Hello, help with Advantage Loans.

[Parlesse]

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

[maroondevo52]

Hello and Welcome, Parlesse.

 

 

Can I point you in the right direction, or take you there myself

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Parlesse]

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

[maroondevo52]

Hi, Parlesse.

 

I'll move this thread to a Forum where I hope you'll get some help.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Parlesse]

Thank you, much appreciated

[FinancialNinja]

Hi There and welcome to the site.

 

I think you will find that the money is gone and cannot be recovered. You can try to write to them. However, I suspect that they will have something embedded in their terms and conditions.

 

You may want to try calling the FSA and see if their practice is allowed!!

 

Good luck

[Danjock]

Hi all,not sure why I am posting here but I am new to the site and still finding my feet,I have a loan with a company called FLM loans who,I believe are something to do with Advantage loans. I have a bad credit rating so this loan was a high rate,paying back monthly by bank giro slip.

They said that they would send me slips every month so that I could make payment on time.It was coming out by direct debit but,due to them taking payment early on a number of occasions I changed this.However they failed to send me Giro slips on time resulting in late payment which I was charged for,then they rang me saying that I had missed a payment which I had a recipt for,I faxed it to them,and posted them a photo copy but they continued calling,however they were calling my works number which they had obtained when I used the works phone to call them,my manager asked them to stop but they continued and left messages about my loan which other members of staff heard,these are still stored on the answer phone. They sent me a default notice,threatening me with court action,ringing me before 8 am a numerous occasions then revealed that they had found the payment,no apology and they refused to drop the extra charges,my late payments were only late because they failed to send me the giro slips on time,the fact that I could go in the bank and use one of there slips is irrelevant because I still needed the account number and sort code for the company. Any advise would be very welcome

 

Thanks

[Parlesse]

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.

[maroondevo52]

Good to hear, Parlesse.

 

Superb result, well done.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Parlesse]

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

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

Saw the programme myself, did'nt know it was that guy

Can't remember how much he 'gave away' but it was more than likely loose change for him.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[spammers]

Hi all,not sure why I am posting here but I am new to the site and still finding my feet,I have a loan with a company called FLM loans who,I believe are something to do with Advantage loans. I have a bad credit rating so this loan was a high rate,paying back monthly by bank giro slip.

They said that they would send me slips every month so that I could make payment on time.It was coming out by direct debit but,due to them taking payment early on a number of occasions I changed this.However they failed to send me Giro slips on time resulting in late payment which I was charged for,then they rang me saying that I had missed a payment which I had a recipt for,I faxed it to them,and posted them a photo copy but they continued calling,however they were calling my works number which they had obtained when I used the works phone to call them,my manager asked them to stop but they continued and left messages about my loan which other members of staff heard,these are still stored on the answer phone. They sent me a default notice,threatening me with court action,ringing me before 8 am a numerous occasions then revealed that they had found the payment,no apology and they refused to drop the extra charges,my late payments were only late because they failed to send me the giro slips on time,the fact that I could go in the bank and use one of there slips is irrelevant because I still needed the account number and sort code for the company. Any advise would be very welcome

 

Thanks

 

Guys please read

 

GO TO THE OFT website and look up rules of Consumer Credit.

 

If they are not acting within the rules of the OFT they can and will have their licence revoked. They are not in a position to harrass you and withhold money that is rightfully yours. Note FLM have Minded to REVOKE in APril 08 and you can see their list of company names some 14 of them via the oft website.

[Tenant Loans]

I work for the group that owns Advantage loans. As with all loan brokers they will refund anyone who requests a refund if they are unhappy with the loan that they are offered. Simply get in touch with their customer services dept.

[spammers]

I don't see why people that work for this company should be trawling through these websites and responding - it's just not right. You have no idea about personal situations and as guarantor which unfortunately we have been lumbered as and we wouldn't get involved with a company like yours through our own choice it is has been a TERRIBLE experience IMO