Very.co.uk ruining credit files

northstarj

I purchased a dishwasher from Very.co.uk, the model I wanted was cheapest on their site and they also had it on a Buy Now Pay Later offer, so I thought why not.
The first month after delivering the dishwasher I received a statement asking for a payment. I wondered why I had been asked for payment on a BNPL purchase but as I was intending to pay regular amounts anyway I made a payment on the website.



The next month I received another letter asking for payment and stating my account was in arrears. I rang the customer service line, spoke to an advisor and asked why payments were being requested on a BNPL purchase. The advisor said that payments shouldn't have been requested but couldn't explain why they were. Anyway, I made another payment.



The following month another letter arrived saying that I had now been charged because the account was in arrears. I called customer service again and was transferred to 3 separate advisors, non could explain why these charges had been applied. The last advisor then made a 'complaint' on my behalf as this is the only way to raise a query apparently. The next day I was called back by a woman who was dealing with my complaint, she explained to me that there was apparently 2 'parts' to my account, the cost of the dishwasher had been applied to the BNPL part of the account and the delivery charge had been applied to another part of the account that was interest bearing.



I protested that non of the correspondence had articulated that, the UX of the website was not clear and that Very's own advisors had not been able to explain that to me. Also, I had made 2 payments of £40 to the account, inadvertently paying that money off the BNPL portion of the account whilst leaving the £7 delivery charge on the interest bearing part of the account and that was what the charges were being applied to.



When I queried this with the woman who called and asked why I would deliberately make payments to the BNPL and incur charges on the delivery cost she was pretty abrupt and rude telling me that my only option if I didn't like the outcome was to go to the Financial Ombudsman. Feeling pretty aggrieved at their mis-leading website and correspondence I decided to take her up on the offer. I was advised by the ombudsman and Very.co.uk to not make payments until the case was concluded.



A couple of months into the case I checked my Credit File and noticed that my rating had plummeted from Good to Poor, on further inspection Very/Shop Direct had reported that I had missed 4 months payment. They had still not responded to my original complaint. I lodged a request with them to put a note on my credit file, they have a 57 day response time and to date have not responded. I have since paid all outstanding money to Very and no longer owe them a penny. However I cannot close my account with them until they have concluded their investigation. I'm not confident they will put a note on my credit file to correct this. I wish I'd read the many negative reviews of Very before I bought this dishwasher, I could have bought the thing outright at the time but BNPL seemed like a good idea at the time.



I feel like Very are misleading about how payments to different portions of accounts are made, surely if they cared about customers they'd apportion payments to the interest bearing part of accounts automatically. Despite not owing them a penny they are not forthcoming about rectifying the damage done to my credit file. It's the worst company I have ever dealt with by a country mile and I'm amazed they're still in business. If you're thinking about buying anything from them I'd strongly advise you not to, it's not worth the hassle

[Deleted User]

Paragraphs please.

Can you summarise what the issue is in a few lines?

Willing2Learn

You need to make an official complaint, in writing. Specifying how their erroneous payment system has caused your credit file to be marked negatively. Once that complaint has been dealt with (it can take up to eight weeks), you will then have the option of escalating to the FOS.

In the meantime, you are perfectly entitled to submit a Notice of Correction with the relevant CRA.

A4445

This is a known problem you have to allocate your payments.You May have allocate the payment to the BNPL purchase and left the delivery charge unpaid. You should have made separate payments £7 for the delivery and the rest under the BNPL option.

Technically they haven’t done anything wrong, but their payment system can be complicated.

Dobbibill

It appears Very state this on their website here
https://www.very.co.uk/bnpl.page

Delivery, installation and insurance products can't be placed on Buy Now Pay Later (exclusions will be pointed out when
you order). These charges will appear on your next statement and a payment will be due by the payment due date.

I would still raise a complaint as you've nothing to lose. It's an expensive lesson but at least you have paid them off. The late payments will become less significant as time passes.

All the best - come back and let us know how you get off.

MABLE

The problem is no one ever reads their statements. It clearly points out about the delivery charge. This subject has come up some many times.

In my opinion Very have done nothing wrong and the error lies with the OP for not checking the details correctly.

I have bought several items from Very and have always found them very fair.

Willing2Learn

I've also done a lot of trade with Very, without any problem, charges or interest. I'm a happy customer and account holder. I have my payments set up as a DD, as paying automatically takes away any remote prospect of late payment fees.

PixelPound

You have to raise a formal complaint and wait for the outcome, once you get a final response you can then raise it with the financial ombudsman. It will still show on your credit file whilst this is being raised. You may also want to request transcripts of telephone conversations if you feel incorrect advice was given on the phone.

The effect of late payments will diminish over time, so I wouldn't get too worried over it, but if you feel you were treated unfairly then you have to follow the correct complaints procedure.

MABLE

nic_c wrote: »

You have to raise a formal complaint and wait for the outcome, once you get a final response you can then raise it with the financial ombudsman. It will still show on your credit file whilst this is being raised. You may also want to request transcripts of telephone conversations if you feel incorrect advice was given on the phone.

The effect of late payments will diminish over time, so I wouldn't get too worried over it, but if you feel you were treated unfairly then you have to follow the correct complaints procedure.

What complaint. Its the OP's own doing.

Craig1981

I used very a lot for their BNPL or large electricals, as they were also either same or cheaper that high street retailers

always paid delivery charge, as clear as day for you to do so. when logging in to make payments, you have an amount due for payment OR go onto BNPL - total outstanding balances etc

whether or not people read their statements is not the fault of the retailer

i suppose the only thing you would have on your side is if you made payment over the phone for the arrears and they allocated it incorrectly