Beyond dispair with MBNA

[DaveP]

Hi All,

I posted this in the Introductions section, but I suppose it really should be in here.

My wife and I both have credit cards with MBNA unfortunately, my wife has had a problem for some time paying off her card due to our changed circumstances.

We're now in a position where the interest is all we can afford to pay off, her account is stopped and they are refusing to help us at all to reduce our payments so that we can at least keep slightly in credit.

This means that we will default again, be charged again and end up getting further and further into debt.

 

What amazes me is how the people on the "helpdesk" can be so unhelpful.

We have asked that the interest rate is ruduced, but because the account is blocked due to a missed payment 4 months ago they won't reduce the interest. So now that the account has been in credit for 3 months, we have asked that the block is removed from the account so that we can have the interest reduced, however they are refusing to unblock the account.

 

It seems that they are determined to keep us in the red so that we will be paying them back until we die.

Shylock would have been easier to deal with and probably more sympathetic than these (edit). That's exactly what I think of them as, (edit). They're all nicey nicey when you're in credit and are ever so nice to increase your spending limited without you even asking, but as soon as something happens to change your circumstances and you are unable to make payments they show their real colours.

I'm all for paying back what I owe, that's right and fair, but for them to do everything in their power to prevent me from doing that is unjust.

Sorry for the rant, but my wife is in tears again after coming off the phone to them and I need to get this off my chest.

I'm hoping that somehwere on here I can find someone who has had experience with these people who can help us, for a start, to get them to reduce our interest so that we can meet our repayments without going over our limit again.

Once we can get things under control again, then I going for the jugular and claiming back their unlawful charges. Right now I can see no end it it all.

 

DaveP

 

[MODERATED: Libelous comments removed again]

[Popeye]

Hi Dave

 

Just read your post and my heart goes out to you and your wife. I've been in the same position with the Associates (now Citibank) and I've been paying off a £3,000 debt for more than 7 years and guess what - I still owe £2,838 because I can't get them to reduce the interest despite paying £75 a month religiously. AAAArRRRRRRRggggghhhhhhhhhhh

 

Anyway, having read the forums for a couple of weeks now, I'm sure there are people on here who can give you some practical advice to help your situation. I know I certainly feel better having started the process to try and get some cash back from these heartless ***** !!!

 

Try and keep your chin up

 

Best Wishes

 

Bev

[barracad]

DaveP can you please refrain from posting libelous comments on this forum - this is the second time your posts have needed to be edited in less than an hour.

[DaveP]

DaveP can you please refrain from posting libelous comments on this forum - this is the second time your posts have needed to be edited in less than an hour.

 

Ooops, as I replied in the original thread.......sorry I tend to speak my mind, but I'll be more careful from now on. I had cut and paste the original post to here before I was told off for being naughty.

 

You should have heard what I called them ealier:eek: [/size]

DaveP

[DaveP]

Hi Bev,

That's just crazy, 7 yrs and still at £2,838.

I hope that things work out for you soon.

 

My chin's up, I'm just Mr Angry right now, my wife is so depressed, seeing her in tears and I can't even talk to the people responsible for causing her so much distress is what's making me angry. I'll calm down again and get focused on what needs to be done in time.

Hopefully I'll manage to do it without upsetting the site moderators anymore, nothing llike starting off on the wrong foot eh?

DaveP

 

Hi Dave

 

Just read your post and my heart goes out to you and your wife. I've been in the same position with the Associates (now Citibank) and I've been paying off a £3,000 debt for more than 7 years and guess what - I still owe £2,838 because I can't get them to reduce the interest despite paying £75 a month religiously. AAAArRRRRRRRggggghhhhhhhhhhh

 

Anyway, having read the forums for a couple of weeks now, I'm sure there are people on here who can give you some practical advice to help your situation. I know I certainly feel better having started the process to try and get some cash back from these heartless ***** !!!

 

Try and keep your chin up

 

Best Wishes

 

Bev

[Popeye]

Hi Dave

 

I didn't have a clue about % APRs and things when I took the card out - turns out it 27.9% so even at £75 a month I can never even make a dent in the balance - and as you quite rightly said the helpdesk are anything but !!

 

Can't wait to see what the charges are though

 

This site is helping me get over some of the 'gibbering wreck' stuff and there is some light at the end of the tunnel for the first time in ages - hopefully it will be the same for your wife.

 

Good luck to you both & keep us all posted

 

Bev

[DaveP]

Right,

after reading through the FAQ's and quite a few of the posts I need a bit of direction. I need to do two things, one get a payment plan going so that the card is managed properly and two claim back charges, so....

 

Do I sort out a payment plan with the CAB or Consumer Credit Association and put that forward to MBNA first before doing anything?

or

Start proceedings to get charges back from MBNA first then do the payment plan?

or

Start both at the same time because either one would not adversely influence the other?

 

I don't want to jeapordise either option as we really want to get the card payments managable and claim back what we have over paid.

 

Any thoughts from those who've been through the same would be appreciated.

 

DaveP

[DaveP]

No one? Anyone?

 

DaveP

[roydosan]

Try and get the CAB to negotiate on your behalf. Do not go to a financial company that offers to help restructure your debts on your behalf - the CAB does all that for free.

 

IMHO I would wait till the repayment plan is agreed before commencing action.

[DaveP]

Step one has just been taken.

 

My wife has spoken to the Consumer Credit Councilling Service who seems to be really clued up and are not a debt management service, they are a charity, so I don't think there's anything fishy for us to worry about with them. For us they have been easier than the CAB to deal with.

 

They're going to create a payment plan for us and send it to MBNA on our behalf.

MBNA told my wife on the phone that if she went onto a repayment plan, she'd have a black mark against hher name for 6 years AFTER the the final payment was made. CCCS have told us this is not true, as long as you are paying something, no black mark can go against your name.

I get the impression from reading other posts that MBNA will say just about anything to scare you into inaction, to tow their line and do what they want you to do, not what's best for you. Incredible.

 

So, the first step has been taken and I feel sooooo good about it. My wife is a little uncomfortable, she's been brought up as I have, you have a debt, you pay it. She can't quite grasp the concept that there are circumstances which prevent you from paying what is demanded of you and that you're not a bad person if you can only make payments that you can afford. Especially if the creditor has contributed in making your situation worse by levying charges on top of a bill that cannot be paid in the first place.

 

I'm expecting numerous telephone calls and letters from MBNA telling us all sorts of interesting stuff that bears no relation to what I'm telling them that I am going to do. I also expect to have to tell them or the debt collection agency that they get to pursue my wife, that they are contravening some act or code of practice by continually phoning demanding monies. (They've done it before when she first got into difficulty, so I expect nothing better of them this time round)

 

It's so good to be back in control.

DaveP

[DaveP]

It's been a while......so a quick update.

 

We've finally got together all the information for a payment plan and it's being sent out to our creditors.

I'm expecting MBNA to be the most difficult from past experience, but I've printed out a little script for my wife, so when she gets the constant phone calls again, she reads from that and says nothing else.

 

 

Dave

[Bob Bluffield]

Hello Dave P

I am having similar problems from MBNA and also Cspital One Bank. I am self-employed and through no fault of my own my business has slumped and I am now around 80% down on turnover. It has taken me 30 years to build a decent business and suddenly it is all falling apart. I have written to MBNA to explain the situation but they don't answer. Instead they are phoning me at work and at home day and evenings as well as early in the morning. Capital One has been doing the same thing.

This is criminal harrassment under The Administration of Justices Act (Section 40) and the Protection of Harrassment Act 1997. I have raised the matter with the Financial Ombudsman and I am waiting for a reply as well as the Office of Fair Trading, I feel it hight time that the Government got tough with the antics of these companies who are only too keen to up your credit limit when times are good and then prove most unhelpful when you meet difficult times and genuinely need help. I believe in cases like mine (and seemingly yours) there is a csse for irresponsible lending but who know how you would ever bring an action for this?

Are there any no win no fee lawyers out there prepared to take these companies on?

Regards

Bob

[DaveP]

Hi Bob,

Well the gloves are off now because we have the knowledge, experience and support of the people here. Oh and the nice people at the CCA.

I now know what my rights are and even better I know what MBNA are and are not allowed to do.

 

We will be logging every call, taking names, recording calls when able, advising the nice people at the end of the phone that they are acting iillegally by harrassing us, then going to the trading standards, advocates office and ombudsman, possibly also the police to get a crime number, not necessarily in that order.

 

I hope things work out for you Bob, you'll get all the support and good advice you need here.

 

Once more into the breach....

 

Dave

[Glenn UK]

Re payment plans

 

I dont know about the company you are using, i too used a charity, payplan, funny thing is theyre funded by the lenders which seems odd but they can and do help.

 

anyway if theyre doing hteir job properly they will give you a reference, when the creditors ring tell them who your with, give them the reference number and they will probably go away happy. mine did!

 

between setting up the payment plan and actually beginning payments there was around 3 months during whihc their were no additional charges and as far as i know they stopped adding interest too. i was paying five creditros 1 pcm each against totla debts of around 26K.

 

Made me smile but in truth i had to pay the correct amount based on the income and expenditrue so they got most of it back.

 

There is hope and try not to get stressed any more, stick to yuor plan if you can, if you cant speak to the company helping you asap.

 

HTH

 

Glenn

[DaveP]

Seemed strange to me too, but as you say they are funded, but not by me.

I forgot about the reference number, have to add that to the script.

I'm not too stressed now, I was when my wife was in tears after numerous harrasing phone calls though.

 

She's the one they will be calling, but hopefully I'll be there at her side next time to hold her hand, if not she has a script to use and instructions not to enter into any further conversation. If it gets out of hand, tell them to write and just hang up with a smile.

 

Dave

[moggy1968]

My natwest card account was sold to a debt collecting agency. They kept on ringing me, really nasty, threatening phone calls, so in the end I wrote to them, told them that because of their attitude I would only be prepared to talk by letter and that any further calls would be regarded as harassment. They stopped ringing. On the ocassions they have rung since then I have told them I will not speak to them as per my previous instruction, job done!!

[zedmoto]

Hi Dave P

this is my first post!

We are with CCCs at moment, but be warned! We have An Abbey card (MBNA) that are one of our creditors. We pay what we can through CCCS, They get £33.57 pm. They are STILL charging us £150 interest pm!!!!

I have just started ball rolling with claiming from Halifax, and I think I will start ball rolling with these guys!!

P.S The CCCS have been great!!

[matsinlondon]

I am dealing with MBNA too re. Abbey and I have had all charges and interest halted. You have to push, tell that that other creditors have done that (which they have) and get to speak to the debt management people in MBNA (not any outside agency). The people who can make decisions are hard to get through to but tell them you are despairing of trying to help them and their not responding other than form letters. If you push hard enough it'll be passed to "hardship" and they will agree to stop charging interest.

[miss muppet]

Couldn't agree more with everyone, you should not be paying interest, contact Stuart Johnson, Customer Advocate Manager by email [email protected] or head honcho [email protected]. I myself made an agreement through CCCS (what would we do without them and this site) over 4 years with no interest and I got my penalties refunded! Sorry I haven't replied before, the internet with BT Broadband is on/off more times than an electric light!!!

[Sev]

Exactly Miss M.

 

Just to reliterate, if you are having unfair tactics used against you do yourself a big favour and write to Michael Rhodes and Stuart and Donna Pumfrey with details. They must have it driven home of these tactics

 

Whenever you get a call from a Debt Collection agency or creditor insist on getting the caller's LOGIN ID, don't just take a name.

 

Another good bunch to go to for debt advice is Payplan.co.uk they are another charity.

 

National Debtline also have a downloadable self help pack with standard letters and comprehensive booklet.

 

Be Persisitent, always get all of your charges back - after all, they will always want all of their money back.

[Bob Bluffield]

Hello Everyone

I am fairly new to this forum but as you can see I have already posted about the harassing tactics of MBNA and Capital One Bank. I feel it is about time that the Government got their fingers out and started hauling these ba*****s in front of the Courts for the tactics that they use and the lies they tell (a bit like the Government really!). I am going to be contacting my local MP to push him to raise the issues in Parliament. If the Government are as concerned as they claim about the levels of debt in this country then they should be acting on our behalf to try and help those of us who have got in this position, often through no fault of our own.

From what I am reading there is wide scale harassment being directed at us that is illegal yet nobody in official circles seems to want to prevent it from happening. If the credit card companies, banks and others are acting illegally then they should have their banking licences withdrawn ... plain and simple. The Government should also control the ridiculous APRs that some of these banks are charging and force them to charge a reasonable amount. Not enough is being done to stop this kind of villainy in this country and it is high time that we got on our soapboxes and forced Government to act to protect the people of this country.

[Flor]

I agree zedmoto. The CCCS are so helpful and understanding. I was very, very stressed and tearful for a long time until I contacted them. I stopped getting the daily calls from my creditors and have been on a payment plan for the last 15 months. With the CCCS's help, I feel that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

 

The only annoying thing (and this is not CCCS's fault) is that I increased my payments thinking that it would make a difference and finish paying creditors off -only to start receiving letters from MBNA and HSBC telling me that I am now making my contractual payments and will pay full interest. Which I do, and it takes half of what I pay! Had I known this, I would have increased to just below the minimum payment so that every penny that I paid would actually come off my account instead of in interest. These people have already made so much money from me in extortionate charges -which I will claim back, every penny!

Fingers crossed.

 

Thank you to everyone on this forum that has given me advise (I am a new user) and good luck to everyone making their claims!

 

Flor

 

Hi Dave P

this is my first post!

We are with CCCs at moment, but be warned! We have An Abbey card (MBNA) that are one of our creditors. We pay what we can through CCCS, They get £33.57 pm. They are STILL charging us £150 interest pm!!!!

I have just started ball rolling with claiming from Halifax, and I think I will start ball rolling with these guys!!

P.S The CCCS have been great!!