land of leather/creations

[waltolla]

hi i really hope you would be able to help me. i bought an "interest free for a year" sofa. i payed the exact amount owed by standing order each month and payed it off in full before the end of the interest free period. however i noticed today that for the last 4 months (after the interest free period) they have been taking out of my account a further £65.63 each month. i rang them and they said i owe a further £375.46! this money is the interest they have calculated on the account which they say i owe because to qualify for the interest free period i have to pay an end fee of £35 before the interest free period ends... which is apparently in the small print. is there anything you can suggest? i would really appreciate any help

[waltolla]

i do not have agreement. the day i ordered the sofa i left land of leather with a leather cleaning kit and that was it. i have one letter from them saying they went into administration but was is it. i was the one that contacted them asking to pay it off in full within the interest free year. they sent me a standing order form and told me over the phone the amount to pay

[dad]

Walltolla,

 

OK,

 

This is a classic example of where section 77 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 is supposed to protect consumers.

 

First things first you need to send off a request for information to Creation under section 77 of the consumer credit act together with a postal order for £1.

 

That can be as simple as:

 

Dear Sir,

 

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER SECTION 77 OF THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT

 

Account Number: xxxx

Agreement Number: yyyy

 

Please send me all the information required under section 77 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

I enclose a postal order for the statutory fee of £1.

 

Yours

 

Waltolla

 

Either send it registered post or get a proof of posting from the counter at the post office.

 

They should send back within 12 working days a copy of the agreement together with a statement saying what you have paid and what you still owe.

 

Second they appear to have mislead you about free for a year if there was a termination fee; and

 

third if they had a direct debit mandate and the payment was properly due why did they not just take it from your bank account. Did they try to take a payment which was rejected?

 

On issues 2&3 I think it would be worth talking to your local council's trading standards department.

 

That should keep you going for the moment.

 

Dad

[waltolla]

After your last post i received these 3 letters (in 3 consecutive days) from creation. i will also post my reply

Edited February 21, 2010 by waltolla

[waltolla]

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[waltolla]

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[waltolla]

FAO The Complaints Department - Creation Consumer Finance Limited

 

Re Agreement No: ********

Account No: ********

 

On the "Annual Statement" you sent to my address this week, you stated this :- "Amount of Credit provided under the original agreement: £1249.00" and also the "Date of Agreement: 27/01/2009".

 

The original agreement i took out with yourselves (Creation Consumer Finance Limited) was a "1 year interest free agreement."

 

As you have informed me the "Date of Agreement was 27/01/2009, this means that my "1 year interest free agreement" ended 27/01/2010.

Please remember i have a copy of this document and will produce it if needed in a Court Of Law.

 

In addition to the payments i made to you stated on this "Annual Statement," i also made 3 payments of £113.55 on the following dates, 01/12/08, 30/12/08, 09/01/09.

 

Therefore the total amount i have payed to "Creation Consumer Finance Limited" is (11 months payment via standing order of £113.55 = £1249.05) + (3 months payment via direct debit mandate of £65.63 = £196.89) = £1445.94

 

To reiterate as stated on my "Annual Statement", (in your words) the "Amount of Credit provided under the original agreement: £1249.00".

This means that you, (Creation Consumer Finance Limited) owe me £196.94.

 

In a letter sent to me from yourselves (Creation Consumer Finance Limited), signed by 'George Sanderson', it states "Our decision to grant you a loan was on the basis that your repayments would be made by Direct Debit". This is incorrect.

 

I would like the £196.94 that you owe me sent in cheque form to my address this week.

I would like a letter confirming my account with "Creation Consumer Finance Limited" is closed and also stating that i do not owe the company any money.

I am also asking for a REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER SECTION 77 OF THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT.

Please send me all the information required under section 77 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

I enclose a postal order for the statutory fee of £1.

 

Yours

 

Mr Waltolla

[dad]

Waltolla,

 

Can you scan and post the credit agreement, obviously removing your personal details, bar codes & signatures. I am particularly interested in the exact dates on the agreement and how it expresses the interest free period.

 

Did you contact your local trading standards?

 

Dad

[Bookworm]

Aaah, the old "you agreed to pay by DD" ploy. They did the same with me, and I sent them off with a flea in their ear, as I know what they don't, which is I wouldn't take an agreement with them if payment by DD had been a condition of it, as I believe that DD are the tool of the devil and do not take them unless there is absolutely no other way, something which I can substantiate if need be. I also made that very clear to the LoL salesman on the day of the purchase, and he faithfully promised I could pay by other means... And with LoL gone, there is no way Creation Finance can say otherwise anyway.

 

Keep an eye on them for those £30 charges, as the letter says "may", but as far as I know, they just bang them on anyway, and that is totally reclaimable.

 

IF they have a £35 end of BNPL fee included in their contracts, then you are going to have a hard time convincing a judge that you didn't know about it. You are after all supposed to read things before you sign the contract and if you put your signature to it, then you agree to it, so that could be tricky.

 

Also, you say you weren't given a copy of the contract. Whatever the reason for it, I think you are going to have problems with that one, the reason being the finance is provided by Creation, and they are not linked with LoL by any other link apart from them providing the finance, if that makes sense. In other words, there is no way Creation could have arranged a BNPL for you without the paperwork coming from LoL and Creation agreeing to giving you the finance. You must have signed something somewhere to obtain that finance surely? Furthermore, Creation must have written to you before about it, confirming the BNPL agreement, are you sure you haven't ignored some of their letters? I ask because you say you have only noticed after FOUR months that they were still helping themselves to your money and that, I'm sorry to say, suggests a certain lack of attention to financial matters.

 

Your saving grace may be that their paperwork is not in order/not compliant and this is where the CCA74 request comes in. If they can't supply a copy of the credit agreement, then they are going to be in a much weaker position. If they do have it, then your position is going to be much weaker. So it all rides on that really.

 

Please post whatever you receive in reply to your CCA request (with personal info removed of course) as soon as you get it and we'll be able to help further from there.

[waltolla]

To bookworm. Thank you for your input. Yes i agree i have not payed enough attention to my financial matters. I have been going through a very stressful time recently and have taken my eye off the ball. However this experience has taught me a nasty lesson which i will not forget. I am much for financially aware and i certainly would never take out a credit agreement ever again.

 

To Dad. Thank you so much for your support. I could not have done this without you. After these letters were sent LOL agreed to pay me back all of the money i had paid in interest. However cheesy this may sound, you have made a massive difference to my life and i couldn't possibly thank you enough.

Many thanks and best wishes

A very relieved Waltolla