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Hi there,
I took out HP with Welcome Finance on a T reg car worth £3995 back in 2006.
The agreement was only supposed to run for 3 years ending 2009 and the total to be repaid was £8133.12.
When I thought it was close to being paid up last february 2009 I called for a closing balance- imagine my shock when I'm told I owe nearly 3k still!!!!
This was mostly made up of penalty charges for telephone calls/letters, interest and strange 'ad-hoc' fees that were littered all over the account during the term.
I hadn't seen a single statement up until the point I called which was nearly the whole 3 years.
It took a lot of letters and requests over the course of the agreement to get them to send me a statement.
They only did it when I placed the account in dispute and after seeing all the charges, I could see why they weren't keeping me informed!
Of course I went ape, cancelled my DD and put the account into dispute.
I telephoned and wrote to trading standards who advised me to take it to the FOS after agreeing Welcome were aking the biscuit- some of the penalty charges for phone calls and letters were added 4 or 5 in one day! They had real fun whacking those charges on at £10 a time didn't they? excessive is not the word!
And most of the calls i didn't actually recieve because I told them I could not be reached on my mobile telephone during working hours which they ignored.
I refused to make any payment till this got resolved. So I've not paid anything for a year to them and I threatened them with a claim for harrassment should they keep pursuing me- eventually they backed off.
The car hasn't been reposessed because I have paid over 7k of the 8k owed- charges aside. So they couldn't take it without a court order.
Even if they did, it wouldn't fetch much being a t reg and in average condition!
Anyway, the FOS eventually got involved after keeping me waiting for nearly a year and with their help we got the balance reduced from nearly 3k to £1274.
I have written confirmation from WF's compliance dept to the FOS confirming this reduced balance.
However since then, today, WF have sent me 5 default notices in 1 day for the car HP threatening reposession and demanding immediate repayment- despite us only just having reached a solution with the FOS.
But get this.....suddenely the balance we agreed upon has changed to over £1900!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I emailed my FOS contact but they have ignored me because the case is no longer open.
So basically Welcome have gone against the agreement with the F.O.S and unlawfully yet again changed the goalpost to suit them.
The FOS couldn't give a monkeys and I am now back to square one- being ripped off again!
I have heard they have gone bust and are facing closure and that their company debts will be claimed by a 3rd party company.
If this is the case, how do I deal with this ever-ongoing situation now?
Who do I contact and what can I do?
They cant get away with this surely?
TY in advance.
I took out HP with Welcome Finance on a T reg car worth £3995 back in 2006.
The agreement was only supposed to run for 3 years ending 2009 and the total to be repaid was £8133.12.
When I thought it was close to being paid up last february 2009 I called for a closing balance- imagine my shock when I'm told I owe nearly 3k still!!!!
This was mostly made up of penalty charges for telephone calls/letters, interest and strange 'ad-hoc' fees that were littered all over the account during the term.
I hadn't seen a single statement up until the point I called which was nearly the whole 3 years.
It took a lot of letters and requests over the course of the agreement to get them to send me a statement.
They only did it when I placed the account in dispute and after seeing all the charges, I could see why they weren't keeping me informed!
Of course I went ape, cancelled my DD and put the account into dispute.
I telephoned and wrote to trading standards who advised me to take it to the FOS after agreeing Welcome were aking the biscuit- some of the penalty charges for phone calls and letters were added 4 or 5 in one day! They had real fun whacking those charges on at £10 a time didn't they? excessive is not the word!
And most of the calls i didn't actually recieve because I told them I could not be reached on my mobile telephone during working hours which they ignored.
I refused to make any payment till this got resolved. So I've not paid anything for a year to them and I threatened them with a claim for harrassment should they keep pursuing me- eventually they backed off.
The car hasn't been reposessed because I have paid over 7k of the 8k owed- charges aside. So they couldn't take it without a court order.
Even if they did, it wouldn't fetch much being a t reg and in average condition!
Anyway, the FOS eventually got involved after keeping me waiting for nearly a year and with their help we got the balance reduced from nearly 3k to £1274.
I have written confirmation from WF's compliance dept to the FOS confirming this reduced balance.
However since then, today, WF have sent me 5 default notices in 1 day for the car HP threatening reposession and demanding immediate repayment- despite us only just having reached a solution with the FOS.
But get this.....suddenely the balance we agreed upon has changed to over £1900!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I emailed my FOS contact but they have ignored me because the case is no longer open.
So basically Welcome have gone against the agreement with the F.O.S and unlawfully yet again changed the goalpost to suit them.
The FOS couldn't give a monkeys and I am now back to square one- being ripped off again!
I have heard they have gone bust and are facing closure and that their company debts will be claimed by a 3rd party company.
If this is the case, how do I deal with this ever-ongoing situation now?
Who do I contact and what can I do?
They cant get away with this surely?
TY in advance.
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