Bond arrears

**ians** · 20-Jul-21, 09:15 PM

I still cant get an answer from Standard bank ... nobody can tell me what the "garden fees*" is for.

**Derlyn** · 20-Jul-21, 10:35 PM

Oh well, I tried.

Good luck, brother.

If I were in your shoes, I would have sold that bicycle long ago.

Peace out .. Derek.

**Blurock** · 21-Jul-21, 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by ians

I still cant get an answer from Standard bank ... nobody can tell me what the "garden fees*" is for.

Contact their fraud dept and report the unauthorised debit. They then have to investigate and report back to you. As you cannot stop a debit order, you will have to stop payment every month until it goes away. Keep pressure on the fraud dept and get names and references so that there is someone that can be held accountable.

**Blurock** · 21-Jul-21, 08:44 AM

This bond issue appears to be a slapgat attitude from bank officials. I am sure that a senior official can look into the matter and have it resolved in no time.
Are you getting bond statements and can you see the debits and credits on your account? If they have handed you over to a debt collector, he is probably adding his 10% to any monies collected. This could add additional costs to the account. It could also be possible that credits are not recorded on your account, but is lying in a suspense account.
How did the bank get hold of your wife's banking details to submit a D/o?
If that was unauthorised, you should demand full refund for the extra charges to return the D/o

In my experience, I would do the following:
1. Demand a full record of transactions for the past 24 months at least.
2. See that interest is calculated correctly and that all your payments are recorded on the same date that you had paid.
3. Look for any add- ons that could push you further in arrears.
4. Get a good attorney to approach the bank at a snr level (such as regional manager or at least the regional head of department) with the facts as per the statement to show that you have continued paying and are trying to catch up.
You may try this yourself, if you can get an appointment.
5. Let the attorney negotiate a new repayment plan and make sure that your instalment is not due on the last day of the month as your debtors may only pay a week later.

**adrianh** · 21-Jul-21, 09:20 AM

Another angle is to speak to a local radio station. I've spoken to Cape Talk about a couple of things a couple of times and it is amazing how quickly people take action when they are expected to appear on radio to explain their actions. I don't know if there is a local radio station / program / journalist that you could speak to. Look, you are not the only person in this situation so I really think that a progressive radio station would love to run with it.

**adrianh** · 21-Jul-21, 04:21 PM

In a similar vain to what @Ians is dealing with

TELKOM just pulled an interesting stunt on me. I go in to the shop to add an additional service to the long list of services on my name. Next thing they say that I can't get another service because I owe them R4k from 2016. I go huh....since when?

Anyhow, after much phoning around and digging it comes to light that I was involved in a company that went belly up long ago. Telkom WROTE THE DEBT OFF. The guy on the phone 1st said that I owed them nothing but when I pushed him he looked in an archive system that showed the issue. So now they say that unless I pay them the R4k that was written off in 2016 they cannot allow me to make changes to my existing services (That I have been paying for for 10 odd years)

I think the scheme is this: They can't force people to pay written off debt so they blackmail them into doing so by refusing future service. I think that Telkom is digging up old skeletons because they are hurting for cash. I further think that anybody that was associated in any way with debt that Telkom had written off is going to get a very nasty surprise when they go to the Telkom shop or phone inquiries for that matter.

We are in the fortunate position of being able to pay the R4k so life goes on - I just think that it is a very SCUMMY way for them to get money from people considering the broader situation.

TELKOM gets my vote as SCUMBAGS OF THE YEAR! - Come to think of it - They are just doing what they always do so nothing has changed!

I think that other companies are going to use this same scheme to suck money from people - be very careful of the conglomerates - your 10 year old written off debt in one company may just show up in an affiliated company's "archive".

**adrianh** · 21-Jul-21, 04:38 PM

Oh and by the by: SANLAM phoned me 5 times this morning trying to sell me a a credit card - until I shouted at the lady and blocked the number.

Big companies ALL seem to be a bunch of money hungry scumbags!

**Justloadit** · 21-Jul-21, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by adrianh

Next thing they say that I can't get another service because I owe them R4k from 2016. I go huh....since when?

This should have fallen under the Prescribed law.

Prescription Act says that contractual and delictual debts extinguish after three years from the date when it became payable (due). Prescription periods may, in certain circumstances, be delayed or interrupted.

Hence never admit to having a debt, and never ever voluntarily making a single cent of contribution to the debt, it will automatically reset the prescribed date to the date of these actions. Be careful, they can record you and use it against you in these cases.

I suppose under the case that you were under, it would not have helped to get the service required.

**adrianh** · 21-Jul-21, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by Justloadit

This should have fallen under the Prescribed law.

Hence never admit to having a debt, and never ever voluntarily making a single cent of contribution to the debt, it will automatically reset the prescribed date to the date of these actions. Be careful, they can record you and use it against you in these cases.

I suppose under the case that you were under, it would not have helped to get the service required.

I agree not to admit to any debt but the scam is that they simply refuse additions or alterations to existing service unless the matter is resolved in their favour. Damned if you do and damned if you don't - They are banking on the fact that people will rather pay the outstanding amount than go through the trauma of moving to another service provider.

This is the 1st time since 2016 that a check of my id number on their system showed the written off amount - (..and all the family phones and devices are on my name so I haven't been hiding from them - I pay them nominally R1.5k per month for the past 5 years a least) - It is as if they are resurrecting all their written off archives so as to blackmail people into clearing the old debt.

**adrianh** · 03-Aug-21, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by tractorspk

Very difficult in COVID-19 situation. Everyone knows that.

The problem is that some companies are blackmailing people and making matters worse for the general public.

I am not going to pay the prescribed debt - they are welcome to take me to court - I don't care - If you refuse me additional services then I will just go elsewhere and cancel my contracts once they've run their course.

I think its short sighted ploy on their part - they take me for R4k and they stand to lose R1.5k per month once all my contracts run out.