Incorrect arrears flag on BMW Finance account

stephenbalmer

Hi folks, I am having some issues with the way BMW Financial Services are handling the PCP for my car.

The contract was a 36 month PCP, and was all paid correctly. Due to BMW delaying the delivery of my new BMW, they arranged to extend my PCP by 3 more months until new car was ready, and again payment was made as it should be. A contract extension, identical to the original, was signed for these added 3 months.

The problems have been that it has felt like BMW FS systems are not setup to handle such a contract extension. Right from month one I got late/missed payment letters from them and in the first month, when I called up, they identified that it was a system issue and nothing should have been sent as my payment had been made as normal. That seemed to go away. Then the second month, I received escalated letters saying now a month in arrears and late/missed payment, again even though all paid correctly. This time they also updated my Credit Record as being in arrears by 1 month. I called again, they said again it’s the system getting it wrong and said they would fix their system info and notify Credit Reference agencies of incorrect update. I was not confident with the handling of this so I raised a formal complaint with BMW FS, really just to get this in someone’s focus. They upheld my complaint and offered me a payment acknowledging the poor handling of this account. They also updated the CRA’s and my account status went back to ‘up to date’, although my ‘arbritrary score’ went down a chunk for this payment blip in my history. I did not take the payment they offered as this was only about correcting my record.
 

Now again This week they have sent me Missed/late payment and default threatening letters stating that a 3rd payment has been missed. Again everything has been paid correctly and there has never been so much as a penny late at any time. They have also updated my Credit Record to show 2 months in arrears. Again, although arbitrary, my scores have dropped to half of what they were prior to January and there are negative markers on the individual account, My payment histories and my management of credit accounts.

Clearly I need to spend hours on the phone again, being bounced around various people saying ‘oh I don’t know what’s happened there’, but before i do, can anyone tell me what else I can do about this and will there be remaining negatives on my account, even if they do again correct my account to being ‘up to date’? This cannot be acceptable that I need to do all the running in fixing their ‘system problems’?

Any experience or advice most welcome.

Steve

[Deleted User]

Once they correct the entries, everything on your files will be fine.

stephenbalmer

Thanks for your reply on this ZX81.

I understand that I can resolve the situation again, as i have already done, although that is clearly not possible at this time due to the lockdown situation. I have spent a cumulative 7 hours 20 minutes on hold to BMW and have been cut off 5 times without managing to speak to anyone.

So, a bit of a supplementary question, if i do not manage to get them to clear this up for some weeks, as it looks like taking, will this still not impact on my overall Credit Record and also as this is the third time they have done ot, costimg me time, stress and trouble to resolve, is there any kind of claim that i can make against BMW for this false reporting of information, as they have already acknowledged twice in writing. I understand that the delay in resolution is not directly down to BMW but rather the current situation is contributing to my inability to get hold of anyone at BMW, but the underlying cause of this situation is down tho tem and they have had two opportunities to resolve this 'system error' scenario previously and th ecurrent limbo situation is beyond worrying. Thanks.

D3xt3r5L4b

Long and short of it - you’re asking if you’re due any compensation?

Willing2Learn

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Long and short of it - you’re asking if you’re due any compensation?

If the OP makes a written complaint, due to having spent a cumulative 7 hours 20 minutes on hold to BMW to resolve the problem, then they may well get a 'goodwill gesture'.

chanz4

£50 about it, 

D3xt3r5L4b

£25-£50 max.
Hardly worth it given what’s going on currently
IMO

cymruchris

stephenbalmer said:

They upheld my complaint and offered me a payment acknowledging the poor handling of this account.
 I did not take the payment they offered as this was only about correcting my record.
 

What was the payment they offered that you declined?

stephenbalmer

cymruchris said:

stephenbalmer said:

They upheld my complaint and offered me a payment acknowledging the poor handling of this account.
 I did not take the payment they offered as this was only about correcting my record.
 

What was the payment they offered that you declined?

Thanks Cymry Chris, They offered me a payment of £500 previously and I declined it as this is not about money.

I should have been clearer on this, I would really like ot find a way to take them to task on how they treat us as consumers.

At every turn, they assume penalise and punish the consumer and every line of every contract is created to reinforce that punitive attitude.

However, now that they are getting something wrong, and they are without any doubt and by their own written agreement, it's 'just a system fault' and they are not actually bound by anything it seems.

I want to find a way to make them accept and agree that we are customer, not data items in their systems and that these systems are running roughshod through our Credit Reference files unchecked, and potentially shaping our financial lives. Suppose I had not noticed this until seeking a mortgage, the hassle would have been significant. Thanks for your thoughts.

D3xt3r5L4b

They offered you £500 and you declined it!?
Silly silly silly.
Thats at least 10 times what’s normally offered in these sorts or circumstance. 

You should have taken that offer and just moved on - now that you’ve declined it they’re not obliged to offer that amount again or a higher amount.
You have no point to prove to them, and in the current climate I suspect they and everyone else has bigger things to worry about. 

Penelopa.Pitstop

If it's any help, Volkswagen Finance has similar issues. In case of VWFS contracts are closed but system sends letters and puts missed payments on record. Then it's corrected by VWFS and problem is solved. I guess BMW system was not equipped for the contract extensions but it will be fixed soon.

You should have taken £500 which was offered.