Loans Direct - how is this legal?

CHR15

Anyone daft enough to receive a random text message and proceed following links and entering bank details, really does deserve to get scammed.

afraid I am unable to muster one ounce of sympathy.

Pixie5740

If the link in the text message (who seriously receives a text and thinks...hey great idea I'll borrow some money?) takes you to the application page then there is a check-box which you check to confirm you have read the T&C. There is even a link next to the check box taking you to the T&C.

http://www.loans-directuk.net/Home/Terms

At the top in bold letters the page says:

Membership Terms

DETAILS OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BY WHICH WE PROVIDE OUR MEMBERSHIP SCHEME SERVICE

It is our responsibility to provide you with the Terms and Conditions of Membership. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO READ THEM. To help you to do this we have avoided using complicated legal terms and used clear, concise language to explain our services.

If you continue reading it says there is a one-off fee of £69.75 followed by a monthly fee of £9.49.

I'm not sure how often these loan brokers actually find someone a loan. To get to the stage of entering your card details into these websites you must be:

1. Desperate for money
2. Not very swift
3. Bad at borrowing money if even lenders like Wonga won't touch you with a bargepole
4. All of the above

Gaz83

I suspect that a large number of these companies are set up solely with the intention of taking £5 from folk time and time again. It must be a decent money spinner. Maybe I'll set one up!

Pixie5740

Gaz83 wrote: »

I suspect that a large number of these companies are set up solely with the intention of taking £5 from folk time and time again. It must be a decent money spinner. Maybe I'll set one up!

I've wondered that myself. All they seem to do is charge membership fees for giving links to lenders' websites that the people looking for loans can either find themselves or already tried. It's not like they help their members find loans like a mortgage broker helps find the right mortgage for you.

I wonder how many people actually go on to be approved for a loan and how many people manage to successfully cancel their membership within the cooling off period.

TriathNanEilean

Well, I do have some sympathy Andy.

But that will go if you haven't done what DCFC79 hinted at a few posts ago, which is to cancel your membership the proper way. I haven't read the terms and conditions on the site BUT YOU MUST so that you follow their rules for cancelling. This usually involves writing them a letter (get proof of postage from Post Office when sending it) and then waiting for the refund (minus a small admin fee they are allowed to keep). But whatever their rules are you should follow them else you are unlikely to see any of your money again (and they may even keep taking the monthly fee).

Emma89

Can I just say.. I was able to cancel the loans direct thing but it was a moment of desperation whereby the dog needed the vet asap that led to spiral of using these sites...

It is true also that if you enter through another website as i did there is no clear mention of the fee until you enter your card details to help verify your identity. You this may be naive however no one looking at these site is generally looking with a considered approach... or at least i know i wasn't I needed my excess fast!

I understand that a lot of people are frustrated at having to repeat the advice of don't use these sites/read the terms but I think it would be more productive and helpful if you move on from the post rather than make people feel worse... if we made it on money saving expert site we know how silly it is and whilst we may not divulge our entire circumstances your choice to judge and scold is NOT helpful...

Thanks to those posters or offered genuine advice - This is what this site is for... not holier than thou attitudes!

You are like ex smokers

Oh and PS credit cleaner are adamant that i entered my own details and signed up to them however checking my cache internet history I know they are liars! but 3 months fee won't be refunded anyway even though i've never accessed the account and my comp quarantined the only e-mail they sent me!! I pretty sure it came with the loan direct stuff but everyone is pointing at me... I cancelled the loan direct immediately as straight away could see wasn't what I had thought... Credit Clean seem to think i applied directly however and are using this as the argument for refusing the refund. As far as i'm concerned it should have cancelled with the Loan direct cancellation as they opened thing...

Hrh_Fish

This does sound like a variation of charging people for loan applications. Brokers are not allowed to do this. The only way a broker is allowed to profit is on a percentage deal with the lender.

Any buisness person will tell you it is bad buisness sense to pay for a loan when you need the money.Never give your bank details out on on line application forms. If they do this 9 times out of 10 you will find money taken from your account by the broker. This is also illegal.

Get this I have had a company I have never heard of or given my details to take a brokers fee from my account. I contacted my bank and have reported them to the action fraud squad. This company called Quidfinder.Net give their address saying they are based in Ipswich but their contact number is central London which instantly raised my suspicion.I am very careful with my bank details and I am aware of card swiping scams. I never let anyone hold my debit card.I live on my own so no one has access to my cards.

Even more worrying the debit account never has any funds in and the bank paid them.I only use the debit account to move meny to pay my credit card or I only put in a specific asmount if I am making a purchase.They took £67 so I am in arrears and the bank also charge a penalty.

PS. New to this forum.How do you make a new thread? I need to make people aware of this companies activities.

Clive_Woody

Hrh_Fish wrote: »

PS. New to this forum.How do you make a new thread? I need to make people aware of this companies activities.

Use the 'New Thread' button,

Although first try searching the forum as no doubt these lenders have come up multiple times before but most people only check here after they have handed over their card details.

Gaz83

Hrh_Fish wrote: »

This does sound like a variation of charging people for loan applications. Brokers are not allowed to do this. The only way a broker is allowed to profit is on a percentage deal with the lender.

Any buisness person will tell you it is bad buisness sense to pay for a loan when you need the money.Never give your bank details out on on line application forms. If they do this 9 times out of 10 you will find money taken from your account by the broker. This is also illegal.

Get this I have had a company I have never heard of or given my details to take a brokers fee from my account. I contacted my bank and have reported them to the action fraud squad. This company called Quidfinder.Net give their address saying they are based in Ipswich but their contact number is central London which instantly raised my suspicion.I am very careful with my bank details and I am aware of card swiping scams. I never let anyone hold my debit card.I live on my own so no one has access to my cards.

Even more worrying the debit account never has any funds in and the bank paid them.I only use the debit account to move meny to pay my credit card or I only put in a specific asmount if I am making a purchase.They took £67 so I am in arrears and the bank also charge a penalty.

PS. New to this forum.How do you make a new thread? I need to make people aware of this companies activities.

What they do is perfectly legal, if immoral, and will continue as a business practice while they have a steady stream of people who choose not to read what they're signing up for.

If what you're saying is true, then you need to get onto your bank and explain that you think your card has been skimmed and cloned, possibly at an ATM. If you 100% did not give your card details, and no-one else has access to your card, then this is the only explanation.

Hrh_Fish

Gaz83 wrote: »

What they do is perfectly legal, if immoral, and will continue as a business practice while they have a steady stream of people who choose not to read what they're signing up for.

If what you're saying is true, then you need to get onto your bank and explain that you think your card has been skimmed and cloned, possibly at an ATM. If you 100% did not give your card details, and no-one else has access to your card, then this is the only explanation.

SO THE POLICE ARE LYING TO ME THEN GAZ. MY CARD WAS NOT SKIMMED. I NEVER LET ANYONE TOUCH MY CARD AND I ALWAYS COVER MY HAND WITH MY WALLET WHEN USING ATM'S.

I reported it and the info I am relaying is what I was told by the police.There is no way I would agree to paying for a loan application or brokers fee.I have not given my details to this company either.

Hey I am having a bad day and dont want to get in an argument.You are probably a nice geezer and you've caught me on an off day. I am a Musician/Comedian and I am influenced by Mark Thomas.(Remember his chanel 4 show). I am doing a piece on pay day loan companies and researching heavy into the subject. I am going to name and shame companies like this and go through all the scams these guys do and release it on line.

Police have advised me to get another bank account as I could get hit again so I am a little bit !!!!ed off at the moment brov.These people profit on the suffering of others and the payday industry needs to be regulated.Villains do not need to be loan sharks they just set up pay day companies instead.

I have genuinely never heard of this company and I think they got my details from a third party.This is just inspiring me more to get the story/report finished.This is syncronisity spooky isn't it ......