summons

[tec0]

I wish she send you an e-mail... That said you cannot ignore the summons. I would do as Dave suggested go into court allow your lawyer to explain the situation with the reference number if you don’t have any documentation and hope it is enough... If not you can ask for some more time and perhaps you lawyer can ask for a court-order to release all information and why not call the manager you spoke to as a witness?

Other than that;

And ask for dismissal with costs payable by the plaintiff

It is really good advice.

[murdock]

if this was my summons and i was treated like this...they would have already had the notice to defend...i would have paid my lawyer mate to take on this case just to prove a point...but unfortunately it is my wifes...and she doesnt want to make this a public issue...she just wants them to leave her alone so she can pay off the balance and be done with standard bank...she has already moved all her accounts to another bank.

i take my hat off to my wife...she puts up with a lot with me and unfortunatly has to suffer sometimes when i decide to prove a point...like with the water and lights issue...i can assure you many other women would have left aready...i know my first wife did...i will respect her decision and leave this were it is for now...unless she decides to take it further.

thanks for the advice.

this unfortunatly is one of the reasons we as south africans are bullied like we are because we stand down to easy...they steal our money and squander it...people hijack us and walk all over us because we throw our hands in the air and just give...we allow people to drug our daughters and rape them...we allow people to get away with bullying us like this issue...we allow our children to listen to music which if you just took the time to listen to the words would be horrified...and realise why they turning into the little dispespectfull monster they are...it is sad but true.

[murdock]

just to throw a little fuel in the fire....they debited her account for her garage card which is already paid up and closed....eeeeiish...i wonder how many millions they make every month out of this kind of ooops....you got to look at the numbers...if it only happens to a few people there is no gain...but if you take R500 off enough peoples accounts you start looking at a sizeable amount of interest...like my ex father in law always says...his profit margin is only 2.5 % but when you are turning over 5 million rand a month...it becomes a worthwhile....thats R125 000 per month...some small companies dont even turnover that amount of money per month...never mind profit....50 million in loans last year...a couple ooops along the way...you do the maths.

she has paid off both her credit card and garage card and only has her overdaft to pay off which will be finalised this year...small steps...(just to answer daves question)

i went to the hellopeter this morning to see what standard bank complaint look like...and as i suspected it is full...but what gets to me is the responses are all similar and the ones i went into to see if they had been sorted out...none of then had any feedback with the problem being resolved...this could be because the person who complained was just tooo lazy to go back and report that the issue is resolved or the service was just not up to standard.

[Dave A]

i went to the hellopeter this morning to see what standard bank complaint look like...and as i suspected it is full...but what gets to me is the responses are all similar and the ones i went into to see if they had been sorted out...none of then had any feedback with the problem being resolved...this could be because the person who complained was just tooo lazy to go back and report that the issue is resolved or the service was just not up to standard.

I'm afraid that is where hellopeter isn't so hot - you don't really get to see any detailed feedback on the website. However, when it comes to Standard Bank I can tell you that you will get a phonecall from someone who will take a proper look at the issues raised.

[gac]

Murdoch, I really do feel your anger in this matter and it certainly seems very questionable.

There are a number of these "scavenger" firms around who feed off the Banks, and generally they are those firms who cant cut it in the main stream legal profession. I think the important thing to realise is that they ONLY get paid if they successfully collect on an outstanding debt, so of course they are tempted to act at ouside of the law to try and collect amounts. Sadly, most of the employees of these firms are not properly legally qualified and they earn a living on commissions on the amounts they collect, so they push their luck legally. Notwitstanding these firms are responsible for the acts of the people representing them and therefore reporting thtem both to the Banks, Law Society and Ombudsman is very good advice.

I dont think 1 can lay the blame at the door of the Bank as their dealings with these firms is arms length and any wrong doing on the part of the Banks would be extremely difficult to prove.

If the Bank says they're happy with the status of the repayments, get it in writing, and then advise this low life firm you have a letter from the Bank confirming that all is in order & should they attempt to process this matter further you will sue them for malpractise and misrepresentation.

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it or allow it to get under your skin.

[gac]

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post is that im l probability your wife signed an acknowledgement of debt somewhere along the way OR a document accepting that if any repayment arrangement is breached, the entire outstanding amount becomes due an payable immediately. It could well be that these monkeys were advised by the Bank somewhere along the line, either in an automatically generated report or per letter, that your wife defaulted on the 1 months payment arrangement and this has led the to do what they've done.

Notwithstanding how their action may have arisen, the advice given above is all good and should be followed. If a Court Date has been set get the OK letter from the Bank, notify these goats, enter a Notice to Defend and present it in Court if you have to.

Good on you to make a stand Murdoch. Rooting for you.

[murdock]

some feedback...this has gone very hush hush...there is apparently an internal enquiry...because of the complaint lodged by the bank manager (women) against the rude call centre member and his manner in which he speaks to customers and bank staff members...seems he has a problem with women...and his manners when it comes to communicating with women...maybe his wife is abusing him at home so he takes it out on customers and women in general.

the summons...well thats just a joke...no one quite knows their arse from thier elbows on this matter...and it has just become a finger pointing issue...all i can say...its like dealing with the majority of big companies in this country...so much for being one of the best protected customers in the world...it just doesnt work in a third world country.

[tec0]

If anything I find that hitting hard via the Media and other such systems can become a real problem for big companies. There are people to go and complain too even banks have custodians. Finding them is never easy lodging a complaint is always a pain but sometimes you get a motivated person inside this structure that is willing to kick a$$ and take names.

Unlawful practice remains unlawful, it doesn't matter how you sugar coat it. Normally banks want to handle things internally because partly they don't want the trouble you can cause if you go to the right people and use the right systems available to you.

I think a bit of research can help with this, first find out who banks answer too, then find out how to get in contact with them and figure out how there system works. Eventually one will be able to make enough waves for them to take one seriously.

Knowing that banks become relentless when it comes to getting their money back one may feel that we then must also be relentless if the banks treats one unfairly.

[Norri]

This is also where it's useful to have recording software on your phone so you have evidence stacked up against them. I used to record all my calls for this reason but, since I got my new phone, I haven't been and it's dangerous. Go ahead and find phonecall recording software that works on your cell and use it.

[murdock]

generalising about big companies...i do feel i need to mention some good feed back i heard this weekend about unilever...they backup thier products...the customer who was commenting...said that her experience was pleasant and was rather amazed considering the item was a free promotional product...yet they still made the effort to replace it...now that is service.