Wentworth direct finance, taken £59 without my consent!

CHR15

Congrats Turts2008 - testament to the fact there is a way!

Apples2

turts2008 wrote: »

Great news, recieved a cheque from Wentworth in the post today for £59,

Great news :beer::beer:

marcjward

turts2008 wrote: »

i applied online at wentworth finance about 3 weeks ago having been recommened by a friend, i have a bad credit rating having just come out of uni, overdrafts and that sort of thing.
However, i remember them calling me a few days after i applied online, they wanted my bank details, and i asked "will any money be taken off this card?"

they said that it wouldnt and that it would just be used to check my rating and if was possible for me to take the loan out. Ofcourse they said it was fine and they would send a form out to me that i would have to send back, but just logged into my online banking and £59 has been taken out my account without me sending back utility bill/pay check etc. (going over my overdraft on that particular one as well, so going to be charged from the bank!)

not once did i send back the forms they gave me, having looked on here i decided i would not proceed with the loan as there have been some terrible cases. Absolutely furious!

What should my next plan of action be? Get the call listened to? I have tried them about 5 times just now, says there open until 10pm 7 days a week, but each time no answer. Should i contact the financial ombudsman?

you are not alone - wentworth debited £59 from my account on friday (24th sept') without my consent, security number/cvv2/cvc and now say i have to apply for a refund by post!!! I sent a letter on monday (by recorded delivery) demanding a full refund within 7 days or i will report them to the ombudsman for financial services.

they are almost impossible to reach by phone

i only managed to contact one of their arrogant and impolite staff by re-applying on their website (using fake details and my real mobile number) and waiting for them to call me. (this costs them to deal with your query/complaint and saves you the hassle of trying to track them down).

they were the 2nd company to ring back (the first been discover/y loans) which is strange considering i only used those "fake" details on wentworth directs own website (alias company maybe?). Don't assume that the first person to call will be from wentworth direct, ask them which company they are calling from and if they aren't wentworth ask them to remove your details from their database. (this should prevent too many companies doing credit searches on your credit record).

i will see how quickly they refund me - my bank (santander) said they can't help unless wentworth refuse to refund me. I thought this to be a ridiculous thing to say considering that wentworth have actually committed theft by taking money without my consent.

before people start saying that i shouldn't have given my 16-digit card number... I had to as it is part of their application process and used to verify that the account is a valid uk account (they are not the only company to use this as an account verification). Without the security code they shouldn't be able to debit the card so i have no idea how they are getting around this...

generally, i would avoid this company completely. The apr and repayment figures they quote are only best case estimates and will probably never match what is eventually offered. The £59 fee is not a guarantee of receiving a loan, only that wentworth will pass your details on...

the original application was done on a link from the credit expert website which is why i assumed that this company were trustworthy.

if i get my refund without having to escalate it to trading standards or the police i will be very suprised.

xell_86x

I enquired on their website. A man called me back. He said i had to give in my bank details before he said anything about a fee. I said to him, wouldn't you just nedd my sort code and account number, he said no he needs it for the application but not the 3 digit security number on the back. I told him the card number and expiry date but definitely not the security number, and when he told me about the fee i said No sorry i cabn't afford it and i said to him It wont get taken out will it? He said no. Just checked my onlie banking and they have take 59.99. I feel like crying, really can't afford it
I don't know what to do, they don't answer the phone.

xell_86x

Hello. The same thing has happened to me. Can you please tell me what you wrote in the letter? Thanks

turts2008

Hi, I emphasize that you should NOT call this company!! You are not only just wasting your money on the silly call charges but also your time...below is the letter I have sent to them via recorded delivary (with some BS in there aswell) which got me my £59 back which cleared fine

I suggest maybe you use it as a template.


Dear Wentworth Finance Direct,

You have unlawfully taken £59 out of my bank account without my consent. I applied for a £1000 loan mid-August online, and was then called by one of your agents a few days later. I proceeded to give my bank details on the conditions of nothing being taken out, and I was adamant of this, he reassured me that my bank details were only required for you to do a check on me.

However, to my dismay on the {date £59 was taken} I noticed £59 was taken from my bank account for no apparent reason. I did not send back any forms to yourselves in order start the loan, nor did I send a cheque in, in fact I no longer needed the loan.

I did not agree for this £59 to be taken, not once, in fact I removed the letter you send me as I no longer required the £1000 loan.

I demand that the £59 is returned to my bank account in full within the next seven working days otherwise I will be directly contacting the Financial Ombudsmen with whom I have strong connections with.


I will also be contacting Consumer Direct and Watchdog if I do not receive this refund or am not contacted from yourselves. I really do not want to have to take legal action against you and go down the route of the call being traced and listened to.

I have tried calling your office and head office on numerous occasions to no avail as it rings out every time, you clearly state on your website that you are open until 10pm. This gave me no option than to send this letter via recorded delivery.

The £59 that has been taken out my account has taken me over my limit I had set in the account details I gave, which has now incurred a £50 charge from my bank, which makes your transaction that bit more unlawful and frustrating for myself.

I hope you can understand my concerns and really hope you can cooperate with me on this matter. I have absolutely no idea why a £59 brokers fee has been taken without my consent as I clearly did not agree with this, and I was lied to by one of your colleagues about this on the phone, as he confirmed that nothing would be taken out of my account whatsoever until I send the forms back which I did not.

[FONT=&quot]I look forward to hearing from you[/FONT]

{Name}

{Mobile}

{Email}



Hope that helps!

KingElvis

No matter how many long rambling warnings you give, some will continue to line these people's pockets...simple as

Fact is, desperate people want to buy into their weasel words so they keep getting richer. They must have a fleet of Bentleys by now.

gina1981_2

I had the same problem too with Wentworth Finance last year. They took £59 from my account. I wrote to them and got my money back. The letter above is good by turts2008.

BurnCK

I stupidly applied to Wentworth Direct without doing any research about them first. Surfice to say that I too was duped by this company. After being offered a loan at 15.2% APR I was then asked for by debit card details so that they can 'check I have a UK bank account'. There was no mention of the £59 fee at any point during the conversation.

Anyway, I sent the following letter to Wentworth Direct :

Dear Sir / Madam

I am writing to request that you refund to me the £59 you have illegally taken from my bank account. I was informed by my bank that this payment of £59 was taken on Thurs 14th Oct, showing on my account on Friday 15th Oct.

When I originally spoke to your representative I was told that you had a loan arranged for me, although he would not tell me with whom, and that all I had to do was to complete the forms that would be duly sent out to me.

AT NO POINT was there any mention of a £59 fee, and I was actually conned into providing my debit card details as I was told that they were needed to ‘check that I have a UK bank account’.


As I am sure you are aware taking money from another by DECEPTION is a CONTRAVENTION OF THE THEFT ACT and punishable by up to 10 years in prison plus a fine.

Indeed, your credit broker licence dictates that you cannot in six months time ask for more than a nominal fee. Certainly NOT £59 and certainly NOT before you have provided access to a loan.

You have 7 days from the date of this letter to provide the refund of £59, and not a penny less, or I will be forced to pursue this matter with the OFT, Financial Ombudsman, Small Claims Court, Police, or any other means at my disposal.

Yours Sincerely

I then backed this up by immediately contacting the Financial Ombudsman who also sent a letter on my behalf.
Imagine my suprise when I only 1 week later I received a text message from Wentworth Direct advising that my refund had been processed and would appear in my account with 5 working days.
This was on Fri 22nd Oct, so I am expecting to receive a refund at some point this week. I will advise when the funds actually appear in my account, but it's certainly promising.

I would advise anyone looking for a refund from these crooks to follow the same procedure I did....

turts2008

Interesting that a blog from the Mirror appears second on the list when u search "wentworth finance" on google http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2010/04/we-get-refund-from-loan-outfit.html