The dreaded J D Williams - Simply Be

[jch123]

By following the information on this site, I have recently sent an SAR to JD Williams. As they have done with ither people, they have sent me a "fill out this form and give me £10 for each account you have with us" which I know they cant do (fpr each account anyway!).

 

I also contacted the Financial Ombudsman about them, as I have asked for an SAR before, and got no response.

 

I have just had a letter from JD Williams stating the following.

 

This is a personal credit account opened with Simply Be which you opened on 6th April 2002, and you placed your last order on 26th September 2008.

 

on 26th January 2009, in an effort to assist you through your financial difficulties, we agreed to set your account on a reduced repayment agreement with the suspension of all future charges provided that your payments were received by the due date on your statements at the rate of £20.00 every 28 days.

 

However, following a missed payment in July 2010, your repayment arrangement was broken and your account was returned to normal trading terms.

 

On the 4th August 2010, following the receipt of an offer from your authorised representative (Debt Management Co) we agreed to reset your repayment arrangement at the further reduced rate of £8.86 every 28 days.

 

bla bla bla bla bla

 

In your complaint, you have disputed the £12 administration charges which have been applied to your account. Our records show of a possible 106 payments towards your account to date we have only received 68 from you and as the result of numerous missed payments administration charges have been applied to your account.

 

bla bla bla bla bla

 

Further to your complaint........On checking our records I do note that we have previously applied 2 x £99.99 arrangement fees to your accounton 26th January 2009 and 4th August 2010.

 

This arrangement fee applies to all accounts when an arrangement fee for reduced payments sis agreed and is charged at 10% of the outstanding balance (to a maximum of £99.99) to cover the administrative costs of setting up and maintaining a special arrangement for reduced payments with the suppression of future credit charges.

 

However, I can confirm that in an effort to resolve this matter amicably and as a gesture of goodwill I am prepared to remove the 2 x £99.99 arrangement fees from your account. the outstanding balance on your account following the removal of these charges will be £811.36.

 

blablabla

 

Please sign and return the attached form if you are fully satisfied with this result.

 

Yours Sincerely.

 

 

 

 

 

Advice please?!

Edited February 7, 2012 by jch123

[jch123]

Did they charge you a fee to come to a payment agreement with them? I think I have had exactly the same problem as you, but am a bit further down the line.

My problem was with Simply Be. They charged me £99.99 to effectively 'close' my account, and have just a bill with them. This was all discussed over the phone with the company. At the time, I had a slipped disc in my spine, was off work and waiting for an operation. I could not deal with arguing with them.

 

They then charged me the same amount when I went into a Debt Management Plan in 2010. They at no point informed me of this.

 

Last year I sent them a letter asking for cancellation of these charges, and informing of them of my financial situation. I received no response. Last month I sent an SAR to Simply Be, and also a letter to the financial Ombudsman (being that they didnt respond to my previous letter and I didnt think they would reply to this one) I actually got a response from them asking for £10 for each account I wanted info from.

 

I have this morning received a letter saying that they will refund the £99.99 charges (x 2) but asking that I sign a letter saying that I accept this, and that I will take no further action.

 

To me, this means that they know that a large proportion of my account is made of charges, and, I am thinking of chasing them further for this.

 

My advice to ANYONE is to try to sort things such as this out ASAP. It may have prevented me from needing to go into a Debt Management Plan.

[jch123]

I am thinking that the best thing to do is send back the SAR and find out the actual charges before proceeding and signing?

[ims21]

Erm

 

They haven't complied with the SAR then? you didn't receive personal data just a letter?

 

ims

[jch123]

No, they sent a letter back saying they wanted a tenner for the info

[silverfox1961]

Hi

Confused!

Are you saying you didn't send any money whatsoever?

[ims21]

Hi

Confused!

Are you saying you didn't send any money whatsoever?

 

Me confused also....with a SAR you should have sent £10.

 

And forget what they say....it is £10 per SAR not per account

[jch123]

No, I tried it without the money, since they didnt reply to my letter last year. i thought my letter and my money would get lost somewhere like last time, but they did actually respond this time!

[ims21]

Well I admire your spirit in trying to get a SAR without the fee. However it is no surprise you didn't get what you want.

 

Did you not take up the previous failed SAR with them when you did send the payment?

 

The only way to get the data you want from a SAR is via a properly written request and enclosure of the £10 fee, sending it recorded so you can track receipt. Then you have grounds for complaints to ICO and issuing in court for failure to comply if the do not send you your data.

 

ims