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Dealing With GE Money In Ireland - 29th, July,2008
- By Jayne Taylor
- Published 29th July, 2008
- Daily Debt Blog Ireland
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Jayne Taylor
I am a Debt Advisor and senior member of the Debt Advice Team. Please feel free to contact me on my direct line 01657 5602 if you would like to have a confidential chat about any Irish debt issues that you may be experiencing.
View all articles by Jayne Taylor
Dealing With GE Money In Ireland - 29th, July,2008
She has 6 creditors and enrolled onto a debt
repayment scheme with us at the end of June 2008 and we have been in
contact with all her creditors so they are all aware that we are acting
on her behalf and we have been making payments to them based on a pure
Pro Rata arrangement. The process that we use is very open and allows
everyone involved to see precisely who is owed what, and also outlines
the payment offers so that the whole procedure is transparent.
Most of Miss R's creditors welcomed our involvement and indeed one is very happy and complimented us on our thorough and deligent approach to the issues at hand. However GE Money stood out as appearing to differ from this view in that they simply rejected our payment offer with a couple of what appeared to be standard response letters both of which said in very no-nonsense terms that they were not prepared to accept the payment offers, but, frustratingly, they didn't specify a reason why nor did they say what payment amount they would accept apart from the contractual amount each month for the loan?
This was perplexing me and the Personal Account Manager who looks after this client's DRS and so we decided to challenge their decision. This was underlined by the fact that the client's other creditors have accepted the pro rata payment offers. So I dialled the phone number on the GE Money letter and within 5 seconds I was speaking to Dingwall City Council's switchboard. No, I haven't gone soft in the recent hot weather, but rather it would appear that GE Money's letters contain the wrong phone number and Dingwall Council receive hundreds of calls from anxious GE Money clients every week and by now are so used to dealing with such calls they can provide the correct contact number without delay! Incidentally if you are trying to reach GE Money's collections team in Shannon, don't call Dingwall Council (1980 52 1000) but DO dial 01478 0000 - that will make sure you reach the right destination.
I spoke with the first Debt Collections Team Account Manager and unfortunately it was like talking to a brick wall with no reasoning or no inclination to help me understand their policy or procedures in relation to why they had rejected the offer for Miss R. So I politely asked to speak with his Line Manager (his Team Leader to use their functional titles) and the Team Leader dutifully came on the line. She was a grand girl from Wellington New Zealand, was a star and very empathetic and understanding of our client's anxieties and agreed with me that the very last thing we both want is for our mutual client to be off work ill with stress and then not be in a position to make any form of repayment each month.
The Team Leader promised me that she would speak to the person who makes all the decisions regarding repayment offers and then they would come back to me with their latest solution. Unfortunately they finish work in the Collections Dept at 6pm so when I hadn't received any feedback from them, I decided to call back at 6.05pm and was greeted by a lovely rich Wexford accent and the word "Security" - oh the irony lol !
So I will endeavour to call back tomorrow first thing (in GE Money world that is 9am GMT) and then hopefully we can get things moving forward for Miss R in a positive fashion !
Most of Miss R's creditors welcomed our involvement and indeed one is very happy and complimented us on our thorough and deligent approach to the issues at hand. However GE Money stood out as appearing to differ from this view in that they simply rejected our payment offer with a couple of what appeared to be standard response letters both of which said in very no-nonsense terms that they were not prepared to accept the payment offers, but, frustratingly, they didn't specify a reason why nor did they say what payment amount they would accept apart from the contractual amount each month for the loan?
This was perplexing me and the Personal Account Manager who looks after this client's DRS and so we decided to challenge their decision. This was underlined by the fact that the client's other creditors have accepted the pro rata payment offers. So I dialled the phone number on the GE Money letter and within 5 seconds I was speaking to Dingwall City Council's switchboard. No, I haven't gone soft in the recent hot weather, but rather it would appear that GE Money's letters contain the wrong phone number and Dingwall Council receive hundreds of calls from anxious GE Money clients every week and by now are so used to dealing with such calls they can provide the correct contact number without delay! Incidentally if you are trying to reach GE Money's collections team in Shannon, don't call Dingwall Council (1980 52 1000) but DO dial 01478 0000 - that will make sure you reach the right destination.
I spoke with the first Debt Collections Team Account Manager and unfortunately it was like talking to a brick wall with no reasoning or no inclination to help me understand their policy or procedures in relation to why they had rejected the offer for Miss R. So I politely asked to speak with his Line Manager (his Team Leader to use their functional titles) and the Team Leader dutifully came on the line. She was a grand girl from Wellington New Zealand, was a star and very empathetic and understanding of our client's anxieties and agreed with me that the very last thing we both want is for our mutual client to be off work ill with stress and then not be in a position to make any form of repayment each month.
The Team Leader promised me that she would speak to the person who makes all the decisions regarding repayment offers and then they would come back to me with their latest solution. Unfortunately they finish work in the Collections Dept at 6pm so when I hadn't received any feedback from them, I decided to call back at 6.05pm and was greeted by a lovely rich Wexford accent and the word "Security" - oh the irony lol !
So I will endeavour to call back tomorrow first thing (in GE Money world that is 9am GMT) and then hopefully we can get things moving forward for Miss R in a positive fashion !
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14 Responses to "Dealing With GE Money In Ireland - 29th, July,2008"
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said this on 30 Jul 2008 6:46:31 PM UTC
Great photograph Jayne! Is that you with the guy who was Spit the Dog ? I remember him from Tiswas as a child
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said this on 26 Jan 2009 2:30:18 PM UTC
Read your article very good, but what was the outcome. I am in the same position as your client was in July. I lost my job before Christmas and I am able to make arrangements with all my debtors, but like you the only one dragging their feet is GE money. After sending an initial letter explaining the loss of my job, then another letter with a financial statement they still did not reply. I called them today using the number you gave Thanks. I now have a name of a person taken care of my account. Hopefully I will get it sorted. Thanks again. Regards Chris
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said this on 02 Mar 2009 9:11:21 PM UTC
After reading your article which was very good, I became a bit worried as I myself am a customer of GE money and due to some personal problems will not be able to afford my car payments in the coming months. I have been with them ever since I got my second car over six years ago and have never once missed a payment or been late. I was going to call them to see what I could do about my situation and by the looks of your story it is not going to be easy and I am not looking forward to it. Thank you for the number I also have another number for them, it takes you forever to get through but I always do, it is similar to the fake one they gave you, 1890 52 1000, the nine and eight are the other way round. Hope this helps someone. Kind regards Crystal.
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said this on 28 May 2009 2:57:33 AM UTC
GE Money have recently set up a new team called the FSU-Financial Solutions Unit, This team is designed to help customers who have pesonal loans, Auto loans or mortgages-they will go through your income/expenditure on the phone with you and come to a suitable arangement by reducing your monhly installments or orgainising a reschedual/payment break. For commercial finance, the members in the capital solutions department will also do this. In order to avoid going through the automated system request a mobile number for the agent you are dealing with and when you call request to speak to the same agent. Ge Money in shannon have recruited a new inbound team to reduce inbound waitng times. Just remember to have either: your agreement number,telephone number, car reg number or as many details as you can to help the gent to access your account,remember due to the data proection act the agent will require your address and DOB as security to confirm they are speaking with the customer and not a third party-the agents have no choice but to request this regardless how often they speak with you as if this isnt done it is a breach of compliance. GE helped me out when i was awaiting a sale of my house o go through they put a reschedual through for my car and farm machinery so make the call and give it a try-other options would be to call a ge mobile, e-mail, fax or post.....
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said this on 13 Jul 2009 11:49:04 PM UTC
I recently missed a payment with GE Money through no fault of my own and i contacted them straight away to let them know the circumstances. All they said was that i need to make a payment asap. I explained the circumstances to them, they didnt want to listen only when i was going to make a payment. For the whole week, i got bombarded with calls on my mobile, different agents asking me when i was going to make a payment. I called them back on the 1890 927 100 and spoke to a girl there, tried again to explain my circumstances but I got the impression they did not want to listen. All i got asked was did i want to make a payment, when could i make the arrears payment, and they would not listen to me. After speaking to them, i kept getting telephone calls from them again. WHen i finally got the arrears together, i called them to ask if they could provide me with bank account details for me to make the lodgement, and they told me that i needed to pay now and that it would be 10 days before it would be registered in that account, and they wanted me to give them a laser card payment straight away. There is no doubt there collections department are on some kind of commission basis because despite me trying to reason with them and give an explanation, they (a) didnt want to know about the circumstances (b) did not want to negotiate a method of repaying the arrears (c) never stopped calling me even after i called them twice to explain my circumstances (d) wanted to take a payment over the phone by credit/laser card instead of sending a cheque/or having money paid into an account. I know these people are only doing their job but surely there is only so much or so far these people are allowed go? Can i complain to the financial regulator about their aggresive approach if i have no satisfaction after complaining to them? Can somebody give me advice? Thanks! Mick
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said this on 24 Jul 2009 10:40:38 AM UTC
Thats good to hear that you got sorted.
I on the other hand lost my job and moved to another country i explained all this to ge money when i left and that as soon as i got a job i wouyld enter into a new payment plan. when i did get my job abroud i also found out i was pregnant and with the stress and financal presure of a new country being pregnant starting a new job rent etc etc etc i was unable to pay the agreed 453.00 per month, i asked could we enter into a payment plan for a less amount they refused, They still to this day wont enter into a payment plan with me i am 7 months in arrers and 7.5 months pregnant its a mess, And the number on there website is a 1890 number one that cant be called from abroud and they have stopped calling me i have no contact with them and i have no idea what action they are taking against me and i am extremly worried to say the least. i got sick and tired of explaining once a week my life story to a new employee they do not back over the notes and expect you to tell your story again and again its not right i have reqested a call back from a manager to discuss my situation i still to this day have not recived one the last contact i had was 2 months |
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said this on 14 Aug 2009 2:17:38 PM UTC
I work for Ge money, The financial solutions dept, it is a new department that is set up to help customers as per the comment from anon above,
I enjoy helping my customers and do not like seeing people in financial difficulty as I have first hand experience what it is like to be out of work and have debts to pay, If any body wants any advice or help I would be happy to advise you of what you can do. In relation to the above comment unfortunately the financial solutions dept are unable to assist anyone that has more then 5 missed payments on their account but the worst thing anyone can do is not make a offer in writing to ge money as you must show you are at least trying to make payments of somesort, |
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said this on 13 Dec 2009 9:15:37 PM UTC
How do I contact the Financial Solutions Dept. of GE Money
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said this on 25 Dec 2009 11:53:08 PM UTC
I also work for ge money but not in the Financial Solutions Department(FSU). To Contact The fsu department you need to call the 1890 number and speak to the department in which you have your agreement eg. Auto, Personal Loan, Capital Solutions etc. etc. Advise the agent of your current financial situtation and request a payment break or financial help. The agent will then E-mail the FSU department who will contact you and come to a suitable arrangement. The FSU department will request info from you I.E bank statements, income and expenditure etc. This varies depending on which type of laon you have I.E auto, Personal Loan etc etc etc. Remember to read the terms and conditions of this arrangement when it is posted to you before you sign it and return it, If you see something incorrect or something that doesn't suit you call back and advise this, As there is no point getting an arrangement which WILL add ntrest if you are going to fall behind again. Request how much the arrangement is going to cost you and make sure you know the status of your agreement. Many people ake loans without reading the terms and conditions. Remember we are humans aswell and we also have our own financial difficulties so we will try and help you regardless if you speak to collections or cust services.
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said this on 04 Jan 2010 12:40:35 PM UTC
I, too, have a mortgage with GE Money. My husband was made redundant in Jan'09 and I had 3 months mortgage payments in reserve so I was sure that we would be ok. Needless to say, in the current climate, he was not able to find work. I advised GE Money at the time he was made redundant and finally contacted them in February to try and come to some arrangement. After much discussions, forwarding of documentation, many phone calls, and long waiting periods, we eventually worked out a reduced payment schedule for 5 months. This was just about achievable although we were constantly getting phone calls about making extra payments. When the 5 months was up, we were still unemployed and were told by GE Money that we could not have a further arrangement until March 2010. My husband finally found work and started in November by which stage we were 2 months in arrears. I contacted GE immediately and advised them of our change in circumstance and that we would be making our normal monthly payments forthwith. After that it got really silly. Despite the fact that I was making monthly payments, the phone calls never stopped and in the end I lost the plot especially when I received a really condescending letter which made me feel about 2 inches tall. I waited until the next phone call and asked to speak to a supervisor who informed me that despite the fact that they were receiving regular mortgage payments in addition to payments off the arrears that the 'System' highlights us constantly for a call about the arrears. I was very firm and precise and eventually she agreed to take the phone numbers off the account. Not having the constant phone calls has made me sleep easier and the panic attacks have stopped so I am definitely happier. However, when I call to make a payment, I still get the usual garb about being in arrears and it affecting my credit rating (like I care at this stage). I realise that they have a job to do but they really should think about the impact their letters and phone calls are having on people who, in the first place, are extremely stressed already and secondly, are living close to the edge every day trying to keep a roof over their heads and providing for their families. I only hope and pray that we will never have to go down this road again and good luck to anyone going through a similar situation.
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said this on 05 Jan 2010 12:03:20 PM UTC
For thos people who do not have the number for GE Money Ireland - it's 1890 927 900
Their fax number is 1890 927 901 |
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said this on 08 Jan 2010 11:56:00 PM UTC
Hj everyone I have a jeep loan with ge and they are the greatest shower I have ever came across I bought a jeep in 2008 and I rang ge over the phone to look for the loan in early december and all he said was ring me when your collecting it he never asked for any bank details or bank statments or anything which I found strange so 9th jan goin up for jeep rang the rep for ge handed the phone to the car dealership signed nothing and drove away in a brand new jeep which at the time I didn't mind as I could well afford it so everything was going well until april last year when I lost my job and had to sign on so I new I was going to be in troble so j sent them a letter statng my position they didn't want to know about it basically didn't care where I find the money just get it I made several payment offers but they wouldn't except after a lot of phone calls back and forth they agreed to accept 80% of the monthly payment for three month and she said this would affect my credit rating but they would go back and change that at a later stage if I kept these payments up I asked could I get that in writing and she said no so that was a load of bull**** ge in my experiance have a habbit of telling you.what you want to hear just to get tgere own way so anyway as I didn't want to lose the jeep I have been paying it and back in september I got a phone call (one of many) looking for more money I said there wasnt a hope I was still on jobseekers so I asked about a settlement and she said 26000. And I could get a garag to make an offer but I couldn't get a good enough offer to sell it so I kept paying away so they were pestering me with phone calls ever two weeks demanding payment of arrears so there today I asked the lady for a new settlement figure and she said its 30153. I nearly hit the floor with the fright and I asked how come its it gone up and she just what do ya expect your not payinv the full amount so including nterest and charges that's what it comes so that's my story I ya want advice keep well away I'm at the end of my theader with them the women up there have hearts of steel and thick necks I pity anyone who has a loan with this impossibe company
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said this on 05 Feb 2010 12:35:21 AM UTC
I am so glad I am not on my own with the bombarding phone calls. However I have buried my head in the sand at this stage and I am terrifeied every day i see the postman.. I had a car loan with GE which after selling the car I changed to a personal loan - I have alot of missed payments on the account due to a litteny of excuses - maternity, redundacy etc so and after trying to reason with the robots on the phone calls at eight in the evening time and time again I have buried my head in the sand. I hsve not heard a dicky from them in about three/four months and I am so afriad i am going to have men at my door looking to take TV, sofa anything to the value of the outstanding loan. Or if I am going to come home to a court order. i am in awful finacial circumstances - mortgage arrears, relationship disintgrating before my eyes and I terrified GE are coming after me. Any one else ever experirnce the silent treatment from GE?? And when/if they came back in touch what happened? Thank you for opportunity to talk about this
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said this on 24 Feb 2010 12:33:08 AM UTC
Hi Mouse,
Look don't worry GE cannot take any of your other possessions to cover the liability of your loan. I come across it everyday people in arrears and worrying to the same extent as yourself. You are not alone there are people in 10k, 20k, 30k etc etc on their mortgages alone not to mind the other loans they have with other creditors! What you need to do is take your head out of the sand call GE on the number above. When you get through to the collections department: stay calm, tell them your story- be honest tell them the extent of your problems, don't be embarrassed, don't be shy. If you are unlucky enough to get through to a 'robot' quoting their script, and somebody who seems like they don’t want to help you request to speak with a manager straight away, if you get through to someone who seems like they are willing to help ask for their extension number, mobile number and name. Request to deal with them and them only. If it is a personal loan they will eventually right off your account as a bad debt (this isn’t as bad as it sounds) they will simply pass your agreement to another internal department) A team of 7 people (sound lads) who will go through your income and expenditure and see what you can afford to repay regardless how much and how long it will take to repay. If you start to make payments (regardless how much how little) this will help your record and show them you are willing to pay and not running away. |