Wonga - Please avoid this company!!

judy_

not read all this thread,,didn't know anything about wonga until today, apart from knowing it was a kind of payday loan company.

My son (age 21) asked me a question today....He said, "Mum can I close my bank account and open another"?

I quized him as to why he would want to do that.

I managed to get out of him that he had taken out a wonga loan for £260.

I then went to wonga website to look at terms and conditions etc...I was horrified to see that occupation drop down list included being unemployed or on benefits. (surely this is not right?)

My son got a loan for £260 saying he was on benefits, gave his bank account details, but gave a false address. He heard from his mates that he could grab the money and do runner!!!!!

Within 5 minutes the £260 was in his bank account.

Anyway..

I have given him the riot act, explaining the errors of his ways, told him you have a choice here.

Either run and hide for 6 years, duck and dive and live in misery

Or

I give him £300 and pay the £260 back and he promises to never do anything like this again or he will stuff up his life for a very long time.

Being a mum, I gave him £300 but told him no more, he has a baby due and needs to sort out his life for his baby's sake....maybe I was a soft touch..maybe in 4 months time he will wonga again...I really hope not.

Please please if anyone is reading this...DO NOT TAKE A WONGA loan at over 4000% APR.

Reason why my son wanted this loan....he wanted some new clothes..I despair..

Bank of mum is now CLOSED.

dreavi

judy_ wrote: »

not read all this thread,,didn't know anything about wonga until today, apart from knowing it was a kind of payday loan company.

My son (age 21) asked me a question today....He said, "Mum can I close my bank account and open another"?

I quized him as to why he would want to do that.

I managed to get out of him that he had taken out a wonga loan for £260.

I then went to wonga website to look at terms and conditions etc...I was horrified to see that occupation drop down list included being unemployed or on benefits. (surely this is not right?)

My son got a loan for £260 saying he was on benefits, gave his bank account details, but gave a false address. He heard from his mates that he could grab the money and do runner!!!!!

Within 5 minutes the £260 was in his bank account.

Anyway..

I have given him the riot act, explaining the errors of his ways, told him you have a choice here.

Either run and hide for 6 years, duck and dive and live in misery

Or

I give him £300 and pay the £260 back and he promises to never do anything like this again or he will stuff up his life for a very long time.

Being a mum, I gave him £300 but told him no more, he has a baby due and needs to sort out his life for his baby's sake....maybe I was a soft touch..maybe in 4 months time he will wonga again...I really hope not.

Please please if anyone is reading this...DO NOT TAKE A WONGA loan at over 4000% APR.

Reason why my son wanted this loan....he wanted some new clothes..I despair..

Bank of mum is now CLOSED.

To be fair though, whilst I dont like Wonga and associated companies this one isnt really their fault. Your Son was essentially going to have a go at stealing £260 from them, he's lucky to have a mum like you looking out for him.

But this is the point that permeates this thread, Wonga and Co are generally Rip off merchants and a large proportion (not all) of their customers are deadbeats, all entwined in a big mess of bad debts and recriminations

xgingerx

Hi, although I dont endorse anyone using this company, I have to admit I have used them a few times near the end of the month and short of cash, never had a problem with them so far, I personally think as a last resort (ie cant borrow from friends or get any other credit) and for a very short period of time, ie a week, then u dont get a bad deal when there is no other options. Think the last i got was 100 for 7 days and paid back 112

Anyway, if you can avoid this very expensive way of getting credit then I would but not all of us have plan b

Inno1985

Jesus you lot are numptys! Ive used wonga many times and not one thing wrong with it! Either read the T&C's or dont use it. Simple!

Apples2

You signed up just to drag this old post back to life?

dealer_wins

Inno1985 wrote: »

Jesus you lot are numptys! Ive used wonga many times and not one thing wrong with it! Either read the T&C's or dont use it. Simple!

There you go folks, a glowing review from a long standing, respected poster. It must mean Wonga are super smashing great :rotfl::rotfl:

ihateyes

I have used wonga on and off over 3years. yes i had problems once, agreed a plan, and they cleaned me out. i learnt. i have used them since and again went on a plan.... not so much as i coudlne afford it, but more to freeze the interest:beer:

i think wonga over the last few years have became one of the better loans companies to deal with.

Now for me, when i was a young 20yr old i got credit from anywhere i asked, being a young 20, i took, took took, but when it came to paying it was pay bill or go and get !!!!ed.... i went and got !!!!ed. now then i was looking at the present not at the future, and it has done me in.... so i have learnt from experiences.

However while i now meet any bills i have most people still wont touch me.

A prime example of this is many people are private renting.... paying £600+ a month, with a spotless payment record, however the bank wont give these people a mortgage, when the mortgage payment would be CHEAPER than the current rent people are paying!!!!

Not everyone has the spotless record with access to credit other people have. So they have to pay the xtra. we all live and learn... at least we should learn!!

Inno1985

Apples2 wrote: »

You signed up just to drag this old post back to life?

Well do you keep reading it to see if anyone replys?

Inno1985

dealer_wins wrote: »

There you go folks, a glowing review from a long standing, respected poster. It must mean Wonga are super smashing great :rotfl::rotfl:

I didnt say they was great, they are useful though. Sit down little boy your not funny. :T :T

paulofcambs

I was born into a poor family. We lived on one of the largest housing estates in Britain. In those days, credit cards didn’t exist. If you couldn’t afford something, you went without. It was that simple. We ate well but life’s luxuries were few and far between. I wouldn’t wish those times on my worst enemy. However, I don’t wish what we have now on my worst enemy either.

I shall be eternally grateful to my Mum and Dad. They gave me things which were worth more than money. Firstly, they made sure that I got a good education. Education isn’t just needed for a job, it’s needed for life. They also taught me that if you want something, work and save for it. If you can’t afford to save for it, you probably can’t afford it. If you can’t afford it, go without rather than buy it on credit. If you buy it on credit, you will end up paying much more for something that you couldn’t afford in the first place. Yes, you will get pleasure out of having something that you wanted, but the sleepless nights that you will also get through worrying about how you are going to pay for it will more than offset the pleasure. They also taught me that it isn’t how much money you get, it’s what you do with it when you do get it. Rather than spend it on something that you want, spend it on something that will earn you more money. They taught me one last thing. There’s a BIG difference between NEED and WANT. They taught me the difference. You NEED to eat. You don’t NEED the latest iPhone or a huge flat screen TV.

Marketing guys are very clever people. They convert WANTS into NEEDS and they are very good at it. They convince people that they NEED the latest iPhone and preferably a ‘limited edition’ one. That’s where a good education comes in. You NEED one to recognise what the marketing men do. You need one to convert the NEEDS, that they have created in your mind, back into WANTS.

I have an expensive watch. Do I WANT one? No. Do I NEED one? Yes - because of what I now do for a living. I NEED a watch that is second perfect. A cheap watch isn’t, so, I NEED a quality watch and quality watches cost money. Did I buy some flashy watch? No. I bought one that was accurate because that’s what I NEEDED. Do I NEED a top of the range iPhone? No. Do I have one? No. I have a phone that cost me less than £10. I can’t access the internet on the phone nor can I use it to take photos. Why did I buy such a phone? Because all I NEED it to do is to make phone calls – so I bought a phone which did just that – and no more.

The marketing guys turn WANTS into NEEDS. People then WANT what they don’t NEED and, more importantly, what they can’t afford. So, people buy things that they don’t NEED and can’t afford using credit cards. Credit cards are a wonderful thing if used sensibly and responsibly. If not, you end up paying at least 25% more for something that you didn’t NEED, no could afford, in the first place. Then, surprise, surprise. You find that you can’t afford to pay the credit card bill so you default on your payments and get a bad credit history. This means that you will have difficulty getting credit in the future and, if you do, the interest rates will be sky high. But, you continue buying what you don’t need nor can afford. Finally, credit card companies won’t lend to you anymore. Then, as if by magic, in comes companies like WONGA to supply the money, that you can’t afford to borrow, to buy the things that you don’t NEED in the first place.

There’s a lot of people in this world that have severe financial problems that are not of their making. To those, I offer my sympathy for there, but for the grace of God, go I. I sincerely hope that things improve in the not too distant future.

There’s also a lot of people that face severe financial problems that are of their own making. To those I would say: You did this to yourselves. You wanted things that you couldn’t afford – you got them. Now live with the consequences. You may think that others are to blame for your financial woes. For example, you may have lost your job and now you can’t afford to pay what you borrowed. Well, where was your plan B when plan A failed? If you didn’t have a plan B, then you took a risk and failed. Well, that’s life. People like you will always take risks. Some will gain from the risk. Some will lose. You lost. Learn from the experience rather than blame others. There is no one to blame other than you. If you have children, then you owe it to them to teach them a better way so that they don’t end up where you have ended up. Teach them to be responsible and not to be irresponsible in the way you have been. You owe them at least that much. If you don’t, we’ll have another generation that will spend what it can’t afford.