Mint make a mistake and I have to pay for it

steggy_2

Newbie here, I've been reading for a while though.

Okay heres my problem, I have a mint credit card which I got forgetful with and forgot to pay it. Fairs fair that was my fault and I have been trying to sort this out.

I rang them last month and was told the minimum payment was £66 and that I had to set up a plan to pay them so much a month. I said I could afford £40 a month she took my switch details for the £66 and I went on my merry way until now.

I phone a couple of hours ago to make my first £40 payment to be transfered to a debt collecting agency (trident I think) who demand that I pay my full balance or I get a County Court Judgment. He gives me 7 days to pay off the full amount, which I cannot afford to do.

I speak to mint again who tell me (after having to ask to speak to a manager I got put through to royal bank of scotland) that they have no record of me paying £66 and nothing about an agreement to pay £40 and that I should check my bank statment to see if the money has come out.

I check my statment online to see that I have two entries from "RBS Credit Card CE" one paying me £66 and the other taking it out again.

This seems to me that mint have made a mistake and I have spoke to them again about this, to be told that I need to speak to my bank about these transactions and that I should speak to trident about paying off my debt to them.

I'm currently waiting for a manager to ring me back.

Does anyone know where I stand in this respect, should mint transfer my account back to them. Or do I not have a leg to stand on.

Any help would be much appriciated.

(A very stressed) Steg

Sub_2

Alright Steg, first of all, it's only money, don't get too stressed.

You've got yourself in a bit of a pickle but that happens to all of us. No one is going to arrest you, or kick in your door, or in fact do anything more dramatic then be a bit pushy and stroppy with you on the phone, so don't panic mate.

It's unliklely that you will be able to get the account passed back to the Mint people, so will probably be dealing with the debt collection firm from now on. That is no disaster, the collection agency have no more powers than Mints own accounts people, it's just the agency will be more bolshy and rude to you to try and get you to pay up as fast as possible.

As you have found they will try to threaten you with things like CCJ's to force you to pay up all at once. however, you can't afford that and so shouldn't allow yourself to be bullied.

You've said you can afford to make a payment of £40 a month and that seems perfectly reasonable, once the debt collection agency realise this is all they will get from you they will happily settle for it. In the meantime they will use every trick in the book to try and push you about and have you scrape up the money from somewhere. Don't be intimidated, stand your ground and be firm with them, they will take advantage of any weakness they see.

As this is a credit card debt that's gone a bit wonky it will be important for you to try and minimize any interest and penalty fees from increasing the amount you owe. I think it's best that you get a bit of help with this, card firms and debt agencies are far more likely to behave reasonably when they are dealing with established consumer debt help organizations than individual customers.

You don't need to pay for this kind of help, and don't feel at all awkward or worried about getting assistance and advice on this issue.

Your local Citizens Advice Bureau will be a great place to start. They will have peoplel who specialize in helping with debt problems. Give them a ring and set up an appointment to go have a chat with them. They will be able to help you deal with this debt collection firm and set up a payment plan at a monthly rate that you can afford. They may also be able to help get the interest frozen on your account which is tremendously important.

Remember, it's ONLY MONEY!!! So, as Bobby McFerrin said... don't worry, be happy.

steggy_2

Thanks sub, I'm a bit more chilled out now. It's just that I've been trying to get a loan for the past couple of months to consolidate my debts and get myself more in tune with my finances.

I'm going to speak to my parents and see if I can borrow the money from them and get it all over and done with, so I clear up my credit history and move on with things.

If I cant borrow the money though i will book an appointment with the CAB and try and sort things out that way.

Thanks for your help

Steg

Sub_2

I just found these numbers elsewhere here on the MoneySavers website:

" A number of completely free, charity-based or publicly-funded bodies offer a fantastic service. They are Consumer Credit Counselling Service 0800 138 1111, National Debtline 0808 808 4000, Citizens Advice or visit your local CAB centre and the Federation of Independent Advice Centres 020 7407 4070"

I guess any of them would be just as good a start as the CAB people.

Good luck mate.

Robert_Sterling_3

Certainly things could be a lot worse.
I note the minimum payment was £66.
You paid nothing ... because you forgot.
Later they take £66 which was overdue and then repay it.
Not paying at least the minimum amount each month is an expensive mistake.
I think asking your parents to top up the amount you can pay each month yourself to bring it to the amount of the minimum payment required.
I guess you must have more than a couple of thousand outstanding on your credit card.
You need to see where you might reduce some of your expenditure.
Good luck

steggy_2

The actual full amount I owe is £590 so it's not that bad really. Just my budget is stretched very thin as it is.

I've always been forgetful with my finances which I have been trying to sort out for the last couple of months. Just annoying that when I do try and sort things out is when the credit card company forget that I've paid.

The strange thing is that they paid money into my bank account and then took it out again. As if the telephone operator made a mistake but then forgot to put a charge on my bank at all. I just think it's very bad customer service really.

Come to think of it I was never happy with mints service, first I was told with a limit of £700 I could still do a credit transfer of £3000 (The only reason I got the card to begin with) then when I tried to transfer it, got blasted down with I can only transfer up to my limit.

And then there failure to send a direct debit mandate.

I cant blame it all on them i supose, I did operate the head in the sand technique of money management. This is probably the kick up the backside I needed to get myself sorted out.

I'll keep you posted of what happens in the end, almost 4 hours since I spoke to mint and no call back yet. They're manager's must be very busy :-)

Galstonian

I wouldn't get too worried about a debt collector saying "you must pay up now" - that is their job really. If you reply you should say you cannot pay the full amount but are more than willing to come to an agreement to pay it off. I would suggest you ask them to stop adding interest and fees to the balance owed and pay off the £40 per month you originally agreed.

Meanwhile I think you should be writing to Mint to complain in the strongest terms about the rather shabby treatment you have received because of a mix up they made.

Finally, I think you need to learn from this - whatever you do it is always best to get written confirmation of any agreement before you assume that everybody has the same understanding of it.

steggy_2

Managed to borrow the money from my parents in the end and payed it all off today.

Now I just have to wait for my credit record to sort itself out and I can get a loan to consolidate all my debts and cut up my other two credit cards. Which thankfully I've remembered to pay.

Gonna set about writing a letter to mint to complain, dont know how much good it will do though.

Thank you all for your help in this matter, you helped put my mind at ease.

Steg

Sub_2

Thats good to know steggy, glad things are getting sorted.

Might be an idea in a month or so to get your credit report from both of the major agencies (Experian and Equifax) and see how they look. It'll give you a heads up on just what the late payment stuff has left on your file and should help you know what you are dealing with.

Might also be a good idea for you to NOT cancel those other credit cards you still have. Pay off the debts on them, obviously, but they could then be very useful to you in repairing any damage done to your credit standing.

If once you've paid them off you use the cards responsibly, spending a little on them and paying off the balance in full each month, it'll be recorded as good ongoing credit accounts on your file. That'll help enormously if some future lenders are a bit hesitant because of this period of difficulty.

Gotabiscuit

And set up direct debits on them so that you don't miss any payments!

dawny10

For anyone in a similar position (having to deal with debt collection agencies), the National Debtline website has some useful info on what they can or can't do and how to report any harrassment. They are also really helpful on the phone and can give you specific advice for your situation.

https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk

Glad to hear that everything has been sorted out ok steggy