Creditor Phone Calls

[stoney]

Hello Everyone

Hope you all had a good Christmas. For me it has been one of the best as no credit cards used atall, only cash. What a difference.! We are in the process of applying for an IVA with Melanies company and its not finalised as yet. Therefore Creditors are ringing us (yesterday the phone rang at 8.10am) wanting to know whats happening. At first the phone scared me but now I'm getting used to them and on the whole creditors are ok with the situation, having explained that the Office is closed until 2nd Jan. Goldfish, however, are quite agressive and basically wouldnt get off the phone without a bit of a push today. It was hubbie who had that call thank goodness as I would have got upset. They were quite persistent and a bit threatening. On the other hand, Egg have been really nice and made us not feel like criminals. We are sorry for our situation and I fully understand Creditors wanting their money back, but unpleasantness isnt neccessary. Barclaycard have got the message anyway, they wrote to us to let us know that they had received notification that were were looking to enter AN IVA so they must have received the letter which Angela, one of Melanies team, has sent out. Suppose it takes time for letters to filter through.

Anyway, sorry for rambling on a bit.

[aguise]

Hi stoney
I think some just ring regardless of being told, just take it as it comes but dont stand for being spoken to aggressively or rudely just tell them you have given all the information they need and that you are ending the call. Most of mine were ok but for one which was a very frequent (14 times one day) and depending on who I got quite aggressive. Hopefully you wont have too long to go, you are in good hands, so all the best.

Ang


Please visit my blog at http://aguise.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[MelanieGiles]

The people ringing you are from call centres, where their staff are probably incentivised by the amount of cash collections they make. Their sole interest is to extract money from you, and they very rarely take any notice of IP correspondence.

I am sure that we will make progress with your case during January, and look forward to speaking with you personally soon. In the meantime hang in there, but remain poite and helpful when dealing with your creditors.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[stoney]

Thankyou both Ang & Melanie

So nice to know that help and support is out there. I have learned an awful lot from ths site and there are some lovely people on here. I was in the local supermarket today and my debit card wouldnt work in the PIN terminal. A glimpse of the Christmas Spirit was shown when the little old lady behind me offered to pay for my shopping and said I could pay her later by taking the cash to where she lived. She didnt even know me! Fortunately I had some cash, more than I had realised, in my purse and was able to pay but I was stunned by this act of kindness from a total stranger.

Was glad to hear Caraf's IVA has been approved. She must be so happy. I hope ours is successful, even if it takes 6 yrs to sort out our mess. Melanie, you and your team are a credit to your profession and we wish you all well in 2008. The thought of not having credit cards/Loans does not in the slightest bother me for the future. We are determined to have a debt free future, apart from the mortgage (which incidentally has a fixed rate ending Feb 2008, thats another hurdle to cross)and will work our hardest to make the IVA work, if its successful that is!

The card wouldnt work in the shop as because I had used it more than usual, it was a fraud prevention measure. Good but embarrassing at the time.

[emma_t]

Hi stoney

The calls were the worst thing for me as they were so persistant, luckily they only had my mobile number, not home.
Goldfish were the worst offender calling me so many times it was unbelievable, I found after a while it did not affect me and I did not get upset as was so used to it. I just repeated why i was in financial difficulty, who I was seeking advice from and what I was proposing to do parrot fashion and if they butted in, I would start from the beginning and give them it again. Eventually they would get bored and see they were getting nowhere and go until te next day...

I know they are only doing their jobs, and most were very pleasant and kind but had a few awful ones and refused to speak on the phone about my finances and told them I would only correspond with them in writing.
Good luck you are in safe hands[:)]
Keep your chin up and don't let the calls upset you
Emma x

[Spreadlove]

Goldfish are awful. They used to call me at least three times a day. The call centre staff were extremely aggressive and rude. I was completely honest and courteous with them , explaining my circumstances etc, however they didn't care. In the end I refused to take their calls after I told them I had left my daughter in the kitchen unattended with a frying pan on the stove, they didn't care and became rude. I hung up!!!. My advice to you Stoney is not to take it personally. As Melanie, emma t and aguise have written they are doing their job. Believe me the calls will stop. Stay strong