OMG is this for real???

Tiff_2

Hi Everyone
Yes it's for real - personal experience here.

Having left a marriage with my son due to domestic violence, and I was also very poorly we were given a council property. A few weeks later, the Provident Man appeared at my door and told me how it was a way for people who were struggling to get some help. Made it all sound very sympathetic and customer friendly. It was amazing how he tried to turn it into a friendly Good Samaritan chit chat, asking about my family, where my ex-husband worked - I changed the subject when those friendly questions came up.

So at first you're offered £50 or £100 in vouchers. £50 seemed easy to pay off plus the interest in a short space of time. You can't take out a cash loan at first - it's usually vouchers. Once repaid, you feel good because it helped and you managed to pay it off ; as a reward, you can now get a higher value in vouchers or a cash loan. You're very grateful because things are so hard and no-one will help you and you already feel guilty for having bad credit so it seems like a God-send.

Then things like your child's birthday/Christmas etc. come up but you've still got payments to make. The Provident Man probably says look you only owe say £150. We could do you a loan of say £500, take the £150 from that to clear your debt and then there's still £350 for your needs. Of course the more you borrow the higher amount you have to pay each week. But any port in a storm huh?:o

Then meeting their payments becomes hard on Income Support and you realise what a hole you've dug for yourself because your money just won't stretch to the payments.
The phone doesn't stop ringing and notes are pushed through your door, sometimes more than once a day and there were times when I was very ill and I knew his collection time and I'd turn the TV off and then hide upstairs. I heard his car and several sessions of knocking on the door and then it was quiet. My phone rang but my heart was pounding from the stress of it all and I didn't answer. I did 1471 from upstairs and there he stood, leaning against his car phoning me, trying to catch me out! He would visit any time of the day or evening, bordering but not quite, harrassing me.

And you know what? Getting that first loan for that particular Christmas felt wonderful but it was followed by 2 years of stress that made me even more ill and I wish I hadn't jumped for the bait and had instead said to my DS that we were going to create a new version of Christmas especially for us, playing games etc & having nice food and a good dinner and some little bits and pieces like colouring books. I'm sure he'd have been happier then than watching how it affected me later.
They even came to my door with a catalogue and then opened up their car boot to show me things like TVs, VCRs, Duvets etc!:eek:

Yes I owed the money but you're made to feel cornered and so anxious. You started off feeling lower than low because of your situation and for needing the money soooo badly and then the looks, letters and phone calls make you feel like a criminal. If I'd have felt comfortable approaching them to renegotiate (which I did the first time & was given a second loan to pay off the first plus bit extra) I would have - but it's a slippery slope. In the end I went to the angels at CAB who told me that they were a non-prioity debt.
Making money from people who are already in a vulnerable position -as most of their customers are - is morally and ethically wrong. They are a well-established firm operating I believe on the good name they got from days long ago. They are vultures come to pick at the bones nowadays in my experience.

Please Martin, if you're looking in on this thread, it takes someone like you to start a campaign and to stand up against companies like Provident /Greenwoods etc. It's like legal highway robbery.

And if the Man from The Provident comes to your door please don't open it. It made my life hell and I feel so ashamed.
Sorry for the length of this folks but it really struck a chord with me :sad:

Emmzi

if you can spare even a pound a week, put it into a credit union. Then in desperate times, you'll have somewhere else to go to for a loan.

I can't describe how I feel about 'the provvie man.' Suffice to say they're on my list of 'would rather live in a box than work for' along with nuclear warhead manufacturers.

rog2

Tiff wrote:

Hi Everyone
Yes it's for real - personal experience here.
Having left a marriage with my son due to domestic violence, and I was also very poorly and we were given a council property. A few weeks later, the Provident Man appeared at my door and told me how it was a way for people who were struggling to get some help. Made it all sound very sympathetic and customer friendly. It was amazing how he tried to turn it into a friendly Good Samaritan chit chat, asking about my family, where my ex-husband worked - I changed the subject when those friendly questions came up.
So at first you're offered £50 or £100 in vouchers. £50 seemed easy to pay off plus the interest in a short space of time. You can't take out a cash loan at first - it's usually vouchers. Once repaid, you feel good because it helped and you managed to pay it off ; as a reward, you can now get a higher value in vouchers or a cash loan. You're very grateful because things are so hard and no-one will help you and you already feel guilty for having bad credit so it seems like a God-send.
Then things like your child's birthday/Christmas etc. come up but you've still got payments to make. The Provident Man probably says look you only owe say £150. We could do you a loan of say £500, take the £150 from that to clear your debt and then there's still £350 for your needs. Of course the more you borrow the higher amount you have to pay each week. But any port in a storm huh?:o
Then meeting their payments becomes hard on Income Support and you realise what a hole you've dug for yourself because your money just won't stretch to the payments.
The phone doesn't stop ringing and notes are pushed through your door, sometimes more than once a day and there were times when I was very ill and I knew his collection time and I'd turn the TV off and then hide upstairs. I heard his car and several sessions of knocking on the door and then it was quiet. My phone rang but my heart was pounding from the stress of it all and I didn't answer. I did 1471 from upstairs and there he stood, leaning against his car phoning me, trying to catch me out! He would visit any time of the day or evening, bordering but not quite, harrassing me.
And you know what? Getting that first loan for that particular Christmas felt wonderful but it was followed by 2 years of stress that made me even more ill and I wish I hadn't jumped for the bait and had instead said to my DS that we were going to create a new version of Christmas especially for us, playing games etc & having nice food and a good dinner and some little bits and pieces like colouring books. I'm sure he'd have been happier then than watching how it affected me later.
They even came to my door with a catalogue and then opened up their car boot to show me things like TVs, VCRs, Duvets etc!:eek:
Yes I owed the money but you're made to feel cornered and so anxious. You started off feeling lower than low because of your situation and for needing the money soooo badly and then the looks, letters and phone calls make you feel like a criminal. If I'd have felt comfortable approaching them to renegotiate (which I did the first time & was given a second loan to pay off the first plus bit extra) I would have - but it's a slippery slope. In the end I went to the angels at CAB who told me that they were a non-prioity debt.
Making money from people who are already in a vulnerable position -as most of their customers are - is morally and ethically wrong. They are a well-established firm operating I believe on the good name they got from days long ago. They are vultures come to pick at the bones nowadays in my experience.
Please Martin, if you're looking in on this thread, it takes someone like you to start a campaign and to stand up against companies like Provident /Greenwoods etc. It's like legal highway robbery.
And if the Man from The Provident comes to your door please don't open it. It made my life hell and I feel so ashamed.
Sorry for the length of this folks but it really struck a chord with me :sad:

If you hace ever thought about, or defended, the actions of Provident, etc. you should read this thread - it shows the true picture - they prey on the vulnerable, and appear to relish on the misery they create.
I am deliberately bumping this thread so that more of us can see what they really are.

In_Search_Of_Me

Tiff wrote:

Making money from people who are already in a vulnerable position -as most of their customers are - is morally and ethically wrong. They are a well-established firm operating I believe on the good name they got from days long ago. They are vultures come to pick at the bones nowadays in my experience.
Please Martin, if you're looking in on this thread, it takes someone like you to start a campaign and to stand up against companies like Provident /Greenwoods etc. It's like legal highway robbery.
QUOTE]

Couldnt have put it better myself! Any plans to expose them Martin the Marvellous?

elantan

tiff that's a heart wrenching story you have written ..thankyou for sharing ....

freebird65

Hi Tiff - thank you for sharing that heart-rending story and I really hope that your health has recovered now!

I did wonder if I'd got it wrong after an earlier poster said I had my nose in the air - I admit I suffered from ignorance on the subject and am always happy to take on board other viewpoints and admit it if I'm wrong. I knew these kinds of companies existed, but never realised how outrageous their interest rates were, or the extent of the tactics they employ. Real life stories like these tell my my initial instincts were right.....something SHOULD be done about them....and what better place for a small step in the right direction than this community?

Let_Robinson_Sing

House Of Stirling can beat that, they offer a loan with 195% APR. However they have now ceased trading.

rog2

Let_Robinson_Sing wrote:

House Of Stirling can beat that, they offer a loan with 195% APR. However they have now ceased trading.

Didn't do them much good then!

Grade_A_Reject

Tiff wrote:

I wish I hadn't jumped for the bait and had instead said to my DS that we were going to create a new version of Christmas especially for us, playing games etc & having nice food and a good dinner and some little bits and pieces like colouring books.

That's not a "new version" of Christmas. That's more like a traditional non-commercial version of Christmas before greedy retailers and the credit industry turned it into what it is now. I know which I'd prefer.

If only Charles Dickens was still writing books, not much has changed. Oliver would have been wearing Nike trainers tho.

Tiff_2

Grade_A_Reject wrote:

That's not a "new version" of Christmas. That's more like a traditional non-commercial version of Christmas before greedy retailers and the credit industry turned it into what it is now. I know which I'd prefer.

If only Charles Dickens was still writing books, not much has changed. Oliver would have been wearing Nike trainers tho.

True. That's why it would be a 'new' version of Christmas - children today are reared in a society flooded with advertising & credit & games that cost £40+. There wasn't a gift around that kids wanted when I was a child, that cost £200 for a PS2 for example :eek: - I remember being ecstatic at getting a Spirograph!:j

And we take the bait every year!
It's my birthday on Christmas Day (great timing Mum!:D ) & for the last few years, I've asked for cash. Then I hit the January sales. It just seems stupid to buy me something which will cost just a few pounds a few days later. Much better return on the money plus you get something you like, as well as being able to afford 3 or 4 things. :money: The same goes for my sister & brother. We'd buy the families' children gifts and Mum & Dad's.

My Dad died last Christmas so I came up with the idea of pooling the money we would have saved for his gifts this year, and donating it to the Warwickshire Air Ambulance,(every little helps), who Dad was a fundraiser for - it costs £5000 a day for this service of lifesavers!:eek: (Never complain about your petrol bill again!;) ). This will keep Dad close to us & it includes him still in the family holiday.

I too would prefer the traditional Christmas - after all memories are priceless. But look into a child's face and say that, or watch the expression on their face because they're waiting for the rest of their presents & see if you have the courage to tell them no. If you can, you're a better person than I. And it's not their fault that this is what society has evolved to lead them to expect as the norm.

These door to door credit companies were all too keen to use Christmas as part of their spiel to sign me up. And you better believe they had no hesitation in calling round Christmas Eve night to collect their money - & they wanted two weeks worth too because of the New Year holiday! It's all a very well targeted marketing campaign.

If I'd had any other choice than that at the time, if I knew what I was letting myself in for,I'd never have opened the door.