Affordability complaints - advice needed please

bumblebee181

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice from anyone who’s been through the affordability complaint process. 

I’ve submitted a few complaints, and two are now with the Financial Ombudsman Service.

PayPal has offered a goodwill gesture of £350 on a £2,300 balance. I’m not sure whether to accept it or keep escalating, as I feel there are several red flags with the borrowing where it was increased when I was paying minimum amounts  

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you decide whether to accept an offer or continue with the complaint?

Thank you

ManyWays

Do you know how much interest you pay in a typical month? And has Paypal increased your limit in the last 6 years?

You could ask them if you could pay the rest off with no interest being added and it not harming your credit record;  most lenders wouldnt agree to this but Paypal can be rather random about everything, sometimes bad, sometimes good. 

sourcrates

You can`t be any worse off by continuing to the end of the complaints process.

The deal offered now, will still be available then, if they don`t improve their offer.

bumblebee181

ManyWays said:

Do you know how much interest you pay in a typical month? And has Paypal increased your limit in the last 6 years?

You could ask them if you could pay the rest off with no interest being added and it not harming your credit record;  most lenders wouldnt agree to this but Paypal can be rather random about everything, sometimes bad, sometimes good. 

I’m paying approx £45 in interest and £90 ish min payment - yes they increase it multiple times so I’m now stuck in the debt cycle. 

The way they worded it sounded like what they were offering here was final offer ? 

‘However, we deeply value the financial and emotional well-being of our customers, and we understand the importance of addressing your concerns. To reach a positive resolution, we would like to offer you a goodwill gesture of £350 GBP. This amount would be credited to your PayPal Credit account, helping to reduce your balance by the same amount.  

Please understand that this offer is not an admission of liability on PayPal's part. Instead, it reflects the high regard we have for you and our commitment to ensuring your satisfaction. We hope this gesture demonstrates our dedication to resolving your complaint fully and finally.’

Thank you 

☺️ 

bumblebee181

sourcrates said:

You can`t be any worse off by continuing to the end of the complaints process.

The deal offered now, will still be available then, if they don`t improve their offer.

The way I have read it is  if I did accept the 350 it would be the end of the complaint process (not take it further) or, I escalate  to the FOS and risk maybe not getting a decision in my favour so lose the 350 goodwill or possibly a better outcome? 

Their wording was: 

However, we deeply value the financial and emotional well-being of our customers, and we understand the importance of addressing your concerns. To reach a positive resolution, we would like to offer you a goodwill gesture of £350 GBP. This amount would be credited to your PayPal Credit account, helping to reduce your balance by the same amount.  

Please understand that this offer is not an admission of liability on PayPal's part. Instead, it reflects the high regard we have for you and our commitment to ensuring your satisfaction. We hope this gesture demonstrates our dedication to resolving your complaint fully and finally. 

I don’t know if this means that they know it would be worse if I escalated and are trying to stop me raising is there? 

Thanks! 

ManyWays

I’m paying approx £45 in interest and £90 ish min payment - yes they increase it multiple times so I’m now stuck in the debt cycle. 
So if you could get a refund of half the interest paid in a month, this 350 offer is only equivalent to getting half the interest refunded for a period of just over a year. That sounds like a pretty poor offer to me. 

The way they worded it sounded like what they were offering here was final offer ? 
Oh it is, but there is no reason why you cant try to push them to add something else, eg to let you pay it off interest free without this harming your credit record. All they can do is say No...