www.iva.co.uk

Sorry but this is just a moan to get this off my chest and see if other people experience the same thing. Im not going to say which company Im with and Im not going to do anything about it but I get so frustrated with the customer service and the way Im treated.
We are in an IVA now for over 2 years. My wife had her eyes tested (left it as long as possible but they have really deterioated recently) and the cost of varifocals came out at £270. We hadnt budgeted for this, this month. My IVA payment is due out tommorrowo so I rang up my IVA company and asked if we could reduce our payment this month as we will now have difficulty managing. Im advised that i will need to supply proof - fair enough. But we cant stop tommorrows payment and why didnt we leave it until now, i said the eyetest was last Sunday, I was then advised if I didnt make the payment tommorrow I would be in arrears. It is at this point I get frustrated and politely end the call.
It just seems that no-one understands in these customer service centres that we are trying to do our best and we cant plan for these things. It just leaves me angry and frustrated. Surely we could delay our payment for a few days to sort this out. cies nmd

Hi and welcome.

Sorry you are experiencing such problems but of course we can't say whether or not anyone else has had problems with the same company without knowing who they are.

We've had a few problems recently and I think most of us at some point have problems with our companies.

Try emailing your IP directly via this link:

http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/fip1/

You might find you get better service that way.

Hi and welcome Clive, I guess the thing is, things like this need a little more forethought, as your wife's vision had been deteriorating for some time, it might have been better to look at an eye test not so close to your next IVA payment coming out, so it would have given you more time to communicate with your company for a payment break, I think the day before it is due to come out is cutting things a little fine, I know most banks can't stop direct debits coming out the day before they are due, not sure about standing orders though. If you do miss your payment tomorrow then yes you will be in arrears unfortunately.

Is it possible to delay getting the glasses for another month and this might give you time to discuss getting a payment break with your IVA company? is that an option?

Also try GlassesDirect online, my wife got hers from there last time and will be doing so again for her next ones very soon.

From the prices you show you will probably get them around £100 cheaper or more.

You could probably get them cheaper at Specsavers as well.

In situations like that Clive push to speak to your IP as I am sure something could have been done however I can't speak for other companies. If you have gone ahead and made the payment for your wife and with the IVA payment will run out of money later in the month is there someone who can help you until you are next paid - but ensure you have a payment break next month to catch up with yourselves. If you haven't paid for the eye test yet can it wait until you are next paid and you have payment break.

I can understand your frustration as you were trying to do the best by your IVa but it hasn't worked out. Don't ever feel that you have to put health matters on hold again though - speak to your IP and get help from the person who ultimately represents you.

Hope your wife gets on ok with the varifocals when things are finally sorted out - I hear they take a while to get used to especially going down stairs!