Legal Credit Repair ?
I recently employed a Credit Repair Company to look into my Credit
Reference files with a view to helping me clear negative data on them.
However, after paying them I was not satisfied with the service I was
being given, even before I forwarded copies of my Credit Files to
them, and informed them that I wished to cancel the process and sought
a refund. However, they are refusing to refund my money, claiming the
process needs to be completed and then if my file is not repaired then
I may be able to obtain a partial refund. I am unwilling to proceed
any further because I have no faith in the company because of my
dealings with them thus far, and have given them every opportunity to
refund me to no avail. I am the stage where I am about to invoke legal
action to recover the money, but thought it wise to ask for any advice
- legal, consumer or otherwise - anyone may have that may help me
before I take this drastic step. I have even asked the company for
compensation because this has been going on for months. I feel that is
mainly a consumer issue rather than a legal one, in that I am not
happy with the service I was receiving and asked for a refund and
invoked my right to cancel quickly, but I feel I may now have to
resort to legal action to recover the debt. The Company have referred
me to their terms and conditions which state a partial refund may be
available if the repair process is not 100% successful, but I have yet
to complete the process so do not feel these conditions apply to me.
My feelings are that I have employed a company to provide a service
which they have not done completely or satisfactorily, so I am within
my rights to cancel.
The negative data on my Credit Files is all easily explained and
nothing serious at all, but I believe the negative data could affect
my future credit worthiness. After this episode, I feel I may be
better off approaching the companies who supplied the original data to
the agencies to seek a solution rather than employ a third party. If
anyone has any positive experiences of Credit Repair Agencies I would
be very grateful for any information, advice or recommendations they
may have.
I suppose the easy answer was not to get any negative information put
on my Credit File in the first place, and realise I may get little
sympathy from some parties, but I feel it is very hard on this day and
age given the inadequacies of certain companies to avoid getting
negative data against one's details. It is not necessarily a case of
being in debt, or not paying bills as some people assume. I also
accept that some of these Repair Agencies seem to offer the earth and
are simply rogue operations, but what alternative do the general
public have - the whole Credit Reference / Repair scene is just one
big gray area, so how can one be expected to know how to resolve any
situation ?
With thanks in anticipation of any help or advice.
My tips are as follows:
1. Remember, if you clear up your files at one credit reference
agency, this will not necessarily clear up the files at all the other
ones. This is a sodding nuisance, as I'm finding out.
2. If someone with the same surname as yourself, living at the same
address, and has no financial connection to yourself has been 'Credit'
naughty, then you can apply for forms which will dissassociate
yourself from them. However, again, you will have to repeat the
exercise at all the major credit reference agencies in the UK
(Experian, Equifax etc)
3. If it's a company that you have been buying goods and services
from that has been 'Credit' info sharing, and you still trade with
them, then contact them and politely ask them to 'Correct' the info,
otherwise, don't deal with them again. - This worked for me, as the
only entry which I was responsible for on the returned credit file
from the agency was down to a minor misunderstanding, and was
corrected upon my polite complaints to the company concerned.
Finally, I suggest that the law needs to be changed - especially for
the second scenario above, as I'm currently having to write to all
credit reference agencies to dissassociate myself from members of my
family who have a bad credit record, and I have since found this out
following a series of credit refusals.