Debt help..? I'm screwed

[Yazz_n_bump]

WHY IS IT MONEY IS THE BAIN OF EVERYTHING?!


I got an contract on O2 over a year ago now, was £50 a month. I rang them up 4 months ago saying I couldn't pay this anymore and I wanted to DOWN GRADE it they wouldn't allow me too till January. So I've been struggling to pay I owe them like £200 atm.. i've paid lil by lil off a week with them... but now they've got a fuckking debt company involved!!
They are saying I owe £624.31, and that I will recieve legal action if not paid by the 2nd Febuary.
They've put on one fricken' option which is too pay the full outstanding call & airtime arrears of £82.70 before 02/02/2011... and provide my bank details to O2 for DIRECT DEBIT . ( I hate direct debit with o2 when I did it before they kept taking more out than what they should of been taking.)
Then it says:
In advantage of this offer:

- Your telephone number will be reconnected to o2.
- The remaining contreact charge can continue 2 be paid in monthly installments.
- Ur account will be removed from our files and returned to O2.
- You will not need to pay for the admin fee.

So basically I have the only one option of paaying £82 now and trying to get a cheaper deal with o2.
I can't believe this, me and OH have no money as it is and now this has come and bite us in the arse.

Anyone else been in my situation? Has it got better? I really didn't want the contract in the first place!!

Oh says we'll pay the £82 on Monday and then go to the O2 shop or ring them and try and sort out a cheaper contract (means more months on being on it but better in the long run)..

 

[ebony2010]

WHY IS IT MONEY IS THE BAIN OF EVERYTHING?!


I got an contract on O2 over a year ago now, was £50 a month. I rang them up 4 months ago saying I couldn't pay this anymore and I wanted to DOWN GRADE it they wouldn't allow me too till January. So I've been struggling to pay I owe them like £200 atm.. i've paid lil by lil off a week with them... but now they've got a fuckking debt company involved!!
They are saying I owe £624.31, and that I will recieve legal action if not paid by the 2nd Febuary.
They've put on one fricken' option which is too pay the full outstanding call & airtime arrears of £82.70 before 02/02/2011... and provide my bank details to O2 for DIRECT DEBIT . ( I hate direct debit with o2 when I did it before they kept taking more out than what they should of been taking.)
Then it says:
In advantage of this offer:

- Your telephone number will be reconnected to o2.
- The remaining contreact charge can continue 2 be paid in monthly installments.
- Ur account will be removed from our files and returned to O2.
- You will not need to pay for the admin fee.

So basically I have the only one option of paaying £82 now and trying to get a cheaper deal with o2.
I can't believe this, me and OH have no money as it is and now this has come and bite us in the arse.

Anyone else been in my situation? Has it got better? I really didn't want the contract in the first place!!

Oh says we'll pay the £82 on Monday and then go to the O2 shop or ring them and try and sort out a cheaper contract (means more months on being on it but better in the long run)..

Have you tried taking your contract to the citizen advice bureau to see where you stand? x

 

[N1kki]

best bet go to your nearest O2 shop talk to someone there and then to C.A.B.

 

[ImAMummy2B]

How long did you take your contract out for?

I am with Orange, and whenever I want something I ask to speak with the cancellation department. They have a lot more authority.

Ask to speak to them, either end your contract altogether - if you can, and if you do speak with a debt management company (only really worth doing if you have quite a bit of debt), they will be able to take the debt on and you for it off at a lower rate at what you can afford - yes you will pay it for a longer amount of time but means you will have money each month!

If this isnt an option, then going via a debt collector isnt such a bad thing, although it will go against your credit record.

You will find it much easier to negotiate a monthly repayment with them rather than with O2 direct!

Only pay what you can afford, dont get yourself stuck.

PM me if you want any other info.

(I use a debt management company to control all my outgoings, i'd be stuck without them now!!)

xxx

 

[emzul]

I work for a debt management company so know all about debts, what companies can and cannot do etc!
O2 are just basically trying to say they have cancelled the whole of your contract and are charging you the total you would have paid over the entire comtract in one go. Give them a ring and say you want to cancel the contract and offer them what you can afford each month, make sure it IS what you can afford and see what they say.
If they reject the offer, tell them to send it to the Debt Collectors, although they sound scarey, they are much easier to deal with, they arent allowed to add interest onto the debt and they will accept pretty much anything you offer!
This will effect your credit rating, but if you have fallen behind with payments to O2 already, chances are your credit has already been affected anyway.
DONT let them frighten you, trust me, they will use any tactic they can to scare you into making payments, but at the end of the day, Collections staff work on commission, they get bonused for how much they can squeeze out of you!

If you need any more advise PM me, good luck and seriously dont worry. I have about 8k worth of debt and get letters all the time threatening all sorts but because I know what they can and cant do I dont let it bother me...... occupational hazard of working in Debt Management!