Credit Maze - where do I stand?

starsapart

Hi,

I was looking around online for a payday loan last month. I didn't take one out, but obviously for a lot of applications you have to give your bank details.

I actually had £0 in my bank account, logged on to my online banking to find I was -£69.72 because of a subscription to Credit Maze.

I had to Google this to find out what it was, I didn't see that name appear once on all of the websites I was looking through. I then had to look in my junk emails to verify my email address to even log on to my account - I genuinely had NO idea about it and it is certainly not a service I wanted.

There is a thread on their website with many many negative comments about how others have had this happen to them, and that the company weren't replying to emails or answering calls.

I emailed them a few times to explain that I had not signed up for the service and that I wanted a refund. 5 emails later they have agreed to refund the £69.72 they took from me, however, because I was in an unarranged overdraft I now have £60 of bank charges due to be applied to my account.

They've not admitted that they're in the wrong, but they are agreeding to a full refund - can I expect them to pay these charges?

I don't wnat this to sound like an excuse, but this all happened and I had no knowledge of it and I am clearly not the only one that's had this problem.

Surely they realise that anyone who is searching for a payday loan is in a vulnerable financial situation, and they are clearly preying on those people. I think it's disgusting, and unless they pay I am now £60 out of pocket through no fault of my own.

Is there any way I can get them to pay the £60? Is there anything that protects people who have had this happen?

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

Gaz83

Just so we're clear on this:

You claim that at no point of searching for a payday loan, and putting your bank details in, that you went to https://www.creditmaze.co.uk and filled in an application?

How do you think they got your bank details? Bearing in mind that it's not just your account number and sort code they would need to take payment, but a debit card details (expiry date, authorisation code, card number and so on). You must have entered these details somewhere?

Regardless, a quick scoot at their website shows a "refunds" section near the bottom, which contains this:

Cancellation of Membership

A Member can terminate or cancel their membership within 14 days of inception by requesting cancellation in writing to the following address: Credit Maze Cornwall Buildings, 45 Newhall Street, Birmingham, B3 3QR. We reserve the right to terminate or cancel this Agreement at any time. The ability and right to access, make use of or benefit from the Membership including the Credit Reporting Service shall cease.

Creditmaze provides customers with it's loan finding services immidiately after an application is completed. We reseve the right to retain a fee for these services. Refunds will be worked out on a pro rata bases after deducting our intial search fees.

With regard to payments set up by Credit or Debit Card, if Your payment declines we will attempt to take the payment from the card until we are notified that You wish us to cancel such attempts. Written confirmation may be required. We reserve the right to vary or change at our discretion the descriptor showing on the payment statement provided by your payment card provider.

To discuss this cancellation please call us on 0844 823 6861 between 8am and 8pm.

That's how to get a refund of your £69.72, anyway. I wouldn't expect they'd refund any bank charges.

Caz3121

starsapart wrote: »

but obviously for a lot of applications you have to give your bank details.

If you have put your bank details into a number of sites you should keep a close eye on it as this may not be the only broker free that you have signed up to allow

R_P_W

starsapart wrote: »

Hi,

I was looking around online for a payday loan last month. I didn't take one out, but obviously for a lot of applications you have to give your bank details.

I actually had £0 in my bank account, logged on to my online banking to find I was -£69.72 because of a subscription to Credit Maze.

I had to Google this to find out what it was, I didn't see that name appear once on all of the websites I was looking through. I then had to look in my junk emails to verify my email address to even log on to my account - I genuinely had NO idea about it and it is certainly not a service I wanted.

There is a thread on their website with many many negative comments about how others have had this happen to them, and that the company weren't replying to emails or answering calls.

I emailed them a few times to explain that I had not signed up for the service and that I wanted a refund. 5 emails later they have agreed to refund the £69.72 they took from me, however, because I was in an unarranged overdraft I now have £60 of bank charges due to be applied to my account.

They've not admitted that they're in the wrong, but they are agreeding to a full refund - can I expect them to pay these charges?

I don't wnat this to sound like an excuse, but this all happened and I had no knowledge of it and I am clearly not the only one that's had this problem.

Surely they realise that anyone who is searching for a payday loan is in a vulnerable financial situation, and they are clearly preying on those people. I think it's disgusting, and unless they pay I am now £60 out of pocket through no fault of my own.

Is there any way I can get them to pay the £60? Is there anything that protects people who have had this happen?

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

It says very clearly on the home page of their website that they charge a membership fee!

"We help our members find loans, credit cards, great utility deals and much more!
We charge a simple one off joining fee of £69.72 which includes your first month of membership and £8.99 a month there after. This fee means that we can be completely independent and recommend products based on what's best for you and not on who will pay us the most."

What extra protection would you suggest in addition to the ability of reading the English language?

starsapart

Gaz83 wrote: »

Just so we're clear on this:

You claim that at no point of searching for a payday loan, and putting your bank details in, that you went to www.creditmaze.co.uk and filled in an application?

How do you think they got your bank details? Bearing in mind that it's not just your account number and sort code they would need to take payment, but a debit card details (expiry date, authorisation code, card number and so on). You must have entered these details somewhere?

I thought I had explained this clearly enough, but obviously not. Not sure if you've ever applied for a payday loan, I hadn't for a long time until this happened. When I used to use them, it was a simple application to one website and then you had the money within an hour.

Nowadays, unfortunately, you enter your details on one website and your details seem to get passed on while these websites "search for available lenders". So NO, I didn't go on their website and fill out an application. And that's how I think they got my details - I'm not an idiot, I know that I gave my details to try and apply for a loan but my point is that I had no idea about this particular website.

Surely the fact that I was looking for a loan, yet I ended up giving away £70 is proof enough that I didn't ask for this service? Maybe not...

Thanks for attempting to help at the end anyway.

starsapart

Caz3121 wrote: »

If you have put your bank details into a number of sites you should keep a close eye on it as this may not be the only broker free that you have signed up to allow

I know, I didn't realise this was how it worked now! It was 2 weeks ago and nothing else has been taken luckily. I am in the process of changing bank accounts anyway, so it's not a problem. Just a shame about these fees.

starsapart

R_P_W wrote: »

It says very clearly on the home page of their website that they charge a membership fee!

"We help our members find loans, credit cards, great utility deals and much more!
We charge a simple one off joining fee of £69.72 which includes your first month of membership and £8.99 a month there after. This fee means that we can be completely independent and recommend products based on what's best for you and not on who will pay us the most."

What extra protection would you suggest in addition to the ability of reading the English language?

Obviously I haven't explained myself properly, or maybe someone else has trouble with the English language? Your last comment is pretty unnecessary, and rude. It's a shame that you have spent time out of your life to type such a negative thing. It really would have been better for everyone involved if you hadn't bothered.

As stated previously, I had to Google the company name to find out what is was... obviously I hadn't read their website, or the fact that they charged a membership fee and £8.99 a month thereafter or I wouldn't be in this pickle, would I?

My point was that although I had applied for loans, I didn't at any point knowingly sign up for this particular service (why would I when I had £0 in my account, and I knew that they charged a £70 fee?!). I'm not stupid, don't speak to me as if I am.

Lioness_Twinkletoes

But you do accept that you gave your bank details to a number of companies?

This alone is enought to prevent you getting your bank charges paid.

chalkie99

Just for the sake of clarity then, and to help others avoid the same situation, could you please post the name of the website where you did enter your details so we can have a look at it?

Thanks.

MuffinTops

I think to answer your question of where you stand, you won't get the bank fees back. There are so many people who come on here and state the same type of thing as you have and as you've put your bank details into a site, they've obviously used that. I guess you could go down the road of getting proof from them that you requested their service, but ultimately I'm not sure where that would get you.

If you are struggling with debt or making ends meet I can really recommend starting a diary. It's a really supportive environment and you also have somewhere to come and ask about things like payday loans etc if you decide to apply for anything like that. Hopefully then you can be told of the pitfalls before you proceed as well as get advice and help when you need it.

I hope that helps.

jumperjohn

Hello Starsaprt.
I understand how in desperation some people omit to look at the details, I hope that you get your refund.

The companies prey on people in dire situations and in the hope of help you have actually been made worse off, sites like the one you used should be shut, and be aware that it's easy for people to type 'you fool' but don't take it to heart.
Good luck.