A question about : Loans Direct UK [text removed by MSE Forum Team] Processing Fee
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Hi.
I applied for a Loan via Loans Direct UK at the End of June 2012. When speaking on the phone to them, they said my loan had been approved and they would need to take card details for the processing fee of Ј49.95 (which they said would be debited with 45 days, by which time I would have a loan). Since then all the documents they have promised to send in the post have mysteriously never arrived.
When I phoned up their Customer Service Number to try and question this I would be told that I am in 4th Queue position and so on.... and then at the end after 1st position. It would just say goodbye and then hang up. This happened 4 times.
I then sent them to following email 3 times over a 5 week period and have had no response.
Dear Loans Direct UK
I applied for a loan and you debited Ј49.99 from my account on June 27th 2012. This was to guarantee my loan. I have heard nothing back and have not been offered a loan. As a result I would kindly request that you refund the Charge to my account.
My Details:
**
**/**/19**
S**1 7**
Reference Number: 001*****12
Any advice on how to I can get my Ј50 back.
Many Thanks in Advance
MSE Official Insert: Right of Reply from Loans Direct UK
GENERAL INFORMATION
Loans Direct UK are not a lender but an online membership service that charges a one-off fee of between Ј50 and Ј70.
We are registered with the OFT and their Consumer Credit Licence number is 0628451. Our company registration number is 6907433.
Membership gives you access to a range of financial products, discount offers and tools for managing your money. We will look at the personal details you provide at the point of sign up and will try to match you with a suitable solution but, membership does not guarantee that you will be approved for a loan. Nor does it guarantee the amount you will be able to borrow or the interest rate you will be charged. We don't carry out credit checks ourselves.
If you have a query about your membership you should contact our customer service team on 0844 3091 936. Our call centre is open from 8am - 9pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 2pm on Saturdays.
If you wish to cancel your membership you can do so by writing to: Loans Direct UK, Office 8, 10 Buckhurst Road, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, TN40 1QF.
GENERAL QUESTIONS
We have received a number of queries regarding our service so here are our official responces:
1) Fees are taken out of customers' accounts without authorisation, using debit cards, the details of which are purportedly taken for identification or credit check purposes only.
Official reply:
The only time our website asks for card details is when a customer is signing up to membership. Our website is very transparent, and we clearly state the membership fee. At no point do we suggest that card details are required for anything other than the payment of a membership fee
2) Payment of fees is taken though loans are offered for an amount, which is below the amount needed and requested by customers.
Official reply:
When a customer signs up to membership they provide approximately 30 pieces of information about themselves. We have a computer system that matches these individual details against our database of financial products (we have about 200 products including loans, credit cards and debt help solutions) We then suggest solutions that we believe to be suitable for the customers individual situation.
Our system is also integrated with a range of loans, so sometimes we can tell the customer immediately if they have been accepted for a loan with a particular lender.
At no point do we guarantee a particular loan amount or APR, as this is ultimately down to the customer's individual chosen lender.
Sometimes loans are for smaller amounts than the customer initially requested, due to their individual situation. Other times, we recommend debt help solutions if a loan is not suitable.
3) Payment is taken though the customer has cancelled the request for a loan.
Official reply:
Membership includes more than just finding suitable loans. We also provide customers with exclusive discount deals, money saving advice and access to their credit reports. Therefore, simply not proceeding with a loan will not automatically cancel a customers membership.
If a customer would like to cancel their membership then they will need to contact our call centre on 0844 3091 936. We are available Monday - Friday 8am to 9pm and 10am - 2pm on Saturday's.
4) Loans direct processes an application fee knowing that they will not be able find customers a suitable lender.
Official reply:
We only accept customers who have matched at least one product on our system and we therefore believe we can help. Customers are under no obligation to proceed with any of the solutions we recommend for them
5) Loans Direct offer customers loans from companies which have already rejected their application or which are unsuitable because no guarantor is able to guarantee the customer's loan application.
Official reply:
We ask customers to tell us which lenders they already have debts with. As well as those that they have already approached and been unsuccessful with so we can rule those lenders out of our recommendations - so this would only ever be the case if the customer has forgotten to tell us some of the lenders they have previously applied with.
Some popular products do require guarantors, however the customer is under no obligation to accept these products - if they indicate that these solutions are not suitable we will continue working for them until we find a solution that does meet their requirements.
6) Loans Direct operates a scam
Official reply:
We absolutely do not operate a scam and it is slanderous and libellous to suggest otherwise. We hold a consumer credit license that was issued by the Office of Fair Trading, we have a no quibble refund policy and we deliver a highly valued service to our large base of customer, many of whom come back to us many times to meet their financial needs. If a customer is not completely satisfied with the service they've received they simply need to contact us via phone or email to discuss. Queries of this nature will be dealt within 24 hours and response will be issued over the phone and confirmed in writing.
7) It is difficult to obtain a refund from Loan Direct.
Official reply:
We have a 100% refund policy for any customers who are unhappy with the service they have received. To discuss a refund with us you are simply required to contact us via phone (08443091936) or email (support@loansdirectuk.net). Our call centre is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 9pm and Saturday 10am to 2pm, we do our best to deal with all refund requests on the same day.
Best answers:
- There is no loan and never will be [text removed by MSE Forum Team].
Look on their T&C's and should say about refund. - Thats what I've realised since then, I thought were a half decent company after looking at their website
ww.loansdirectuk.net - Thanks it has been 71 days now. I will send a letter to the registered address requesting this less the Ј5 brokerage fee
- Something I've experienced first hand! ...
LoansDirectUK.net do NOT give full refunds!
They use on '0844' numbers (10p pm from a BT landline) and you'll probably spend a lot of cash simply calling them.
They employ [text deleted by MSE Forum Team] agents who will fob you off and I can say 'extremely' experienced in doing that!
'They' say they are NOT 'brokers' but a 'membership' site.
If you are 'lucky' they'll tell you you'll get Ј31.25 out of the original fee of Ј59.75 back - it'll be fun to see any refund.
Cancelling by 'signed for' letter, to them means simply that, you are cancelling.
IMHO certainly a case for Trading Standards to investigate.
Michael - [text deleted by MSE Forum Team] i have now been waiting almost a month when i was told once i have paid the 49.99 fee it will be in the bank with 3 to 4 working day after then i called and asked where the money was got threw to a guy called adam he was as much use as a chocolate fireguard and aint got a clue said he would phone me back never did then i called the next day i went from 8th in the cue to 4th then 1st then back up to 12th then got threw to the customer service manager MATTHEW well he was rude [text deleted by MSE Forum Team] he could run a bath let a lone a team he dnt know what he is talking about gave me and email address to the mangers have emailed them 3 times no response they tell u ur loan has been acceted take ur money then dnt want to know after tht as ur never get a call from any companys there all false i am going to the C.A.B to report them as i want a refund [text deleted by MSE Forum Team] dont go near them EVER
- Reclaiming Broker Fees
- [text removed by MSE Forum Team]
It does? It is one I looked at and thought was reasonably convincing. No I didn't give them any money, having been caught like that twice in the distant past. - Why would you pay someone nearly Ј60 for the pleasure of a loan..
I can never get my head around this one as no company that is real will want you to pay them upfront...
Most people looking for these loans have bad credit history meaning they have ripped off other company's they have borrowed from in past and yet they think they are going to get more credit ...
I suggest you all sit down and work out where your plans went wrong and devise new ones that involves living within your means..
Good luck but remember why you got into the position you are in.. - PLEASE don't do this any more. You are struggling even to put money in the electricity meter (now, I have been there, and I know what it is like to have all the meter credit, including the emergency credit, run out in freezing temperatures in January when you ahve no other form of heating and no money to buy a token). PLEASE don't waste more money on loans brokers. If your credit is so bad that you can't even get a payday loan then you will have to find some way to cope without that money - presumably you are on benefits? Is there debt or is it merely a case of being unable to meet your present living expenses? Is there any work you could get at all for cash in hand, dog walking, babysitting, cleaning, anything? Even busking in the nearest town if you happen to play an instrument - I have done that before. Flyers through doors / notices in shops offering to do odd jobs? There is casual work out there I am sure, even if there is nothing better. How about popping over to the DFW board?
- Sorry but I have to agree with the previous replies.
- Loans Direct have got one of the worst reps in the whole industry, they are a broker of course but that's not much comfort to those that have had their time and money wasted by them, like many brokers, they initially kind of fool people into thinking they are a lender and then they also very subtly give the impression that paying the fee guarantees a loan, they don't actually say that in so many words but it's an impression they want to give so that people are happy to pay the fee.
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