help. cash genie/carter forbes took all my money

[shhharon]

can anyone give advice?i've been struggling with debt and we are going bankrupt. i had put an arrangement in place with cash genie for £20 per month and they took my card details to process these payments.

 

i did this so no further action would be taken until i had a date for court and they were aware of my intentions to pay until i rang with a these details.last month they took an extra payment in error so i rang them on 02/12/11 to complain and they accepted the error and refunded the money.

 

they asked if i could make any other payment, which i said no, so they said i would have to ring in on the 12/12/11 to confirm i still wanted the arrangement and avoid them pursuing for the full amount. I rang them on the 12th to say i had a date set for january but no reference yet so would continue to pay £20 until then and i thought all was fine until today.

 

On checking my account i have had three unautorised amounts taken using my card details from my bank for £645.30, £59.70 and £12.00. On speaking to the bank they said that normal card payments would decline (due to me not having the amount in my account) however if they were continuous authority arranged payments, the bank has to honour them-regardless of the amount, and cash genie would be responsible for any refund.

 

On speaking to Ricky at cash genie today he said there was no record that a plan (or continuous autority arrangement) was in place or record of my call on the 12th, therefore the full amount was persude and the payments couldnt be refunded until they listened to the calls to prove otherwise.

 

i was asked if i had rang in on the 12th to confirm i wanted to arrangement to continue, as it had to be rolled over each month until i had details of my bankruptcy, which i explained i had, as i was in no place to make full payment and would have to pay the reduced amounts in the mean time.

 

I was told i would recieve a call back in the hour, which never happened, so i then rang carter forbes.i spoke to a lady at carter forbes to ask if they had record of the call on the 12th as i was unsure if i had rang them or cash genie about continuing the arrangement and she said they were still looking into the calls and assumed they would ring back but they had no record of me speaking to them either.

 

she confirmed the arrangement was set up from them but cash genie process the payments from my card and theres nothing they can do. As i could hear a male laughing in the background that sound exactly like Ricky i asked her if they were the same department in which she said they were part of the same group but cash genie deal with payments seperately. i said i would then call cash genie instead.

 

i then spoke to Luke at cash genie to chase up the calls. he said that as they has no record of the call the amount wouldnt be refunded and as i was going bankrupt they would refund it anyway now. I find this disgusting as i have always stated that i was going bankrupt (and have emails to prove this) and that i was only paying the £20 per month to prevent action in the mean time and try to help clear some debt as advised by the CAB Luke also said that the amounts were taken as i had failed an arrangement to pay £20 on 24/11/11 (of which they tried continuously process my card but it declined until they were successful a day later.

 

Its weird as if what the bank says is true, the payments today would have decline also as i didnt have that money in the account. so an arrangement and continous authority must have been in place or the bank wouldnt have honoured it? How is that failing to pay?

 

they werent even suppost to take money until the 28th of each month? i explained on the phone that it was funny how this contradicted me being in an arrangement for the £20 and not, but he said that didnt matter now i wouldnt be refunded anyway.

 

he said the last call they had record of was me saying i wasnt paying anymore money over the phone and i would call in on the 12th to confirm, which i did and which appears to be the missing call? at no point was i ever told they would just take money off my card for any amount they pleased and on any date they choose.

 

they say they senbt me a text and email which i never recieved. nor was anything sent by post?I have asked for transcripts of the calls under the freedom of information act of which i have been told i would be charged for so i refused.

 

They know i have 3 dependant children and this has not only left me with no money but they appear to be lying about my last call which they say is the reason they took the money!

 

I've emailed a letter of complaint to carter forbes and cash genie and i've told them i plan to take this to the financial obudsman and office of fair trading if i dont hear from them in response or if the matter hasnt been resolved. I've seen loads of similar posts about cash genie taking money so can anyone help?.any advise would be appreciated

Edited June 9, 2012 by citizenB
formatted for easier reading

[sillygirl1]

Go to the police and get a crime reference and then get the bank to reverse the payments taken. Tell the police you need the crime reference to get the bank to give you the money back quickly. The police may say it is a civil matter but the company have breached the agreement to take X amount on X date.

 

Do not wait to contact the OFT - http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk is the contact, Payday loan companies are hot news with them at the moment, Trading Standards is http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk

 

Get onto both organisations NOW, do NOT leave it until tomorrow.

 

I can't give any further help on this thread unless you complain properly to the proper people.

[shhharon]

thank you so much i'll do that straight away. The bank has agreed every other payment was processed x day for x amount and this seemed fishy, so they will reverse them anyway. i plan to inform the police aswell too, cheers

[ihateyes]

clearly CG want their doh, and know if you are declared bankrupt they will be low on the list. shocking.

[h3l3n810]

They are absolute **edit** . I'm surprised your bank refunded you the money as my bank wouldn't as I had made a payment to Cash Genie in the past so there was no proof I had not authorised the payment.

 

 

Anyone reading this - DO NOT EVER GIVE CASH GENIE OR CARTER FORBES (THEY ARE THE SAME COMPANY DO NOT SWALLOW THAT **edit** ) YOUR DEBIT DETAILS TO TAKE MONEY FOR A PAYMENT PLAN THEY WILL EMPTY YOUR ACCOUNT.

 

I borrowed £150 FROM Cash Genie, missed a payment and quickly escalated to owing £782 with interest and charges. Carter Forbes agreed to take a settlement figure of £300 when I got paid but I had to give them my card details over the phone when the arrangement was made to make a £20 token payment to hold the account until the 27th, which i stupidly did in good Faith.

 

Payday arrives and BAM they took £782 out of my account - I went BESERK! Called them and e-mailed them and again a telephone call they CLAIMED not to be able to find, they said I agree to pay on the 26th (I would never do that as my pay date is the 27th) and as the money wasn't in there I was liable to pay the whole lot and Cash Genie started automatic sweeps on the 27th for the full amount.

 

That left me completely broke for that month and I have a 8 year old son, absolutely no money for the whole month. Contacted OFT, Financial Ombudsman, got nowhere , complete waste of time!!!

 

Still livid to these day. And they no doubt sat there laughing while they did it! Should be prosecuted and closed down. DO NOT GIVE THEM DEBIT CARD DETAILS!!!!!

Edited June 9, 2012 by citizenB
formatted for easier reading