Crappy day

[Mungler]

It's chaos at work at the moment and it's difficult to find the time to get everything done. So imagine my joy to find out today that despite Goldfish telling me in August that they had frozen my account pending security checks because of erratic on-line spending and that they would send me the necessary written blurb / claim pack by post and a new card they actually:

 

1. forgot to mention that 2 weeks prior I had apparently contacted them and asked for all my post to go to an unknown address in Hayes in Middlesex

2. sent all the stuff and a new card and pin no. etc to the address in Hayes

3. ignored the 3 phone calls and recorded delivery letter I sent them asking why it was I had heard nothing from them

4. wondered why I had now run up twenty large on my card

 

I only found this out today when some organised chap at GE Money phoned me to query an address and application for credit they had sussed as bogus. Hats off to GE Money who then automatically referred everything over to some credit monitoring agency who since informed me about all sorts of credit applications I had made from the address in Hayes in Middlesex off the back of my "cleared" Goldfish status. Apparently only today I had purchased a quantity of mobile phones from the Carphone Warehouse and asked for them to go to my address in Middlesex....

 

So, Goldfish's nice little cock up has opened up a world of grief.

 

I phoned them, got ratty called them useless muppets etc and then laughed - well, it's not my money, I ain't paying it back and they can sort this **** out.

 

The worst is, I have nose for trouble and guessed something was wrong which is why I sent them a recorded delivery letter from work.

 

Idiots.

 

Good news - Essex plod phoned - FAC in the post and will be with me by the weekend.

 

Stand by your beds.

[Cranfield]

Any ideas how they got hold of your details ?

 

We had enough chaos 12 months ago, when my wife had her handbag stolen , complete with credit and debit cards.

Our ex Bank took about 8 weeks to sort out the debit cards.

I dread some low life cloning my stuff. :unsure:

[Bagsy]

That's bad news Mungler, I feel for you. Better it happens with a credit card rather than a debit card though (been there I'm sorry to say) - you get better protection when things go wrong and they tend to get sorted quicker. Good luck getting it sorted.

[Mungler]

It gets better. Just been through my current account and there's a bundle of direct debits going back to July when all this nonsense started.

 

It looks like because the tits at Goldfish sent out a new card, PIN, internet access details and statements, the fraudster at the fraudulent address now has credibility, a history and some recent Goldfish credit card statements.

 

With a current utility bill and a current credit card statement you can get anything you like.

 

Deep joy.

 

No wonder the worlds in the ******* over sub-prime lending - why? Because the idiot banks and credit companies will lend pretty much anything to anyone.

[Evil Elvis]

Did you get the address in middlesex?....sounds like he needs a visit from the blaser squad........

[Mungler]

Did you get the address in middlesex?....sounds like he needs a visit from the blaser squad........

 

 

I did think about that but the consensus is that it is just a mail drop.

 

Probably rented multiple occupancy house and all at arms length.

 

I would hope the rozzers will be round there for a look see soon anyways.

[Pedro]

[Good news - Essex plod phoned - FAC in the post and will be with me by the weekend.

 

Stand by your beds.

 

You're doing better than me old boy

 

I blame those ******* in East London !

 

P.

[Mungler]

Okay so this still rumbles on.

 

Despite sending my card back to Goldfish in pieces a long time ago and disputing the interest charges of @ £300 to my account caused by the fraudulent spend up (they removed the fraudulent spending items from the account but levied interest for the whole duration including on the £10,000 plus of fraudulent spending) they have now written to me to tell me that:

 

1. they will be reporting me to Equifax and Experian for a negative entry to be made on my credit record; and,

2. then sent me a letter the same day stating that following a check with Equifax and Experian my credit limit has been reduced from £15k to £500.

3. then sent me a letter the same day saying that they were pursuing me for £14

 

3 different letters from 3 different people in 3 different departments.

 

So, I appear to have been black listed.

 

I am currently weighing up:

 

1. passing my enormous file of papers (with lovely well developed paper trail by yours truly) into the hands of my solicitors for an application for Declaratory Relief to be made to the local County Court, and or;

2. reporting them to the financial services Ombudsman, and or;

3. a sending a copy of my file to Watchdog.

 

I like to think of myself as being a fairly robust individual and I can generally make time in the day for sport like this - I have a secretary and a good filing system (which helps generate and collate the letters, paper trail, fax transmission reports and recorded delivery slips etc) but this is wearing me down now.

 

I genuinely feel sorry for vulnerable people who find themselves in a situation not dissimilar to mine and who probably would be brow beaten and panicked into throwing money at the credit card companies to get them off their backs.

[Pushkin]

Mung, I understand how you must be feeling about all this and how it does wear you down but don't let the ******* get away with it

 

Pushkin B)

[game_boy]

It gets better. Just been through my current account and there's a bundle of direct debits going back to July when all this nonsense started.

 

It looks like because the tits at Goldfish sent out a new card, PIN, internet access details and statements, the fraudster at the fraudulent address now has credibility, a history and some recent Goldfish credit card statements.

 

With a current utility bill and a current credit card statement you can get anything you like.

 

Deep joy.

 

No wonder the worlds in the ******* over sub-prime lending - why? Because the idiot banks and credit companies will lend pretty much anything to anyone.

 

Your on the money there mung. I used to work at said call centre when it was Morgan Stanley. An absolute shower of w**ks. I can honestly say I hated every second I was there. They know the credit history of everyone they lend to and yet they complain, moan and harrass people when they fail to meet their payments on repayment. Shocking but unfortunately true. If your looking for new credit cards, try the that Money Saving Expert chap, great advice on offers etc..

 

Best of luck with it, but dont bank on them sorting it out anytime soon as the computer system and the staff very rarely sing from the same hyme sheet and letters go out all over the shop advising of litigation and all the rest of it.

[henry d]

I`m of the opinion that "What doesn`t kill me only makes me stronger" ..........go get `em tiger !

[JohnGalway]

Stick to your guns Mung

 

It's their cock up let them pay for it. I'm sorry but I just had to laugh at them coming after you for £14, I sincerely hope the loss of this £14 will cause them a tidal wave of problems. I had BT come after me for £10 before (that I did not owe them), I paid it after incurring a lot more than £10 in expenses to them

 

I recently got a bill for 90 something Euro from FedEx on that other matter, gleefully informing me I had to pay for the debt collection agency they set on me I wrote them a polite but stiff email letting them know I would sooner lick the bins out the back of the poorhouse than pay them for their cock up and any more "harassing" letters would be replied from my solicitor. I've recieved no more communication from Fed Ex or their minions, for the life of me I can't think why

 

The "Man" can be beat :yp:, stick with it B)

Edited May 22, 2008 by JohnGalway

[p@cman]

What a nightmare.

 

Wife & mines joint Tesco credit card account got raided last year. Goodness knows how they managed to clone the card, but they did and the rogues went on a spending spree. Fortunately for us someone at the Tesco card centre noticed a change in the card activity pretty quickly and telephoned us to question the card usage, the account was then quickly suspended. Hats off to Tesco for picking it up so quick!

 

Hope you get it sorted Mungler, sounds like a right mess. Goldfish have been completely and totally incompetant and you shouldn't end up suffering for their negligence.

[bob300w]

Mung; Whilst appreciating the situation that you are in, having been in a similar one myself a few years back, have you considered that it may be your trophy, on it's extended world trip, that may be using your credit card?

[Mungler]

LOL my trophy couldn't carry the £10k+ of goods that was bought from a Tottenham Court Road electrical retailer in one go.

[MM]

whilst your card is being hammered, get me a new rifle would you Mungler just say its the crooks who done it :o

[Dunkield]

Reading this makes me glad I am with a proper bank

[Ballymac]

Mungler, before you go to the Ombudsman you need to approach the provider first. You are quite correct that having a good paper trail is your best bet of resolving this issue, and it is very frustrating trying to get to the correct person who can resolve these issues when you are receiving so many letters from different departments.

 

If you can't get satisfaction from Goldfish then you can go to the Ombudsman, but going to WATCHDOG or Sunday Times, Mail etc maybe just as effective.

Normally these companies get it sorted, they just need to be directed in the right way, which you seem to be doing, and again it is frustrating but keep at it.

BTW you are not black listed, but your credit profile is probably in worse shape so this needs to be corrected, but sadly you need the co operation of Goldfish for this, so as above keep at it.

 

A lesson for all of us when trying to resolve issues like this is to record ( just a note on paper) dates times and whom we spoke to and about what, copies of letters that were sent etc and what was agreed. This builds up the picture and helps both sides to get to the right conclusion.

 

Keep us posted on how this ends, I had a problem a few months back with someone trying to use my credit card, they tried initially to spend €2 then £2 giving the money to charity, then went to buy computer stuff. My bank caught on fairly quickly and phoned me to confirm the purchases which i explained had nothing to do with me. Card was cancelled and new one issued, my bank account was not touched thank goodness, nor debit card.You can't be careful enough.

[malkiserow]

Is the lesson in this that we should all keep our handbgs safe?

 

I had a sales chappie from ebuyer yesterday telling me my bank required security codes. I tried them, you know the usual 2nd digit then .... after that he told me it was not accepted but HE could change it for me!!! I asked him, can he really change my bank security code and he said yes and we needed to if the order was to be processed. I told him I would not do that and my answers were 100% correct. He then said he can override the system and process the order.

 

sound very dodgy to me..... has anyone else heard of this?

[al4x]

Mung sounds like you need to stop talking to the minions and straight for a supervisor.

 

Also might be worth checking your credit report just to see if there are any entrys against you so you have the ammo to pursue them

[Mungler]

Chaps, worry not. I am an expert in such matters - I have made dozens of complaints to the insurance and financial service ombudsmen on behalf of clients over the years.

 

I have just spent 2 hours preparing a bundle for a complaint. It just fits into a Lever Arch file with 48 dividers. All correspondence, attendance notes, fax transmission reports and recorded delivery slips.

 

I carried out Experian and Equifax checks on myself at the start and have just asked for another set of reports (£2 a hit).

 

If I was doing this on behalf of a client, I would say that there is a minimum of £2k of time in that file.

 

The bit I now fully recognise is that Joe Public would not stand a chance.

 

If I get an idle moment I may scan the whole lot (but take out all personal information).

[Dunkield]

That's a lot of aggro for you go through and for anyone else to have to pay someone like you go through.

 

When this happened to me/us, we phoned Lloyds fraud line and got the card cancelled, they then sent through a form with all the recent activity on the card and we highlighted what wasn't ours.

The money was back in our account inside a week.

There were some other small transactions that didn't make that cut that came though a few days later, they were phoned through and the monies were reimbursed ASAP - sorted.

 

Based on this experience Goldfish sound like a bunch of monkeys (allegedly)

[Maiden22]

.

Edited December 10, 2008 by Maiden22

[lurcherboy]

The rotties card got scammed a few Christmas's ago and Lloyd's TSB refunded everything within a two weeks. We had a Platinum account and this was part of the service.

 

 

 

 

LB

[Mungler]

The update is that over a year later this still rumbles on.

 

Proceedings are being issued next week. After a year of nonsense I have had enough. I have instructed solicitors to make an application to Court for injunctive relief (amongst other things) to stop Goldfish collections from harassing me morning, noon and night - Saturday early morning and late evening seemingly being a particularly good time for them.

 

The barrister instructed by my solicitors has read my now enormous personal correspondence file and whilst he has found it hugely entertaining he is still in shock and disbelief.

 

This should get quite interesting now.