Wonga.com

pulliptears

Flicking TV channels I just caught an incredibly irritating AD for this company and couldn't quite believe what I saw..

https://www.wonga.com/

2689% APR?!!! Bloody hell.

I think what shocked me more with that site was the option to pay your bills with just your customer number and seemingly a few clicks. How easy must that seem to some people? How can companies like this ever be considered responsible lenders?!

I'm completely amazed
:eek:

DebtHater

But there are considered to be responsible. But, 2689% isnt that bad over 30 days. I think when I checked it out (after seeing the annoying ad too), £100 was like £9 interest over 30 days. Just curious, though, just wanted to see how much it costs etc.

But think about it. You borrow £100 from a mate, repay it within 30 days. I presume you would give him something to repay the favour?

pulliptears

DebtHater wrote: »

But there are considered to be responsible. But, 2689% isnt that bad over 30 days. I think when I checked it out (after seeing the annoying ad too), £100 was like £9 interest over 30 days. Just curious, though, just wanted to see how much it costs etc.

But think about it. You borrow £100 from a mate, repay it within 30 days. I presume you would give him something to repay the favour?

A mate wouldn't want something extra to repay the favour as a mate would realise your cash flow wasn't brilliant in the first place. Taking more from you hardly helps a situation does it?

spike7451

I have used Wonga in the past,today in fact.I borrowed £100 & will pay back £114.
I had no option,since redundency from NTL/VM in 2006,I have been employed in various jobs which pay a lot less than I earnt at VM,I've also spent,up until Jan 10,14 months out of work despite appling for jobs in call centers ect,being told I've got the wrong qualification,I'm too old,not enough experience ect.Any savings/redundency I had have long since gone.
I've been off sick from my job for a few weeks (since start of May thanks to a mis diagnosis by the doctor) with a severe eye infection & am now back at work.I'm going away with the TA on Saturday but I dont get paid until the 7th July,& then it'll only be SSP.I get paid when I'm away,part cash in hand,the rest in Sept.
I applied to my bank for a temporary OD until I get back but it was turned down (apparently I was 60 points score too low on my credit rating,if I'd applied in March it'd be no problems)
So in order to go to camp & earn money,I need to spend money,money for my elec & gas while I'm away,to put my cat in the cattery,not to mention spending money until I get paid.
So who should I turn too? I have little family left,as I said,my savings have gone,Should I go to a bloke in a black mac down a side street with a baseball bat if you dont pay?
£14 interest to borrow £100 is a small price to pay when you need it.Dont judge others by a TV advert.

hoyles10

One of my mates went to Wonga to borrow £300 quickly to pay for some repairs on his car because he was short of cash until he got paid, broke down and needed his car back on the road quickly to still get to work without hours of travelling on public transport. He wanted to borrow the money for 17 days and would have had to pay back about £355. He went there because he didn't want to ask anyone he knew if he could borrow some cash, luckily a couple of us popped round to pick him up to go to a BBQ and he was in the process of doing it online. We chipped in and lent him the money and all it cost him was the price of a pint each once he'd been paid.

I'm sure there's people out there who use it on a regular basis and end up paying a fortune over the space of 12 months, I know when I was 18 and a bit skint and wanted to go out on a weekend with my mates I may have used someone like Wonga to get some cash quick and would have ended up getting myself in a mess. It was bad enough borrowing £1500 from the bank for a lads trip to Ayia Napa and realising that I would skint myself paying it back and that was at normal APR rates.

pulliptears

Its more the ease of it that amazed me, fair enough if you need the cash and you have no friends/family you can borrow from, but it just struck me how easy it was to get money with a couple of clicks and little control. Spike, in your situation I sympathise, but there will be all too many folk who see that as the easy option for financing a PS3 or a nice new TV.

dfh

Wonga dot com. Money my way, money your way !

spike7451

pulliptears wrote: »

Its more the ease of it that amazed me, fair enough if you need the cash and you have no friends/family you can borrow from, but it just struck me how easy it was to get money with a couple of clicks and little control. Spike, in your situation I sympathise, but there will be all too many folk who see that as the easy option for financing a PS3 or a nice new TV.

If I want a new TV,I'll save for it,I would'nt borrow an arm or a leg for it.it's just handy to know the facility's there if I need it.
Too many people see it as a way out,I learnt from getting into debt in my early 20's back in the 1980's when credit was rife.
I only use it in emergencies when I know I have enought to pay for it the next month without leaving me short.

pulliptears

spike7451 wrote: »

If I want a new TV,I'll save for it,I would'nt borrow an arm or a leg for it.it's just handy to know the facility's there if I need it.
Too many people see it as a way out,I learnt from getting into debt in my early 20's back in the 1980's when credit was rife.
I only use it in emergencies when I know I have enought to pay for it the next month without leaving me short.

That's my problem with it, there seems to be a generation for whom everything comes so easy. I was raised to save, if I didn't have the cash there and then I didn't have it, now it's a case of "New TV? Bright House" etc etc

Credit wasn't this easy to get 20 years ago surely?

spike7451

pulliptears wrote: »

That's my problem with it, there seems to be a generation for whom everything comes so easy. I was raised to save, if I didn't have the cash there and then I didn't have it, now it's a case of "New TV? Bright House" etc etc

Credit wasn't this easy to get 20 years ago surely?

Yeah it was,I remember as a young 19year old RAF Airman going shopping in Elgin,ohh 1985 ish,I went into Burtons to get some clothes,the was a black leather jacket I wanted.The was a bloke walking around the store with a clipboard,offering a credit account.A quick form to fill in,show my RAF 1250 ID & a quick call to head orifice & I walked out the store with my new leather jacket.Every store you went into was the same,a staff member with a credit agreement & store card all ready for you.
Wised up when I bought a Sinclair Spectrum Plus II computer from Clydesdale Electrical,for every £10 I paid,£7 odd went on interest & the rest on the product!:eek:

spike7451

PS,
I still have the jacket!!