Dont give up!!! I got mine eventually! Also, this was on the BBC News website yesterday: Dishonest credit brokers that demand upfront fees for loans they have no intention of arranging will be closed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The measure is part of a general crackdown by the regulator following a complaint from Citizens' Advice. The charity said some unscrupulous firms were cold-calling thousands of potential borrowers and offering loans in return for hefty fees. The OFT is making it mandatory for fees to be refunded if a loan is not agreed. "Our evidence suggests some businesses are deliberately taking people's money upfront with no realistic expectation of finding them the type of loan they need," said John Fingleton, the OFT's chief executive. 'We will continue to take robust enforcement action against businesses using unfair or improper business practices and we are providing new guidance making very clear the kind of behaviour we expect from the industry." In parallel, the OFT will bring in new rules later this month for debt management firms to stop them making misleading claims in adverts, charging expensive fees upfront, giving poor advice or posing as charities. Law change The OFT is going to ask the government to consider changing the law to ban outright the practice of credit brokers demanding upfront fees in exchange for arranging loans. What is a super-complaint? A designated consumer group can make a super-complaint to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) if an issue is "significantly harming the interests of consumers" The OFT has 90 days to respond by stating what action, if any, it plans to take on the issue and the reasons behind its decision Citizens' Advice had complained, in a so-called "super complaint", that many people had received a text message or telephone call from these firms offering to find them an unsecured loan. Those who accepted were then charged the fees for little or no service in return. "They are getting cold calls from businesses they haven't asked to call them," Teresa Perchard of Citizens' Advice told the BBC. She said an upfront fee of £70 was not uncommon, but the organisation had come across charges of up to £300. New rules The OFT estimates that 270,000 people had paid upfront fees to credit brokers in the past year, with complaints about them doubling between 2008 and 2010. The firms in question typically specialised in arranging unsecured loans for people who found it hard to borrow money because of their low incomes or past problems repaying debts. As well as threatening to close down rogue credit brokers, the OFT is consulting on changes to its own rules to make it clear that: borrowers already have a right in law for their fees to be refunded if the credit broker fails to introduce them to a potential lender if an introduction is made but a loan is not granted within six months, the fee must still be repaid. Some victims, Citizens' Advice said, had been persuaded to hand over their bank details and later found that money had been taken from their account without their permission. Victims struggled to get somebody to deal with the issue, and were charged a premium rate when calling to complain. They also found that they were being inundated by calls and text messages offering loans or debt management services from other firms. The consumer minister Edward Davey welcomed the OFT's proposed changes. "We will give careful consideration to the outcome and take further action if required."

Hi, Im really sorry to say this but I dont think you will get it back. I had the same problem. 5 days ago I applied for a loan with them, then as soon as I realised they were a broker and would charge me a fee, I cancelled my application. The next day they took £74.75 out of my bank account. I checked their terms and conditions, which state that if you cancel within 14 days you will receive a refund. I immediately emailed them (there is no telephone number to be found), cancelling my application again, and asking for a refund. After a few emails back and forth, they eventually gave me an address to send a letter to, and said I would need to include my reference number. I asked for this, but received no reply. I managed to get hold of the reference number and sent the letter, then emailed yesterday asking if they had received it, with no reply. I emailed again today to ask if they had received the letter, and had another few emails back and forth, along the same lines as the first ‘you applied for a loan so we took the membership fee’, ‘we have people waiting to give you a loan, log into our website to apply’, etc. Eventually, the last email they sent me stated again that I needed to send a letter to receive a refund! I am getting no sense out of them whatsoever, and it doesn’t look like I’m going to get my money back. Apparently the address that they give is a Regus managed office, and they confirm that the company aren’t there anymore, yet they are still giving the address out for complaints. They also have no company number. They basically rely on the knowledge that we are so worried about the fact we have no money, that we apply anywhere for a loan without checking, which I know is stupid, but desperate times and all that. I decided to stop being defeatist about it and TAKE THEM DOWN!!! I've reported them to the FSA and also BBC Watchdog, think OFT is next on my list and Fraud Police and then whoever I can think of that might listen! It’s important that people know to stay away from them!