In 2018 I owed a store some money since I had an account with them. During that year I stupidly didn't pay up my monthly debt. They ended up submitting my name as a debtor at ITC. In 2019 I started making payments towards my debt and I finished all the payments. I was paying through a debt collector in Botswana. I paid all the money and they even produced a letter showing my debt clearance. I called them the store telling them I had been cleared off their debtors and kindly requested if they could remove the flag against my record. Even now they still haven't waived the flag against me. It has now been a year.
I have some business ideas that require me to ask for assist from banks but all these banks remind me that I owe. I talk to them and they say I should talk to ITC for them to clear me. How best can I move from here? I'm strained financially from making international calls. Any positive help?
Unfortunately, I don't have any good news for you.
When you have a debt like yours the lender, in this case the store, is entitled to register that debt with a credit reference bureau. They can do this because you agreed that they could when you signed the original contract with them, it would have been in the small print of the agreement. The reason they do this is to warn other lenders that you are probably going to be a high risk if they lend money to you or offer you credit. If all lenders share this information then the overall risk to the entire industry goes down a little.
However, what they often forget to tell people is that even when you completely pay off a debt, your record will still show the debt for up to two years. That's because lenders also need to know about your recent history, not just the debts you currently have. I know this seems frustrating but it's actually in all of our interests for things to work this way. When someone fails to pay off a debt they might eventually be forced to repay it but in the meantime it's the other borrowers who pay the price.
My advice would be to put your business ideas on hold for a short period until you've stabilized your financial situation. That way you can start a business on a sound financial basis rather than being someone with a poor credit record.
Do I owe them?
I am a holder of a store credit card. Though I don't have proper records I have been holding the card for a long time. In brief I visited the store on the 24th May 2020 to purchase a vacuum cleaner which was costing around P830. I wanted to use my store card to keep it active as I knew I was not owing the store and to my surprise I was told that my card was owing an amount of P61 of which I did not know. Following that I opted to pay cash and further settled the P61. Today I went to Game stores to inquire of the alleged pending balance which is said to be more than P200 by a guy I spoke to over the phone alleged to be in South Africa, still I can't get answers as to why my account is still accumulating these funds.
I am really not happy because the South African guy told me that my account will continue accumulating money, and I was denied the opportunity to see the store manager and advised to come on Friday.
I don't like store cards. In fact, I REALLY dislike store cards. Firstly, they're a hugely expensive way to buy things. The stores tell us that their cards are about convenience, simplicity, rewarding loyalty and helping customers but they're really just a way to lend us money at very high interest rates. And they often have some deeply unpleasant terms and conditions.
You are now seeing the effect of those conditions. For some reason you owed them a mere P61 and within days it's become P200. That amount will grow and grow until they're convinced you've paid them everything they can squeeze from you. I think you should contract the store manager and insist of an explanation for the P61. I know you said that you were denied the opportunity to meet with the manager but I've emailed them and I'm sure they'll change their mind and let you have a conversation.
And the final suggestion is a simple one. Once you've paid everything they can prove you owe them, cancel the card. In future buy things only with money you have, not money you're borrowing from the store.
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