Anyone had experience with Avon?

[doompixie]

I have a minor debt with Avon currently at £158. The problem is that communicating with them is sketchy at best. I'm really not sure how they expect me to make payments, when they've cut off access to my online account and refuse to send me fresh giro slips.

I spoke to them on the phone a few months ago asking them, and they basically told me to f' off. I don't feel that calling them again will help.

My one giro slip had just about had it and was kept by the bank when I made my last payment, so now I'm screwed.

It's just now occurred to me that they may be adding charges to my debt without me being aware of it. Is this possible? I can't recall exactly what figure the debt started off as or how many payments I've made.

The only communication I get from them is threatening letters when I miss a payment. Some threaten to pass me on to a dca, others threaten court action. They are very inconsistent and I doubt they are true - is this reasonable action for 2 late payments?

 

I had planned to pay the whole thing off when my bank charge claim goes through, but they are really annoying me. What steps should I take to sort this out?

 

I'm guessing a SAR would be a good step, but I've not sent one before, so can someone point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks

[bex0210]

Hi there, when i got taken unexpectedly into hospital, the last thing i was thinking was to pay my Avon bill. They passed it onto a debt collector, and i did receive further charges but i paid it off through them.

I know this is not much help but just try phoning them and make an agreement with them. Some money off the debt is better than none.

Good Luck, Bex

[Janet-M]

I would not advise phoning to make arrangements to pay .. unless you are recording the calls. Always keep corrospondence to writing . If you just want to continue to make payments then send a Cheque / PO to their head office with a letter stating you want to pay and can they please send you the payment slips or to advise you of an alternative way you can pay your bill.

 

 

If you think they have added penalty charges to your account then you can find our template here .. adjust to your circumstances and don't forget to send them a cheque / PO for £10 .

 

If you find that they have added penalty charges and do pass your account to a DCA then let us know as if a debt is in dispute a DCA can't act on it.

[rosemaryednam]

Oh yes! I had dealings with Avon. I returned items and had reciepts but they still charged me not once but twice for them. Eventually after a lot of costly telephone calls they gave up the ghost because I was not paying for something that I did not have!!!!! Good Luck you'll need it!!!!!!!

[doompixie]

Hi again

Thanks for the replies, I know I'm late replying, but Avon seems to slip off my radar frequently

 

I'm about to write them a letter requesting payment slips.

Can I also request monthly statements? I have no idea what day I'm supposed to pay by or anything. During my free trial with experian it showed me as 2 payments outstanding but they have not informed me of this or asked me to pay them (except for the threatening court/dca letters that stop after I make a single payment)

I did ask them on the phone (from the first time my payment slip almost died) if they can at least give me notice of when i should pay, but they said no.

Any ideas?

[monopoly23]

I used to be an avon rep and I made my last order in december 06. I paid the bill and totally forgot about it because they take you off the books if you don't order for 2 campaigns. So I had a baby, moved house and a long story short, got some mail delivered from my old address. 2 letters from avon dated 30th March and 15th April. One adding a £10 charge and the other adding £15 to a balance of £8 outstanding.

I didnt know I had £8 left to pay and they hadn't even bothered asking for it for 4 months after my last order, nor did they warn me of the charge.

I e-mailed them to say that because I had moved and didn't know I had an outstanding balance, would they waive the £25 of charges. They said pay the £8 first then we'll let you know. So I did, and they said forget the charges!

 

I'd definitely send them the letter that janet m has provided a link to.

[doompixie]

It's official, I no longer have the ability to write good letters

So, now I need your help. I've drafted a basic mess of a letter, but it just gets worse the more I work on it, so hoping someone will take pity and come help me out.

This is what I have so far...

 

I am writing in regards to my outstanding balance of £158.63.

I have until now attempted to keep up with my payments of £20 per month via giro slip. I realise that I have missed payments on this debt and would like to bring this up to date, but you have yet to inform me of the arrears.

I currently receive no information about my account, and as such am not aware of the date by which I should make payments each month, whether or not any charges have been applied to my account, or how I should make payment now that the one giro slip you supplied me with has been lost.

I was informed by a member of your staff on the phone that you would not send me additional giro slips, nor monthly statements. If this is true, could you please confirm, and explain why you are not facilitating the resolution of this debt. The OFT’s guidelines on debt collection state that it is an unfair practice to not provide me with my debt status and information and it would be in your best interests to supply me with at least an overview of my account, including any charges added to the original debt, and date by which monthly payments should be made.

As you have revoked my online access to my account I can no longer pay this way, so could you please inform me of what payment methods are available.

 

I am also unimpressed by your threatening letters as soon as a payment is missed. It is polite to ask for a missed/late payment rather than threatening legal action immediately. I feel you are border lining the OFT’s guidelines here as your letters hold a variety of threats including legal action and debt collectors, none of which are consistent, and some of which could easily be seen as unreasonable action given the circumstances.

 

Please make some sense of it. I think talking to call centre staff for 2 hours yesterday fried my brain.

[doompixie]

anyone?

[monopoly23]

When you said you called avon, was it customer services you called, and when did you call?

 

I think it would be classed as a complaint and therefore they have 8 weeks maximum to respond with their final decicion.

 

I think your letter is fine really, but I'd try to be as polite as possible. I was even though they'd annoyed me, and they cancelled charges that had been put on.

 

 

I am writing in regards to my outstanding balance of £158.63.

 

I have until now attempted to keep up with my payments of £20 per month via giro slip. I realise that I have missed payments on this account and would like to bring this up to date, but you have yet to inform me of the arrears.

 

I currently receive no information about my account, and as such am not aware of the date by which I should make payment each month, whether or not any charges have been applied to my account, or how I should make payment now that I have no giro slips left.

As you have revoked my online access to my account I can no longer pay this way, so could you please inform me of what payment methods are available.

 

I was informed by a member of your staff on the phone that you would not send me additional giro slips, nor monthly statements. If this is true, could you please confirm, and explain why you are not facilitating the resolution of this debt.

 

The OFT’s guidelines on debt collection state that it is an unfair practice to not provide me with my debt status and information. It would be in your best interests to supply me with at least an overview of my account, including any charges added to the original debt and date by which monthly payments should be made.

 

It is polite to ask for a payment when they are missed or late, yet your letters are threatening me with legal action and debt collectors. I feel you flaunting the OFT’s guidelines as your letters are not consistent, and some of which could easily be seen as unreasonable action given the circumstances.

 

Until you provide me with a basic statement of account and a method by which I can pay, I will not be able to make further contributions towards the outstanding balance.

 

I first complained to (whatever department) about your conduct of this account on (whatever date). I was given no satisfactory response.

The date for your final response on this matter is (8 weeks from date above). If I do not receive a full and final response on this by (that date) I will report the matter to the relevant authorities, including but not limited to The Office of Fair Trading.

 

I look forward to your response.

 

Mine's not the best letter writing either, but thats my wording anyway. Let us know what you're gonna do.

[doompixie]

Thankyou!!

I keep forgetting about this thread, probably not a good thing

 

I will get my letter ready to post tomorrow. Will update with the results if you're interested

 

P.S. Don't remember when I called, I think it was a collections department? Can't be sure though. They very unhelpful and rather stuck up.