Thanks a lot Scott, I've seen the day when I wouldn't have pursued this but I'm older and wiser now What prompted me to find out more about this company is that the MD, James Benamor, was featured on C4s "Secret Millionaire" a few weeks ago - you know the programme when a millionaire goes into a deprived area without revealing his true identity, then after he gets to know people who are trying to help the local community decides who he would like to help personally - he was on the first programme of the new series and quite a few people found it extremely ironic that he was participating in this kind of programme whilst exploiting and compounding the misery of the very people he was allegedly helping. I emailed Channel 4 to tell them what I had found about the philanthropic Mr Benamor but apart from an email in acknowledgement, haven't heard anything else - didn't expect to but it made me feel a whole lot better

Hi, good news - managed to get my money back, after doing a bit more research around the web it appeared that quite a few other people had been caught out like me but had dug their heels in and simply demanded their fee back - it appears that James Benamor & Advantage Loans had been investigated approximately four years ago on Watchdog who were continuing to monitor them because of their business practices. I received the money back within forty eight hours of emailing them so if you're still having problems Danjock, it might be worthwhile contacting Watchdog to see if they could possibly help - on other forums it appears that other people had had the same kind of problems you had, I feel I had a very lucky escape and wish you the best of luck in dealing with this, they seem to be a very difficult company to deal with.

Thank you, much appreciated

Hi, that's me just back on line now - been busy!! What I wanted to ask was about Advantage Loans. I've been on a DMP for two and a half years now and doing very well with all my finances well under control However, there are a few things I needed and while I try hard to save every month, something always crops up I came across one of their flyers and applied on line for a thousand pounds payable over 12 months. They got in touch and asked for 49.50 up front and when I called them they said if I paid that I was guaranteed a loan over the time period I had asked for. I sent this money away, foolishly, then found that I could get a loan but needed a guarantor. This is not an option and have decided not to proceed with the loan but to stick to my DMP and keep on the straight and narrow - have I lost the money I sent or can I claim it back as they never indicated I would need a guarantor when I spoke to them prior to sending the fee, if I had I would never have proceeded. Is this common practice now and is there any recourse people in my position can take. If not, I can only put it down to experience albeit an expensive one

Hi, I've lurked here before and found the forum endlessly interesting and informative and have now been brave enough to join!! I have a few questions I'd like to ask and I'm sure people here will be able to give me well informed answers