M&S Money - "arrangements"

[Travelscribe]

About 2 years ago I was in the financial mire. An attempt at being self employed was floundering and along with some complicated personal issues, I ended up with a couple of out of control credit cards.

 

I was able to tame most of them through a combination of some generous help, a slice of good fortune and plenty of hard work, but nearly £7k to M&S Money was simply not budging. I was finding it almost impossible to meet the minimum payments and end up missing a couple of payments.

 

So like a good boy I followed the advice we are always given about keeping an open communication with the bank. So I called M&S and explained the situation. They seemed really helpful and we came to what they called 'an arrangement'. Now I thought that this was just that and the terminology was purely descriptive. Although they did mention - and I mean mention rather than explain - that our arrangement would be recorded, at no point did anyone explain the serverity/stupidity of what I was about to do.

 

I didn't think much more about it until I was turned down when I tried to re-mortgage recently. I decided to check my credit file and it turns out that an arrangement is not just mentioned, it shouts all over it and appears to be only half a step aware from the dreaded CCJ. Huge red marks all over it and only just stopping short of a full page add in the Times saying to anyone interested that I am as good a bet as Robert Maxwell with a pension fund.

 

I complained to M&S on the basis that if they had explained the situation then I would have looked at other options. When I took out the arrangement with them my credit score was not perfect, but it would have been good enough to get a reasonably priced loan. So I could have take that route - maybe even with M&S Money themselves. At the time I had it in my head that it really was a temporary thing (which it should be) and that I didn't want to get into more loans. When I wrote to M&S I was nice and friendly, said that I did not feel I had been fully made aware of what I was signing up for and that I would like them to a) restructure the debt into a standard loan and b) that they ammend my credit score.

 

Do I have any sort of a case? Or is it all down to me? My credit file has been trashed by this and getting reasonably priced credit is going to be almost impossible for the next 6 years. I am not disputing the fact I owe the money, and I am not blaming M&S for having got into that position, but I am furious about the non-disclosure of the full facts.

 

Your thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[szekeres101]

Im not sure if you have a case or not but just so you know they tried to offer this same "agreement" to myself but luckily I didnt bind into it, and as funny as this sounds it was Barclaycard (well a CSA) that told me it didnt sound right when I mentioned it to them. Good luck, if they never sent you paperwork with this then I would persue getting it off your file, just goes to show how dodgy M&S are!!

 

[Travelscribe]

I complained and they told me that they had a recording of me on the phone saying that I was fine with a record being made. My point is that the implications were never made clear to me. I could not complain if they had made me fully aware of the facts, but they didn't. All they said was that a record would be made - as I was hardly expecting them to just remember the information this didn't seem an issue. It just seems so daft that if they had explained it to me, I would have asked them for a regular loan and we would all have been fine. Years ago when I was little more than a teenager I got into a similar situation with First Direct, but they offered me a loan to sort it out - a loan which was paid normally and everyone was happy. I may be guilty of not taking due dilligence, but it has to be worth a shot - after all, I am not asking them for any compensation, simply that they help me rectify their ommission

[Tango34]

Ask M&S for a copy of the recording of your voice, if on that recording their isn't the legal bit about recording you, and letting you know they have recorded you, I belive that this is against the law! - but I might be wrong.

 

To be in a position to record someone covertly, you have to have a judge grant you permission. Now there is a good chance that M&S kept the recording but not the "you are being recorded for training purpouses" stuff......

 

Try it under the DPA and see where you get to?

[szekeres101]

Ask for a copy of the recording to be sent to you and see if they explained themselves properly and explained what would happen on your credit file, if they didnt then they have a serious problem ha ha and they will have recorded themselves breaking the law, plus if they say you cant have a copy of the recording then surely this cant be a legal binding contract if you cant have proof of it either, for example if you sign a contract you get to keep one too. Go for it, I will keep watching to see how you do.

[Tango34]

I wonder how the law lies on the above, if you agree to a statment on the phone, and you dont get a copy of the conversation, is it still allowed?

[iwannabedebtfree]

conversations over the telephone that are recorded are data, and as such the storage of said data has to be stored with in compliance with the DPA, failure to comply is an offence. Likewise, if said recording has now been destroyed you need to know how it was destroyed, in line with the company's policy on destroying data, you need to know the date it was destroyed, how it was destroyed and by whom, and whether it was witnessed.

 

Likewise, if it has been destroyed then the defence of "we have you on tape" is null and void, the tape cannot be given rescucitation and be brought back to life for the court case as they will not have complied with the s7 DPA request, and if they have confirmed it has been destroyed, it would be very silly to "find" it for a court case should it go that far. There is a very good thread on the MBNA site by Battleaxe in which he asks probing questions which in your case i think would be very useful to ask of the company, but i would want a copy of the tape recording and do not accept it is destroyed until the DP controller can confirm in writing it has been.

[Travelscribe]

Hi guys, have been a bit busy fighting other financial fights (and getting there). I will get back to going after this one very soon and will keep you posted.

Thanks