1 reviews | Active since Aug 2012
Consumer Friend is no one's friend. They will ruin your life.
Consumer friend is the worst.
So my wife and I were under debt review for various accounts. Covid came and lockdown were enforced. Both of us did not generate an income, so we informed the debt councilor who issued a section 17(3) to consumer friend.
Lockdown were extended, and a second 17(3) were issued. Then out of the blue and without warning, Consumer Friend terminated almost all my accounts under debt review. Even after receiving bank statements indicating that I am not generating an income.
Consumer Friend handed accounts over to Easton Berry, VVM and MDB for collections. Accounts as little as R800 were handed over, and now I have to pay over R3400 on that account.
Furthermore, asking consumer friend for assistance in getting statements for accounts, and settlement balances is also a daunting task. They never assist. My debt review process was almost over, now I am set back 3 years with all the collection fees added to my accounts.
Furthermore, Consumer friend do not care. The matter is now apparently out of their hands, even though they were fully aware of my issues. They even received a commitment that I am willing to settle small value accounts, they still opted for termination.
In one move, over 3 years of payments were swept away. How is this even fair.
We refer to your matter and confirm that the Consumer Friend team already advised you, that the debt counsellor's initial Form 17.3 sent on your behalf 20.04.2020 were declined at the time. The decline, based on the reasons supp**** to the debt counsellor on 09.05.2020 along with a request was sent to their offices advising them to supply a new amended Form 17.3.
By the time the debt counsellor eventually sent an amended Form 17.3 on 03.08.2020, all concessions that were offered and allowed for short or no payment had stopped by 17.06.2020. This was in line with Circular 7 of 2020 on the (Update of the NCA-Extension of Business Days) from the NCR. This means that no concessions were in place pertaining to your accounts.
Due to the accounts not receiving payment since 03.04.2020 until 11.09.2020 and there being no concession in place in terms of a Form 17.3, the accounts were correctly terminated in terms of section 88.3 of the NCA, in that these defaulted payments in terms of the court order agreement.
Consumer Friend did act on behalf of the accounts before they were terminated, however when the accounts are terminated, these are returned back to the creditors, who thereafter decide which agency they wish to hand the accounts over to.
Consumer Friend are able to supply statements and settlements, however settlements can only be supp**** on accounts that are still active under debt review and still on our system. We are unfortunately not able to supply settlements on the accounts that the creditors have already handed over to other agencies.
The situation is unfortunate, however we will get the relevant departments of each terminated account to re-evaluate your situation and communicate with the creditors regarding your accounts.
Kindest Regards
The Consumer Friend Team
We refer to your matter and confirm that the Consumer Friend team already advised you, that the debt counsellor's initial Form 17.3 sent on your behalf 20.04.2020 were declined at the time. The decline, based on the reasons supp**** to the debt counsellor on 09.05.2020 along with a request was sent to their offices advising them to supply a new amended Form 17.3.
By the time the debt counsellor eventually sent an amended Form 17.3 on 03.08.2020, all concessions that were offered and allowed for short or no payment had stopped by 17.06.2020. This was in line with Circular 7 of 2020 on the (Update of the NCA-Extension of Business Days) from the NCR. This means that no concessions were in place pertaining to your accounts.
Due to the accounts not receiving payment since 03.04.2020 until 11.09.2020 and there being no concession in place in terms of a Form 17.3, the accounts were correctly terminated in terms of section 88.3 of the NCA, in that these defaulted payments in terms of the court order agreement.
Consumer Friend did act on behalf of the accounts before they were terminated, however when the accounts are terminated, these are returned back to the creditors, who thereafter decide which agency they wish to hand the accounts over to.
Consumer Friend are able to supply statements and settlements, however settlements can only be supp**** on accounts that are still active under debt review and still on our system. We are unfortunately not able to supply settlements on the accounts that the creditors have already handed over to other agencies.
The situation is unfortunate, however we will get the relevant departments of each terminated account to re-evaluate your situation and communicate with the creditors regarding your accounts.
Kindest Regards
The Consumer Friend Team