TRYING TO UNDERSTAND DEBT I OWE TO FNB VIA HAMMOND POLE ATTORNEYS

I am hoping this review will help, as I see FNB responds on this platform, whereas Hammod Pole apparently does not, and is awash with bad reviews. Also, every time I ask them to confirm that they are working on behalf of FNB, and have not simply "purchased" the debt, they seem to either avoid the question, or return to "It will continuously be on going as the Bank is in demand of their Money owed." The quote is a cut and paste from their latest WhatsApp message, which is full of typo's and grammatical errors.

I have not had an FNB account for years, but am fully prepared to pay back debt in full, and it is the only debt I owe; but I have been uncertain about this company (HP) from the start, due to some bizarre tactics they used to "track me down", tactics that continue to this day, along with messages like “I'm afraid there's no peace when one is in Debt”, which was sent at 14:08 today. Literally this morning I had to contact them in regards to a partner I shared a residence with in 2009, and have not lived with since, yet they have been harassing her for payment. She is in NO way connected to my debt, but banks with FNB, and they have brought up FNB in regard to why they are contacting her. (I should also note, from the sometimes conflicting information I get from Hammond Pole, that it would appear the debt comes from 2014/15, incurred on a new credit account opened at least 4 years after my connection to the friend being harassed.)

The initial issue with Hammond Pole, and the possibly ********** ways they attempted to obtain my physical address (which honestly had me thinking it was a ****) led me to no longer banking with FNB. I had an account, but during a long period of recovery, I was informed it was closed due to inactivity (this was not even the account in question, mind you). Following the threatening approaches from Hammond Pole, and their insistence on a debit order, but their implications that my bank account was closed due to non-payment, I opened an account with another bank at the age of 42, having previously banked with FNB since age eleven. If that would have been your response, or if they are working directly for you, I can accept that. But if not, they lost you a customer of 30 years. I'm not saying it's a big loss, but it is thanks to them, and not spite on my part.

As it stands, I have not had a bad experience with FNB, ever. In fact, while assembling documentation for a Road Accident Fund case (the long recovery I mentioned earlier), I had to collect extensive bank statements in 2018/2019, from around the time of the accident, when I was run down by a car in 2014. FNB staff were very helpful, very understanding about the seemingly odd aspects of my request, and went to great lengths to help keep down the costs of acquiring the documentation.

As it stands, with Covid, unemployment, ongoing medical issues, and now CANCER, I have been unable to pay instalments since October 2021, the date of my last payment. I have even had to seek help from others to pay medical bills; I am obviously unable to apply for a loan in any capacity while this debt hangs over my head, and I can accept that. I have informed Hammond Pole of this every time they call, and am quite happy to do so, and was not avoiding calls. However, after explaining to one person how I cannot afford my monthly payment, another calls me a day later to offer me a three-month payment plan, the first instalment of which is over 10 TIMES what I have already indicated I cannot afford monthly (and no, it is not an obscene amount owed or that I was paying, it is just ludicrous that they would even expect me to pay R1 over what I have already stated I do not have).

I have had to field calls where I have to explain that, yes, I still have cancer. I have had to endure documents threading legal action the very day after discussion on the phone, so that I have to follow up to see why what I was told was noted, is now seemingly insufficient. Even today’s message made no acknowledgement of the fact that they had been harassing someone unconnected, instead stating that I had no way of blocking calls… even as I contacted them on our WhatsApp correspondence that goes back years.

I know the money I pay goes into an FNB account, but it is in their name, so I am not sure if it goes to you, or only a percentage of it, or if they have bought the debt off of you and are misrepresenting you as pushing them for it. I am happy to pay them, or you, but am literally concerned by what I saw on their page now, as to how clients/customers/those in debt say that HP claim money is finally paid off, and then either they or (the bank?) doesn’t seem to consider the debt paid.

All I am looking for, from FNB, is confirmation that they are working directly for you, or acknowledgement that they are misrepresenting you, or a (hopefully) polite understanding that while I still owe you money, I fully intend to pay it. Thank you to whomever had to read this, apologies if I seem tense, and please know that this is in no way an attempt to slander or libel Hammond Pole, just a request for information that I can never seem to get them to provide. I am uncomfortable about pushing them for this any further, as I have noted on some of their OWN social media platforms that they themselves point out that they send summonses and legal documents, and this seems to be a constant worry of anyone confronting them over misinformation. You may contact me at the mobile number I posted below if you wish to discuss anything further, though I hope the basics can be answered publicly here for possibly any others who are wary of Hammond Pole to take note of.

(I have included the name of the branch in which the account in question was opened, in 2014/5, as best I can recall.)

Thanks again, L.