Hi, Thanks for the replies, I'm sorry but with all that's been going on I forgot about this forum until I was notified of the replies. From another forum a poster gave me an e-mail address for someone higher up at Next; so I contacted them. I soon heard from the head of customer services & I cannot thank this man enough, he was so helpful that I still find it a little hard to believe how personally considerate a big corporation can be. He arranged for the goodwill adjustment to be done, almost immediately, & he really did exceed customer care by the way he handled the whole matter, I will never forget his kindness. The relief has been enormous & I have been able to go ahead with my re-mortgage. I have never owned a credit card & the only store card I ever had was for Next & never in my wildest dreams did I think the trouble a few missed payments can make, no matter how small they are, so I've learnt a lesson there! If I ever do have anything like that again I will have a DD set up. A lesson I will pass on to my children. So thanks everyone & again I have nothing but praise for the senior staff of Next.

Please - does anyone have any advice about where I can go with this. I also see today that my (fully paid) Next account has been closed. I never asked for this, will this have any effect on my credit score ?

Thank you for your reply. I told them that I accept full responsibility for the late payments, I paid everything in full the moment I returned home, there is no outstanding balance. I apologised, begged, pleaded, everything. They are in no doubt of the desperate situation I am in as both myself & Experian have pleaded with them, it has all fallen on deaf ears. At the end of my last conversation I said I would let these circumstances be made known all she said was "If you're just going to keep taking, I will have to put the phone down on you" At that point I just broke down, as I am now. Honestly, I am a decent hard working mother (& daughter) I have never been in nor caused any trouble or offence in my life & now this, all for being late, in exceptional circumstances, for a grand total of £36.

Hi I will try & explain as simple as I can. I made an online order about a year ago this automatically opened an account, I never signed anything, had a balance limit of £150. Last Oct my elderly(& widowed mother) suffered a serious stroke. I went to stay with her as she was not expected to survive, she has but is completly disabled physically but her mind is fine. I returned home early January, realised I had forgotton to pay 3x£12 balances, immediately paid my balance in full. To continue organising my mothers care I went to re-mortgage as to have her live with me I need to do some adaptions to my house & finance some personal care for when I am at work. Yes, these late payments put a stop to that. I honestly did not realise how damaging it was. I rang Next & explained everything they said there was nothing they could do. I spoke to Experian they reassured me that Next could make a goodwill adjustment & remove these late payments. Again Next refused, so Experian asked on my behalf, again refused. Today I spoke to credit at Next Head Office. I begged (in tears) for them to do a goodwill adjustment, they point blank refused. I told them without this re-mortgage I either keep my mother in a home which she loathes & is a 4hr drive away or I look after her 24/7 which would result in me leaving my job & therefore losing my & my childrens home. I doubt very much that my mother will survive much longer than 12mths this re-mortgage is absolutely crucial or I abandon her, it is an unbearable situation I am completely at my wits end It is going to take many months for my credit score to recover, Experian have reassured me that it is perfectly legal for a company to remove late payments as a goodwill adjustment, Next will not budge on their refusal. I'm sorry for making a long post but I am desperate & don't know where to turn, I am exhausted, stressed, worried sick, desperate to give my mother the best possible care & I think a little astounded at how heartless Next have been, I can't believe this, all over £36!!!! Please, please, has anyone got any advice. Time is something I really don't have much of at the moment.& it has reached a crucial point for me.