carphonewarehouse/02 default help

[jamiemcarthur]

hi guys im new to the forum but you guys seem like you can help me.

 

me and my other half have went for a mortgage and the credit check came back as us both having 1 default on our reports etc, which neither of us had any idea about. so we bought an experian report and they are there, mine for £21 hers for £29

 

mine from carphonewarehouse and hers from t-mobile through carphonewarehouse

 

now i called up CPW and settled the account, i then asked to have the default removed as the £21 is effecting me getting a mortgage, they said its settled so that will be fine, but we all know thats not true a default is the same if its settled or not.

 

so i asked them to see if they could escelate it, the problem is, back in 2004-2006 carphonewarehouse used to take the payment for the contract and pass it onto the provider, well i upgraded my contract and moved to vodafone, to which CPW would have sorted out the rest, turns out they didnt, and because all letters from 02 etc go through them i had no idea of a default placed on my account, no-one told me of it, and if they had i would have paid the £21 for the sake of keeping my report clear for just this reason.

 

they said they are putting it to their legal team who do the equifax report side of things and they will get back to me in a few days.

 

if they turn round and say no what can i do, i have seen some templates on the net for this sort of thing (wel for credit card companies), i dont think it fair that either me or my other half are being stopped getting a mortgage because of £50 between us on defaults we knew nothing about.

[jamiemcarthur]

just had a lengthy talk with their conplaints department about my £21 one

 

they swear blind they talked to someone on the phone 6 times about this account and its overdueness but i have no record of this or any memory of any conversations with myself, they say that because of the length of time since it happend in july 06 they cant check their records as they are only kept for so long, so i said well if you no longer have the records how can you justify me still having the default applied to my account from yourselfs meaning i can get mortgages etc because of this default for only £21, had i known about it do you not think i would have paid the amount.

 

he simply says nothing they can do about it, and that a default thats satisfied is better than one that is not.. to my reply, tell that to the mortgage peoeple then as they dont seem to know as much about it as you do. and that he says the default will stay on for 7 years now where as i thought it was 6 lol even better its getting longer now..

 

any help as to what i can do if anything, its really stopping ym family from moving on, all because of a past phone contract for a bloody EX.

[jamiemcarthur]

also while i remember i kept asking didnt you have to send me a letter about the default notice etc as nothing was received all he kept saying was we spoke to you on the phone as the notes say, but we cant check records as we dont keep them that far back..

[jamiemcarthur]

anyone?

[locutus]

Nope, mobile "defaults" are not the same as financial ones. Basicly, when you sign up for a contract mobile, you also agree to them sharing some of your details with the CRA's. They record you paying on time or late or not at all the same as banks do, and as you have found out it does as much damage as a financial "default" but they are not covered by the same regulations as the banks

 

Keep at them, If you have the energy I'm sure they will cave in! Fight it from both sides, talk to the CRA's that have this negative info on you and ask them about removing it as CPW hadn't sent a bill to you for it.

 

Best wishes

[jamiemcarthur]

called the CRA this monring they said they cant remove it unless CPW say so.

 

So i have written a letter that im going to send off today, nothing threatening a nice bleggin letter lol

[locutus]

Have a troll around this part of the forum, I'm sure there will be some glimmers of inspiration Credit Reference Agencies - The Consumer Forums

[luciefoxx]

Hi ,

What was the outcome of this?

[jamiemcarthur]

basically after several phone calls talkingt o many people all trying to do their best to help, and even a letter pleading with them to remove the defaults they all said no.

[locutus]

Credit Reference Agencies - The Consumer Forums You had a look around here? (for some reason it didn't link in my last post!)

 

Lots of people dealing with similar things.

[luciefoxx]

Yes i am in the same situation as you are.

I am speaking with one customer services representative who is trying to do her upmost to help me, although nothing seems to be getting resolved!

I have emailed equifax and experian to see if they can help!

[locutus]

Have you seen this here

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

basically after several phone calls talkingt o many people all trying to do their best to help, and even a letter pleading with them to remove the defaults they all said no.

 

Hi jamiemcarthur,

 

Can I ask if you sent your letter to this address?

 

Complaint Review Service

PO Box 116

Leeds

LS11 5DS

 

If not, it's maybe worth a try. I know that you've mentioned that they'd refer your case to their legal team but did their reply confirm that this was the outcome of their review?

 

While the situation currently remains the same there are a still some options open to you.

 

You could add a Notice of Correction to your credit file with the Credit Reference Agencies which is basically your opportunity to explain how the default occurred and why you feel that entry is incorrect.

 

Additionally, you may wish to contact The Information Commissioner's Office to see if they're able to review matters for you.

 

All the best.

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[jamiemcarthur]

right well quick update the wife had her default removed by tmobile completely removed with a thank you letter etc.

 

i got a letter back saying that they are sorry to hear about my problems. they can not remove the default because they are legally obliged to report accurate payment information of all customers to the credit bureaus, by asking to remove any information we would be fraudently reporting your information

 

now the letter is badly written and is signed by someone then pp.'ed by someone else.

 

can i write a letter back going for a different angle, as its really anoying how tmobile would do it for my wife but carphone arseholes wont do it for me.

 

they never spoke to me about the account being unpaid, no letters or phone calls like they state, and becuse its so long ago now, they tell me they dont even have the telephone records to check who it was they spoke to...

[jamiemcarthur]

Hi jamiemcarthur,

 

Can I ask if you sent your letter to this address?

 

Complaint Review Service

PO Box 116

Leeds

LS11 5DS

 

If not, it's maybe worth a try. I know that you've mentioned that they'd refer your case to their legal team but did their reply confirm that this was the outcome of their review?

 

While the situation currently remains the same there are a still some options open to you.

 

You could add a Notice of Correction to your credit file with the Credit Reference Agencies which is basically your opportunity to explain how the default occurred and why you feel that entry is incorrect.

 

Additionally, you may wish to contact The Information Commissioner's Office to see if they're able to review matters for you.

 

All the best.

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

 

 

hi lee no i sent my letter to the carphone warehouse complaints department.

[jamiemcarthur]

called ICO they couldnt help so on the phone to consumer direct to see if they can help at all. but looks like because it was in my name even thought it was her phone and her bank account etc im responsible for it.

The woman at consumer direct has told me to call or write to the three credit bobies and ask to be disasociated from that account.

[jamiemcarthur]

right that didnt work either, they were not interested, and just told me that if it was in my name im the one to get shafted even if i never knew about it. so the only thing i can think of doing is to put a note on my credit file against it saying that it was a debt run up by a previous partner that i was not aware of. or soemthing like that

[luciefoxx]

I ahve just received this reply from Experian who could not help me:

 

Further to our recent correspondence, I have been contacted by Carphone Warehouse regarding the account that defaulted on 08/06/05. They have confirmed that the details we hold are accurate and have requested that we retain the information on our database. Unfortunately I am unable to amend this information without the authorisation of the company in question.

The following Notice of Dispute will remain on this entry for 28 days. It will then be removed, unless I receive further notification from you:

"THE CONSUMER HAS DISPUTED THE ACCURACY OF THIS ENTRY AND WE HAVE THEREFORE ASKED THE PROVIDER TO INVESTIGATE IT. GIVEN THAT THIS DATA IS DISPUTED, PLEASE TAKE CARE IF MAKING AN ASSESSMENT OF ANY KIND THAT MAY INCLUDE THIS DATA."

If you have any further queries or wish to discuss this further, may I suggest you contact the company concerned direct at the following address:

Carphone Warehouse

1 Portal Way

North Acton

London

W3 6RS

Alternatively, you can call them on 0870 087 0168 quoting R081009. You may wish to explain that the account in question is archived.

Please be assured that should they send us any further instructions regarding this matter, we will act upon them accordingly.

Kind regards

Ami Toone

Senior Client Queries Administrator

Client Queries

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

hi lee no i sent my letter to the carphone warehouse complaints department.

 

Hi Jamie,

 

In addition to contacting the credit reference agencies to add a Notice of Correction to your file it may also be worth asking them to contact the Carphone Warehouse on your behalf asking to review this again.

 

While I can see you've already send various letters to them doing things this way will ensure that the query is handled by the department responsible for liaising with the credit reference agencies.

 

All the best.

 

I ahve just received this reply from Experian who could not help me:

 

Further to our recent correspondence, I have been contacted by Carphone Warehouse regarding the account that defaulted on 08/06/05. They have confirmed that the details we hold are accurate and have requested that we retain the information on our database. Unfortunately I am unable to amend this information without the authorisation of the company in question.

The following Notice of Dispute will remain on this entry for 28 days. It will then be removed, unless I receive further notification from you:

"THE CONSUMER HAS DISPUTED THE ACCURACY OF THIS ENTRY AND WE HAVE THEREFORE ASKED THE PROVIDER TO INVESTIGATE IT. GIVEN THAT THIS DATA IS DISPUTED, PLEASE TAKE CARE IF MAKING AN ASSESSMENT OF ANY KIND THAT MAY INCLUDE THIS DATA."

If you have any further queries or wish to discuss this further, may I suggest you contact the company concerned direct at the following address:

Carphone Warehouse

1 Portal Way

North Acton

London

W3 6RS

Alternatively, you can call them on 0870 087 0168 quoting R081009. You may wish to explain that the account in question is archived.

Please be assured that should they send us any further instructions regarding this matter, we will act upon them accordingly.

Kind regards

Ami Toone

Senior Client Queries Administrator

Client Queries

 

Hi Lucie,

 

As you feel that the information held is incorrect I would recommend getting in touch with the Carphone Warehouse as suggested to ask if they're able to review your case again.

 

Should the outcome remain the same that again you have the options of seeking further advice from the Information Commissioner and/or asking the credit reference agencies to add a Notice of Correction to your file.

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK