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Hi everyone
I'm really hoping someone can help me with this!
I have had a store card with Dorothy Perkins for the last couple of years, don't spend on it that often but when I do I make regular payments to avoid interest.
December 2014 I went into my local store in a rush (I needed some jeans for a night out) and when I presented my store card to pay, the girl on the till advised that I needed to upgrade my card to one of their "new ones" for security purposes. I was told that the new cards had a chip & pin facility whereas my existing card was just a signature.
I told her I was in a rush so would just pay cash, however she persisted telling me that it would only take 2 minutes. 15 minutes later she was still on the phone to someone, reading out my details. Eventually she came back, got me to sign a form that she had filled in for me, and sent me on my way having (as I understood it) added the jeans I was buying onto my existing account.
A couple of weeks later I received a letter from Dorothy Perkins, addressed to me but both my first name and surname were spelled incorrectly (a letter missing from each name). Thinking it was just a statement for my account I ignored the letter, as I make payments etc online these days so have no need for a paper statement. A letter came each month addressed to the same incorrect name, I meant to call them up and get it amended but do not have access to a landline at the moment and knew the mobile charges would be ridiculous. I never opened any of the letters, I know this was stupid of me, but I knew that my account was 'in the green' and being paid off online which I regularly checked, I had no need for a paper statement.
The only purchases I have made since have been to my original Dorothy Perkins account, and have been made online so the new card and pin number they sent me (with the chip and pin) have never been physically used, they are still attached to their corresponding letters.
Last month my mum mistakenly opened one of the incorrectly addressed letters and told me that Dorothy Perkins were asking for £134 from me. I said it must be a mistake as the balance online was nowhere near that amount. I rang them up at a cost of £30 to my mobile phone bill to be informed that I had in fact opened up a second account when I purchased the jeans instore. The jeans were added to this new account at a cost of £38, but as I hadn't paid the balance in time I had incurred 8 x £12 late payment fees.
The new card, it turned out, was also a Mastercard. I advised the lady on the phone that in no way would I have willingly opened two accounts at the same store, and I certainly wouldn't have taken out a credit card with them as I am currently trying to better my credit score so that I can hopefully get a mortgage at some point in the future. She was really understanding and said that it sounded as though I had been missold the card. She said she would forward my details to the complaints department, and asked what I would like the outcome to be. I said that I was happy to pay off the original purchase amount of £38 but I did not think that the charges were fair considering that I was not aware I had two separate accounts.
Fast forwars another couple of weeks and I received a phone call from the legal department who had taken on my complaint. The woman on the phone (very harshly) advised me that as I had signed an agreement I was liable for the full amount. She said that as a gesture of good will she would remove 4 of the late payment fees at a total of £48, due to the fact that they had misspelled my name on the account. I told her that I wasn't in a position to pay the full amount at that time as it was before payday, however it was my intention to pay off the remaining £86 purely to get it away from my name and I would then close the account as I was so frustrated with the way things had been dealt with.
I have now had a text message from a debt collection company, Idem, advising me that they have bought my debt from Dorothy Perkins (or New Day I think as the card provider) and I need to make the £134 payment. I had a letter from New Day confirming that the 4 payments had been removed, but it seems these have now been reinstated since the debt was sold.
Sorry for the length of this post, I just didn't want to leave any details out! My question is, is there anything I can do in terms of avoiding paying the charges? This is also on my credit score now, and I was advised by the New Day legal department that this could not be changed.
Thanks in advance!
Jodie
I'm really hoping someone can help me with this!
I have had a store card with Dorothy Perkins for the last couple of years, don't spend on it that often but when I do I make regular payments to avoid interest.
December 2014 I went into my local store in a rush (I needed some jeans for a night out) and when I presented my store card to pay, the girl on the till advised that I needed to upgrade my card to one of their "new ones" for security purposes. I was told that the new cards had a chip & pin facility whereas my existing card was just a signature.
I told her I was in a rush so would just pay cash, however she persisted telling me that it would only take 2 minutes. 15 minutes later she was still on the phone to someone, reading out my details. Eventually she came back, got me to sign a form that she had filled in for me, and sent me on my way having (as I understood it) added the jeans I was buying onto my existing account.
A couple of weeks later I received a letter from Dorothy Perkins, addressed to me but both my first name and surname were spelled incorrectly (a letter missing from each name). Thinking it was just a statement for my account I ignored the letter, as I make payments etc online these days so have no need for a paper statement. A letter came each month addressed to the same incorrect name, I meant to call them up and get it amended but do not have access to a landline at the moment and knew the mobile charges would be ridiculous. I never opened any of the letters, I know this was stupid of me, but I knew that my account was 'in the green' and being paid off online which I regularly checked, I had no need for a paper statement.
The only purchases I have made since have been to my original Dorothy Perkins account, and have been made online so the new card and pin number they sent me (with the chip and pin) have never been physically used, they are still attached to their corresponding letters.
Last month my mum mistakenly opened one of the incorrectly addressed letters and told me that Dorothy Perkins were asking for £134 from me. I said it must be a mistake as the balance online was nowhere near that amount. I rang them up at a cost of £30 to my mobile phone bill to be informed that I had in fact opened up a second account when I purchased the jeans instore. The jeans were added to this new account at a cost of £38, but as I hadn't paid the balance in time I had incurred 8 x £12 late payment fees.
The new card, it turned out, was also a Mastercard. I advised the lady on the phone that in no way would I have willingly opened two accounts at the same store, and I certainly wouldn't have taken out a credit card with them as I am currently trying to better my credit score so that I can hopefully get a mortgage at some point in the future. She was really understanding and said that it sounded as though I had been missold the card. She said she would forward my details to the complaints department, and asked what I would like the outcome to be. I said that I was happy to pay off the original purchase amount of £38 but I did not think that the charges were fair considering that I was not aware I had two separate accounts.
Fast forwars another couple of weeks and I received a phone call from the legal department who had taken on my complaint. The woman on the phone (very harshly) advised me that as I had signed an agreement I was liable for the full amount. She said that as a gesture of good will she would remove 4 of the late payment fees at a total of £48, due to the fact that they had misspelled my name on the account. I told her that I wasn't in a position to pay the full amount at that time as it was before payday, however it was my intention to pay off the remaining £86 purely to get it away from my name and I would then close the account as I was so frustrated with the way things had been dealt with.
I have now had a text message from a debt collection company, Idem, advising me that they have bought my debt from Dorothy Perkins (or New Day I think as the card provider) and I need to make the £134 payment. I had a letter from New Day confirming that the 4 payments had been removed, but it seems these have now been reinstated since the debt was sold.
Sorry for the length of this post, I just didn't want to leave any details out! My question is, is there anything I can do in terms of avoiding paying the charges? This is also on my credit score now, and I was advised by the New Day legal department that this could not be changed.
Thanks in advance!
Jodie
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