I was in your position in November and I called Melanie Giles' team too, because of the positive comments on this forum and the superb advice and support offered by Melanie and Tina to worried people like you and me.
That's shocking. I thought it was a hoax when i read the title. The others have given you some great advice about finding an IVA provider with a professional attitude. Personally, I am with Vardan Nuttall and have always had an excellent and open relationship with them. Report the little scumbag (not my first choice of word) as he shouldn't be taking his bad day out on you...his bosses will be fuming that he drove away a potential client. I'm sure it will be second time lucky for you. xx
Quite indefensible by the sounds of things, and in many ways really strange as well. Most industry professionals will tell you that for every ten enquiries we get, 1 or 2 is the average figure of those we can/do help. The rest we can't, for a variety of reasons. It therefore follows that most of our time, at least initially, is spent dealing with such enquiries. The trick, for any good company or indeed advisor, is to recognise that that is the case but also to treat every enquiry, and therefore person/persons, in the same way. It takes just as much courage to make an enquiry to the likes of me if you don't need help, but maybe just need to be pointed in the right direction, as it does to make an enquiry where professional help IS needed.
I can only assume that this chap has got, maybe unbeknowns to him, a very limited shelf life in his job, which is a great shame in one sense as I can think of very few other careers where so much job satisfacion is gained from the majority of people that work in it.
Regards.
Last edited by size5 on Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cert DR
23+ years in debt advice
I do not post for anyone other than myself
There is absolutely no excuse for talking down to you - and making you feel like something underneath his shoe! And he is wrong that you cannot include your husband as a creditor. If you owe him an equivalent sum to that he owes on the loan he took out for you, then he is a creditor.
I would have to say, however, you would not be permitted to continue to make the loan payments to your husband - but a full review of your combined family finances would need to be carried out by someone far more prepared to spend their time with you than this chap has, before passing judgement.
I would definately look around and try another few firms. I am itching to know which firm you did speak to, but perhaps it is not appropriate for me to ask!
Mike - I quite agree. If it wasn't for the fact that at the moment I couldn't afford to take a lower paid job than the one I have, it is an industry I would love to get into. I certainly wouldn't talk down to people.
Mel - I think we'd all like to know who the company is!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Hi Nikkitoffe,
Go on, a chance to get your own back ! Name & Shame, I know I would. Lots of people read this forum and would like to know who to avoid as well as who recommend.
Hopefully Nikki will sort out a much better person to deal with.
We can't really blame a company just because they have one duff person operating the phone. Hopefully the company will be looking in on here and give their staff some training.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
size5 wrote:
Most industry professionals will tell you that for every ten enquiries we get, 1 or 2 is the average figure of those we can/do help. The rest we can't, for a variety of reasons.
Hi Mike
Very interesting figures you quote -
We were wondering what happens to the to the other 80 to 90%?
Looks like it is a good thing the goverment have agreed to continue funding the likes of CABs etc.
A little tongue in cheek only Mike, so please forgive us, we could not help it[;)]
Forgiven, a sense of humour, as well as perspective, is a necessary pre-requisite in our line of work.
It is actually a fair question. I would say, and this is only my own anecdotal evidence, that half of them don't need help at all but are worried and are ringing up to see what options they have should professional help become necessary. The rest would be taken up by a combination of other solutions, whether they be BR, which I advise all but the most complicated cases to do themselves to avoid any unnecessary expense, DRO, which I direct to CAB or CCCS. Remortgage and secured loans are options that some have, I direct those to seek out their own independent advice and similarly for those that may benefit from an unsecured loan, and some who would fall below the threshold of affordability that we work with but for whom DRO or BR would be unsuitable. I normally direct those towards the token payment scheme with CCCS. I would say that I direct at least 2.5 to 3 times the number of enquiries that I get to CCCS or CAB than I do offer help directly from here.
Regards.
Last edited by size5 on Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cert DR
23+ years in debt advice
I do not post for anyone other than myself
I am sorry to hear that you first experiance of speaking to a debt advisor was not a good one nikkitoffee. As has already been emphasised, there are truely some excellent people around.
Picking up on your point re your loan to your husband. I think is is well worth re-iterating that if you are proposing an IVA, you cannot include an allowance in your expenditure to continue paying a debt to a friend or member of your family. This would be a preferential payment. You can though list this person as a creditor.
I know that this can often cause issues, especially if that person is relying on the money but there is generally a solution which can be found if you speak to an experianced advisor.
Mike's statistics are very similar to our own so I am not suprised by that. I often refer clients we cannot help to the CAB, or to debt management companies, and a few of them really only need to restructure their budgets or make some lifestyle changes to avoid formal insolvency proceedings altogether.
