MBNA harrassment. Please help

[tote alley stressed]

I'm at my wits end with MBNA and I feel I'm in a no way out situation. Contacted CCCs end of September and they worked out pro rata payments for all my creditors - the majority have accepted - not MBNA nor do they intend to. They set the goals and you pay the price. I've spoken to hundreds of people. Debt management dpt asked me what options had I left in dealing with my debt, I replied did she want me to kill myself? she replied smugly "is that an option". I've been humiliated, patronised, remonstrated for spending money, laughed at, advised to cut my heating bills in half, place my pets out with family, ask my family for money - I've never felt so low. and then theres GVI - they can't ask for who they want, the calls are frequent through the dat x7. My husband is called at work and the matter is discussed with whoever answers the phone. MBNA gave me their word ???????? my number would be recalled and yesterday after several calls I wasd told by a charming young man that once I cleared my arrears and got back on track the phone calls would stop. Isn't that blackmail and oh by the way you need to be paying an extra £30 a month ( they are already getting 60) before we consider stopping charges. All the while he was laughing at my distress.

Sorry this is so long but my kids are at school and I've got 5 minutes. Please please give me some advice and help me restore some self respect

[Tristesse]

This is awful and I've posted a thread about harassment from MBNA in another part of this forum in which I was advised very helpfully to inform them in writing that they are breaking the law.

Put this to them:

'As I am sure you are aware Harassment of debtors is a criminal offence in England and Wales under section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

Furthermore, continued telephone calls after the receipt of a request not to call may constitute a criminal offence under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003

In addition every individual has a right to be free from harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.'

 

Demand that all communication from here on in is throught letter and if after they receive the letter they phone again call the police.

Furthermore this is very clear harassment and I would contact trading standards imediately.

[bottomburp]

deleted

[Dotty111]

I also know how bad they are. I had the same problem with them constant telephone calls by obnoxious staff at work at home 5/6 times per day one my mobile they were even sending me text messages along the lines of "hi we haven't spoken/got together for a while call me". Abouth 2 weeks ago I couldn't stand it any longer so I sent the harassment letter in the templates. lo and behold I havent had a call since not one. I thought that this was a coincidence and they had just given up on me because I kept puttin the phone down and not even speaking to them. But about 3 days ago I received a letter from MBNA customer relations department acknowledging my letter apologising promising to investigate and will get back to me within 5 days. They may be getting so many complaints that they now think they should do something about it I dont know but at least my calls have stopped.

 

I really understand what u are going through but trynot to let them get u down I spent many an hour crying over this but now realise it isnt worth it it is worth sending the letter to them send it recorded delivery. Difficult as it is try to keep your chin up they are monsters. I will let you know what they say when (if) they respond

[tote alley stressed]

Thanks for all your support xxxx

[miss muppet]

So sorry to hear about this tote alley stressed. I too went through this about a year ago and got just as stressed as you are now, I even took to calling them crooks but then I heard about the harrassment laws and just read the information out to them on the phone - I also asked them for their names and said that I was making a note of the times they called and at what time etc. At the time I had also gone after them for the penalties so I also said that the account was in dispute, even though I owed them money I put a case in on MCOL and even though they entered a defence they then rolled over and I am now on a payment plan with them having sent in my CCCS budget over 4 years no interest. They are also extremely inefficient, even after this agreement was reached I was still being contacted so eventually I emailed the person I had made the agreement with Stuart Johnson Customer Advocate Manager and no further troubles and proper statements showing the amounts paid. Don't get upset, get angry! Its difficult but try to stay calm if they ring and inform them that you are not interested in their opinion of you. You can also just take the 'phone of the hook and walk away and then replace when you are ready! We are all here for you so you don't need to face this on your own.

[Guest Battleaxe]

tote alley stressed,

 

I wrote to them with the template letter, got a police complaints number, that took a bit doing as the police say it is a civil matter, i reported it to the Information Commissioner and to the OFT. I got a letter today telling me that phone number has been removed from their system for a month and after that will start ringing me again, stupid people to put that in writing.

 

I rang them reminded them that had breached the 40 day compliance and that i had spoken to the Court this morning about them. they know I am filing on 10am 1 December for the non-comliance. If you read my thread Battleaxe does MBNA and New Tactics by MBNA I can't wait to see what happens now I have put the pressure on them. they wanted someone from their comliance area to ohone me and talk to me, Hah, what a change, I said no way, if the paper work isn't here by 30th, too bad too sad and we asked for the credit agreement between us and MBNA. There isn't one. A & L sold the credit card to MBNA without our knowledge, so this could get interesting.

MBNA hatre debt management plans, but if 75% of your creditors have accepted I don;t think they can refuse. I could be wrong here.

 

Have you started you claim to get back your charges? If you haven't start now.

 

MBNA are callous and are the worst to deal with.

 

Once you start action you have the upper hand.

 

Report them immediately to OFT in Chester, you can do this online also.

 

here you go email your complaint to [email protected]

or [email protected]

 

Hope this helps you.

 

Soft hugs

[Sev]

Tote,

 

I totally understand where you're at with this.

 

Can I suggest a few things on top of what has already been mentioned:

 

When they do call do the following:

 

1) Always ask for a LOGIN ID. This will allow you to bring an individual to account.

 

2) IF they call you on your mobile, try and record the conversation. Most sony ericsson and the nokia 6230i are cpable of recording up to an hour of conversation. This can then be archived and transcripted at your convenience.

 

when I wrote my final letter to MBNA I actually sent a transcript of the last message left by them

 

3) Try to use a skype phone - you can but a skypeln telephone number for 30 euro a year - it means that all calls come into the skype service and the bonus once again is that you can record messages and conversations. All evidence. Skype itself is free to use and download. Skype - The whole world can talk for free.

 

4) Global Vantedge are merciless and relentless with their harrassment - perhaps it may be advantageous to tell them next time that you have a new telephone number for work - and give them either Michael Rhodes' personal line or that of the advocates office, or anyone from the head honcho thread. Lets see how the MD or his PA likes three calls a day.

 

Buy or borrow a pay as you go sim - call both MBNA and any debt collection agencies on this sim - They will have this number flash on their screens. Ask them what mobile number they have for you, and tell them that said number is no longer yours. them that this is your new mobile number - and the first point of contact. once they have this, it's up to you whether you just throw it in the bin.

 

I went through all that you've gone through. Be strong - and if you need any advice or support just post or PM. I loath this lot so much. I only wish the population knew what they were like without finding out the hard way. If I could find a way of changing that, I would.

[therafalution]

I spoke to payplan when i first got into serious debt and they told me that mbna were the worst to deal with as their call centre staff operate on a commission basis. I have dealt with their debt management people and found one person to be quite argumentative. My wife has very high travelling expenses to get to work and i was told that they could on;y take into account £170 for travelling. When i told her i would pass it onto my wife i was accused of being sarcastic. I asked her where she got her information from she just told me it was govt regs. She could not give me a proper answer. After a bit of a shouting match i managed to get a deal which suited me. I then got a letter from them telling me i had ignored attempts by them to get i touch with me, they also included a balance. I got in touch and everything in the letter was incorrect and they apologised straight away. Then yesterday i got another call asking me how i was and how my job search was going (i am currently unemployed). You need to be strong and stick to your guns. They know what they can do and they will try to bully you. If you have a joint account they will speak to the person who they have the best chance of intimidating. Good luck and be strong

[jumpjet]

Hello everyone,

 

Just started to read the threads on MBNA now that HSBC is going to court.

 

Up until 2 weeks ago I to was having problems with Mbna. the last straw came for me when they wrote to me threatening court action etc., because I have not responded to thier letters. I have previously asked them to contact me only by letter. The reason for the court action.....................they have not been able to contact me as they had been informed that I had moved. I wrote to them following the advice of this site and also demanded to know who had told them. I also used it as an excuse to tell them that I would be claiming charges and that if they did,nt give me an assurance that the person concerned had been remremanded I would get the information via the DPA. aslo asked them to prove that I owed all the money they claimed as a substatial amount was made up of unlawful charges.

 

My reply was that thier charges were correct and enclosed a list of transactions to prove.....................Saved a tenner! also after all the phone calls from them and GVI etc (usually suggesting that I should borrow a debit card to make a payment over the phone " NOW! to prevent further action") they informed me that "without Prjudice and as a token of goodwill" they have taken £300 off my balance.......accepted the payments as per our DMP. and suspended all interest for the duration or until circumstances change............ But deny any wrong doing.

 

I have replied to thank them for thier offer of goodwill and accept it as such. and reminded them that they still owe me the full amount of charges. Given them 14 days to respond, still demanding to know what they've done about the false claim that I've moved. And to treat the letter as an LBA.

[Guest Battleaxe]

I got another letter off MBNA yesterday, now they are harassing and threatening in letters, the idiots tried to collect £181 by the cancelled Direct Debit. got snotty with me and added another £25.00 in charges and state that they are going to do continue to try to collect the £131 by DD and each time, if it is not paid they are adding another £25.00 well I thought about this and decied to report it to the Crown prosecution Dervice directly seeing all the regulatory authorities are taking their own sweet time over this.

 

THE CPS have a setrvice where you email caomplaints, so this is exactly what I did and used the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, because this is eactly what MBNA are doing, harassment and duress.

 

Considering they know the Direct Debit is cancelled and have acknowledged this fact. they are trying to force me to reveal my new bank account and set a DD up on it. Yeah right..I am one tough old bird and these idiots think they are smart.

 

I have offered to pay manually, but they wont accept this and want to pay by DD or ring them and pay by debit card, once you do that they have all the details again to set up a DD. Surely this is unlawful.

 

I don't care what the terms and conditions say. i amnot setting up another Direct debit and let them have carte blanche at my bank account. They wont accept a standing order either. They want to control it all the way.

 

I worked it out, they would try to collect over £206 the next time, because they add the £25 to the balance each time and try to collect the lot in one go. i would never give permission for that to be done.

 

MBNA if you are reading this, take note, you and I will have date in court before much longer and let a Judge decided what happens

[davey77]

Been writing on and off for a month or more since first informing MBNA of my financial difficulties and after reading about them here understand why i am getting automated replies and little personal feedback. It's because they are stinking swines! I constanly inform them i will not discuss my debts over the phone but they ring 4-6 times a day. The latest letter ready to be sent off is:

 

"Dear Sir/Madam

 

Thank you for the letter of the 1st Dec re the arrears on the above accounts.

 

Reading your letter is somewhat perplexing though as you seem to be under the impression i have simply made the ‘decision’ not to keep up payments and am refusing help which is wholeheartedly mistaken.

 

You are aware of the letter sent to you 2nd Nov stating my financial difficulties and asking for a payment plan, freezing of interest/charges and assistance.

 

The reply being to inform me of the restrictions placed on the above accounts and asking for all cards to be cut up and returned. I replied and as requested returned the above cards and also sent an incoming/outgoing statement (along with a cheque for £10) to which end i am awaiting an appropriate response.

 

To date I am unaware of any “offers of assistance” as your past communication implies unless you include demands for payment and notice of charges being imposed, which makes it all the more difficult for me, which hardly qualifies as being helpful or sympathetic to my financial situation.

 

I am quite happy to communicate about my situation via letter to which I always reply and am signing up with Payplan (not CCCS as previously stated) with a view to a DMP but from personal experience and on advice from the national debt line never discuss my debt problem over the phone as I prefer to keep a written record of what is being said, by whom and when, so I can keep track and manage my affairs correctly and promptly."

 

That all true although Payplan look the way to go without an income at all there's little they can work with. Getting calls from India now too (GVI?) and number withheld. 7 today so far. ;(

[jumpjet]

gVI are the worst of all! they are the ones who suggest that you pay or rather tell you you have to pay by borrowing some elses debit card. I would'nt be at all suprised if they were the ones that stated I had moved house and not told anyone. My advice would be to explain to the situation to them once and from then on........hang up. complain to MBNA in writing and ask them to investigate the harrasment. If they reply without info they have not investigated your complaint..............if they do reply then they should have a satisfactory explanation. Either way it gives you more "ammo" and digs them a bigger hole!

[davey77]

Thanks I will do that and amend my letter to include a complaint regarding the number of calls mentioning also the justice act 1970 (i think it is but will look that up exactely) re harrassment. Hopefully that will put a stop to it!

[davey77]

New tally: 8 calls today: International 4, Withheld 2, MBNA 2. Not quite my all time record though.

[Guest Battleaxe]

GVA are based in New Dehli. This means MBNA are sharing details with a third party offshore. This contravenes the Date protection Act, so you have the opportunity of reporting this to Information Commissioners Office. I would advise you to do this on line and supply any supporting you have.

 

If your are writing to MBNA quote the Protection for Harassment Act 1997 and it would not hurt to enclose a copy of it in your letter

http://www/opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/97040--a.htm.

 

You also need to to report this to OFT. it helps them gather more evidence against MBNA.

 

Get the silent call blocker service on your phone as soon as possible. it does make for a quiet life. It costs a few pounds a month but for peace of mind it is great.

 

I had GVA try to bully me, but when I mentioned that I was reporting 'Jonathon' (that is what he said his name was) to the police and that the police have a recording device on my phone (that wasn't true) he hung up on me and I never got another call from them, but I made sure Jonathon had my police complaint number and told him to call the Cambridgeshire Constabulary and talk to them. The other call came while the police where here, so they wrote down everything I was to say while I had the MBNA Indian Call Centre on the phone. 'Mary' also hung up on me after we had elicited her details.

 

I got a letter of apology from MBNA and here is my reply.

 

 

30 November 2006

Mr Gavin Theobold

Customer Advocate Office Manager

MBNA Europe Bank Limited

Chester Business Park

Chester

CH4 9FB

Dear Sir,

 

Account xxxxxxxxxx

In reply to your letter dated 27th November 2006; as a responsible lender you would have listened to what I said when I first contacted your office regarding the returned Direct Debit payment and when I could make payment. Your organization chose to ignore this conversation and started a concerted campaign of harassment. You have also breached the Data Protection Act by sharing my information with a third party without my consent. I have no way of knowing if my information is secure now it has been sent offshore. I have been informed this third party is paid a bonus if I make a payment under duress and constant harassment.

I am expected to believe you when you write stating that my telephone number has been removed from your automatic dialer. I am sorry, but your behaviour in the past does not warrant my trust that you have undertaken this action, and that you will not start harassing me in the future. You should have done this before I had to resort to the only recourse left to me and report your conduct to the relevant authorities.

How many times do you need to be told that a payment would made, for me to be met with a response from your operatives, that you will keep harassing me until the payment is made? This is not the action of a responsible lender. Your actions have caused distress and an apology will not remedy that. If you had been sincere you would have listened in the first place and not embarked on the course of action you did. As a result of your actions I have had spend money seeking legal advice and researching the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

You are aware that I have reported your conduct to the Office of Fair Trading and the Police. This is no longer a civil matter but a criminal matter in the terms of the above mentioned Act and as such your organization can be prosecuted for breaching the Act. Please refer to http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts/1997/97040--a.htm.

This matter is not closed and I will be seeking redress for damages and distress.

I have been asked to present all my documentation regarding this matter to the Crown Prosecution Service for review.

I have also made representation to my Member of Parliament.

Yours sincerely

Phillipa Smith

Cc Cambridge Constabulary CC-XXXXXXXXXX

Hertfordshire Constabulary (information)

Office of Fair Trading L/Complaint/xxxxx

Information Commissioner’s Office (Data Protection Act)

[davey77]

Well, i certainly hadn't realised significance of GVA ringing me meaning MBNA have broken the rules of the Data Protection Act! A little confused though..by GVA you mean GVI - Global Vantedge Inc. Or are they the same? I shall amend my letter again i think to bring up this matter with MBNA! Many thanks for enlightening me!

And I'll be sorting out a phone block today as well although can't block the international calls as my bro is in the US hopefully i can block the 0800, 0870 and withheld Numbers

[Guest Battleaxe]

GVI is what I meant to type Davey77. International calls will come through. The call centre in India is linked to the English numbers that MBNA uses and these are withheld. it is just all calls coming from withheld numbers that are blocked. My kids ring me ok from Australia.

 

Hope this sorts it for you. Some one suggested that you buy a sim card and ring MBNA using that and tell them that this is your new and only number, then throw the SIM away (pay as you go). Just goes against my grain to spend anymore money than I have to.

 

I am gold mine of useless information. I discovered it when I phoned GVI and it sounded very overseas, accents etc and then I read the fine print on the bottom of their letter and discovered the address.

[davey77]

Ah right i see, thanks! Well, have my new letter ready to print out and send off today part of which states:

 

"Other matters i urgently need to bring to your attention is the number of calls i am receiving daily after repeatedly stating that i will not discuss my financial situation over the phone but in writing only so therefore refer you to Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 and formerly ask that these constant calls cease with immediate effect!

 

After some research I am also now aware that the call I answered 2-3 weeks ago from Virgin GVI suggests that you have acted illegally by breaching the Data Protection Act in sharing my information with a third party offshore without my consent. I would like a personal response to this letter and not another automated reply in writing as soon as possible."

 

So who is this Gavin Theobold? Is he the head guy to send this stuff to or will the 'usual' MBNA address do i wonder?

[Guest Battleaxe]

Gavin Theobold is the Customer Advocate Office Manager , MBNA and is based at Chester

[Sev]

Just to add to this, the Advocates office have the power to block phone and mail with immediate effect.

 

As Battleaxe so rightfully says, GVI are based in india, and their prefferred tactic is to just constantly harrass on every phone number that they have a record for on their system. Always ask for a LOGIN ID, and don't take no for an answer. I am in the process of getting the name and address of MBNA's local trading standard's office and the contact with whom they meet with on a regular basis. I'll post this as soon as I have this.

[davey77]

I thought 'choose to refuse' from BT (Landline is BT and calls Talktalk) would work but guess what.. tried it tonite with the MBNA and surprise surprise it doesn't work with calls from 0800 numbers. Well, fault for not finding out first but MBNA knew what they were doing when they chose that number!

[Guest Battleaxe]

Davey 77 Choose to refuse does not work on the witheld numbers used by MBNA, you have to put the block for withheld numbers on the line, we also have choose to refuse and I found out very quickly this option does not work.

[davey77]

So you get that through BT? Only i was looking through the call features they have it's tricky to know which is best?

Only 5 calls today... they are slipping!

[Guest Battleaxe]

I have two numbers here and at the time I was very upset by he phone calls I was getting, it is either one of these numbers

 

0870 44 3969 and I think it is called Silent Call Guard from memory ot has to renewed annually.

 

We also have the Coode to refuse option but it doesn't work on the pesky little devils.