Headline rate 'scam' - M&S Loans

BenjaminClarke

Westminster wrote: »

Remarkably enough - an accountant.

Hopefully for your sake - you have not joined an anonymous forum posting under your real name and then gone on to admit you lied to get into your current position (in a job where you are explicitly required to be trusted).

The internet never forgets and it is extremely common for recruiters to type the name of someone they are considering employing into a search engine.

That's right and you are an idiot if you don't think you have to "exaggerate" to get your first job. If you took the time to read my posts you'd have understood. Also, it makes me laugh how everyone one here thinks that having a £5,000 debt makes you bad with money. I probably have less debt then most of you clowns with your £200,000 mortgages! I live in the real world and yes maybe I do have a chip on my shoulder, I don't see why you care so much?

I joined this forum to gauge people's opinions and I really wish that I didn't now. This forum is full of pretentious people who only have one piece of advice: don't borrow. One of the first responses I got from you lot was: "Boo hoo, someone else crying over not getting advertised interest rates." Or along those lines anyway. You lot call that advice? Seriously, get down off your high horses! I was hoping for more from Martin Lewis' website to be honest. My partner has read through all of these posts and even she said she would now never post on this forum. We think you are all very judgmental and negative and that isn't what is needed on a money advice forum. I think people would prefer it if people didn't comment than to just spout negativity. You should try to be a little bit more positive.

Finally, you my friend need your head checking if you think a company would search on here and not hire me because I lied to get my first job. I worked that job for seven years and got my second job off that experience! I thought that'd be obvious to a genius like yourself.

BenjaminClarke

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Then complains that a lender isn't playing fairly. Priceless.

You obviously don't have the capacity to understand so I'm not even going to try to explain.

BenjaminClarke

marc81 wrote: »

Wow, you really have got a big chip on your shoulder haven't you?! I hadn't even read any of your previous posts, my response was to the original posters point - it wasn't even aimed at you, but thanks for the abuse of being branded 'clueless' and unable to process information, I really feel part of the full debate now!

And my comment was directly aimed at yourself. I wasn't branding you clueless. I was branding your forum chums clueless, which was wrong of me. They aren't clueless, they are just pretentious and negative. I know the kind well and a stay away from them, I'm just not sure why they care so much about me?

mrsp1987

BenjaminClarke wrote: »

Also, it makes me laugh how everyone one here thinks that having a £5,000 debt makes you bad with money. I probably have less debt then most of you clowns with your £200,000 mortgages! I live in the real world and yes maybe I do have a chip on my shoulder, I don't see why you care so much
.

Personally I thought that you were bad with money when you said you found out that you'd forgotten to clear a credit card balance from about 6 years ago. Yes it may happen as you said, but in my personal opinion it's a sign that you didn't have a full grasp of your finances. You may be good with money now, but it still happened.

Also, this clown has a £99,310.76 mortgage and no other debts and I'm working towards becoming mortgage free at the tender age of 28.

No, I've never exaggerated the truth to get a job. I've been employed on my own merits. However, I must admit I don't work in such a lofty area as accountancy.

The reason we care about the chip on your shoulder is because you're just so damn presumptive and arrogant with it. That's why. If you weren't so rude we might have tempered our responses somewhat.

*waits for barrage from chip on shoulder*

BenjaminClarke

andyfromotley wrote: »

That'll be them pesky books at Leeds University where i study politics. ;-)

I do get your point but you have been pretty chippy on here with people who disagree with you. but, meh, whatever.

Oh and you are mixing up your political parties with ideologies. Conservative ideaology has a strong tradition of paternalism and views it as a duty to help the poor and those in dire circumstances. Tories are generally viewed as operating to a (neo)liberal ideology, But yes i am being a tad pedantic here but thats just one of my many annoying traits!!!

I don't claim to know a lot about politics. That isn't what I studied. I just have experience of life and know the difference between right and wrong, which is something that most people don't have a clue about. Most people are happy to be shafted on a daily basis it seems as the main responses I have got from this useless forum is, "that's the way it is, deal with it. You aren't the first for this to happen to." Useless advice from negative people.

There are two issues. Firstly there is a distinct lack of care by the vast majority of people in this country. As long as they are not affected they do not care at all. The refugee crisis is a typical example of this. Most people would prefer to see these people dead than to give them a chance to settle in this country. That has to change. Secondly people are too proud. Far too proud. We all moan about politicians never saying sorry but ask yourself when you last said sorry and actually meant it. I would suggest that for most of you that doesn't happen very often. I bet if you got in trouble at work over something you didn't do you'd argue that it wasn't you and certainly would never apologise for something you didn't even do. Perhaps its human nature or perhaps it’s just a sign of what we have become in this country. These two issues combined create the society we have today, a society that when you ask them for advice you get the following responses:

"Boo hoo, someone else crying over not getting the interest rates advertised."

Or on one guys post who said he wanted a loan for a wedding:

"Are you sure it's a good idea to get a loan for a wedding!?"

Negative comments that aren't what the person in need of advice were looking for. You have all attacked me in your own ways for various reasons, some more justified than others, but I would suggest that you all have a good look at yourselves before making judgment again.

BenjaminClarke

mrsp1987 wrote: »

Personally I thought that you were bad with money when you said you found out that you'd forgotten to clear a credit card balance from about 6 years ago. Yes it may happen as you said, but in my personal opinion it's a sign that you didn't have a full grasp of your finances. You may be good with money now, but it still happened.

Also, this clown has a £99,310.76 mortgage and no other debts and I'm working towards becoming debt free at the tender age of 28.

No, I've never exaggerated the truth to get a job. I've been employed on my own merits. However, I must admit I don't work in such a lofty area as accountancy.

The reason we care about the chip on your shoulder is because you're just so damn presumptive and arrogant with it. That's why. If you weren't so rude we might have tempered our responses somewhat.

*waits for barrage from chip on shoulder*

Thank you for your comment. I have never once claimed to be good with money, please give an example? I am certainly not bad with money though, somewhere in the middle would probably be right. Why do you care so much anyway?

Trust me on this, I have friends with University degrees who work in factories because nobody will employ them due to a lack of experience. I know for a fact that if you don't have experience then you aren't getting a job where I work. Maybe it is more office-work based but it's the truth. You'll only get hired if you have some kind of experience in the field. Qualifications are good but it's still not experience. I used to joke with one of my ex-colleagues and very good friend because he was more qualified than me in accountancy yet he was working in the call centre because he couldn't get hired in finance! He eventually did get a job but he spent close to five years in the wilderness because nobody would hire him. Too honest is what I used to say.

I was attacked first on this forum too my friend. Take the time to go back to see the responses I got. They were rude, arrogant and there was no advice forthcoming and for someone like me that makes my blood boil. I don't see why you'd want to make such comments. Why comment at all at the end of the day?

I'm not saying you are bad with money for having a mortgage but I guess others on this forum do? Or is a mortgage an acceptable debt? I get confused.

Pixie5740

I made the boo hoo comment because essentially this entire thread is about someone upset at not being offered a headline rate when the M&S Loan landing page makes it very clear that the 3.3% APR is a representative rate.

"We are pleased to offer a great rate of 3.3% APR representative on loans between £7,500 and £15,000 over 12 to 84 months."

It then goes on to say, "To apply for an M&S Loan, you must have an annual income of at least £10,000, be a UK resident and be aged 18 or over. Customers who do not meet our normal lending criteria may be offered a loan at a different APR. This will depend on your personal circumstances."

The representative rate being the rate that 51% of successful applicants will be offered. Until a full credit and affordability check is done, lenders can't tell you what rate you'll be offered. This isn't rocket science.

I do find it funny Benjamin that you seem to think the UK is corrupt and for sale when you yourself had to lie and cheat to get your first accounting position yet you claim to know the difference between right and wrong.

£5k of debt is not a huge amount but why you are fannying around trying to consolidate such a small amount whilst only repaying £100 a month at an APR of 18%? If you really wanted to repay the debt you'd just knuckle down and do it.

BenjaminClarke

Pixie5740 wrote: »

I made the boo hoo comment because essentially this entire thread is about someone upset at not being offered a headline rate when the M&S Loan landing page makes it very clear that the 3.3% APR is a representative rate.

"We are pleased to offer a great rate of 3.3% APR representative on loans between £7,500 and £15,000 over 12 to 84 months."

It then goes on to say, "To apply for an M&S Loan, you must have an annual income of at least £10,000, be a UK resident and be aged 18 or over. Customers who do not meet our normal lending criteria may be offered a loan at a different APR. This will depend on your personal circumstances."

The representative rate being the rate that 51% of successful applicants will be offered. Until a full credit and affordability check is done, lenders can't tell you what rate you'll be offered. This isn't rocket science.

I do find it funny Benjamin that you seem to think the UK is corrupt and for sale when you yourself had to lie and cheat to get your first accounting position yet you claim to know the difference between right and wrong.

£5k of debt is not a huge amount but why you are fannying around trying to consolidate such a small amount whilst only repaying £100 a month at an APR of 18%? If you really wanted to repay the debt you'd just knuckle down and do it.

It all probably comes easily to you though Pixie. Also, sometimes people enjoy to just vent a little. Why does that bother you so much? The boo hoo comment is what set the whole thing off to be honest. How'd you like it if you went to the doctors or anywhere seeking advice and they said, "boo hoo" to you? If you want some life advice here it is: if all you have to say is negative then don't say it at all. People will only dislike you for it.

mrsp1987

You twist and turn your own words to suit you. You make a general, sweeping statement about people on the board calling them 'clowns with their £200,000 mortgages' saying that you've probably got less debt than them.
I never claimed that you said I was bad with money I was trying to point out that I only had a modest mortgage and no debt, so don't fit into the category you created. As far as I can tell no-one on this forum has said that having a mortgage makes you bad with money. However, the whole point of this forum is to save money. So, if you're in a position where you're spending more than you need to or could save money elsewhere we're going to say so. If someone has gone from a fixed rate to a Standard Variable rate we'll pull them up and go, 'Woah, have you not thought about shopping around?'
So, yes there will be forms of 'acceptable debt' and some forms that people will think are 'unacceptable.' Bear in mind this a public forum with lots of different people who will all have somewhat different opinions.
Also, I have a degree in psychology and spent the last 8 years working in Asda. Granted I went in and trained as a manager but still I stacked shelves for the last 4 years. Yes, some of the problem is lack of experience and reluctance to employ those who are seen as a risk or an investment they don't want to make the effort with but a lot of the problem is the huge amount of graduates with non-specific industry-related degrees and the lack of graduate jobs available. University is over rated in my opinion and kids should stop automatically being diverted down that pathway.

Pixie5740

I'll pass on the life advice from a liar and a cheat.

Edit: Perhaps the "boo hoo" was me venting about people posting just to rant about something that has been answered many, many times before.