loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

[lmwh]

Hi all,


I was stupid enough to fall fowl of trying to get a loan with the companies named in the title. After realising they were not a loan provider but a broker, and had taken money from my bank account, I rang them to cancel and request a refund, they said that my account was cancelled and that I had to write in to them to claim my refund, which I did, within 14 days from the 'membership' start date. I waited a couple of days to receive an offer that was almost half of what they had taken from me. I declined the offer, to which they said they would review my account and be in touch in a few days. I received texts and emails saying there was an update on my account, there wasn't so I called them. I called loans direct, spoke to a supervisor who said that I wasn't entitled to a full refund less a £5 admin charge due to the term of my membership, and for the services and products they had provided, which I didn't use. I quoted that trading standards, the consumer credit act and the financial ombudsman all said that's all their entitled to keep. To which they said they are not governed by any of these and that I would have to write a letter of complaint. Any help with this matter would be very much apprieciated.

Thanks in advance.

[baznjay]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

hi, sadly i feel we are probably two of many who have been conned by these disgusting people, but loans wizard do have a number now
0844 823 6250 this might help you, i am at the same stage as you, i have declined my first offer
and am awaiting my final offer, if and when i receive my money i will be contacting trading standards about them, they are scum. please every one avoid these companies

[baznjay]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

update, they have now told me im only entitled to half of what i have paid. and whether it be right or wrong i have accepted although i will not be surprised if none of it comes, i will definitely be contacting trading standards about them once my money has been refunded (if it happens) they really are disgusting vile people , i dont know how they sleep at night ripping people off. and what annoys me is if i went into a shop and stole something i would be arrested yet they seem to get away with it

[Amethyst]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...072#post424072

There are two companies LoansWizard.co.uk and LoanWizardUk.com

LoansWizard are receiving a lot of complaints over the activities of LoanWizarduk

The two companies are completely unconnected.
(JUST FOR CLARITY WE DO NOT RECOMMEND USE OF EITHER - THIS POST IS TO ASSIST IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH LOANWIZARDUK TAKING MONIES FROM YOUR BANK)

LoanWizardUk is a membership club which charges a monthly fee that they take directly from your bank. There are reports of many people not realising they are signing up to a membership scheme and asking for their money back.

LoansWizard is a loan broker that does not charge a fee.


LoanWizardUk
The Fee charged for Membership Services


We provide a variety of services by phone, internet, mail and other means through a 30 day membership programme (see 'The Benefits of Membership'). In return for these services, You agree to pay a one-off charge of £69.85. On submission of your Membership application you will be automatically charged by a direct charge to the debit/credit card you provided and authorised on application. If your Membership charge of £69.85 is declined we will immediately take £1.95 in order to validate your card details and cover the cost of search and administration. Should both of these attempts fail we will continue to attempt to collect the one off Membership charge of £69.85 at regular intervals until successful. Should the £1.95 validation payment be successful we will continue to attempt to collect the remainder of the one off membership charge of £69.85 at regular intervals until achieved. To facilitate us processing payments and repayments You authorise us to retain your charge, credit and debit card details.


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: Loan Wizard UK Ltd, 2nd Floor Wyndham House, 1-3 Wyndham Street, Bridgend, CF31 1EF. 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.

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 6250 between 8am and 8pm.

[jasmine123]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

can i ask, did you get your refund? i have just declined their first offer of £45 out of the £69.85 the took, i will also be reporting them to trading standards! utterly disgusting!

[Cheated19]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

I was unfortunate whilst trying looking for a loan and got signed up to both Loans wizard and Loans direct thinking they were lenders and not some brokers, my theory is they are one and the same as I`m receiving similar messages from both round the same time. at no point did they explain what I`m signing up to and if they personally will provide the loan. So now I`m conned out of £69.85 twice. They are just con artists and prey on the vulnerable. Does anyone know what chances I have getting my money back as I`m still awaiting a reply from them,

[RiccardoUK]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

Hi guys,

I just found this forum during a google search. After checking my bank account last night i noticed 2 charges from both of these companies. Again, same situation as you guys. I was never at any point highlighted/informed that i'd signed up to a "membership"service. I never even received an email with account information, password etc from either company!

I'm about to start my battle for my money back. Please let me know how you are getting on with yours

[Slpxx]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

Hey guys,
I also found this thread during a google search as also seen this company has taken money from my bank account.
So i applied for a loan and somehow managed to sign into this membership with this company..
However what the snag is... I applied direct with what i thought was a lender but was actually a comparison site.. who then told me we have found you a loan and directed me to this website... therefore i thought i was going to get a loan through this company... Now i DID read the terms and conditions on the website in full and NOWER did it say we are a broker or you will be charged a fee... However within literally 5 seconds of applying nearly £70.00 had gone out of my bank.. Which if i had that money i wouldnt be applying for a loan!!!!! so i phoned them up straight away literally 2 mins after to be told "you have to cancel your membership online and apply online for a refund... My argument you take money out my bank within 5 seconds yet i have to mess about online ...
So anyway i did... and then i recieve a text message... we have a update on your online account please login.. so i do and it then says TO RECIEVE A REFUND AND CANCEL MEMBERSHIP YOU HAVE TO WRITE TO US... WHAT A DISGRACE THIS COMPANY IS...
So i did the following day... and then i recieve another update online offering me £49. by this time im thinking is this a joke...
so i phoned them and they offered me an extra £5.. thats £15 for some credit report thing and £1 a day i have been a member,,,
FURIOUS... hardley a member as i have never used their service and also i phoned straight away to cancel..
SO HERE WE ARE 2 WEEKS ON AND IM STILL WAITING FOR MY REFUND....
DO NOT FALL VICTIM OF THIS COMPANY IF YOU SEE LOANWIZARDUK RUN A MILE!!!
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR REFUND GUYS
ILL KEEP YOU POSTED ON MINE

[Slpxx]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

Hi guys,

I just found this forum during a google search. After checking my bank account last night i noticed 2 charges from both of these companies. Again, same situation as you guys. I was never at any point highlighted/informed that i'd signed up to a "membership"service. I never even received an email with account information, password etc from either company!

I'm about to start my battle for my money back. Please let me know how you are getting on with yours

Good luck 2 weeks on im still waiting... my advice is to just write to them and send it 1st class.. they recieved letter the next day and had sent me a refund req.. once i declined the offer sent another within 5 mins ...

[lucylou45]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

Hi, i also stupidly applied to Loans direct and had 3 lots of money taken out of my bank from Loan direct,loan wizard and loans now. I read up and realised i had a major problem if i was to get my money back as i had realised i did not want loans with an of them due to high interest etc. It was hard to follow the application process as lots of pages were then opening with 'loan offers'.

I did everything they all asked with the forms and within two days sent them all off recorded delivery (you must do this) as they will say they haven't received them. I then got the texts saying they have received my cancellation request this was from loan wizard and loan direct i heard nothing from loans now.

Next day i got the standard 'we are unable to offer the full refund due to a months payment of credit cleaner and £1 a day for membership even though it stated 0 days! The offer was £45+

**Ring your bank and tell them to stop any continuous payments for credit cleaner, they will do this**

I was fuming by this time as this money had caused me to miss dd in my account so i actually rang them and said the following; " I have today spoken to the financial ombudsman who advised me that you are only allowed to take £5 admin fee and i want the rest putting in my bank. The advisor then said to hold on while i put you through to an account Manager his name is Chris Williams. I repeated everything i had said to the advisor and told him that my complaint was lodged and he seemed to get flustered. He then went on to say that he will immediately issue a full refund minus the £5.
I then got a text actually stating this had happened and my account also said the same. Same thing happened next day with loans direct and again was put through to Chris but i think he recognised my voice and hung up! I then rang back and said i was speaking to the manage and was cut off and she said you have been refunded in full!

I still didn't dare to hope until i saw the money in my account and two days later it was there The Next day Loans now also refunded me, so all 3 have refunded. I probably could have argued about the £5 as i cancelled well within the 14 days but after reading about lots of people not even getting theirs back i was very relieved.

So anyone still being messed about by these companies say exactly what i said do not mess about and you will get your money back.

Hope this helps

[ripcurlbabe]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

Hi all
i saw this thread on google and really felt i should make a comment

Until very very recently i actually used to work for this company.
To clear up any false info for people this company is actually a part of 3 compani3s as a whole as the call centre that you would call for any of these 3 companies (loans direct uk, loan wizard uk and loan options) is actually a milti branded call centre! The staff work for a company called 'we are strawberry ltd' and they answer all the calls on behalf of each of the 3 companies so yes u may have called loan options and spoke to someone and then called loan wizard and spoke to the same person as the previous call to loan option etc
Before i worked for the company i used 2 believe the same as everyone else on here, that its a joke or a scam, however i can honestly say that that is not true. All 3 companies are legitamate companies. Callers call in demanding that they have not set up an account or that it does not say that they had to pay a fee! This is incorrect. Each of the 3 companies websites CLEARLY state that a fee is taken and CLEARLY states the amount the membership costs and what it is used for. So in that case it then falls on that customer not looking at the website 1st and just rushing through an application for a loan. All 3 companies do also offer a money back gaurantee regardless of a 14 day cooling period. However, the website also states that they are able to obtain a fee from this original one off payment for the cost of setting up an account for every individual customer and thier tailor made products on thier online account that THEY created. I say THEY as when a customer calls in and passes data protection the computer provides the agent with the ip address that was used to set up the account in the beginning so trust me there is no point in giving any stories down the phone. They dont need a made up excuse to be able to help with a canc3llation or refund. If u want that then that is what u will get. Now the reason then that customers were having to send in a letter is purely because any company like this would then need written and signed confirmation that they would like to close down thier account and recieve a refund into thier account.
Now...the good news is that as of last month the refund policy had changed to better the customer. As of last month, each of these 3 companies now only retain a £5 fee from the original payment taken to cover any admin costs. So that means all customers now get a FULL refund minus £5. Also what has changed is the way a custoner gets thier refund. As of last month all that needs to be done is to login to thier online account and cancel the account and then request thier refund. That is now all that needs to be done as the processing team would then process that refund for the customer ASAP. There is no longer the need for a customer to write a letter or print and send a form as this process has now been changed. We could only apologise before for the reasons of the process involved to get a refund however that was company policy and due to the fact that these companies are not brokers and are actually membership services meant that they do not fall under the consumer credit act but instead fall under the category of the distance marketing regulations act meaning that any fees previously obtained by these companies they were full within thier rights to do so. However thankfully this whole process has changed.
i advise every1 to read the websites 1st before proceeding to process a loan online. As most companies do charge a fee and believe it or not and despite adverts for loans on the tv, but most if not all loan companies do not deal with customers directly and instead go through brokers or membership services like these 3 companies.
i am not here defending these companies however having worked there and dealing with the customers i thought a better explanation and insight was needed. Its not a case of how we could sleep at night (which was shouted at us alot down the phones) it was our job! We hadnt done anything wrong! And in fact if someone is not going to read wat is clearly infront of them before rushing 2 sign up 2 something online then it is then thier own fault. I personally check everything before signing up for something or buying something online. Surely thats common sense?? So people next time hows about showing a little kindness over the phone when dealing with these companies. I can GUARANTEE u that the agent on the other end of the phone actually does want to help you! Its not a case of they have to help you but they actually do want to help you as they do understand every customers situation. Talking on the phone is alot better than screaming down the phone shouting "i hope u and your kids die of cancer" (and velieve me ive had this exact thing sed to me whilst working there at least 37 times - which i think is purely disgusting) yes ur frustrated and angry and pee'd off but like i said, especially with the new way they are dealing with things there, they can and they will help you and you will be getting a full refund (obviously minus the £5? Also just to clarify that it is also 'Visa Regulations' that state that a refund can take anywhere between 1-7 working days which means that this would be out of the hands of these companies. Once a refund had been issued that payment leaves the account immediately and it would all depend on who the customer banks with and how long they take to process that into the customers account. This is usually done very quickly but in some rare cases it can take a little longer than 7 working days. If that does happen then you would need to call an agent at the companie to make them aware that theyl refund has taken longer than 7 days as there are things that they can then try for the customer to locate thier refund and to help them get that payment back ASAP.
:-)
(Please note i NO LONGER work for this company - i am not defending this company im merely stating an observation coming from both sides of the argum3nt as i hav3 been on both ends of this kind of situation and having worked here gained knowledge of my own stupidity in signing up for things without reading properly online?

[Kati]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

Hi all
i saw this thread on google and really felt i should make a comment

Until very very recently i actually used to work for this company.
To clear up any false info for people this company is actually a part of 3 compani3s as a whole as the call centre that you would call for any of these 3 companies (loans direct uk, loan wizard uk and loan options) is actually a milti branded call centre! The staff work for a company called 'we are strawberry ltd' and they answer all the calls on behalf of each of the 3 companies so yes u may have called loan options and spoke to someone and then called loan wizard and spoke to the same person as the previous call to loan option etc
Before i worked for the company i used 2 believe the same as everyone else on here, that its a joke or a scam, however i can honestly say that that is not true. All 3 companies are legitamate companies. Callers call in demanding that they have not set up an account or that it does not say that they had to pay a fee! This is incorrect. Each of the 3 companies websites CLEARLY state that a fee is taken and CLEARLY states the amount the membership costs and what it is used for. So in that case it then falls on that customer not looking at the website 1st and just rushing through an application for a loan. All 3 companies do also offer a money back gaurantee regardless of a 14 day cooling period. However, the website also states that they are able to obtain a fee from this original one off payment for the cost of setting up an account for every individual customer and thier tailor made products on thier online account that THEY created. I say THEY as when a customer calls in and passes data protection the computer provides the agent with the ip address that was used to set up the account in the beginning so trust me there is no point in giving any stories down the phone. They dont need a made up excuse to be able to help with a canc3llation or refund. If u want that then that is what u will get. Now the reason then that customers were having to send in a letter is purely because any company like this would then need written and signed confirmation that they would like to close down thier account and recieve a refund into thier account.
Now...the good news is that as of last month the refund policy had changed to better the customer. As of last month, each of these 3 companies now only retain a £5 fee from the original payment taken to cover any admin costs. So that means all customers now get a FULL refund minus £5. Also what has changed is the way a custoner gets thier refund. As of last month all that needs to be done is to login to thier online account and cancel the account and then request thier refund. That is now all that needs to be done as the processing team would then process that refund for the customer ASAP. There is no longer the need for a customer to write a letter or print and send a form as this process has now been changed. We could only apologise before for the reasons of the process involved to get a refund however that was company policy and due to the fact that these companies are not brokers and are actually membership services meant that they do not fall under the consumer credit act but instead fall under the category of the distance marketing regulations act meaning that any fees previously obtained by these companies they were full within thier rights to do so. However thankfully this whole process has changed.
i advise every1 to read the websites 1st before proceeding to process a loan online. As most companies do charge a fee and believe it or not and despite adverts for loans on the tv, but most if not all loan companies do not deal with customers directly and instead go through brokers or membership services like these 3 companies.
i am not here defending these companies however having worked there and dealing with the customers i thought a better explanation and insight was needed. Its not a case of how we could sleep at night (which was shouted at us alot down the phones) it was our job! We hadnt done anything wrong! And in fact if someone is not going to read wat is clearly infront of them before rushing 2 sign up 2 something online then it is then thier own fault. I personally check everything before signing up for something or buying something online. Surely thats common sense?? So people next time hows about showing a little kindness over the phone when dealing with these companies. I can GUARANTEE u that the agent on the other end of the phone actually does want to help you! Its not a case of they have to help you but they actually do want to help you as they do understand every customers situation. Talking on the phone is alot better than screaming down the phone shouting "i hope u and your kids die of cancer" (and velieve me ive had this exact thing sed to me whilst working there at least 37 times - which i think is purely disgusting) yes ur frustrated and angry and pee'd off but like i said, especially with the new way they are dealing with things there, they can and they will help you and you will be getting a full refund (obviously minus the £5? Also just to clarify that it is also 'Visa Regulations' that state that a refund can take anywhere between 1-7 working days which means that this would be out of the hands of these companies. Once a refund had been issued that payment leaves the account immediately and it would all depend on who the customer banks with and how long they take to process that into the customers account. This is usually done very quickly but in some rare cases it can take a little longer than 7 working days. If that does happen then you would need to call an agent at the companie to make them aware that theyl refund has taken longer than 7 days as there are things that they can then try for the customer to locate thier refund and to help them get that payment back ASAP.
:-)
(Please note i NO LONGER work for this company - i am not defending this company im merely stating an observation coming from both sides of the argum3nt as i hav3 been on both ends of this kind of situation and having worked here gained knowledge of my own stupidity in signing up for things without reading properly online?

Hi [MENTION=52505]ripcurlbabe[/MENTION] - thanks for the post :tinysmile_grin_t:

The way I see it (although you have been very good at clarifying the situation from another angle) is that posters are not upset at being charged for joining ONE of these companies ... rather they are upset at being charged by ALL of them!
If a 'customer' signs up to one company, and then realises that they have in fact been dealing with (and paying) three companies instead, surely there is reason for complaint??

applied to Loans direct and had 3 lots of money taken out of my bank from Loan direct,loan wizard and loans now.

- post #10

After checking my bank account last night i noticed 2 charges from both of these companies.

- post #7

I do agree that if you look, there is (at least now, I cannot say if there used to be) on the front page of these sites written confirmation that they are membership groups and not who you actually get the loan off - and yes they tell you the fee (£69.75 for Loans Direct and £69.75 for Loan Wizard - Loan Options is no longer accepting new customers). However, there is no way of knowing when you apply for either of these that they share a call centre with another loan broker.

1. How can the posters on here know (when they call) that their application is being put through with the company they believe they are talking to - when the call handlers answer calls for more than one broker??
2. How do the call handlers ascertain which loan broker any given customer is thinking they are talking to??
3. Why have customers been charged by more than one company, when they have only applied to one??

Kati x

[ripcurlbabe]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

Hi [MENTION=52505]ripcurlbabe[/MENTION] - thanks for the post :tinysmile_grin_t:

The way I see it (although you have been very good at clarifying the situation from another angle) is that posters are not upset at being charged for joining ONE of these companies ... rather they are upset at being charged by ALL of them!
If a 'customer' signs up to one company, and then realises that they have in fact been dealing with (and paying) three companies instead, surely there is reason for complaint??

- post #10

- post #7

I do agree that if you look, there is (at least now, I cannot say if there used to be) on the front page of these sites written confirmation that they are membership groups and not who you actually get the loan off - and yes they tell you the fee (£69.75 for Loans Direct and £69.75 for Loan Wizard - Loan Options is no longer accepting new customers). However, there is no way of knowing when you apply for either of these that they share a call centre with another loan broker.

1. How can the posters on here know (when they call) that their application is being put through with the company they believe they are talking to - when the call handlers answer calls for more than one broker??
2. How do the call handlers ascertain which loan broker any given customer is thinking they are talking to??
3. Why have customers been charged by more than one company, when they have only applied to one??

Kati x

Hi katie thanks for the reply!
When a customer calls in on a particular number ie; loan wizard customer service, loans direct customer service it shows up on the computer screen as a coloured banner for example if a customer calls the loan wizard telephone number a yellow banner would show on the agents system. We then ask for 3 pieces of information for 2 reasons. 1 - to find that customers account (if they in actual fact have one) and 2 - to pass data protection. They would then find the correct account and open that account to view any notes left by previous agents and see any previous calls made to the company (the correct account would be selected using the colour coded banner at the beginning when the call was answered) when it comes to the different companies taking payments then what happens is when a customer signs up to one of the companies somewhere on the application (i cant state exactly where as i no longer work there) it gives the customer the option wether they would like thier info to be shared to other companies who would give an increased chance of getting them a loan. This would automatically be ticked like most sites usually do and it would then be up to the customer to unselect that option before proceeding with the loan. I do however fully understand how frustrating that is and how much that seems to be a scam into getting customers money. Ive been in the same situation myself when i signed up to loans online when i was young and stupid lol :-) just to clarify i do not agree with that and like i sed i am not defending these companies. However unfortunately that is how most companies do business these days as it drives more traffic and business to thier systems. I agree that its wrong but unfortunately i dont see anything being changed in regards to that as it is highly successful in driving traffic to these companies. I can state that loan now is not part of these 3 companies and i cant see any reason as to y they have taken a payment unless a seperate application has been made somewhere else but loan now are not part of those 3. I do know that another clever way that they get traffic is through amigo loans. They do not deal directly with customers and i know that once u sign up with amigo they actually send your info to companies like this and because a custoner agrees with the terms and conditions they are allowed to pass on the info and allow other companies to take a fee. Like i said i do not agree with that either but i also dont see that being changed anytime soon either simply because of the same reasons above - traffic!
Hope that helps :-)
As a former employee i would be happy 2 help with any other questions for anyone and i wont hide anything i will say it as it is :-) x

[vanman]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

i have a similar prob my post here http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...errywood-loans
please contact your bank and cancel your debit card or credit card NOW !
be warned they will keep taking money out if you don't.
i had to get Barclay fraud dept to block my sons debit card totally to stop them as they did it again this time under the name
of WOW Credit
not been able to get any money refunded from bank or loan brokers so far

[Pilko420]

Re: loans direct, loan options, loans wizard.

Hi ripcurlbabe
Ive tried to get my refund back from loans direct,when I rang they was great on the phone told me it would be in my account in 7 working days.Its been more than 7 working days and still no refund,now when I try to call them it's an automated service with no chance of speaking to anyone,I've sent emails but had no reply it feels like I've been conned