Creation Consumer Finance - Warning

Paulie'sGirl · 25 September 2008 at 7:47PM

Hi all,

Just a word of warning to anyone googling in research about taking out interest free credit with these people. In a word - DON'T :mad:

We took out a year's interest free credit with them when we bought our sofa from Land of Leather last year, and have found them to be appalling.

The fine print on the credit agreement (yes, I should have read it before I signed it, but I'm not good under high pressure sales

) states that after the letter setting up the agreement they wont contact you again. Which isn't brilliant practise, but if you're savvy you just ensure you set up your finances to "fail safe" on the payments.

Or so you'd think. :rolleyes:

I called them today as I hadn't had any confirmation that the loan was paid off and the account had been closed, and they'd taken an additional payment I wasn't expecting. Finding the contact number was difficult of itself, I ended up calling Companies House in Belfast for it, as I searched the internet high and low for it, and all I found was a fax number.

If you're a googler this is their number: 028 90260900 (goes through to their main reception, not to a call centre

)

The rather shirty madam at their call centre proceeded IMMEDIATELY to tell me I'd defaulted on the payments, incurred 29.8% APR on the full sum, and they would be chasing payment:eek: :eek: :eek: . She then alleged that a payment had failed, and had been returned to me. (I'll admit, I was panicing at this point, despite knowing I had done everything by the book) Fortunately, I had all my statements in front of me, and was able to tell her that I knew that was not the case. I then dropped the key word "ombudsman"

and asked to speak to her supervisor. She argued with me for 10 minutes about the dates of the payments and this supposed default, before putting me on hold for a further 10 minutes while she "escalated" my call.

Lo and behold, the supervisor had a calculator, and enough brains to realise that not only had my loan been paid off, but that they in fact had collected too many payments due to an "IT error", and infact they owed me money. :mad:

They were meant to resolve this by end of play today, but I haven't had another call. :mad: :mad:

So if you're thinking of taking HP with these people, don't. If you already have, make [EMAIL="d@mn"]d@mn[/EMAIL] sure you call them in the last month before your term ends to straighten things out. Expect trouble, I know from searching these boards I'm not the first to have this problem. Have all your documents in front of you, and if all else fails threaten them with the financial ombudsman.

I hope this information helps people in a similar situation or dissuades a few people from a very unscrupulous company.

Thank you for reading my whinge!!!

A relieved, but shaken, PGxx

crazyfj · 26 September 2008 at 6:16PM

I've used them for TV's in the past; in fairness it does say in big bold letters when you need to contact them.

I've heard that they are not helpful if you miss the payment due date.

However in your case they should sort it out; you will have the proof of payment so they don't have a leg to stand on.

polosdad · 27 April 2009 at 11:00PM

I recently bought a TV and this was the company that was used, I wasnt aware that when you make a payment they add on to your payment ten per cent of the actual bill. I owed £400 and my payment of £50 ended up as a payment of £54 just for paying online or over the phone. WORD OF ADVICE if you still have a cheque book its only the additional cost of a stamp to make a payment that way

jenmac_2 · 1 May 2009 at 4:23PM

can I just add - for the post from polosdad - the charge is not 10% but 4% of the amount ur paying if paying by credit card and £3 if its a debit card

ems18 · 29 September 2010 at 3:06PM

We took out a 12 month interest free, buy now pay later deal. This was for a kitchen from Focus. The kitchen was not going to be delivered for a following 7-8 weeks. Our first mistake was listening to the salesperson who told us that although signed on that day, the actual start date would be the date of delivery-WRONG!

I received an out of the blue phone call from a guy who said that Creation were no longer holding the debt, but not to worry none of the terms had changed and I would recive confirmation through the post-WRONG!

Thinking, nothing more of it-expecting to receive a letter and not expecting to need to pay for 7 or so weeks after the original agreement date, I went along with life.
TWO days after the original date-not having recieved a letter and not knowing who I was now needing to pay, I phoned Creation.
They said
1) Debt still with them
2) Did not phone me/dont know who did!
3) As two days over special rate now owe interest (even if clear the same day) of £696!!!!!
4) Do not EVER issue reminder of rate change letters as all is in original agreement
5) If pay by card -extra charges apply

Focus,btw, state my agreement is not with them and their salesperson has left the company!

Be cautious folks as I never thought I would be taken in, legally these people may have done nothing wrong, but morally it sucks!

spiv63 · 5 March 2011 at 6:11PM

I note that most people have talked about an interest free loan with CREATION CONSUMER FINANCE, which I thought I had. I bought a PC from PC world and took their 'interest free offer' only to be told, when trying to pay the final amount, this was a buy now pay later deal.

Bear with me whilst I explain; the buy now pay later deal acts like a period of time that payments are held, however upon payment there is a charge for this. This may seem a fair enough deal except when it is sold as an interest free period; apparently the details of this are in the fine print. I was charged £25 for the privilege, oh and £3.00 for a card payment! When I tried to talk to the company's customer service agent about this extra money, I had to ask them to repeat what they were saying; if I paid on time I would be charged and if I didn't they would charge me massive interest. Clap trap. I have a statement that I signed at the time that did not include this extra money and I was verbally told it was an interest free period. Take this as a warning this company operates on a covert level to gain more money from unsuspecting people. Get your finances elsewhere
.

fozmcfc · 5 March 2011 at 7:06PM

Quite often these deals, attract an upfront fee to set up the finance and also if you pay the balance by a certain method there is also a fee.

It is nothing unusual.

If also you do not pay the money in time, then interest starts to get charged and the deal is extended over 3 - 5 years normally.

All pretty standard stuff.

So basically buy something for £400, pay it back when it is due back and you end up paying £400 + a finance charge and when using certain methods a further fee.

marsupial_2 · 6 July 2011 at 7:24AM

I bought a washing machine from Comet a month or two ago.
It was down from £370+ to £250, so we snapped it up on a
0% interest until sometime 8 months later-ish (Jan2011 or
something if I recall correctly). Now today i've learned that I
have a credit account set up with Creation for £374. I paid
the up-front fee etc...

In store I thought that I had set up a monthly direct debit
with them, and I was told that as long as the full amount
was paid by the end then I didn't have to make payments
monthly, and could pay up in full at the end, and that it
was only AT THE END if I hadn't paid in full, that i'd be
switched to the 36-Month payment plan, which would only
occur after the full interest free point and not before, and
we even laughed in the shop that if I owed them only
£3.60 i'd be asked to pay that off over 36 months and charged
under a quids interest, and it was confirmed to me that this
was the case even though the interest would be so low,
as that's the policy, and there was no policy in place to
organise for any payment.

Now i've been saddled with an extra £124 to pay. I don't
understand what the hell has just happened but this doesn't
seem right at all!........ i'm thinking that i'll have to take a
walk over to Comet this morning, but they'll have refered
it on to Creation so i'll be bouncing around and liable. This
is a total joke.

I don't recall the small print, but the sales agreement that
I was sold by the woman in the shop was.

0% interest until Jan 2012.
You do not have to make monthly payments of any particularly denomination,
you simply have to make payment in full by the end of the 0% interest.
Should you fail to do so, then at the point the 0% interest comes to an end, the remainder will be subject to a 36months £10 a month policy.
Now 1-2 months later, i'm apparently subject to a 3 year contract for missed payments.
How does this possibly make sense?

fozmcfc · 6 July 2011 at 8:19AM

Sounds like instead of them set up the credit as buy now pay 8 months later, they did it under buy over 3 years.

There was probably the two options available and you have been signed up for the 3 year option.

Basically what happens with what you wanted is you buy now and as long as you pay by the 8 months, you pay no interest. You don't need to make any payments monthly, just make sure by the 8 months you pay them.

Under the deal, if you miss the payment deadline, even by a day however, then all the interest is backdated and you move into a 3 year credit deal.

But it sounds like you've been put straight on the 3 year deal and they haven't been able to take the direct debit, so charged you.

You'll need to dig out your documentation and see what it says on that. Once you have it definately come back and post again.

mundo2 · 3 August 2011 at 10:24PM

How can I make a payment to Creation without being charged. Do they allow bank transfer or is it just cheque?

mundo2 · 8 August 2011 at 10:59AM

Just thought I'd update this thread. I checked with them and you can send a cheque or make a bank payment neither of which incur a charge. However, there is no mention of this on their website including the FAQs which I feel is extremely underhand and something which I expect the FSA would take a dim view of.

PAYMENT METHODS

1.Online and by phone - £3 for a debit card/ 4% for a credit card
2.Sending a cheque - 10 days before any payment dates
3.Standing order - allow 5 days to clear before any payment dates
4.Bank Transfer - allow 5 days to clear before any payment dates

Creation Consumer Finance - Warning

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