Advantage Finance - HP Car failed after 1yrs - still paying - HELP

[dx100uk]

as for the charges.......

 

they are an unlawful PENALTY charge

 

and do not meet the FSA rules /guidelines & should be refunded

 

the do not reflect the true cost of the relevent 'admin' action.

 

where they are or are not in their T&C makes no odds,

 

that does not give any creditor permission to levy unlawful PENALTY charges which do no reflect true costs.

 

dx

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For me it was a legnthy read that didnt provide me with anything..

 

what's the next step?

I cant contest the charges any further with the company as there statement is a basicly shut up and accept it, and the MBI & GAP I really dont know, what to say or do.

I cant go back to the palce I bought the car from as its now a Hand Car Wash!!

[dx100uk]

don give up, write back on both issues

 

keep it short and simple basically what i have written

 

dx

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So:

 

Thank you for your letters recieved 18/06/2012, your comments have been noted.

 

Following on I have further points to these:MBI & GAP:

 

1) All documentation was sent to the Show Room, not my home address of which I was contacted to attend and sign

this did not provide myself with adequate time as the sales advisor stated that there was a time frame to get all documentation back to yourselves to approve the finance,

if I did not sign the finance offer would not be granted and I would loose my deposit

- Please provide proof (inc postage if you disagree.)

 

2) No representative from Advantage was present when documents were signed.

 

Charges on the account:

 

3) From my understanding you are stating that your Terms and conditions override any descion made by the FSA, is this correct?

 

4) You state a Tracing Agent was used despite you regularly making contact with myself at my address.

 

5) Please provide the details of the company you used to initiate the trace and evidence of fee incurred,

if you feel my request is inadequate please state so, and I will proceed in an appliction for Subject Access Request of my details of all information you hold on myself.

 

6) You state that you do not charge for Credit Refrence Agency searches, please explain as to why my file was searched by Advantange the same dates as the £100 charges.

 

7) As indicated before the Charges are an unlawful PENALTY charge and do not meet the FSA rules /guidelines

& therefore should be refunded as they do not reflect the true cost of the relevent 'admin' action and that where they are or are not in their T&C makes no odds,

as this does not give any creditor permission to levy unlawful PENALTY charges which do no reflect true costs.

 

8) You state that the letter recieved is the final response in dealing with my query regarding the charges,

please confirm that this is still the case so I can make further submission of my complaint ot the relevant governing bodies.

 

Hows that???

[dx100uk]

nice

 

dx

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Yet to send my reply (the above post) as been away.

 

I returned on the 28th and received a phone call (from the guy named in the attached letter) telling me that my agreed payment of £20 has not been made..

 

I proceeded to tell them that I was not making a further payment until the issues on the account was resolved

and that everything is to be done in writing,

he asked me what my issues was as they have responded and feel that the matter is now satisfied !!..

 

Well today I recieved the attached.

 

I'm not happy with this as it makes me feel like they think I am stupid (even though there grammer is poor!) with the line

"if your not satisfied that you respond accordingly"

 

but in the next line "any response should not restate and issues that we have already issued"

 

its like hes saying yeah feel free to respond but please dont bring up anything we've already discussed like the account in general

 

- does he want me to write and discuss the weather??

 

- that being said doesnt it contradict the previous response with them saying that the matter is now closed?

I'm so confused on this, do I just send what I was going to send them originally or add something else.

 

Oh and before I forget, it was this guy that has called previously and then a search of my credit file is done and charges applied.[ATTACH=CONFIG]36470[/ATTACH]

[thepinguinator]

i dont know whether or not this is of use to you

 

but i had a simillar problem about 12 yrs ago with waggon finnance ....

 

i bought a car on hp with a rac warranty breakdown cover.

 

after about 2 wks car broke down needed new alternator which got fixed under warranty no probs

 

.then about another month the water pump went which again warranty paid for.

. after having veichle for about 9mths the car develobed a problem

 

they call black death were in tod the head gasket went and all my piston rings were knackered etc ..

 

,i got a quote to sort it all out which was about 1200 pounds which i didnt have .

 

.at the time i was self employed and used my veichle for work so hence wasnt working so couldnt afford the payments..

 

the warranty was refusing to pay out on an exclusion of wear and tear ...

 

they then asked for me to pay half at 600 pounds to get a reconditioned engine put in

 

..my aggument was that would totally de value the car as well as i still owed over 3000 grand on the veichle

and i wasnt expecting to have this on a veichle which was supposedly inspected by the rac

and also the finnance company that the veichle was fit for purposeoo...

 

so i had stopped paying the finance and about 4mths later they come to reposses it

 

.i said ther you go its there on the drive but youy will need a tow truck as it is knackered

...so they went about two days later i got a phone call to meet at waggon finances office.

 

at the meeting i had exsplained what had happend to said veichle and the warranty wasnt worth the paper it was printed on and the veichle was not fit for purpose.

 

so instead of going through the courts and all the expense

i gave the car back and all the remaining balance on the hp and the fees etc were all wiped

as though i never had the veichle.

 

although i jhad lost out on 5 payments of 139 pounds it was a great weight and headache lifted..hope this may help u of some sort ..

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i dont know wether or not this is of use to you but i had a simillar problem about 12 yrs ago with waggon finnance .... i bought a car on hp witha rac warranty breakdown cover.after about 2 wks car broke down neded new alternator which got fixed under warranty no probs .then about another mth then water pump went which again warranty paid for.. after having veichle for about 9mths the car develobed a problem they call black death were in tod the head gasket went and all my piston rings were knackered etc ..,i got a quote to sort it all out which was about 1200 pounds which i didnt have ..at the time i was self employed and used my veichle for work so hence wasnt working so couldnt afford the payments.. the warranty was refusing to pay out on an exclusion of wear and tear ... they then asked for me to pay half at 600 pounds to get a reconditioned engine put in ..my aggument was that would totally de value the car as well as i still owed over 3000 grand on the veichle and i wasnt expecting to have this on a veichle which was supposedly inspected by the rac and also the finnance company that the veichle was fit for purposeoo... so i had stopped paying the finance and about 4mths later they come to reposses it .i said ther you go its there on the drive but youy will need a tow truck as it is knackered ...so they went about two days later i got a phone call to meet at waggon finances office. at the meeting i had exsplained what had happend to said veichle and the warranty wasnt worth the paper it was printed on and the veichle was not fit for purpose. so instead of going through the courts and all the expense i gave the car back and all the remaining balance on the hp and the fees etc were all wiped as though i never had the veichle.although i jhad lost out on 5 payments of 139 pounds it was a great weight and headache lifted..hope this may help u of some sort ..

Cool, unfortunately I dont have the car - they gave me permission to scrap it, so i did

[dx100uk]

Yet to send my reply (the above post) as been away.

 

I returned on the 28th and received a phone call (from the guy named in the attached letter) telling me that my agreed payment of £20 has not been made..

 

I proceeded to tell them that I was not making a further payment until the issues on the account was resolved

and that everything is to be done in writing,

he asked me what my issues was as they have responded and feel that the matter is now satisfied !!..

 

Well today I recieved the attached.

 

I'm not happy with this as it makes me feel like they think I am stupid (even though there grammer is poor!) with the line

"if your not satisfied that you respond accordingly"

 

but in the next line "any response should not restate and issues that we have already issued"

 

its like hes saying yeah feel free to respond but please dont bring up anything we've already discussed like the account in general

 

- does he want me to write and discuss the weather??

 

- that being said doesnt it contradict the previous response with them saying that the matter is now closed?

I'm so confused on this, do I just send what I was going to send them originally or add something else.

Oh and before I forget, it was this guy that has called previously and then a search of my credit file is done and charges applied.[ATTACH=CONFIG]36470[/ATTACH]

 

yes!

 

dx

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]36727[/ATTACH]

Hi all,

 

I've recieved two letters from Advantage regarding my letter sent in post #79.

 

Ive only just noticed that the MBI complaint is being handled by Complience but the query about charges is being delt with by an account manager. Surely that can not be right.

 

Oh and this is the guy that I set up all the arrangements with when I went out of work.

 

I like his comment pointing out that I must of been at work due to me returning at 5:30... I was on a sodding course, am I not alowed to tell my mother what time I will be back for. For all he could of known that was a time I had arranged for an appointment or to be picked up.. pathetic.

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Phone all just recieved from Advatage.

They are trying to get me to pay the £20's that I havent paid to bring everything uptodate and also pay this months £20 aswell. Pointed out that I still have a dispute with them to which they have said all disputes have now been resolved! ((They really dont allowyou time to read the documentation they send do they)

[Bazooka Boo]

Why are you talking to them on the phone? Are you recording your calls?

 

Whatever they want to say can be committed in writing otherwise all they are spouting are lies.

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Luckly i have got a litte App on my phone that I can record..

On this occasion they rang from a witheld number, normally Its one of the ones stored in my phone so i dont answer..

 

Seeing as they've put their "final response" what much more can i do?

[Bazooka Boo]

Thats a complaint in itself, ringing from a withheld number, and then you went through their security! Are you 100% sure it was them?

 

FSA next then, if these have run out of things to say.

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Hi all.

Really sorry I havent been on had another stints in and out of hospital

BUT the good news is Im now finally on the mend & will be looking to go back to employment soon!!!!

 

I have yet to send anything to the FSA due to the stints in hospital.

 

I've had a few emails from Advantage about giving them updates etc..

 

Last one I received they were prepared to refund ALL charged (but not MBI&GAP)

if I upped the payments (that I havent made for a while) from £20 to £100

 

told them it wasnt possible and I am going to take my complaint further

- the chap asked what did I want to achieve from it and I said as per origanl complaint the removal of all charges and MBI/GAP.... no further response.

 

reason for my post,

I was just looking over the HP Agreement again - and I just want to check something out as I think there is a mistake (does a mistake Void the agreement?)

 

From the details in post #19

 

(http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?329067-Advantage-Finance-HP-Car-failed-after-1yrs-still-paying-HELP&p=3635188&viewfull=1#post3635188)

 

it shows the HP Agreement details.

 

Now under the agreement of goods part it states:

"Amount of Credit (A-D) £2825.00 (E)"

 

"(A)" is Total Cash Price of the Car which is £2895.00 less "(D)" is the Advance cash payment of £70.

Then it states: Total Amount Payable (D+E+I) £5646.20

 

"(D)" the Advance cash payment of £70 plus "(E)" the Amount of Credit £2825.00 plus "(I)" the Charge for Credit £2751.20

 

 

The point I am trying to get at is that surely

"Total Amount Payable" should be £5576.20

as they are adding back on the Advance Payment (Deposit was to the Garage not to Advantage) of £70 "(D)" ?

 

Also as it was a Vehicle Purchase should the value of VAT have been declared?

[dx100uk]

check the T&C's

 

dx

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The Option Fee is for me to purchase the Car once the HP Agreement ended. (sorry for delay I requested everything from them and it arrived today)

 

Now they told me I could scrap the car so is the Option Fee still Valid.

 

I'm completing the FSO Complaint form today. Looking at the form it seems to just ask me what am I complaining about (MBI/GAP & Charges) and what I want them to do about it (remove all) is that just it or do I need to basically write out what I've mentioned on here (miss sold by guy in the dealership etc) and include charges & interest.

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Update:

Over the weekend a one of the Royal Mail "Our sincere appologies " transparent bags ended up coming through my door.

Inside was a tore open envelope (with my "if goes missing return to" sticker on the back) and torn parts of the FSO complaint form - none of the supporting doc's had made it through. Its only took about 3-4 weeks to get back to me!

 

I promptly emailed Advantage the following:

Darren,

 

Sorry I have not been in contact since my last message.

Today I received a damaged letter, which turned out to be the remains of my FOS form less the documents I had included.

 

Therefore could you please provide me with a sort code and account number to pay £20 into on Friday (also include the reference number you wish me to use), whilst I collate all docs again for submission.

 

Regards

 

This afternoon I received the following:

 

Please can you contact Darren at Advantage Finance on 01472 586341 regarding the account that you hold with us reference number situated above.

 

Although we can appreciate the previous difficulties that you have had on the account there is still a remaining balance that we would need to discuss. WE WILL BE MORE THEN HAPPY TO DISCUSS ANY OFFER MADE but need you to contact us on 01472 586341 as soon as this email has been received.

 

Kind regards

 

Darren Young

Specialist Collection Manager, Advantage Finance Ltd

 

yes the email had the bold and underlined as per this post.

 

my reply is as follows:

 

Darren,

 

I hope you would appreciate that I would like everything in writing hence my email to you yesterday.

 

I would like to pay £20 on Friday as indicated in yesterdays email, but I am not prepared to pay or set up an arrangement via debit card, hence my request for an account number / sort code and also reference number relating to my account.

 

Regards

 

The guy knows everything in writing as he's mentioned it before.. Im concerned as to why he wont accept the token payment (same as what I was paying before).

 

Seeing as they previously have said they would scrap and repay all the charges on the account if I paid £100 a month would this go in my favour with the FSO, I've also been contacted today out the blue about reclaiming the GAP and MBI on the car, the company even quoted the Licence plate number!!

[dx100uk]

so they've done some investigating on the gap etc me thinks.

 

i'd stick by your guns

 

you are NOT prepared to discuss any matters via the phone.

 

you are under strict instructions following advice given by the FOS regarding this account

and your complaint to them regarding reclaiming.

 

it interests me that they appear to be offering a 'discount'

 

they know they are on dodgy ground here

and want to spoof you into paying more [or anything at all] on theloan

by threats on the phone.

 

stand your ground

 

everything in writing ONLY.

 

dx

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Thanks for your reply.

I'm looking through the doc's I have here and I'm sure I am missing some, may have sent the originals that got lost..

 

Is a SAR out of the question if I cant find the info?

[dx100uk]

you can SAR at anytime.

 

dx

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[ATTACH]38830[/ATTACH]

 

I'm getting confused with this company now - as to are they actually reading emails?

 

Following on from original email to them I received a reply from "Darren Young" and again I promptly replied to him again..

 

Thank you for the email recieved yesterday, I have no issue with providing confirmation of arrangements in writing for you and will do so on request.

 

I have held the account for you to contact us on Friday and make a payment of £20 as advised, I would however like to clarify the arrangement you are offering and ask if this is going to be a payment made weekly.

 

Kind regards

Darren Young

Specialist Collection Manager, Advantage Finance Ltd

 

My Reply

Darren,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

 

The payment I would like to make of the £20 is a token payment, due to the time frame that has elapsed through the damaged communication that was for the FSO.

As I have no idea on how the FSO prioritises their work loads I thought it be best to make this payment.

 

Can you please provide me with the Bank Account number, sort code and also what reference I should make on the payment. I would like to make this payment by standing order. Alternatively if you could forward a paying in/giro slip that would be appreciated.

 

I do not wish to make any card or direct debit payments on the account at this stage.

That was sent at 11am this morning and no reply with there account details to make the payment tomorrow.

 

Then through the post came the following letter dated the 16th October a day after my original email to Darren Young at advantage..

 

They are still stating that they will remove all charges IF a suitable repayment plan is adhered to... Dont they understand I want the charges removed first, followed by the GAP/MBI?..

 

Also when they eventuallyrefund the charges and removed the GAP/MBI I would have paid more than half of the HP, were do I stand on terminating the agreement as I can not return the car as Advantage gave permission to scrap their vehicle?

[dx100uk]

TBH i bet the charges/GAp/MBI far outweigh what you owe with their int on top

 

plus if this wee me. i's enjoy a day in court

listening to them trying to justify why they made you pay

 

dx

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Had a lovely statement of account through the post today.

It reads:

20/10/2011 Brought Forward: £5,556.70

01/10/2012 Balance: £5,574.20

 

Thats a total of £304.50 charges, £147.00 of charges repayments and £140 Payments (agreed £20mth till I stopped 30th April)

A mighty sum of £17.50 ADDED to the total!!

 

Additional Info....

 

Just checked my Experian report, under Advantage finance it has balance updated to 21/10/2012 £5,107!!! the last 6 are £5,107 then £5,127 adding £20 upto £5227.

 

That cant be right can it???

Edited October 25, 2012 by ads_uk

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They finally provided me with there bank details last week and on Friday 2/11/2012 I made a toke payment of £20.00 by direct payment via my online services (which credited there account instantly)

Then today I have received an Email from Advantage:

Darren Young

14:27 (3 hours ago)

 

Good Morning XXXXXXX;

 

Thank you for the payment that has been received yesterday for £25.00.

 

I have discussed your account with my manager and am able to offer to remove all the charges on the account should you be able to maintain a payment of £25.00 pw ongoing.

 

If you have any questions then please contact me on 01472 586341 and I will be more then happy to help.

 

Kind regards

 

Darren Young

Specialist Collection Manager, Advantage Finance Ltd

 

First of all I did'nt make a £25 payment yesterday!

Secondly I have never agreed to £25 a week - that's impossible for me, they know my circumstances and I have told them on a number of occasions.

 

Its really getting to me that they dont appear to be listening or paying attention.

 

I'm at my whits end as I really dont know what to do anymore.