I'm aware of some posters expressing recent discontent about the service they have recently received from Paypal, and wondered if people are still having problems ?.
Paypal are my IP and have been since my IVA commenced in August 2009. I have always found my Case Officers, who have changed several times in the last 2.5 years, helpful, courteous, prompt and thorough. Despite always submitting my payslips on a quarterly basis, with my salary sometimes varying slightly, I was always written to advising that no more money beyond my standard monthly payments was due.
However, since my new Case Officer was allocated late last year I have found that person to be very slow to respond to communication and seemingly reluctant to converse in writing. The one time she did email me she got all her figures wrong, and as soon as I acted in accordance with her email she was on the phone to me suggesting I was in the wrong, only to go rather quiet when I suggested she reread her email instructions to me.
More recently she has failed to either acknowledge or respond to email documentation regarding a reduced payment following car repairs, a situation I prewarned her about weeks ago by phone and to which she said "just send me your receipts and reduce your monthly payment accordingly". I don't think such matters should be finalised by phone and thus expected her to acknowledge my email enclosing the receipt and to confirm that my reduced monthly payment calculation is correct, but a week later and I've heard nothing - yet I bet as soon as my monthly payment goes out later this week and is reduced to accurately reflect the car repairs she will be on the phone hassling me.
At the same time, following my most recent submission of quarterly payslips, which included a larger income due to a tax rebate from 2007/2008 (i.e. before my IVA) I was asked to make a further payment, which I was relatively content to do, but against the wider context of the poor performance of my current Case Officer I am slightly 'suspicious' if she is handling my IVA correctly.
Is this poor performance happening generally throughout Payplan, or have I just got a 'duff' Case Officer ?!.
Must admit that whilst my case officers have changed a few times since I started, I've not had many problems with contacting them and not had a problem with wrong figures.
It could be that she's new. You could try contact Gemma Burton - her details are under the ask a question link and ask her to look into it for you.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Hi pavel33, please contact me so that I can raise your concerns about your case officer. We aim to provide the highest level of customer services and if we are not doing this we need to look into this. I look forward to hearing from you.
Last edited by Gemma Burton on Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Many Thanks
Gemma
Payplan Representative
Payplan offer a range of solutions including IVAs and free DMPs. To find out more and to contact us please visit www.payplan.com
Hi Pavel33. I've had 3 CO's at PayPlan since 4/2009. I was expecting a call this pm re: the IP's feedback about my F&F. I've just had to call them, but they have no outcome to tell me. My nerves are really shot right now. The person I spoke to apologised and said my CO will be back tomorrow and can call me. I've never had a problem with PP, but I am disappointed today. The other things are not being able to speak to my IP directly, and not being given the option of suggesting my own F&F figure when I submitted the original request. I've never had incorrect info, and I get confirmation by post or email. I'm really sorry to hear of your experience, and hope it can be resolved quickly.
IVA journey started: 30th March 2009. Settled: 17th July 2012. Completion Certificate received: 13th March 2013. Breathe. x
Hi Pavel, Do email Gemma Burton, Im sure she will look into this matters for you.
I too have had several case officers with payplan, but never had any issues with them, apart from the odd late reply, but then Im always on the phone chasing them
"Always remember that the future comes one day at a time."
IVA completed . Just started a blog, if you get chance please take a look. http://rich.blogs.iva.co.uk/
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
When things went wrong at payplan during my iva I found emails stopped and my case officer would phone instead. No written evidence sprang to mind with me. Hope it gets sorted
To be honest I don't see why I should have to chase up Payplan. As for emails rather than phone calls, to me when you're dealing with financial issues everything should be properly documented for both my benefit, my IP's benefit, and my creditor's benefit. What someone says on the phone isn't of any legal consequence, and I find it unprofessional.
In the immediate future I'm going to do nothing. But if my Case Officer is suddenly on the phone on the day of my monthly payment demanding to know why my payment isn't for the whole amount then rest assured I'll be in contact with Gemma and formally requesting a new Case Officer.
Personally speaking I think you should contact her now. I'm not aware if she knows who you are from here - if not then she has no way of contacting you.
This case worker will obviously have other clients and if they are experiencing the same problems then it would appear that some further training may be needed. Unless anyone complains then that's never going to happen and customer service may continue to be bad.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Hi Pavel33. I can appreciate your frustration and dissatisfaction regarding this. She gave you permission to make the reduction, so go ahead as instructed. Moving forward, why not take up Gemma's offer so she can deal with 'internal affairs', to try and ensure your CO communicates appropriately and professionally in future? I really hope things improve. X
IVA journey started: 30th March 2009. Settled: 17th July 2012. Completion Certificate received: 13th March 2013. Breathe. x
Hi pavel33 I was allowed to reduce my payments over the phone by 15 per cent then by a massive 500 pounds or so after doing an income and expenditure. My case offficer at payplan did not have a meeting with creditors to discuss. After a year she actually called a meeting (by this time we wewre on around our 3rd case officer) the variation failed. Creditors were annoyed as they would be as they weren't kept in the loop and my iva variation failed. I had some email eveidence but a lot was over the phone. Our case officer would not put much in writing rather she would phone back. We have complained as we were in year 3 and had to go through an awful time as jan is aware. I think if I had known about the forum and gemma I would have got in touch. Save you any heartache and trouble later on. I have not heard back from my complaint yet so may get in touch with gemma myself. Hope it works out ok for you whatever you decide as I wouldn't want you to go through what I did.
IPs best practice guidelines allow 7 days a being a reasonable time to expect a response to written correspondence. If your IP firm is letting you down in this regard, I suggest you arrange to have a chat with the IP acting for you to express your concerns directly.
Thanks all. What irks me the most is that whereas my Case Officer tends to ignore email correspondence (despite it including questions and/or documentation) as soon as I 'step out of line' she's on the phone to me. The reality is I've never stepped out of line, and the one time she suggested I had done all I had actually done was followed her explicit instruction in an email, yet her demeanor when she rang me was quite offish and very much "you've been a bad boy" type attitude.
I also hate talking to my IP on the phone, I'm nearly always at work during my IP's working hours and although there is another room where I can have a private conversation my office is small and my colleagues/bosses must wonder "what he's up to ?", which makes me very uncomfortable.
In the circumstances I'm prepared to see what happens over the next week, as my monthly payment is due and I have changed my direct debit to reflect the necessary deductions for my car repairs, which was what I was verbally instructed to do. If there's no issue, fine. However, if my Case Officer rings me up in the same way she did before and starts demanding to know why my payment has been altered, then I'll be immediately in contact with Gemma.
Really the whole point of this thread was just to ascertain whether this was a common problem people were having, seemingly not !.
I have had several Case Officers in 5 years with PayPlan and I can’t recall any particular issues with any of them. My current one is very good and all phone conversations, (which are few as I prefer e-mails so that I have a record), have been followed up with an e-mail or letter within a few days of the conversation.
I hope the issues you have are more of a particular person issue that requires training rather than PayPlan as a whole.
in payplans defence with case officers, since being over 4 years in my iva, a couple of years in dmp previous, i have recieved a good service and response to any issues that have arised in my time being a client...
