Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

[Brotherjon]

Hi,

The story so far:
2009 in Financial difficulty, credit card debt with Barclaycard £3K
Sept 2011 made F&F settlement offer to Barclaycard.

Oct 2011 Got F&F settlement acceptance letter.
Payment made in time, in cash, in a Barclays branch, receipt obtained.

2 Dec 2012 Letter from Barclaycard acknowledging payment.

June 2011 Barclaycard letter says the account was sold to a DCA (MKDP) on 15th December 2011. MKDP have marked my CRA file with balance of original debt minus the f&f payment and "Gone Away...customer has left the address provided without supplying a new address". That is a lie. MKDP say Barclaycard supplied them with the information.

3 July 2012 my formal complaint/letter before action to Barclays demanding rectification and compensation of £500 within 14 days.

26 JulyBarclaycard acknowledgment "we aim to resolve matters by 16th August 2012"

31 July 2012, my 2nd complaint letter re Barclays being slow to respond.

16 Aug 2012 Barclaycard letter "we are still looking into your complaint and will be in touch by 14th September".

Please can I get your advice. I am happy to provide further information.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

Sit tight till you get their final response in September. If they screw you then we'll help sort it.

Right now you need to wait for their formal response. It should be ok, we'll soon see

[Brotherjon]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

Hi Niddy,

I am a bit fidgety, so as I have already waited over six weeks with no resolution of what should be a simple matter for Barclays to rectify and my Credit Reference file still stating that I have "Gone Away" I have emailed the MD of Barclaycard in Europe, attaching my letters and requiring them to resolve things within 14 days.

I expect it to elicit a response from the Directors Office. In case it may be useful to others the email address is David.Chan@Barclaycard.co.uk

More when I have it.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

Hi Niddy,

I am a bit fidgety, so as I have already waited over six weeks with no resolution of what should be a simple matter for Barclays to rectify and my Credit Reference file still stating that I have "Gone Away" I have emailed the MD of Barclaycard in Europe, attaching my letters and requiring them to resolve things within 14 days.

I expect it to elicit a response from the Directors Office. In case it may be useful to others the email address is David.Chan@Barclaycard.co.uk

More when I have it.

Ok best of luck - but you need to await their response before formalising a FOS/ICO complaint - just remember that

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

Hi,

The story so far:
2009 in Financial difficulty, credit card debt with Barclaycard £3K
Sept 2011 made F&F settlement offer to Barclaycard.

Oct 2011 Got F&F settlement acceptance letter.
Payment made in time, in cash, in a Barclays branch, receipt obtained.

2 Dec 2012 Letter from Barclaycard acknowledging payment.

June 2011 Barclaycard letter says the account was sold to a DCA (MKDP) on 15th December 2011.

This is pretty shocking, but unfortunately common enough behaviour.

Do you still have the F&F settlement agreement letter from Barclays?

If so can you post up exactly what it said (minus any identifying content). What was said in the acceptance letter from this is quite important.

Also can you do the same for the letter acknowledging payment.

Best
SnV

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

And if you do not have the letters SAR the cheeky blighters - again, BEFORE you formalise a complaint.

The way you've gone about things is arse over tit so try and stay with us, trust us and speak to us before getting too shirty as you've missed a major hurdle in your quest to complain by way of allowing them to issue a final response with you not having the proof at hand confirming you did a deal.

For future - SAR first, fact-find second, complaint third then wait. That's it.

[Brotherjon]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

Well, even my family don't think I am perfect anymore, however I do have the Barclaycard letter confirming the f&f deal and proof of payment within the specified timescale.

Here is the Barclaycard f&f letter:

"7 October 2011

Account no: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Outstanding Balance: £x,xxx

Dear Mr xxxxxxxxx

Thank you for contacting us.

We are prepared, without prejudice, to accept £xxx in full and final settlement of the debt, provided that the payment is made by 28th October 2011.

Yours sincerely

xxxxxxxx

Collections Manager".


Payment was made within the timescale, in cash at a branch of Barclays Bank and a stamped/dated receipt obtained.


The next letter from Barclaycard:

"2 December 2011

Account no. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dear Mr xxxxxxxx

I am pleased to tell you that we have now traced your payment of £xxx and it has been credited to your Barclaycard account.
This will show as a credit on your next statement.

Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience you have been caused.

Yours sincerely

xxxxxxx

Barclaycard Customer Services".

You will notice that this letter was produced almost five weeks after payment was made. Is it likely that the payment took time to register on the account, they didn't check when it was actually received and this resulted in them concluding it was paid late?

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

Reading the above, it appears as though they may well have done a deal with you but then the payment was simply allocated to the account - the fact the follow-up letter states that it'll appear on your next statement says it all - what statement, assuming your account would be settled/closed...?

Something isn't right, however as you have the letters and proof of payment (I presume you'll have a bank statement confirming the actual date it left your account..?) you can easily go to the FOS after Barclays try and fob you off....

Keep us updated

[Brotherjon]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

Reading the above, it appears as though they may well have done a deal with you but then the payment was simply allocated to the account - the fact the follow-up letter states that it'll appear on your next statement says it all - what statement, assuming your account would be settled/closed...?
There was a DN October 2009 and a demand for full balance April 2010. I received no statements after Jan 2010.

Something isn't right, however as you have the letters and proof of payment (I presume you'll have a bank statement confirming the actual date it left your account..?) you can easily go to the FOS after Barclays try and fob you off...
A bank statement is not relevant here as it was paid in cash, handed over the Barclays Bank counter and a receipt obtained.
Keep us updated

It is interesting, based on your depth of knowledge, that you think Barclays will try and fob me off. They screwed up regarding the payment and there is the other matter that the DCA says Barclaycard informed them of the lie that I have gone away without providing a new address. I still have two way correspondence with them at the address I have lived at unchanged for over 25 years. Should I do a SAR now?

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

It is interesting, based on your depth of knowledge, that you think Barclays will try and fob me off. They screwed up regarding the payment and there is the other matter that the DCA says Barclaycard informed them of the lie that I have gone away without providing a new address. I still have two way correspondence with them at the address I have lived at unchanged for over 25 years. Should I do a SAR now?

You need to now sit back and await a reply from the bank - until then we're guessing things.

Just relax - nothing we can do until they properly investigate. I can get involved for you if they fob you off.

Keep us updated and don't do anything else, please? You're actually making things harder to resolve by being so pushy - let them reply then we'll help you sort it once and for all.

[Brotherjon]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

ok, thanks for the advice, feet up and chillin'

Can I make the point that the "gone away" misinformation on my credit file is a particular concern as I am aware that there are circumstances where a search may be done for purposes other than obtaining credit. e.g. on requesting a quote for home or car insurance. Surely it would influence the decision whether to complete a deal if the insurance company or broker thinks I have scarpered?

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

It is interesting, based on your depth of knowledge, that you think Barclays will try and fob me off. They screwed up regarding the payment and there is the other matter that the DCA says Barclaycard informed them of the lie that I have gone away without providing a new address. I still have two way correspondence with them at the address I have lived at unchanged for over 25 years. Should I do a SAR now?

Its that exact depth of knowledge (and experience) that we think Barclays are likely to fob you off

You would not be first (and won't be the last) person to have a letter agreeing to a F&F payment, only for that payment to be 'credited' to the account and the balance sold on to a DCA.

I'll assume for now on your original post that you received the Assignment letter from Barclays saying the account was sold to MKDP on June 2012 not June 2011?

Its good that you have the initial F&F agreement letter. However the wording of the second letter is of interest as it states:

I am pleased to tell you that we have now traced your payment of £xxx and it has been credited to your Barclaycard account.

This suggests to me that you were in some dispute with Barclays as to whether a payment had actually been made. Is this correct? There is no mention of this in the timelines that you gave in the original post.

Perhaps this is why Barclaycard then sold the account and the F&F offer was not properly dealt with if, according to their records, it had not been paid in time.

As Niddy has mentioned, you need to sit back now and let the investigation run its course and get the official response back and see what the response is. If you do anything else at this stage you could actually shoot yourself in the foot.

Best
SnV

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

you need to sit back now and let the investigation run its course and get the official response back and see what the response is. If you do anything else at this stage you could actually shoot yourself in the foot.

Exactly mate

[Brotherjon]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

I'll assume for now on your original post that you received the Assignment letter from Barclays saying the account was sold to MKDP on June 2012 not June 2011?
Sorry, typo

Its good that you have the initial F&F agreement letter. However the wording of the second letter is of interest as it states:

I am pleased to tell you that we have now traced your payment of £xxx and it has been credited to your Barclaycard account.

This suggests to me that you were in some dispute with Barclays as to whether a payment had actually been made. Is this correct? There is no mention of this in the timelines that you gave in the original post.
There was no dispute or correspondence between the time of the payment in October 2011 and the assigment letter in June 2012. I suspect that Barclays "lost" the payment internally for a few weeks. You can understand that happening as they are not an organisation whose main function is handling money and moving it around.
Oops, silly me, it IS their main function, so let us assume an administrative faux pas.
SnV

Cooled down now, awaiting developments.

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Account sold after F&F settlement was completed

Cooled down now, awaiting developments.

Excellent!

I still though do not understand this correspondence from Barclaycard. This is the sort of letter they send out when there has either been a complaint or a query on where payment has gone. If it was just a case of it taking a few weeks before payment is credited to your account then you would have had a standard 'Thank you for your payment' letter.

To state that they have 'traced' your payment, and apologised for any inconvenience caused suggests that at some point a query as to the whereabouts to the payment was made.

Apologies to keep focusing on this but I think this may be the hinge-pin on subsequent events.

Regardless - lets see what they come back with. Hopefully this will all be subjecture and they uphold your complaint.

Best
SnV

2 December 2011

Account no. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dear Mr xxxxxxxx

I am pleased to tell you that we have now traced your payment of £xxx and it has been credited to your Barclaycard account.
This will show as a credit on your next statement.

Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience you have been caused.

Yours sincerely

xxxxxxx

Barclaycard Customer Services