Studio cards ltd - HELP!!

blondebex

Evening all,

After a bit of advice really, in case I've miss d something blatant....

Apologies in advance for the rant and long-winded explanation.... so several years ago I opened an account with Studio, always made the minimum/ above repayment every single month up until the tail end of 2017.

In the autumn of 2017 I received a letter from the company stating that they were to switch to a new billing/payment system as of November (I think) of that year.

I’ve always paid online so went to log in my normal way to pay at the beginning of December 17 and it wouldn’t let me log in, saying that my details were wrong. I re-tried over several days in case it was a computer glitch and again had no luck so I thought I’d try resetting my password to see if that helped but it didn’t recognise my details still. January/February 2018 I tried again & this time I called however when I called I could never pass security as apparently my address details were not what they held on their file - bear in mind I have been in the same address since 2013!! This happened a couple of times and by the middle of the year I gave up as I’d been trying to get through and pay but without passing security I couldn’t get anywhere & never received a letter, phone call, email or anything from them ever again until April 2019, I come home one day to find a letter from a debt collection company stating that my ‘debt’ has now been passed to them.

I sent a whopping letter to the company stating how unprofessional this was and that I have never been able to get through to Studio, hence why I’ve never been to pay not have I never received any correspondence from them in regards to this matter. I had a reply within around a week stating that they understood my reasoning however the complaint wasn’t against themselves but against Studio so have passed it back. Approx 1 week later on 11th April I received an acknowledgment of my complaint from Studio stating that you will receive an update within 5 working days but the whole process can take anything up to 5 weeks.

I called this morning for an update as it is just over 8 weeks to be greeted by an Indian call center (that was the number given on the letter!) who had absolutely no idea what I was on about and again when asked to confirm my address, surprise surprise, it wasn’t a match. So I spouted off my previous addresses and again none of those were a match. The gentleman went off to speak to his manager and came back to say that I needed to go through to the finance team....which they did. I finally got through to an office in the North of England and went through security again.....of which I obviously failed :mad::mad: to be told it’s written here that you have passed security but actually you haven’t!!

By this point I’d been on the phone for almost 40mins, so off she went to ‘speak to her manager’. She returned a short while later stating that the debt had been passed over and that my complaint was with them.....rather peed off by this point I stated that it was not, they were not responsible for my details being changed and the non-existent communication. Off she went again to her manager & came back with the response that it definitely had been and I needed to call the debt management company for an update.

Reluctantly I did this, although I new the answer to begin with... as thought the debt company have heard nothing back from Studio so as far as they are aware the complaint is still with them. So off I go and call back the finance team to be treated by another lady....oh but your details don’t match so I can’t talk.....so after explaining the whole thing again.....even more peed off than the first time I just decided to tell her the situation anyway....off she trots to her ‘manager’ and comes back with some jargon about the credit act I signed......yes I understand that but if I can’t pass security to call and pay how the bloody hell am I meant to pay :mad:. I said to her I’m more than happy to pay the balance in instalments but I refuse to pay any extra charges due to their administrative/ system error & even got quite shirty with me when I said it was as soon as your payment system changed (it couldn’t possibly be that....who told you that!!?)

So after a further rant off she went and spoke to her ‘senior managers’ this time. Well as it’s quite complicated we’re going to get a specialist department to look at your account activity, was the verdict.

As said before apologies about the rant....does anyone know/or is able to clarify my position, whilst I wait for a response?

I’m stressed to high hell & back, my credit score has plummeted (as I’m showing as a default) - was almost 500 only a few months before & I’m not sleeping....if anyone could help I would be super grateful :A

[Deleted User]

Wait for their response. Then escalate if necessary

[Deleted User]

You couldn't pay your bill so did nothing till April? So they should chase you for it.

boo_star

You've not really tried to pay the bill for almost 2 years. I don't think your recent difficulty in paying it has any bearing on things.

DCFC79

You had the option of writing to them, a complaint saying you couldn't pay the monthly amount.

Its fair what has happened, you didn't pay (despite the attempts) and Studio have taken steps to get whats owed back.

blondebex

My complaint is their lack of communication & I never received a reminder or letter for payment as their systems messed up & my address somehow disappeared into thin air. Surely they need to check what happened when their update happened and see why my address changed? Logic would say that you send a warning, a debt letter and then a final reminder BEFORE sending you to a debt collection agency? They also had my number & my email address so could have contacted me that way also.

DCFC79

blondebex wrote: »

My complaint is their lack of communication & I never received a reminder or letter for payment as their systems messed up & my address somehow disappeared into thin air. Surely they need to check what happened when their update happened and see why my address changed? Logic would say that you send a warning, a debt letter and then a final reminder BEFORE sending you to a debt collection agency? They also had my number & my email address so could have contacted me that way also.

You tried sending a complaint in ?

boo_star

blondebex wrote: »

My complaint is their lack of communication & I never received a reminder or letter for payment as their systems messed up & my address somehow disappeared into thin air. Surely they need to check what happened when their update happened and see why my address changed? Logic would say that you send a warning, a debt letter and then a final reminder BEFORE sending you to a debt collection agency? They also had my number & my email address so could have contacted me that way also.

But their lack of communication had no bearing on anything.

You tried to pay the bill back in 2017 so you obviously knew you owed them money. Did you really need 3 letters to remind you of this?

[Deleted User]

Did YOU make contact with THEM in all of this?

Willing2Learn

I understood from Rebecca's posts that she had been in contact with them on a number of occasions, but could not pass their security questions as they, due to IT problems, were unable to confirm her address. She also made a few attempts to pay using their online portal. But again, due to IT issues at their end, the login was rejected. She even tried to reset her login details, without any joy. I think it is clear that the fault lies with Studio and not with the OP.

@Rebecca - If it were me, I would make an official written complaint, making it clear that you had attempted to pay, both online and over the phone. Make sure the letter to Studio is clearly marked for attention of the complaints dept.

[Deleted User]

There are other ways around security questions even when addresses cannot be verified.

Something doesn't add up