www.iva.co.uk

You may recall last week I posted that although my final dividends had been calculated, the payments could not be made as the November payment run had passed and the next one was not scheduled until mid Jan. I went back to GT and argued I thought it was unreasonbale to expect my creditors to wait at least 6 weeks for payment and for me to wait even longer for my CC. Here is there reply;

"Unfortunately the system that your case is held on is not set up to make manual distributions and therefore this is not an option. As per my colleagues email the next run is currently scheduled for January, however this is subject to change and I assure you that we will keep you up to date with any changes. The distribution run is hosted by Paymex (the parent company of Blair Endersby, your former IP) and we have no control over the timing"

I then requested and exact date for the January payment and this is what I received;

"Distribution dates are subject to change and outside our direct control, therefore at this time I am not in the position where I can offer you a date. I can however assure you that we will continue to monitor your case and as soon as we have further information to give you we will contact you and advise"

Karol - appreciate your oppinion and if you can help your intervention because frankly this is not fair!

It looks like one of their usual standard cop out emails they send to anyone that requests an answer that actually isn't an answer. GT are full of excuses about their failings without actually admitting they've failed. Welcome to the long list of people fed up with this company, and as for any help from Karol, the best of luck to you, I still receive these standard bulls**t messages every now and then, but never get the CC that we all worked for.

So come on Karol, you either are or are not the representative of GT on the forum. If you are, please step up and show you can make a difference?

With all due respect, Karol does make a difference and does an awful lot for GT clients here. Just as nurses often get wrongly blamed for the failings of the NHS, it is not Karol's fault if she is hitting her head against the same brick walls as we are.

Foggy, it is very clear to see from the level of dissatisfaction on this forum that the systems at GT are failing to deliver the level of customer service that is required. Karol is the public face of GT on this forum. By asking Karol do so something we are asking GT to do something, it is nothing personal. And let's face it, it has to be worth a try as you get no satisfaction from either the Closures team or Customer services at GT.

I am fed up -- I totally agree with you regarding the atrocious drop in the level of service from GT, and I have detailed my thoughts on this in several posts.

However, the timbre of some of the posts directed at Karol has, in my opinion, become somewhat barbed. "Don't shoot the messenger" comes to mind.

Karol and, indeed, all of the experts are here voluntarily and here because they genuinely want to assist us.

Have a go at GT, by all means, I have and will continue to do so where I see them going wrong. Ask Karol for assistance, that is why she is here. But politeness and respect will get more results.

Shoot the messenger and we, as a forum, will lose the best point of contact we have, as has happened in the past.

Foggy, I take on board your comments. Perhaps you or any of the other Experts could offer an oppion on the fact that my creditors are being forced to wait 6 weeks for final dividend distribution even though all the sums are done and the funds are available. Also appreciate your help on how best to ask GT to do things maybe a tad quicker?

I have to agree with Foggy

Nobody can deny that GT are having problems but, as a GT customer who has had their fair share of frustration, I have always found Karol to be open and honest and totally sincere

I for one am happy to support a constructive campaing against the 'corporation' but NOT the person and definately not Karol

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by I am fed up

Foggy, I take on board your comments. Perhaps you or any of the other Experts could offer an oppion on the fact that my creditors are being forced to wait 6 weeks for final dividend distribution even though all the sums are done and the funds are available. Also appreciate your help on how best to ask GT to do things maybe a tad quicker?

My opinion is, and always has been, that GT were never quick off the mark when it came to completions, regarding the 6 months period as the minimum rather than the maximum.And I fail to understand why ( VAT and PPI apart) closure should take that long, especially when other IP's can and do manage this within weeks.

Your particular problem is complicated by the fact that, it seems, you were a BE import and I gather the BE systems do not integrate well with GT's, Granted, this is a problem that should have been foreseen and dealt with, but, for whatever reason, it was not. I do not know the circumstances surrounding GT's acquisition of BE's book.

This lack of speed was one of the reasons I rejected GT as my provider when I started. Unfortunately the fates have conspired against me and I have been "acquired" by them when they took over my provider;s client base.

I will ponder on how best to present our complaints, rather than firing them at Karol, we have to get to the horse's mouth, so to speak.

I think that putting Karol directly in the firing line due to her making herself available on the forum may just be counter productive. She does this in her spare time, she isn't duty bound to answer any queries or questions raised about GT on this forum. She could just stop visiting and acknowledging any concerns. I can understand the frustrations, but like Fletch says it should not be solely directed at Karol.

I am fed up, i dug this up from GTs 'Disclaimer' page on their website:-

Consumer Credit Licence

We have a consumer credit licence from the Office of Fair Trading. The details are at www2.crw.gov.uk/pr/ under the licence number 0556694. If you are dissatisfied with the services we are providing under this licence, please contact Roy Welsby. We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and to do all we can to explain the position to you. If we have given you a less than satisfactory service, we undertake to do everything reasonable to put it right and, if you are still not satisfied, you may take up matters with the Financial Ombudsman.
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I would personally go this route to air your justified dissatisfaction. I realise recently GT have been slagged off and in places, rightly so, but there is a procedure for these type of grievances. At the same time, I would copy in the email to the OFT - that might chivvy GT up a bit

Thank you TheArtist for digging this information out for us. Of course, this is the correct way to deal with grievances. However, many of us seem to use this forum as a 'sounding board' to get the opinion of others, more experienced or knowledgeable about IVA's. I have personally learnt a lot and value everybody's contributions. I also believe that it is natural for people to use the forum to vent their feelings or frustrations. For many, where else would they go? An IVA is often the 'dirty little secret' that isn't shared with friends or family. It is here that we assume others will understand us.
I didn't realise that Karol donated her time voluntarily on this forum and thank her for this. I really don't think that anybody puts an iota of blame on Karol for G/T issues.
As for G/T, they are a real mixed bag. I've had the very best of service and, as I'm waiting for completion, some not so good service. There appears to be some real issues surrounding closures that need addressing and a lot of 'fudging' in their responses. I just hope people aren't put off using this forum because their issues may appear to be becoming repetative or tedious to others.

I think that these issues surrounding one particular firm are starting to get out of hand, and personally I would not put one of my own employees into the firing line - so I would not be a bit suprised if Karol's input is removed from this forum soon. The firm in question have their own internal complaints policy, and if that does not satisfy their clients then there are regulators and the OFT to refer to.

Karol Wilson is one of the nicest people you will ever meet - she genuinely cares about providing good customer service and is a credit to her employers. Membership of this forum is voluntary at the end of the day, and insolvency appointments are personal to those practitioners acting. I hope that GT manage to resolve their difficulties soon - these adverse postings do not stand our profession in good light at the end of the day - but I suspect that at the same time they have thousands of very happy clients as well by way of balance.

This is what happened with Declan from DFD, he was a lovely chap who would try and help anyone if it was within his power, sadly he has left the forum too, i hope that GT don't remove Karol for the sake of all those customers and i do think we have to remember they aren't the ones at fault, it is a fault of the system!

I must add that while it was not my choice to be a client of GT so far I have had nothing but good experience with them, emails sent to Karol have been quickly picked up and answered accordingly , Karol tries her best and as she is the only representative on here for GT also takes most of the flack, GT have a lot of failings by all accounts but it's not Karol's fault