Wish I'd found this site sooner

GreyPilgrim

Maybe not the right area to post this, but I wondered what your thoughts were on the availability of credit, and the methods used to market it and 'attract' customers?

Look, I'm a great believer in personal responsibility. I have no one to blame for my situation but myself. I was very young and very naive when I seriously got into debt (first student loan, first time away from home, blew a whole terms loan in Oxford street on new clothes...) and I can blame as many people as I want, but at the end of the day I was still an adult. But a lot of the adverts I see on TV leave a really unpleasant taste in my mouth. Actually I get quite angry about it.

Not to target a particular company, but the general theme tends to be:

"Not sleeping because of bad debts? Outgoings more the incomings? RELAX!! Why not consolidate your existing loans into one, easy to manage loan?"

Now thats fair enough. I realise that in that situation, it may be the only feasible way to survive without totally going under. You accept the fact that you're actually going to end up paying a bigger sum back, and because of the lower payments you're going to be paying it for longer, but the clincher for me that really gets me bouncing off the ceiling are the soundbites at the end:

"I contacted Shadey Finance, consolidated my loans, and have halved my monthly payments"...............fine so far..........."I paid off the money I owed for my car loan, and still had enough money left over take my family on a well earned holiday"

...?

what?

..?

You are telling people to borrow money to pay off a debt that you they couldn't afford to pay off in the first place without borrowing more money, but you actually make them believe that by doing so, they 'deserve' to borrow a couple of grand extra to go away and lie on a beach and thus condemn themselves to an EVEN LONGER period in the debt trap?

..?

WHAT?

..?

Does no one else find this atrocious? And the fact that these adverts seem to be on mostly in the daytime, where the prime audience would be those not at work (generalisation, I know), who may already be in financial difficulties might actually be taken in by this rubbish?

And lets get Carol Vorderman to advertise it. She does countdown so she must be ok

I'm sorry - rant over. I'm probably stating the obvious but have never really heard anyone voice concerns over their tactics.

Just wondered if it's only me who foams at the mouth when these things come on the TV

GreyPilgrim

linniestorm wrote:

Welcome!! Glad to hear of your success! One thing about your last post, you mention bank charges on here and everyone's ears !!!!!! up!

See this thread if you hadn't already noticed it, may be worth looking into claiming them back!
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=158155

or the consumer action group, not sure of the link but someone will have it!

To be honest, they gave me ample warning each time, and I just tore their letters up and went into denial. I must have moved house about nine times as a student to try and get away from them. I could have sorted it out with a couple of phone calls. I'd rather just put it all behind me and get back at financial institutions the legal way. I don't really have the energy to take the student loans company apart.

If there was a smiley icon for 'girlie chicken coward', I would use it <-- here

gallygirl

GreyPilgrim wrote:

Maybe not the right area to post this, but I wondered what your thoughts were on the availability of credit, and the methods used to market it and 'attract' customers?

Look, I'm a great believer in personal responsibility. I have no one to blame for my situation but myself. I was very young and very naive when I seriously got into debt (first student loan, first time away from home, blew a whole terms loan in Oxford street on new clothes...) and I can blame as many people as I want, but at the end of the day I was still an adult. But a lot of the adverts I see on TV leave a really unpleasant taste in my mouth. Actually I get quite angry about it.

Not to target a particular company, but the general theme tends to be:

"Not sleeping because of bad debts? Outgoings more the incomings? RELAX!! Why not consolidate your existing loans into one, easy to manage loan?"

Now thats fair enough. I realise that in that situation, it may be the only feasible way to survive without totally going under. You accept the fact that you're actually going to end up paying a bigger sum back, and because of the lower payments you're going to be paying it for longer, but the clincher for me that really gets me bouncing off the ceiling are the soundbites at the end:

"I contacted Shadey Finance, consolidated my loans, and have halved my monthly payments"...............fine so far..........."I paid off the money I owed for my car loan, and still had enough money left over take my family on a well earned holiday"

...?

what?

..?

You are telling people to borrow money to pay off a debt that you they couldn't afford to pay off in the first place without borrowing more money, but you actually make them believe that by doing so, they 'deserve' to borrow a couple of grand extra to go away and lie on a beach and thus condemn themselves to an EVEN LONGER period in the debt trap?

..?

WHAT?

..?

Does no one else find this atrocious? And the fact that these adverts seem to be on mostly in the daytime, where the prime audience would be those not at work (generalisation, I know), who may already be in financial difficulties might actually be taken in by this rubbish?

And lets get Carol Vorderman to advertise it. She does countdown so she must be ok

I'm sorry - rant over. I'm probably stating the obvious but have never really heard anyone voice concerns over their tactics.

Just wondered if it's only me who foams at the mouth when these things come on the TV

I SOOOOO agree with you! I've seen it from both sides, been in debt myself, as a landlady now I had to get someone evicted because he wouldn't pay the rent (note WOULDN'T, not COULDN'T). I took out a ccj against him - wow!!!!! I'm back in the property now, but from reading his post the number of loans he's been offered specifically because of his ccj is disgusting.

It annoys me that a) people like him who have delibarately run up 20k of debt get away with it, and b) people who'v genuinely fallen on hard times get preyed upon by these loan vultures. :mad:

GreyPilgrim

ali007 wrote:

It annoys me that a) people like him who have delibarately run up 20k of debt get away with it, and b) people who'v genuinely fallen on hard times get preyed upon by these loan vultures. :mad:

There's so much that annoys me. Debt used to have a real stigma attached to it. To owe someone money was seen as a bad thing. I'm not for one moment suggesting that a stigma is EVER a good thing - for gods sake don't ever feel 'shame' at being in debt because that will prevent you from seeking help and getting it sorted. But we seem to have gone way too far in the opposite direction I think. It's now painted as cool to be up to the eyes in debt. Rebrand it as 'credit' and it's ok! Can't afford that holiday / car / loft conversion / fridge? Don't worry!! borrow the money and pay it back later? We're cool? We're nice people! We chat to you about football while you sign your life away! Can't afford to pay us back? DON'T WORRY? Just borrow some more! Whoo Hoo!! Honestly, we're really nice? Would Carol Vorderman ever make you do something that was bad for you?

Oh christ...the advert that REALLY wants to make me self harm with a cheese grater is Ocean Finance. VoxPop soundbite from a 'satisfied' customer.

"We got it all done over the phone and they didn't try and babble me with science"

..?

firstly, do you mean "baffle"

and secondly, what "science" did they not babble you with...things like APR's? total repayment values? That your house and kidneys may be at risk if you do not keep up repayments? Nice of them to omit that :mad:

(*deep breath*)
Right...going to bed now. Night all, and nice to make your acquaintance!

tesuhoha

I dont think your post is pointless; i think its wonderful and it must be a wonderful feeling to know that soon you will be free. Whatever you do, dont ever, ever, ever get into debt again because its so awful and its such a trap. Its like being in prison and serving a sentence. All us poor Debtfree wannabees and our debtfree dates, it is like being in prison and crossing the days off. So extremely well done. I think congratulations are in order.

GreyPilgrim

tesuhoha wrote:

I dont think your post is pointless; i think its wonderful and it must be a wonderful feeling to know that soon you will be free. Whatever you do, dont ever, ever, ever get into debt again because its so awful and its such a trap. Its like being in prison and serving a sentence. All us poor Debtfree wannabees and our debtfree dates, it is like being in prison and crossing the days off. So extremely well done. I think congratulations are in order.

Well it still sounds like I'm saying Nurr Nurr Na Nurr Nurr, but I'm not. I feel the need to keep apologising for that (so I'll apologise for apologising) I came across this site because I was looking for credit card advice and god..it's fantastic. I wish I'd found it years ago (hence the title).

Debt was always a way of life as far back as I remember. We had a constant catalogue payment on the go. We weren't credit worthy enough to have 'proper' loans - we had to make do with a loan shark who to be fair, was a nice guy - not the kneecapping type, but then again, when you're borrowing £100 and paying back £145 and constantly topping it up, I suppose you can afford to be friendly. Hiding behind the sofa when certain other bill / debt collectors knocked on the door. I remember as a kid thinking it was always going to get better in a few weeks / months. Christ, it's taken me 32 years. Don't worry - I'm seeing all credit as bad now. Our goal once we ARE debt free is to start saving for a deposit for a house. Maybe a car first. But thats it. Everything else will be saved for and I don't care how long it takes, I'm not doing anything on credit no matter how attractive the rates are.

But the thought of a mortgage scares the bejeesus out of me, I'll admit.

tesuhoha

[QUOTE=GreyPilgrimBut_the_thought_of_a_mortgage_scares_the_bejeesus_out_of_me,_I'll_admit.[/QUOTE]Just pretend youre paying the rent then, and one day youll own your house. And you will be rent free.

tesuhoha

Youre not saying nurr, nurr, i know yhoure not. Its just as worthy to come on and tell everyone when you have paid off the debt cos thats what this site is all about, isnt it? Trying to reach that goal? Twould be pointless if we didnt have our winners.

fizzel81

well done and thank you for posting, threads like this keep me going as i then see it is possible to get a debt free life

linniestorm

GreyPilgrim wrote:

To be honest, they gave me ample warning each time, and I just tore their letters up and went into denial. I must have moved house about nine times as a student to try and get away from them. I could have sorted it out with a couple of phone calls. I'd rather just put it all behind me and get back at financial institutions the legal way. I don't really have the energy to take the student loans company apart.

If there was a smiley icon for 'girlie chicken coward', I would use it <-- here

Sorry! I think I misunderstood then! Were you charged by the Student Loans comp then? If its the bank then a lot of people have been claiming back any charges on their account. The point behind it being that they are punitive (i.e. it doesn't cost £25 or £30 for the bank to run off an automated letter and post it to you!)

Most people find a couple of hundred in charges (some a lot more!) on their accounts from bounced dd's or standing orders and now a couple of people have spearheaded the campaign to get them back! The procedure is on that other thread, but there is a limit on what you can claim for (only the last 6 yrs I think). Some people get them back with a couple of letters some take it to small claims court, but most banks tend to settle before it gets to that stage, mostly cause they probably don't want to set a precedent if they lose a case, only one or two banks have won any of the couple of hundred cases that have gone through so far.

Again I suppose its a matter of weighing the options, if you were only charged a couple of times you might not want any more hassle in making the claim (though you're not less entitled to try and claim them whatever the amount!) but if you've been charged maybe five times or more that could be anything from £125 upwards, which might make a sizeable impression in your debt if you get it back!!

It's up to you at the end of the day and you do have six years you can claim for so you may have plenty of time left to consider it, I'd recommend reading the information on the thread and the Consumer Action Group thoroughly though before you start, cause they do know what they're talking about! But that other thread is humungous! So maybe read the first couple of pages and the last few to get the latest developments, if you are interested and you should be able to get the gist, and its written by people far more knowledgeable on the subject than me!!