Erroneous default......

penguinSmall

.....how do you get rid of one when the company who put it there refuse to acknowledge they did bad?
My mother got me a contract mobile in 2002 using her card as I didn't have one. The account was in my mothers name but the bill was paid from my account. In 2005 I asked to cancel the contract as it would be cheaper to 'buy out' and move than stay put.
I was told I had to pay £79 odd to get out, they agreed to 3 monthly payments and sent 3 bank giro slips. I paid the first at the bank, a few days later I got a letter saying I hadn't paid as per the arrangement. I telephoned and the money was located in a 'holding account'. I was told I mustn't have put my account number on the payment slip. The following month I made damned sure I did put my account number on the payment slip, but the same thing happened, the money turned up again in the 'holding account'.
My mother said, 'Right! I'll pay with a cheque then they can't try to argue that they didn't get it.' Right on time, the letter arrived saying payment had not been made. I telephoned and was told that there was no way to trace the payment we 'claimed' to have made and it had to be paid again, despite having found two previous payments in this mysterious 'holding account'. They made no effort to look. My mother called and told them they had cashed her cheque, the under manager of her bank called and told them they had cashed her cheque. They sent out a default notice, when she rang and pointed out she had paid, they insisted otherwise, threatened her with court and bullied her into paying it again with her debit card, she was 69 years old and terrified of being 'blacklisted' if she didn't.
I told her to pursue the matter because they were in the wrong and now owed her money. She said she would.
In February my dad who is 71 had major surgery and had to give up work, my mother is 70 and still working. She asked to have her overdraft extended and was turned down. They are desperate, I have money I owe them but can't pay it until the sale of my house goes through. She was turned down. She got her credit report and there is the big red circle with an 8 in it, the phone company default. I asked why she hadn't sorted it out, she said she was too old for the hassle and was afraid of making it worse. She thought it had all been sorted out when she paid the last payment for the second time.
I phoned the company and continually had it parroted at me that a default stays on your record for 6 years. The guy didn't even seem to be listening when I kept telling him my mother had not defaulted. She paid by cheque when the payment was due, they cashed the cheque, then they lost the money, refused to look for it and sent a default notice then harassed her into paying again!
Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Trading standards just put me through to consumer direct and no one answered.
The Penguin.

flaura

she can ask the credit reference agency to look into it - they will sort it out - explain why she feels it is incorrect with the credit agency and leave them to battle with the company direct.

penguinSmall

Cheers dude. I did that but the girl at Experian said we had to contact the company as well because Experian can't prove it was paid up before the default was issued.
My mother sent her bank statement and a letter in 2005, but all we go back was a default notice. The letter was ignored.
I've sent another letter, with the bank statement showing the cheque for the final installment was cashed Nov 11th and a copy of the page from the credit file stating she defaulted on Dec 4th, AFTER she had paid the final payment. Then she paid the final payment again because Vodafone refused to acknowledge the existence of the cheque they cashed in November and threatened her with court action.

flaura

chase it up with experian see if they can get any further ...and see what they say alternatively you can add a "notice of correction" stating that the full amount was paid by cheque before the default was issued and that the company have failed to acknowledge this.

I'm currently running the same battle with littlewoods !! so i know where you are coming from ...

flaura

alternatively reeport them to the financial ombudsmen - write to the MD, head of finance, talk to citezens advice, don't whatever you do let them get away with it ...

penguinSmall

I actually reported them to the ombudsman before I wrote the letter to Vodafone. I was so irate at the way the guy on the phone just kept repeating 'A default stays on your credit report for 6 years even after it has been settled,' without attempting to listen to what I was saying and the fact that they had just ignored everything we told/sent them in 2005. I thought Carpe Jugulum.

penguinSmall

........My mother posted her letter and the photocopied proof that she had paid the debt in full in 2005 on Monday. On Tuesday she received a very apologetic phone call saying she hadn't written the account number on the back of the cheque which is why they couldn't find the payment. My mother pointed out that A) They had been sent copies of the cheque stub and the bank statement-with the cheque number and amount on, so it shouldn't have been that hard to find and They had no trouble locating two cash payments (which were apparently lost in the holding account for the same reason) within minutes.
They are removing the default notice asap and are very kindly refunding the £26.36 they bullied an elderly woman watching her eldest daughter dying of cancer into paying after it had been proven it had already been paid.

flaura

It's a winner then !! - excellent

I'm really glad they've sorted it - I would leave it a few weeks and check that they ahve actually removed it !! meanwhile i'm still none the better off with littlewoods !

Well Done for sticking to your guns....!:T