Dispute - what shall I do?

[NickD]

Hi,

I have a dispute with a company that 'sold' a course in property investing (yes, I know there are lots of them, mostly crap, but these people seemed to be very different).

I have paid them a fee to do some work for me as part of a package of extra services they offer. At the same time, I am paying for the course on a monthly Standing Order.

I have a dispute over the quality of service and poor communication. Whenever there is a dispute, they just seem to fail to reply in the hope that my frustration will just go away. I am extremely annoyed with them and despite repeated phone calls and emails, they just do not want to know. As a company, they are really a crock of s**t!

The only lever I have is the monthly payment. What if I stopped paying? They did respond to that (!) and have told me that this will affect my credit rating. When I look at my rating on Experian, they are not listed, presumably because they are not a 'true' finance company. The credit agreement is however regulated by the Consumer Credit Act (or so it says on the paperwork).

Where do I stand here? If I fail to pay them, can they really contact Experian? To me, they are just a supplier, in the same way as a company that sells nuts and bolts. Those companies only have recourse to the County Courts, not Experian!

Does someone out there know about this type of contract? I do not want to upset my credit rating because, according to Experian, it is the highest figure you can obtain!

 

[CSBob]

Is the course itself received in installments, in line with your payments, or do you now effectively have the whole thing in your possession but still have some payments outstanding?

 

[NickD]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

The course is complete. This was a two-day weekend course done back in 2009. Payment for the course is still on-going.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

If the course was completed in 2009 - have these disputes been going on for some 2 years then?

 

[CSBob]

Sorry to say, as you have since commissioned other of their services you must have been happy with the course itself, so don't really have a leg to stand on as regards suspending payment for that. If they choose to chase that through debt collection avenues (depends how much is outstanding, tbh) then yes, this could ultimately be reflected on your credit rating score, as with any other unpaid loan debt in your name.

I would be inclined to consider this a 'fingers burned' situation and, aside from paying off that course debt according to the agreed schedule, would not have anything more to do with this particular company ever again.

 

[NickD]

Hi Elaine,

No, the dispute was more recent, in fact I started becoming concerned about their poor service back in November 2010. Since then, we have had several discussions and it was agreed that they will improve the service.

As is usual, once the dust has settled, the poor service returns and now I am totally frustrated and want to take further action to resolve the issue once and for all.

I have decided that I no longer want to deal with these people due to consistent failures and incompetence on their part.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

It's not clear if you are disputing the cost of the course in 2009 sumhow spread over a number of years or your dispute is against the company for failure to undertake some sort of work after the course i.e. did your relationship end on completion of the course or are you ment to be getting further help

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Hi Elaine,

No, the dispute was more recent, in fact I started becoming concerned about their poor service back in November 2010. Since then, we have had several discussions and it was agreed that they will improve the service.

As is usual, once the dust has settled, the poor service returns and now I am totally frustrated and want to take further action to resolve the issue once and for all.

I have decided that I no longer want to deal with these people due to consistent failures and incompetence on their part.

Confused :|:|:|

You say the payment was for a course taken in 2009 - so if nothing wrong with course then what is the dispute?

If the dispute relates to another service then it is nothing to do with the payments for the course - is it?

I'm not getting this?

 

[NickD]

Sorry about the confusion. I shall try to clarify the situation better.

The course was taken in 2009. I am still paying for that by monthly installment.

More recently, I asked them to undertake some additional work. It is the quality of this work that is in dispute.

As I still owe them money, albeit for the course, this is the only weapon I have in dealing with the dispute. As I see it, the poor service and failure to carry out the work agreed and failure to communicate effectively should, in my view, result in a refund of the money paid.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Course received - no dispute on this so no reason to withhold money.

New service is separate issue entirely!

 

[SamStones]

I'm no expert by any means but I suggest you continue your monthly payments and explore your legal options for your other dispute.

 

[Smallbusinessman]

I agree with SamStones. Can you give an indication (in round terms) of the amounts involved?

 

[IANL]

Agree with three previous posts.

The latest dispute is unrelated to the course provision and payment.

I have been in court where one claim was trying to be set off against a previous invoice. Judge said they are different matters as there is no clause or write to set off!!