How's this for discrimination......

GP

So as a self-employed person I decided to take an interest free offer from the biggest PC manufacturer in Ireland.

1 week went by without an answer. I finally called them and they told me I had been declined. By the way, we're talking about a sum of €78 / month.........

When I queried why, they said they are not told why but that the one reason may be that I am not on the Electoral Register! :eek:

I informed him that as a Non-National I am not allowed to Vote...his answer "oh, that's it then".

I have my own home, car, credit card paid off 100% every month. My food bill is probably 2.5 times that / month and yet I am decline for a sum that most people spend at the pub on a week-end night.

This country has a lot to learn still.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

you'd probably get a better computer for cheaper elsewhere..... take it as a blessing.

BendiBus

GP wrote: »

I informed him that as a Non-National I am not allowed to Vote...his answer "oh, that's it then".

If you're resident in the country you can still vote in Local Elections at least, so you should get yourself onto the electoral register.

the_syco

GP wrote: »

So as a self-employed person I decided to take an interest free offer from the biggest PC manufacturer in Ireland.

GP wrote: »

When I queried why, they said they are not told why but that the one reason may be that I am not on the Electoral Register! :eek:

Sounds like jibber-jabber bullsh|t. Ring them back, and ask how do they know this information, as I'd think this would be against some data protection law or other.

Also, if its a bricks and motar shop (as opposed to an online shop), consider it a blessing in disguise:D

BendiBus

the_syco wrote: »

Sounds like jibber-jabber bullsh|t. Ring them back, and ask how do they know this information, as I'd think this would be against some data protection law or other.

The Electoral Register is public information. With a name & address you can check if anyone is on the register and what elections they're entitled to vote in.

http://www.checktheregister.ie/

JohnC.

the_syco wrote: »

Sounds like jibber-jabber bullsh|t. Ring them back, and ask how do they know this information, as I'd think this would be against some data protection law or other.

Anyone can access the electoral register. It isn't isn't some hidden database somewhere. You should be able to search it from your local council website and, IIRC, you can view it in your local post office too.

GP

probably is a blessing. The main reason was that it's a great way to keep the csh flow form being depleted.

€1900 straight up versus €78 / month, choice 2 is much better.

Anyway. I've written a letter to them but I'm sure it will end up in the bin

Gauge

PC World's finance agreements are organised by a separate company. I think it's HFC. PC World don't decide who gets approved or not so if you wrote to them it's not much good for you, as they don't decide who gets approved or not (and believe me, they WANT people to get approved! More money for them.)

HFC also don't disclose the reasons for denial to anyone but the person applying. But they are picky. A LOT of people don't get approved. How long have you been in the country? HFC checks your credit history and you may not have been living here long enough to build up one that is satisfactory to them... they're also quite iffy about self employed people (as they almost always ring a person's employer before approving them).

You would probably have more success if you contacted HFC directly and requested a reason for why they denied you.

Zaph

Given that the OP states that it's

the biggest PC manufacturer in Ireland.

I'm guessing Dell rather than PC World.

Gauge

Ah... somehow I missed the 'manufacturer' part. My bad.

mikemac

GP wrote: »

When I queried why, they said they are not told why but that the one reason may be that I am not on the Electoral Register! :eek:

I informed him that as a Non-National I am not allowed to Vote...his answer "oh, that's it then".

I realy doubt that's the reason.
Sure many Irish people aren't on the Electoral Register. Don't you remember the big drive to update them started by Minister Roche?
They are still out of date (and many people on them are dead :eek:)

Irish people get turned to for credit every day, often for stupid reasons.
Hell, I finished college a few years ago and my credit card is a "student" card so despite many attempts I can't get the limit upped from €250.

Also, meteor bill pay required a €300 deposit from me despite the fact I was with them on PAYG for 2 years previously :mad:

From a purely business point of view, a non-national will be more of a risk to an Irish person. Sure there are exceptions but it's common sense.

"This country has a lot to learn still."
Lose the attitude OP! We don't need lectures from a non-national playing the discrimation card.
You were badly treated no question but the above statement comes across very badly and as if everyone is against you

GP

micmclo wrote: »

I
"This country has a lot to learn still."
Lose the attitude OP! We don't need lectures from a non-national playing the discrimation card.
You were badly treated no question but the above statement comes across very badly and as if everyone is against you

After living here for 5.5 yars I believe I'm entitled to express my opinion based on my experiences. It's not attitude.

I'm static a fact based on quite a few "interesting" experiences that's all.

A coutry who has only been exposed to foreign national for a few years DOES have a lot to learn.

ps. If I did not like living here, I would leave believe me.

The next time you accuse someone of having an attitued maybe go and live somewhere else for a few years to experience it first hand. And I don't mean another county

Nevyn

You should have told them that you do not believe in proportional repasentation demorcy and you have choosed to opt out of the politcal process and applying to be on the Electoral Register is optional in this country and not mandated also thousands of people were knocked of the register for no good reason just before the last election.

dazberry

GP wrote: »

When I queried why, they said they are not told why but that the one reason may be that I am not on the Electoral Register! :eek:

I'm surprised they based their information just on the Electoral Register (probably via the Thoms database). Sounds a bit like a poor excuse to me. If as you say you have a house and a car, if either of these were bought on finance (did you buy the gaff in cash!) then there should be a (re)payment profile on ICB? Of course it is possible your ICB is missing or incorrect?

As part of the consumer credit act, you have up to 28 days to ask for the sources of information that they based their refusal on (they have to supply this within 14 days of your request). You can also contact the ICB directly and for a fee see your credit rating and have it corrected/deleted as appropriate.

The only other thing is that they may have routed your request thru' a credit scoring engine - that may have auto-declined based on missing information.

Definitely worth looking into it - even if it was a lucky escape - don't like the "biggest PC manufacturer"'s hardware myself

D.

mickoneill30

GP wrote: »

1 week went by without an answer. I finally called them and they told me I had been declined. By the way, we're talking about a sum of €78 / month.........

When I queried why, they said they are not told why but that the one reason may be that I am not on the Electoral Register! :eek:

I informed him that as a Non-National I am not allowed to Vote...his answer "oh, that's it then".

Do finance companies tell the shops why they decline customers? I'd assume they just say "approved" or "rejected" to the shop. They'd hardly say Mr. X was rejected because we found he defaulted on some payment a few years ago. I'd say it's way more likely you were talking to somebody who had no clue and just told you whatever they could to get rid of you. You had been declined so they probably didn't have too much of an incentive to keep you happy.

I wasn't on the electoral register a couple of years ago when I got a couple of grands worth of finance from another company. I did have credit history though going back several years. I would think your first step before blaming discrimination would to be to get a copy of your credit report "www.icb.ie" and find out if there's anything negative on that.

seanabc

GP wrote: »

When I queried why, they said they are not told why but that the one reason may be that I am not on the Electoral Register! :eek:

I informed him that as a Non-National I am not allowed to Vote...his answer "oh, that's it then".

As has been mentioned anyone resident in the State can vote in local elections. There were 'non-national' candidates in the last local elections, some of them could have been elected for all I know.

The register of electors is probably one of the sources they check to confirm your identity. Possibly since you're self-employed it may be harder to confirm your income or it's stability so they might rely harder on your proofs of identity. This is probably an automatic checking system they have. There might be a manual appeals procedure if you wanted to go through all that with them but on the other hand there are plenty of other computer stores as well.

I'd also suggest that the credit option isn't a great way to go for buying a new computer either. You'll still be paying for it long after it's obselete.

UrbanFox

GP wrote: »

Anyway. I've written a letter to them but I'm sure it will end up in the bin

You do not have to take that sort of treatment from anyone. Mind you, I am an Irish national and find that letters get ignored from me too !

If you do not get a reply you could always contact the Equality Agency and see if they could offer you any advice.

hellboy99

Could be that you have a credit card, don't let it bother you as you won't be alone, a lot of HP finance is not going to be accepted along with loan & credit card applications & mortages over the coming months.

311

I was in Currys a few weeks ago ,looking around. I asked an assistant how easy a loan was to get and I was basically told ,if your Irish no problem, if your a non-national you won't.

I thought it was funny how clear cut she was about it. I know at least a few non-national families who are paying mortgages on large homes here and I can only imagine their disgust at this treatment.

pow wow

The electoral register plays a part in the scoring process, so it might or might not be the reason you were declined. It's usually cited as 'the most likely reason' because if they said 'oh your credit must be sh1te' then you'd be more annoyed than being told it 'could' be because your name isn't on the electoral role. I used to work on the applications phone line for a bank in the UK and trust me, making inferences about the quality of someone's credit is FAR WORSE than saying 'It might be to do with the electoral register'.

It's not based on nationality per se, it's based on the sum of things required to make your credit score high enough to risk a loan. Being on the electoral role is usually one of those things.

GP

dazberry wrote: »

I'm surprised they based their information just on the Electoral Register (probably via the Thoms database). Sounds a bit like a poor excuse to me. If as you say you have a house and a car, if either of these were bought on finance (did you buy the gaff in cash!) then there should be a (re)payment profile on ICB? Of course it is possible your ICB is missing or incorrect?

I have my credit record on hand and funnily enough the house paymetns are nmot on it. The only info is of my personal loan with my bank which is 100% up to date.

dazberry wrote: »

As part of the consumer credit act, you have up to 28 days to ask for the sources of information that they based their refusal on (they have to supply this within 14 days of your request). You can also contact the ICB directly and for a fee see your credit rating and have it corrected/deleted as appropriate.

The only other thing is that they may have routed your request thru' a credit scoring engine - that may have auto-declined based on missing information.

Definitely worth looking into it - even if it was a lucky escape - don't like the "biggest PC manufacturer"'s hardware myself

D.

I've requested the reason form them. Actually just posted the letter this morning.

With regards ot the hardware...I'm not a fan either and the onyl reason I went for this was the intereste free option / cash flow advantage.

I'll probably stick to my current laptops Manufacturer (Acer) which I've had for 3 years without any problems whatsoever.

GP

ellscurr wrote: »

The electoral register plays a part in the scoring process, so it might or might not be the reason you were declined. It's usually cited as 'the most likely reason' because if they said 'oh your credit must be sh1te' then you'd be more annoyed than being told it 'could' be because your name isn't on the electoral role. I used to work on the applications phone line for a bank in the UK and trust me, making inferences about the quality of someone's credit is FAR WORSE than saying 'It might be to do with the electoral register'.

It's not based on nationality per se, it's based on the sum of things required to make your credit score high enough to risk a loan. Being on the electoral role is usually one of those things.

Well, I have never missed payments on any loans / credit cards / house etc etc

I suppose I may as well send in my details to my loca register.......

GP

Thaedydal wrote: »

You should have told them that you do not believe in proportional repasentation demorcy and you have choosed to opt out of the politcal process and applying to be on the Electoral Register is optional in this country and not mandated also thousands of people were knocked of the register for no good reason just before the last election.

:D the guy was so stressed out on the phone (apparently due to lack of staffing) that I think he would have just put down the phone if I said that :D

seanabc

the guy was so stressed out on the phone (apparently due to lack of staffing) that I think he would have just put down the phone if I said that

Call centres are stressful places to work in. The guy you were talking to on the phone probably had as much power to approve you for credit as I do. I think it would be a nicer world if people calling up to make complaints realised this before they picked up the phone.

eth0_

GP wrote: »

After living here for 5.5 yars I believe I'm entitled to express my opinion based on my experiences. It's not attitude.

I'm static a fact based on quite a few "interesting" experiences that's all.

A coutry who has only been exposed to foreign national for a few years DOES have a lot to learn.

Before shooting your mouth off, perhaps you should contact the Irish Credit Bureau and ask for a copy of your credit rating. It is likely that there are debts attached to your house from a previous tenant/owner, or perhaps your wife has a credit card or loan you don't know about.

From what you've said about your credit history then you should be a good bet for hire purchase. By the way, paying off your credit card in full every month is REALLY BAD for your credit rating, it makes a lending institution less likely to give you a card or loan because they think you will pay it off early and they won't make any interest out of you.

Having a land line telephone also counts in your favour when applying for a loan.

One last thing - why don't you just get a loan? It will be FAR cheaper than the ridiculous APR charged on Dell's Hire Purchase agreements.

Cabaal

eth0_ wrote: »

One last thing - why don't you just get a loan? It will be FAR cheaper than the ridiculous APR charged on Dell's Hire Purchase agreements.

I have to agree with this, credit union will sort you with a loan no bother.

You'd be stupid to use a hire purchase scheme with PC world, dell etc

Mountjoy Mugger

eth0_ wrote: »

Before shooting your mouth off, perhaps you should contact the Irish Credit Bureau and ask for a copy of your credit rating.

One last thing - why don't you just get a loan? It will be FAR cheaper than the ridiculous APR charged on Dell's Hire Purchase agreements.

Maybe because the OP said

I'm not a fan either and the onyl reason I went for this was the intereste free option / cash flow advantage.

I'm surprised at you, eth0_

Tabitharose

I don't work for a bank, but I do deal with them work wise (relating to retail loans), and can confirm that we are NEVER told any details as to why an application is accepted or declined - that is a private matter between the person applying for finance, and the bank, and they won't discuss it over the phone with the applicant - we have to give customers a UK address for the bank we deal with to write to to find out why the application is declined.

In our case we have had lots of applications approved and declined, both for people born in Ireland and Irish residents who were born elsewhere, employees and self employed.

Don't know if that helps - I would suspect the person who told you while you were declined was probably guessing as I would assume that all other banks operating similar loan agreements operate under similar conditions.

I don't know which bank Currys operate with, but I have not noticed any difference in whether applications are approved or not depending on nationality - so would wonder if that comment was due to personal bias rather than fact....

GP

Tabitharose wrote: »

I don't work for a bank, but I do deal with them work wise (relating to retail loans), and can confirm that we are NEVER told any details as to why an application is accepted or declined - that is a private matter between the person applying for finance, and the bank, and they won't discuss it over the phone with the applicant - we have to give customers a UK address for the bank we deal with to write to to find out why the application is declined.

In our case we have had lots of applications approved and declined, both for people born in Ireland and Irish residents who were born elsewhere, employees and self employed.

Don't know if that helps - I would suspect the person who told you while you were declined was probably guessing as I would assume that all other banks operating similar loan agreements operate under similar conditions.

I don't know which bank Currys operate with, but I have not noticed any difference in whether applications are approved or not depending on nationality - so would wonder if that comment was due to personal bias rather than fact....

Great thanks.

I'm not sure if I will, but if I do get an answer I'll be sure to post it here.

I was thinking that the one reason may be that I was self-employed.

Anyway, hopefully they will shed some light...

eth0_

Write a letter to the finance company asking why you were turned down. If you have a copy of your credit rating and it looks fine, the finance company may have some additional criteria you failed to meet, or there may have been human error, application may have been mixed up with someone else's.

Gauge

_Brian_ wrote: »

I was in Currys a few weeks ago ,looking around. I asked an assistant how easy a loan was to get and I was basically told ,if your Irish no problem, if your a non-national you won't.

I thought it was funny how clear cut she was about it. I know at least a few non-national families who are paying mortgages on large homes here and I can only imagine their disgust at this treatment.

I don't know why she said that to you. I used to work in the same company (not currys, but a separate shop, they all use the same finance agreements/bank though) and I can tell you that the bank approved just as many non-nationals as it did Irish people. We were never told the reason (it's strictly between the customer and the bank) but after a while you start noticing that certain people don't ever seem to get approved, and I noticed that people who work for themselves were rarely approved.