Help!! Payday loan companies stealing from me!

pebbleslovesbacon

Unfortunatley last month i was ill, which lead to a week off work and me being well.. broke.
I got paid and managed to make do with the small amount i got paid until my car had problems and broke down.
I panicked and looked on the internet for a loan company that could provide me with the cash i needed to fix my car as i didn't feel comfortable asking family for help.
I found a site called "Mr Lender" had a browse and filled in a form, it stated that they could only provide me with accurate quotations if i provided them with a few bank details for a CREDIT check. as soon as i did this, i got around 30 texts - which i still get, and strange phone calls from various loan companies.
This immediately put me off - i didn't go ahead with the application as i decided i would rather ask for a lift until i got paid again as i could leave my car at the garage.
1 week later (this week) i got paid, sorted my car, paid my bills, and decided i wanted to go shopping. i checked my online banking this morning and saw FOUR loan companies have taken £69 each - i immediate called my bank who said there is nothing they can do, they are protected, even though i explained I didn't even finish the "are you eligible" stage. The bank couldn't find phone numbers for these companies, the ones they have given me are incorrect and when i get through to people they have no knowledge or are lying.
i have managed to contact one company who have said the only way i can get a refund is to write to them, which i have just done and i have emailed and filled in the refund form.

i am literally sat here in tears, i have never felt so stupid and vulnerable, citizens advice cant help me, they said i would have to pursue it with the bank, the bank are not interested and basically said close your account and get another one. this will affect my credit rating, i have no idea what to do. there is even an article on one of the comapies in the mirror about how the owners have gone to prison so i have no idea how this has even happened.

they are:
loan supermarket
smart loans
credit cleaner
loans direcy

has anyone else managed to get there money back? i literally have nothing left and i got paid 5 days ago.

Gaz83

You're not the first, and won't be the last, person to fall foul of these companies. What they do is highly immoral but, unfortunately, not illegal. You must have willingly (at one stage, anyway) given your card details for them to be able to take money from your account.

They are legally required to give you a refund, but you have to follow their refund procedures. You need to look at each website and find their refund procedures in their terms and conditions. They will usually state that refunds have to be requested in writing and can take up to 30 working days (six weeks). Follow this refund procedure and if they don't comply take it further.

Unfortunately, there's not much else that can be done.

Tixy

These loan brokers all have pretty much the same terms.

Go to the website for each and they should all have an address to write to for a refund. I wouldn't bother wasting time and money trying to phone these companies just write a letter as per the terms for each company.

ConsumerWizkid

Sadly there is nothing instant that can be done, what they did was probably not illegal as you would have submitted a form with that charge noted at some stage in the process.

As per the post above, focus on getting refunded but in the meantime you will need to source other funds to tide you over.

Monkeyballs

Hi OP,

Are you sure it was Mr Lender or did you browse further off to another site? I've heard of Mr Lender before (never used them though) and know they are a lender not a broker so don't (I think) charge a brokerage fee although it does state:

If for whatever reason I can't lend to you, then I'll do my very
best to ask around and recommend another friend of ours
who may be able to help you out, providing you have consented I can do this.

Call Mr Lender to quiz them to confirm they don't pass your details to Brokers...

Did you only fill in your bank details on the one site?

MB