City Financial Loan Brokers....SCAM or NOT ?

Hello guys, a family member has unfortunately gotten bumped £75 by this mob, and naturally my Google search has lead me here.

My advice after reading the thread was for her to of course put a cancellation and request for refund in writing, but as I caught up with the thread, I started reading about people whos accounts have been further debited (not just from City Financial), so one of the things I'd advice is for her to close her bank account and open a new one in order to stop any future transactions (as the bank won't guarantee anything).

The problem there then, would be receiving the refund if your account is now closed. As much a !!!! as it will be getting them to pay out, they're legally obliged to do so, but what form will that refund take - a debit into your account or a cheque?

I applied for a loan with City Financial and was contacted almost instantly and sent multiple texts to ring the company. I called and was given an advisor Leigh. I was told I could borrow £2000 at 15% APR over two years and all I had to do was pay an upfront fee of £79. I was concerned about paying this upfront fee as I had no proof of that they would come through with the loan afterwards and so I asked for an email, which would in writing confirm exactly the offer I had been given and what I would pay to process the offer. The company were extremely reluctant to send me any such email saying that all paperwork would be sent out after I had paid the £79. My daughter in law got on the phone to them for me and flatly refused to pay on my behalf until she could see a formal agreement outlining exactly what I was paying for. After talking to several different rude people on a number of occasions, and email was finally sent out from a NoReply type email.
In desperation and after being badgered by the company with calls and texts I agreed to pay the fee. I was told I would then receive my paperwork via email and the loan would be given three days after they received the paperwork. No paperwork came through. I called them and was told 'it takes 24 hours after the payment', 'you are in a queue' and 'we already sent it at 9am'. Several times they put the phone down on me and we downright rude to me.
Then finally, I called again to be asked my postcode and told that I had to call back on another number. At this stage the payment had obviously been cleared and it was showing on their system as they refused to speak to me whatsoever.
After calling the other number it became clear that I would not receive the loan I was promised. The number rang out every time or was picked up and they hung up, until the point where it just stated 'this mailbox is full'.

When I asked Leigh, my original advisor, about the bad reviews online she told me that these were created by people who had been denied loans because they had given false information, such as using the local chip shop as their address.

This company takes advantage of people who are desperate, and the people working there have no problem outright lying to people. I asked them 'If I make this payment will I 100% receive the paperwork today, and subsequently the loan you offered me?' and she replied 'Yes, 100%'.

What to do if you are scammed
I have since sent them a letter stating that I have reported them to the Office of Fair Trading, and I went into my bank who refunded the fraud the same day. All you need to do is tell your bank you did not authorise this transaction and you will receive your money back.

hey all! new to forums, have found the advice so useful and accessible felt i just had to get involved.
i am a postgrad international finance student and am grateful that if i've learnt anything over the years its how to avoid some of the sneakier pitfalls when it comes to paydaylenders/loans from 'companies' such as city financial...which at my last count also trades publicly under 8 or more other names.
feeling the pinch a little this year when between jobs i applied to a reputable lender and failed a credit check element on an unfortunate but now rectified technicality. similar experience to many other posters i started receiving wave after wave of cold-calls, text messages, emails and so forth despite my closely guarded privacy. one such notable call was from city who promptly offered me a 'guaranteed' loan of £1000 with 'guaranteed' no up front charges... my curiosity was piqued and when i was informed that my total repayment after the principal would be approx £100 for a loan of £1000 for a year alarm bells started to ring....
i'm mischievous by nature and decided to play along without committing myself. for personal legal reasons i maintain a phone which automatically records conversations at the touch of a button and also very helpfully delivers the required notification of recording in a very hushed robotic tone which is almost imperceptible and often ignored.....
with that in place i started having some fun with the callers based in a centre in india. when they started experiencing difficulties with some of my more probing questions i was connected to a 'senior ??? position not given' manager of some description who was clearly south african and not merely in a different office but different country...(this was confirmed later after research). again i was 'guaranteed' several times and personal information was requested.. at this point i was so curious and invested i was happy to provide card details/info for an account which i promptly closed... after 2 days of processing i received a call informing me that my loan had been approved and was ready to pay......BUT that a 'DEPOSIT?' of £39.50 was required to establish that my account was healthy....
i was asked how much money i tended to keep in my accounts, and at what times of the month my account was most 'healthy'...clearly professional terms..
at this point i stated very clearly (into my phone which was recording) that under no circumstances were they authorised to deduct any funds whatsoever without my written consent. i explained to another south african manager that at this point i would be happy to go ahead as soon as i had received the T&C's etc to read through first...a simple email....which was sent to me 3 times in 3 days apparently and i am still yet to recieve....at this point they became increasingly frustrated at my insistence on seeing the terms, a straightforward and simple request, and the language deteriorated rapidly..after a few days i received pressure calls to agree the 'safety deposit' payments at which point i informed them of my intention to report them and submit the evidence i had collected. needless to say i have not heard from them since...
my sympathies to those of you who have been duped but the old rules are still the best...if it sounds too good to be true...it probably isnt!....dont ever sign on the dotted line without reading the fine print....reputable ethical lenders do not charge fees in this way, they are transparent in their fee structure...and in general if someone on the phone seems incredibly relaxed and upbeat about giving you credit then somethings fishy....i've yet to meet a good banker (and i know plenty) that is ever blasse about lending money....:T