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Hi all
I would like some advice on the best way to approach this problem, having tried to deal with GE Money myself, and been told a few dubious things!
I have been paying this particular card off at slightly more than the minimum payment every month via the 'pay bills' option of my Smile account. I have been doing this for years with no missed payments, and every payment has been successful.
I received a letter from them notifying me of a takeover, but reassuring me that account details would stay the same and I could continue paying them using the same payment details as always, which I did.
Lo and behold, my March statement arrived with a late payment fee and a demand for the minimum payment due in February. I rang them to tell them I had paid on time, and had the evidence in front of me in the form of my bank statement. Send us a copy, they said, so I did. I then received a letter asking for a BACS trace, with which I have also co-operated.
I heard nothing from them until I received my April statement, still alleging that I owe them the minimum payment from February, but now minus the late payment fee.
I have spoken to an operator this morning. She went off to speak to a senior colleague, and admitted that I have paid the money. What has confused me is that she said I pay this bill through a Barclays account in Leeds (I haven't had a Barclays account since I was a teenager, and I don't live in Leeds). Then she told me Smile have also been taken over by Santandaer, and that they had updated the account numbers automatically, so my money has gone to the wrong account. She has no access to Santandaer accounts, apparently, and cannot retrieve the money for me despite the fact that Santandaer now own GE Money. I must ask my bank to recall the payment.
When asked if she will clean up my damaged credit record, I was told she would try but there was no guarantee! I might be lucky and get some compensation with regard to the phone calls I have had to make though. I'm really cross as I have been paying extra interest on an amount that I paid two months ago and the company have been singularly unhelpful, and not at all sorry. I'm not sure they will even be refunding the overpaid interest.
I am about to ring the complaints department at GE Money, and wondered if anyone has had similar problems with this company, and how they resolved them. All I want from them is an amendment of my account that removes the excess interest and the allegedly missed payment, a clean credit record, and a refund of the money I have wasted in phone calls to them and to my bank that should never have been necessary. I can't believe I should be having to waste all this time and money on a payment that was made on time! :tinysmile_hmm_t2:
Many thanks if you have read this far!
I would like some advice on the best way to approach this problem, having tried to deal with GE Money myself, and been told a few dubious things!
I have been paying this particular card off at slightly more than the minimum payment every month via the 'pay bills' option of my Smile account. I have been doing this for years with no missed payments, and every payment has been successful.
I received a letter from them notifying me of a takeover, but reassuring me that account details would stay the same and I could continue paying them using the same payment details as always, which I did.
Lo and behold, my March statement arrived with a late payment fee and a demand for the minimum payment due in February. I rang them to tell them I had paid on time, and had the evidence in front of me in the form of my bank statement. Send us a copy, they said, so I did. I then received a letter asking for a BACS trace, with which I have also co-operated.
I heard nothing from them until I received my April statement, still alleging that I owe them the minimum payment from February, but now minus the late payment fee.
I have spoken to an operator this morning. She went off to speak to a senior colleague, and admitted that I have paid the money. What has confused me is that she said I pay this bill through a Barclays account in Leeds (I haven't had a Barclays account since I was a teenager, and I don't live in Leeds). Then she told me Smile have also been taken over by Santandaer, and that they had updated the account numbers automatically, so my money has gone to the wrong account. She has no access to Santandaer accounts, apparently, and cannot retrieve the money for me despite the fact that Santandaer now own GE Money. I must ask my bank to recall the payment.
When asked if she will clean up my damaged credit record, I was told she would try but there was no guarantee! I might be lucky and get some compensation with regard to the phone calls I have had to make though. I'm really cross as I have been paying extra interest on an amount that I paid two months ago and the company have been singularly unhelpful, and not at all sorry. I'm not sure they will even be refunding the overpaid interest.
I am about to ring the complaints department at GE Money, and wondered if anyone has had similar problems with this company, and how they resolved them. All I want from them is an amendment of my account that removes the excess interest and the allegedly missed payment, a clean credit record, and a refund of the money I have wasted in phone calls to them and to my bank that should never have been necessary. I can't believe I should be having to waste all this time and money on a payment that was made on time! :tinysmile_hmm_t2:
Many thanks if you have read this far!
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