Amex & Newmans: Something Very Wrong Here

[Impey]

I'm helping out a friend who is at her wits' end and seems to be on the same Newmans/Amex going round in circles treadmill as others here.

 

So far so similar and I'm going through all the processes with her and playing it by the book.

 

Newman & Co seem to have a rather cavalier attitude to the OFT gidelines - they've ignored reasonable requests to pay by instalments,

demanded full repayment (which she hasn't got obviously) and threatened to send field agents around all of which seem to me to be fairly clear breaches.

 

A complaint to Amex simply said that they didn't believe that any of the actions breached the OFT guidelines so I'm helping her to go to the FOS with this.

 

However, a worrying new development is that Newman & Co appear to be making false statements to Amex in defence of their position.

 

In particular they have denied that my friend has ever sent them details of her income & expenditure - something that Amex has accepted as gospel.

 

Now I know this not to be the case as I spent a whole night going through her I&E with her and drafting the accompanying letter.

 

I also posted the damn thing for her (she has mental health issues which mean that going outside the front door is often a major effort) and they responded to the letter so I know it was posted and I know it was received!Amex's only comment on the matter was to say that "Newman & Co have confirmed that no financial statement was received".

 

This to me seems to move a little beyond breaching guidelines since on the face of it it appears that false statements are deliberately being made.

 

Any ideas as to how she should progress this?

[Impey]

Apologies for all that appearing in one paragraph - I didn't type it like that honest!

[dx100uk]

added blank lines in..........

 

where did you get this idea they are entitled to see ANY pers financial details from?

 

they ARE NOT, only a judge can demand that.

 

now tell us about his debts history please.

 

dx

[Impey]

Thanks for the blank lines!

 

Well I'm sort of doing a bit of a rescue job here

- she's had a rough time of late over the past few years.

 

She has split up with her other half, been made redundant and suffered from depression.

She owes various amounts on credit cards which she fell behind on and made the classic mistake of ignoring all correspondence.

I haven't got full details with me - it's all at her place and we don't exactly live close together

so I tend to catch up properly every few weeks when I visti the frozen north!

 

I'm well aware that they have no entitlement to see an I&E statement.

However, on the other cards the lenders have been sympathetic and based on the I&E sent have accepted the instalment arrangement which is fair and reasonable.

 

My problem is that (in retrospect naiively on my part) we presumed that because three other creditors saw sense maybe Amex/Newmans would as well.

 

There would be no problem if they accepted the instalment arrangement

(in fact she's putting away the amounts she would pay Amex if they'd play ball so as to get used to living on that amount each month).

 

There's lots of stuff about Newmans being agressive - but it seems that they may have crossed a line here.

[Impey]

Here's something. Amex have sent what they consider to be a CCA. It consisted of the application form plus terms and conditions. The application form is dated September 2000 when she took out the card. The terms & conditions are the standard ones - dated 2009!!

[maroondevo52]

Re claim all charges on the Credit Cards, there's bound to be a few.

[the_shadow]

Was the I&E you sent the one they requested, on their stationary or is this some elaborate play on words by amex/newmans here?

 

Personally if it was me I'd show Amex newmans mistake and advise them you hold them accountable for the actions of their pet DCA

[Impey]

Oh it gets better and better! She complained to Amex about the fact that Newmans didn't pass on the CCA request. This - I kid you not - is a direct quote from Amex's response to the complaint:

 

....your request for a CCA should have been made directly through us. Newman & Co are not legally obliged to forward such a request though out of courtesy I would have expected them to do so.

 

So there you have it - "never mind the law it doesn't apply to us!"

[Impey]

Just to clarify the above - she did a CCA request to Newmans in early April. After they failed to respond she got a statement from Amex showing the £1 fee had been credited to her account - despite the usual "this is not to be applied to my account" clause in the letter.

 

She complained to Amex who sent the agreement - which looks enforceable - and the above response to the fact that Newmans had failed to pass on the CCA request and misapplied her £1.

[Impey]

Just a bit of an update on this after a few months!

 

Following the complaint to the FOS Amex apologised for the lack of assistance given to my friend and have paid compensation for the distress called.

 

My friend is now working once more. Amex passed the details on to RMA - who were told that FOS were dealing with things and things were on hold pending their review.

RMA sent out two standard letters (ignoring my friend's response) then gave up.

 

Amex now seem to have passed on the details to another agency (I've not seen the correspondence and she couldn't remember which one when I spoke to her earlier)

 

They somehow found out where she was working and emailed a central email address at her employers asking that she contact them as soon as possible.

A bit flustered at receiving the forwarded email she called them (yes I know).

 

However she's a strong cookie now - she wouldn't do the security thing and told them the call was a courtesy call to advise them that she would not deal with this

by any other method than by post.

 

I believe that the latest OFT guidelines prohibit emailing someone's employer - so once we've checked it out another formal complaint will go in.

If they keep having to compensate her for breaching guidelines this way they'll end up owing her!

[dx100uk]

def not allowed to make any contact with works

 

dx

[the_shadow]

Yep, keep the complaints coming... vile company with no personal touch at all.. seems the norm with most of the yank card companies and their poodles tbh