Bad Credit

[charlottee18]

I have been with a book club for a year. They have been sending me books without my consent and applying the cost to my bill. Now i have a bill of �100 and a stack of books still in their boxes. Can i cancel my membership without forfilling the terms and conditions of the agreement (buy 5 books in 1st year)? By sending all the books back and canceling my membership, will this clear me of bad credit?

[Oneeyedvic]

I think you will find that they had your consent in that when you signed up to this club the terms and conditions stated that they would send you a book every so often. If you have not sent these back then by inference you have elected to keep them. You will not be able to cancel your memebership as this is how the company makes their money. Once you have bad credit (and I assume you mean deafulted) it is almost impossible to thave this taken off your credit file. If it is a county court judgement, if it is paid within one month of the judgement you can apply to the courts to have it taken off. Arrears and CCJs will appear on your credit file for 6 years. Having said that it will probably show up as a default to mail order and most lenders will not take it as seriously as some defaults if it is paid off.

[Scottie]

These guys are right. You are supposed to tell them not to send the books to you each month, but as most people forget this you end up with a pile of books. Been through it myself. Damm that Stephen King. Good news though, get a copy of your credit file from equafax or whoever for a couple of quid, the odds of this company actually registering this against your credit rating are slim as it costs them money to register it! The down side, you will have to pay for the books. Sorry.

[Mrs_Pegasus]

Unfortunately, these book clubs do register your debt. It doesnt cost a packet to do. I do agree that somewhere in the small print you agreed to have 5 books in the first year and they will take you the whole 9 yards to get their money. If you do get a default on your record it will remain for I think 4-6 years. I would call the company and ask what you can do. I imagine sending the books back will help but it is going to cost postage and then they will probably charge a late return fee. Best to bite the bullet and sort it. Biggest credit reference company is experian and then equifax and you can apply for your report on line. Good Luck