Ombudsman taking 18 months

irisheyes153

originally took out £1000 for a stove.

Contractual payments: £48 per month payable either £12 per week or in 1 payment of £48, my choice. Initially I said monthly as I was paid monthly on the 1st of each month.

I discussed paying too much as I don't like having debts and find round figures easier to remember, they were quite happy for me to do so as long as it was more than the £48 a month. We agreed they could set a direct debit at £60 a month as I could afford it.

I was meant to be paying on 1st of every month when paying monthly,  but V12 claimed the money on 16th of the month and I hadn't been paid. I received a call about a "late payment" at 830 am, 11am, 2pm and 3pm of the same day about it then the same frequency for 4 days. Plus emails and texts demanding I called them.  For a payment that to my mind I didn't owe till the 1st of the month and had no idea was being claimed that day!

That was when I was advised by and agent at v12 to cancel the DD, pay by card and make adhoc payments. They claimed I would get no late payment charges or penalties or markers and charged me all the same. (this is when they listened to a call made 4 weeks before I was given the information. The admission was in the notes on the account from the agent that advised me it).

They then as I say agreed I could go on to the weekly payments as my pay frequency changed (I got a new job where I'm paid weekly), agreed to £15 a week, every Friday (payday) because I would be making the same amount of payments and set it up.. at £15 a month which was later rejected by the back office. They never told me this had happened or I would have recitfied it then and there. 

They reported for 6 months that I hadn't paid a penny, but I had actually paid £15 a week as per my agreement and it shows on my account that they have received it via standing order, I also have the bank statements showing they received the payments.  Because I saw the payments going out of my account and in to theirs, and I never heard a thing from them, I understood there was no problem and I was paying off my bill merrily. They marked my credit file, charged me late payment fees etc due to "no plan in place." They admitted this and I have it in writing that it is their fault due to "clerical error." I am still having issues with my credit rating about it. 

They then cancelled the payment plan altogether and reinstated the monthly plan (without telling me), and reported my "monthly payments" were late, even though I was paying it weekly and had no idea they had reset the plan at all!  I found out when I got a snotty email demanding I call them about the "arrears on your account" which they admitted I didn't have! Again they have marked my credit file, based on the fact that due to "a computer error" my payment plan was cancelled, but they won't change my report because "your payments were late." On a plan that I had never agreed to or knew about, by their own admission - plus I'm actually paying more than they want me to!

Confused? You should see it from my side!

This is why I went to the Ombudsman, but the longer I am waiting for the reply the worse V12 are getting. 

Clive_Woody

It does sound like a right mess. Have you been through their formal complaints procedure?

GeordieGeorge

irisheyes153 said:

GeordieGeorge said:

irisheyes153 said:

no, they wanted £48 per month, or £12 a week. I'm paying £15 a week (£60 a month). 

They admit I'm paying more than contracted, and I have chosen to do this so it gets paid off quicker, but they reported I hadn't made any payments for 6 months due to recording my payment plan as £15 a month rather than per week. 

These aren’t the contractual amounts though, are they?

Contractual amounts are what you were supposed to pay when you originally took the loan out. People are trying to check if you failed to stick to the original agreement.

It seems that you did, yet are complaining that this has been recorded.

I'm paying more than they wanted, on the correct frequency they asked for. I checked if they would allow me to pay too much and they said as long as it wasn't too little that was ok.  They wanted £12 a week, I'm paying £15 a week. 

You seem to be (deliberately?) missing the point here. You made all payments in line with your ORIGINAL agreement, in full and on time, or you got into difficulties, paid late or in part, and reached an agreement for a payment plan?

irisheyes153

For some reason, it won't let me quote people so this is Clive's comment.
Yes I've followed the complaints proceedure, they just ignored the complaints totally. 
I took it to the Ombudsman and I'm still waiting... after 18 months

irisheyes153

GeordieGeorge said:

irisheyes153 said:

GeordieGeorge said:

irisheyes153 said:

no, they wanted £48 per month, or £12 a week. I'm paying £15 a week (£60 a month). 

They admit I'm paying more than contracted, and I have chosen to do this so it gets paid off quicker, but they reported I hadn't made any payments for 6 months due to recording my payment plan as £15 a month rather than per week. 

These aren’t the contractual amounts though, are they?

Contractual amounts are what you were supposed to pay when you originally took the loan out. People are trying to check if you failed to stick to the original agreement.

It seems that you did, yet are complaining that this has been recorded.

I'm paying more than they wanted, on the correct frequency they asked for. I checked if they would allow me to pay too much and they said as long as it wasn't too little that was ok.  They wanted £12 a week, I'm paying £15 a week. 

You seem to be (deliberately?) missing the point here. You made all payments in line with your ORIGINAL agreement, in full and on time, or you got into difficulties, paid late or in part, and reached an agreement for a payment plan?

You seem to be missing my answers (dilberately?)
I have missed one payment, based on the fact they took a payment due on 1st of the month 16 days early which they admitted over 3 months later. This was paid by card on the correct day (1st of the month) as per the agreement and I was advised to cancel the Direct Debit by the company. I even said they could take 2 payments that month by DD as long as it was on the 1st of the month. 
I have not only met the original agreement, I have paid MORE than they want, on time. 
My payment plan (which they agreed) was changed  to ensure I kept my payments on time and too high. They admitted that their advisor had put this through as a "per month" instead of "per week" plan and "back office" cancelled it without telling me. 
Every credit rating marker has been proved as either a "clerical error" or "computer fault" (their words not mine), they are just either seriously dragging their feet to remove them (up to 3 months to send the requests) or not removing them at all as "It was our fault, but it was correct at the time"... for a CLERICAL ERROR.
The Ombudsman have been looking in to this for over 18 months now, and the problem is just getting worse. 
Is there anyway I get get a resolution/make a formal complaint as everyone is sending me round in circles and nothing seems to be happening. 

Sandtree

irisheyes153 said:
I took it to the Ombudsman and I'm still waiting... after 18 months

A little disingenuous... you have heard but didn't like the answer so you are now waiting again for a higher grade to review.

irisheyes153

Sandtree said:

irisheyes153 said:
I took it to the Ombudsman and I'm still waiting... after 18 months

A little disingenuous... you have heard but didn't like the answer so you are now waiting again for a higher grade to review.

I disagree, it's 18 months, I am still waiting. I was told that it "might take 6 months in total". 
They got back to me after failing to investigate the whole issue, by their own admission. My complaint was about bad customer services, incorrect markers on my credit rating, harrassment etc. The response was that he admitted it was a "bit excessive to call as many times."
Not a word about the customer services, not a word about the incorrect markers, nothing.
When I queried it, I was told "Oh I didn't see that bit."
Would you have accepted a unfinished investigation as a response??