Bourne Valley Saint Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 More like a Quick way to run up a huge debt!! I saw the advert again on the telly this morning where this bloke is looking at his calendar and has to pay his gas and leccy bill before pay day. No problem - QUICK QUID to the rescue -offerring a loan of up to £1,000.00 in 5 minutes. I waited to read the figure for the APR beacause I thought I might have misread it the last time but no.... it was 1,734.00% per annum!!!!! Say that bloke borrows a grand to tide him over but then loses his job or his means of earning money, then if that debt was not paid off for another year that grand equates to £17,340.00. If paid off after one month then by my reckoning he still has to repay £1,445.00 (17340.00 divided by 12). I think that I've got the maths right but am by no means 100% (definitely not 1000%) certain. If correct, then this is nothing short of scandalous. Is there nothing the FSA (Financial Services Authority) or some regulator can do about these companies? Talk about tempting people into debt. You'd be better off getting a loan from your employee or bank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFrost Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 LOL watch out for the next time you see wonga.com being advertised and you'll see an APR of 4214% It's nothing short of legalized loan sharking. How the hell they get away with it I never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 What annoys me is they let these bastards advertise on kids tv channels (Boomerang, etc). shocking really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pap Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Another disgusting side-effect of the rampant capitalism that we're spending so much money to keep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordiesaint Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 I have no problem with it. These companies are up front about the costs and the idea of this kind of loan is to have it to tide you over for a few days - not weeks or months. Over the timescales this time of loan is designed for, the costs are not that much. They charge for a service - thats it! If you want a longer term loan at a more affordable interest then don't use these types of service - wrong tool for the job. Yes, if you lose your job you could find yourself in trouble but then you should only be using this type of financial service for a few days max and not as a long term financial solution, and should not have got the loan in the first place if you did not have all eventualities covered. People need to take responsibility for their own actions and if they are mug enough to have to pay back 17 grand from a one grand loan then they deserve what comes their way IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buctootim Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 (edited) I have no problem with it. These companies are up front about the costs and the idea of this kind of loan is to have it to tide you over for a few days - not weeks or months. Over the timescales this time of loan is designed for, the costs are not that much. They charge for a service - thats it! If you want a longer term loan at a more affordable interest then don't use these types of service - wrong tool for the job. Yes, if you lose your job you could find yourself in trouble but then you should only be using this type of financial service for a few days max and not as a long term financial solution, and should not have got the loan in the first place if you did not have all eventualities covered. People need to take responsibility for their own actions and if they are mug enough to have to pay back 17 grand from a one grand loan then they deserve what comes their way IMO. Ignores the fact that the core market for companies like this are people who are really desperate, or aren't very bright, are poor at maths, are old and confused or have a learning disability. Just because some people dont know the difference between 4.124% and 4,124% isnt a good reason for government to not protect them from ****s that society would be better of without. Edited 8 November, 2011 by buctootim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypochondriac Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 What annoys me is they let these bastards advertise on kids tv channels (Boomerang, etc). shocking really. Lol. I don't think kids are going to be rushing to wonga.com for a few quid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Lol. I don't think kids are going to be rushing to wonga.com for a few quid. So why advertise on kids TV channels? But there is a serious point here about promoting the image that this is an ok method of personal finance. It's a last resort and shouldn't be peddled like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibden Purlieu Saint Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Don't blame the companies, blame the idiots that keep these places in business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordiesaint Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Exactly Dibden. If we lynched every company that sought to take advantage of its potential customers there would be nothing left! Also, it would be punishing those who use the service as a short term stop gap loan and pay everything back on time! These things need to be left to the customer to make an informed choice (which it is based on the very clear adverts) and take the consequences. i appricieate the point about protecting the vulnerable but we should not apply blanket policies to the masses based on the needs to a minority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFrost Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Lol. I don't think kids are going to be rushing to wonga.com for a few quid. What about young parents who watch the TV with their kids? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pap Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 So why advertise on kids TV channels? But there is a serious point here about promoting the image that this is an ok method of personal finance. It's a last resort and shouldn't be peddled like this. Completely agree with you, Special K. That these companies prey on the weak is bad enough. Putting it in front of kids is even worse. I'm perfectly aware that the kids won't qualify for these loans, but it has the dangerous effect of normalising these companies in their eyes at a young age, particularly if they have a catchy advert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pap Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Don't blame the companies, blame the idiots that keep these places in business. Don't really think you're being fair here. Many of these "idiots" you refer to will be using services like this so that they can squander the cash on food or heat, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyo-Saint Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Don't blame the companies, blame the idiots that keep these places in business. Exactly. I used to work with (manage) this fecking ***t girl who would always moan about money. She would hark on about getting a pay rise despite the fact she had only been at the company 7 or 8 months and overall did her job at best averagely at worst badly. Anyway, I did not know this but she repeatedly went over my head to ask HR for a sub (loan) to see her through to pay day. Anyway, after about 4 months of this, they refused and told her she should manage her own money better (it was well known that she went out drinking 2 or 3 times per week). She kicked up a massive fuss moaning about it all morning. The next this I saw walking past her desk is that she is on wonga.com playing about with the sliders. I thought she must be desperate, I felt slightly sorry for her but then remembered that she plssed the money away so stopped myself from offering her the cash. Her mood then swung back again and she was all happy, making arrangement with the others for a 'few drinks after work'. This reconfirmed to me that she was a muppet. Later that day, I looked over and she was playing online bingo with her new found money. To me it is unbelievable that someone would take a loan out at 4000+% interest and then gamble it on some bingo site in the afternoon when they should/could have been working. To then have think she can then either borrow money from the company (happend again the next month) or ask for a pay rise (again) was beyond belief. However, the world is made up mostly of muppets and idiots and this is how these companies not only stay in business but make a huge profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjwills Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 The people that are most likely to use these short term loan services are through ones that are least able to pay them back, those that are really desperate ,at their wits end worried that through gas or electric are going to be cut off. No food for their children on low income or unemployed. The we off are never going to need these services. Of all activities through govt should stop this is one of them. Not a nanny state just preventing legalised theft and loan sharking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Exactly Dibden. If we lynched every company that sought to take advantage of its potential customers there would be nothing left! Also, it would be punishing those who use the service as a short term stop gap loan and pay everything back on time! These things need to be left to the customer to make an informed choice (which it is based on the very clear adverts) and take the consequences. i appricieate the point about protecting the vulnerable but we should not apply blanket policies to the masses based on the needs to a minority. Don't fully agree. They should have a strong sense of social responsibility and this should apply to all sectors of the financial industry. Whilst i appreciate that it is up to the individual to appraise themselves of the consequences of their actions, these companies will make the majority of their wealth by knowing they will take on a certain amount of defaulters. This is not right, especially with the lessons of the last few years. Pap is right when he says they prey on the weak. They just try and dress it up as nice as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Saint Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 If I had to lend money to someone as described in tokyo's post, I would want a shed load of interest as well. It is not so much interest as risk premium, as there is an fair to middling chance that you will never see the person or cash again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibden Purlieu Saint Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Don't really think you're being fair here. Many of these "idiots" you refer to will be using services like this so that they can squander the cash on food or heat, etc. Well, unless they are leaving it until they're about to be cut off, I would leave it a month and use their next paycheck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 r.e tokyos post: She clearly has a gambling addiction which is an illness. In the past i had a bit of a problem (never got into debt with it) so can feel sorry for people who do get into the vicious circle. As well as these legalised loan sharks being outlawed and the FSA indroducing a maximum apr level, I would go further and outlaw advertising of online gaming. You'd be surprised at just how much of an issue this is becoming for some women, and the constant advertising tells you just what a lucrative market it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 (edited) Don't blame the companies, blame the idiots that keep these places in business. ^This An old school friend phoned me about 9 months ago to say he was in a spot of temporary financial bother and asked if I could provide a reference for him to secure a "short term" loan at a ridculously high rate of interest via one of these "pay day" loan companies. I told him he was asking for trouble and, instead, I suggested that I take out a loan on his behalf (with the Post Office as it turns out - APR=6.9%), give him the lump sum then he pays me back the monthly payments. The Post Office trust me, I trust my hard-up friend and he trusts me. He's been a few days late with payments on one or two occasions but that was for understandable reasons. Something the "pay day" loan company wouldn't have been so understanding about. An example of the much maligned "Big Society" in action.....a friend with a few spare bob helping out a friend in need. And they say all Tories are nasty uncaring individuals.... ;-) Edited 8 November, 2011 by trousers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buctootim Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 An old school friend phoned me about 9 months ago to say he was in a spot of temporary financial bother and asked if I could provide a reference for him to secure a "short term" loan at a ridculously high rate of interest via one of these "pay day" loan companies. I told him he was asking for trouble and, instead, I suggested that I take out a loan on his behalf (with the Post Office as it turns out - APR=6.9%), give him the lump sum then he pays me back the monthly payments. The Post Office trust me, I trust my hard-up friend and he trusts me. He's been a few days late with payments on one or two occasions but that was for understandable reasons. Something the "pay day" loan company wouldn't have been so understanding about. An example of the much maligned "Big Society" in action.....a friend with a few spare bob helping out a friend in need. And they say all Tories are nasty uncaring individuals.... ;-) Nice story trousers. I like this website, its based on the same principle - a loan from a helpful friend or individual is more likely to be repaid. http://uk.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pap Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Interesting stories about the power of personal acquaintance. I'm pretty much the same. Apart from the HMRC, my priority has always to people I know, like when I rented digs in Ireland. I must say, I do find it quite sad that we're prepared to go along with this. I know the massive rates of interest on these particular loans are built on the principle of them being out of pocket for a couple of days, but loan companies have been targeting people with crap credit ratings for a long time now. I turned down a job in 2007 because one of my prospective employer's clients was offering 76% APR loans to its clients, and these definitely weren't designed to be settled up in a couple of days. From a Western perspective, there is much to criticise about the Islamic tradition, particularly when it comes to women's rights and punitive measures, but one think they can be commended for is their attitude to usury. They won't have it, and fair play to them. Totally accept that there are a lot of stupid people out there, and ultimately, no argument - it's their fault. The shame of it is that we allow these legalised loan sharks to compound these problems further. Having more desperate people out there isn't good for society. I'm not saying that we should go the whole hog, but I don't think it's a hard sell to legislate for a maximum APR that people should pay on anything, at least, not to the British public. I'm honestly not sure what is a more damning indictment on our society. That these loans exist in the first place, or the fact that some see them as the just desserts for those too ill-disciplined to control their finances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Exactly. I used to work with (manage) this fecking ***t girl who would always moan about money. She would hark on about getting a pay rise despite the fact she had only been at the company 7 or 8 months and overall did her job at best averagely at worst badly. Anyway, I did not know this but she repeatedly went over my head to ask HR for a sub (loan) to see her through to pay day. Anyway, after about 4 months of this, they refused and told her she should manage her own money better (it was well known that she went out drinking 2 or 3 times per week). She kicked up a massive fuss moaning about it all morning. The next this I saw walking past her desk is that she is on wonga.com playing about with the sliders. I thought she must be desperate, I felt slightly sorry for her but then remembered that she plssed the money away so stopped myself from offering her the cash. Her mood then swung back again and she was all happy, making arrangement with the others for a 'few drinks after work'. This reconfirmed to me that she was a muppet. Later that day, I looked over and she was playing online bingo with her new found money. To me it is unbelievable that someone would take a loan out at 4000+% interest and then gamble it on some bingo site in the afternoon when they should/could have been working. To then have think she can then either borrow money from the company (happend again the next month) or ask for a pay rise (again) was beyond belief. However, the world is made up mostly of muppets and idiots and this is how these companies not only stay in business but make a huge profit. This drives me up the f*cking wall. Never really thought much about until one time in the post office, I used to live in shirley warren, waiting to get some stamps and the twenty-something woman in front of me had four kids with her. She got to the cashier and drew about £80 in family allowance, or whatever its called nowadays, when the cashier handed over the cash she pushed most of it back and said "...and 50 one-pound scratchcards." Words fail me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint-scooby Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Money is the root of all evil x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Saint Posted 8 November, 2011 Share Posted 8 November, 2011 Advertising these companies on Kids TV channels is very irresponsible, these guys know what they are doing. Firsly targetting hard up parents in need of a quick fix, but at the same time sowing little seeds in youngsters heads for later in life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bourne Valley Saint Posted 9 November, 2011 Author Share Posted 9 November, 2011 A good range of (mainly) intelligent comments - thanks. It's good to know I am not alone in finding these companies and the way they advertise deplorable. I know that there are irresponsible adults out there who can't and won't manage their finances but there are many decent people just trying to scrape by and these poxy adverts tempt them to borrow when in all reality, they'll be in a similar predicament next month, only worse, because they'll be a further £48.00 a day worse off (that is one day's interest at 1734%) for every day that they borrowed. So they borrow again and the spiral continues out of control! There should be a limit on APR. After all, we are at record low interest rates with the Bank of England at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctoroncall Posted 9 November, 2011 Share Posted 9 November, 2011 Money is the root of all evil x Not quite, it's the love of money... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony13579 Posted 9 November, 2011 Share Posted 9 November, 2011 The interest these companies are charging is so immoral that it should be illegal. It is exploitation of the poorly educated and desperate. I have loaned money to friends in the past. I neary stuffed my self up once. I paid a mortgage payment for a mate who was off work with lymes disease. I then applied for a motrgage for a house I found and they took my bank statements and nearly refused my mortgage because they thought I was hiding another mortgage from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyo-Saint Posted 9 November, 2011 Share Posted 9 November, 2011 r.e tokyos post: She clearly has a gambling addiction which is an illness. In the past i had a bit of a problem (never got into debt with it) so can feel sorry for people who do get into the vicious circle. As well as these legalised loan sharks being outlawed and the FSA indroducing a maximum apr level, I would go further and outlaw advertising of online gaming. You'd be surprised at just how much of an issue this is becoming for some women, and the constant advertising tells you just what a lucrative market it is. The trouble with being a wind up merchant Dune is that people are never really sure when you are being serious or not. I will take it at face value and tell you that despite her many problems she was not a gambling addict. I would say I would bet my mortgage on it but feel it would be taken as a pun in bad taste. She had many problems and if anything she was addicted to trying to keep her youth. I am not sure what you think but I think it is unusual for a woman in her 30's with a 13 year old child to go out drinking/clubbing 2 or 3 times a week. I know you may now think she had an alcohol problem but she didn't, she is just an idiot who wants to have a good time as much as possible. When the money runs out she then thinks the world 'owes' her. It is people like her that keep the daytime TV/Radio full of adverts for quick loans and personal injury solicitors. Now-a-days the adverts practically say, "Sitting at home during the day watching TV? Want to keep this lifestyle but can't figure out how? Why not blame an accident that was probably your fault on someone else? Contact Ambulance Chasers for you NOW!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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