehow they had my 12 yr olds phone number which was not nice. i will accept this and not take the complaint further and the letter says they will not offer intrest free credit cards .. but will try again to get my intrest frozen so i can play catch up will be resetting dmp up within a few months but would like them to accept my offer in the meantime :-( i will keep paying them my token payments for now in the hope they see i am trying

Hi JMH

That's great news about the phone calls, well done. I suspect that if they had to choose one or the other, many of our callers would prefer stopping the phone ringing over getting their debts frozen! Of course, ideally you want both...

Regards

Dennis @NDL

jmhgibson123

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hi JMH

That's great news about the phone calls, well done. I suspect that if they had to choose one or the other, many of our callers would prefer stopping the phone ringing over getting their debts frozen! Of course, ideally you want both...

Regards

Dennis @NDL

thanks dennis, just wondering if national debtline have any joy with vanquis on getting interest frozen on a dmp, i will be contacting you within a few months when i can make decent regular payments