Good evening. I have had some feedback from The Financial Ombudsman. They have sent a final letter to Microlend. It is as follows.... I am writing to set out my assessment of this complaint. In reaching my assessment, I have considered all the evidence and documents that the business and Mr Jameson (Me) have sent us. As I understand it, Mr Jameson's complaint concerns the business' actions in taking monies from his account contrary to an agreement made. Mr Jameson entered into a loan agreement with the business on 2 July 2010. The terms of the agreement outline that the business will obtain the loaned amount from Mr Jameson's debit card on 30 July 2010. The business emailed Mr Jameson on 26 August 2010. It asked Mr Jameson to confirm his card details so that it could collect £75.00 and 3 more payments of £75.00 thereafter. Mr Jameson wrote to the business on 16 September 2010 and asked for an explanation as to why a large amount of money had been taken from his account. Mr Jameson said that an agreement was made whereby he would make four payments in instalments of £75.00. He said however the business obtained £501.00 from his account on 30 August 2010 alongside the instalment of £75.00. Mr Jameson referred his complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for independent assessment on 10 November 2010. Having considered all the evidence and circumstances surrounding Mr Jameson's complaint, I am of the opinion that it should be upheld. I shall explain my reasons for taking this view. I am only able to consider Mr Jameson's complaint in relation to the evidence before me and what I believe is likely to have happened in light of the evidence. I do acknowledge that the terms and conditions of the agreement Mr Jameson signed enabled the business to obtain the loaned amount from his debit card on 30 July 2010. However, Mr Jameson has provided evidence of the email correspondence he has had with the business. I have enclosed copies of the emails for your perusal. It would appear that the business asked Mr Jameson on 26 August of what date the next 3 payments of £75.00 should be taken. In response to this, Mr Jameson set out three dates for the instalments to be taken. I can see that the business responded to this email and confirmed it was okay. Based on the email correspondence, it would appear that Mr Jameson provided the business with his card details on the condition that it obtained payments in instalments of £75.00. However, having looked at Mr Jameson's bank statements (copies enclosed) it seems that the business obtained two payments on 30 August 2010 totalling £576.00. Whilst I appreciate that the business' original terms and conditions specified that the loan amount must be repaid on 30 July 2010, it appears from the emails enclosed that a subsequent arrangement was made. Mr Jameson has said that he was required to request this payment arrangement due to being in financial difficulty. Having considered the evidence available, I am of the opinion that Mr Jameson provided his card details on the understanding that the business took payments in instalments of £75.00. In the circumstances therefore, I am not of the opinion that the business has acted reasonably in pbtaining £576.00 from Mr Jameson's account on 30 August 2010. Moreover, when a business is made aware of an individual's financial difficulties, we would expect the business to act positively and sympathetically in the circumstances. Although the business agreed to Mr Jameson's proposals to pay £75.00 instalments, it appears to have acted outside of this arrangement by obtaining £576.00 from the account on one day. Because of this, I am of the opinion that the complaint should succeed. The business outlined in it's email of 2 July 2010 that the repayment amount payable was £325.00. I understand that under the terms of the agreement, charges are payable if the loan is not repaid by 30 July 2010. However, given that I am not of the opinion that the business acted reasonably when obtaining payments from Mr Jameson's account, I am of the view that it should refund the amounts it has taken from Mr Jameson's account less the loan repayment of £325.00. In addition, I am of the opinion that the business should refund interest on the amount to be refunded at 8% simple from 30 August 2010 to the date settlement. If you agree with my conclusions, and are prepared to offer the proposed settlement to Mr Jameson, I would be grateful if you would let me know by 3 June 2011. However, if you disagree with my conclusions, please let me know - also by 3 June 2011 - telling me your reasons, and enclosing any supporting documentation or further evidence that you have not already provided. Could you please let me know now, if you plan to reply fully but do not think you will be able to meet this deadline. As a reminder, you will also have the right to ask an ombudsman to review the case - as the final stage in our process. But in most cases, complaints will not need to be escalated to that level, and can be resolved at an earlier stage Pretty good news, I guess. Hopefully a positive outcome can come of this. I will keep you posted. Cheers

Also just to let you all know. The 8 weeks for a reply is now up. A formal complaint has been forwarded to the Financial Ombudsman, who are now investigating

Hey F.O.! Have you tried physically phoning them? You should be put through to either Brian or David. (0845 116 8000) When is your payment due date? Keep all correspondence including what you send. Your best bet would be to seek advice by calling someone like the National Debtline. (0808 808 400) They are very good and pretty much have the answer for everything. Keep us in the loop. I hope I have been of some help Best of luck

I haven't had a response from them yet. I have to give Microlend a statutory 8 weeks to respond. If I haven't received a reply within that time, then I have to fill out a complaints form, and attach any evidence (emails, bank statements etc) and send it to the Financial Ombudsman, who will deal with them on my behalf

I too will not rest until I have received the money that they have stolen from me. I don't care how much of my time this takes up, and how long it takes

My recorded letter has been signed for by 'D DAVID', which I would imagine is David Greenspan, who works alongside Brian Long. I also know the address they operate from, which appears to be a block of flats, in Barnet. Lollipops, I am interested to find out how you get on. Please keep us updated. If you do go to the papers, I would be happy to join you in doing that, if you wish. If you do need further legal advice, go to the Financial Ombudsman as they seem to know everything and are excellent. I do recommend you reporting these people to Trading Standards. If they get enough complaints, they will be fined heavily, and could also lose their licence to trade. Microlend didn't send me any paperwork, however I do have emails detailing the payment plan we come up with. I got into a spot of bother at work, because they were harassing me through my work's telephones. I believe the total amount I owed on that Friday they took the money was around £280 (David Greenspan wouldn't tell me the amount I owed the company after he took the money) They took £576 on that friday. In total, they have taken around £725 for a £350 loan.

Lollypops. I have been through exactly the same thing. Micro Lend refuse to engage in dialogue with me. Phone the Financial Ombudsman (0845 080 1800) and they will advise you on what to do, and will write to you on behalf. They will also send you documents to help you. Also report them to Trading Standards

Hey, this is a further update I have made some further enquiries. I have reported Micro Lend to Trading Standards, and sought help from Debt Line. They have both pointed me in the direction of the Financial Ombudsman, who are now acting on my behalf Trading standards have said that Micro Lend have breached the Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations 2004. The Financial Ombudsman have written to them on my behalf, asking for a resolution and their reasons for what they have done. They have advised me to write to them if I haven't had a reply from Micro Lend within a few days. I am going to send them a letter, recorded delivery, so I can see who has signed for it. The FO have said that I need to give them a statutory 8 weeks. If their response isn't acceptable, or I don't receive anything within those 8 weeks, then I have to fill out a complaints form and send it, with all other correspondance and evidence, to the FO. Make a complaint to Trading Standards too, because if they get a certain amount of complaints about the same company, they will fine them, or could even take away their licence to trade!

Thank you Jamie. I fully intend to get my card cancelled. I cannot afford to be in this situation again. I have spoken to my employers, and they have said that they could possibly help me out in the meantime. I wonder if it is advisable to negotiate with Microlend, and tell them to take the outstanding balance from the £501 and tell them to give me back the rest. But I am very sceptical about them, and I don't trust that they will give the rest back. This fellow, David was utterly patronising and was at one point laughing at my situation. They just don't care.

Ok, I have done everything you have advised.... I have spoken to the card dispute section of my bank (Santander) and they have told me that because I owe Microlend money, they cannot get involved. It's a dispute between myself and Microlend. I have also said that I intend to go to the police. The bank said that when I do get a crime number, they can push through a dispute, but it is likely that the dispute will get thrown out. The bank have advised me to talk to Trading Standard

Thank you very much for that. I have taken your advice and will act on it straight away. I just hope this process isn't time consuming

I took out a payday loan from these (Edit)' a few months back. I was unable to make the repayment. There is £280 outstanding to pay, so I arranged with them to pay £75 a month for the next 4 months Last Friday, when I got paid, they took the £75 as requested, however they proceeded to take a further payment of £501. After numerous attempts to contact them, via phone and email, I was put thorugh to someone called 'David'. Apparently he discussed with his underwriter, and came back with the conclusion that he feared that the 'goal-posts would be moved again' Now, he won't give me back the £501 until the rest of the balance is cleared, and kept referring to 'Terms & Conditions'. He took the money in the same manner as if you were to purchase something online. Because of this, and the fact that they are a loan company, the bank will not do anything to help either. No disputes can be raised on this transaction. Now I have no money to pay bills and feed myself. Please, any help would be greatly appreciated