The Lending Group

[JonCris]

Lets have their no & we can all, in a moment of boredom, call & demand they send your money back............ then lets see them 'roll' with it........ cretins

[pc999]

Right here we go,

The lending group decided to take £49.99 from my bank account last month and didn't provide a service. 3 weeks down the line and no sight of any money, numerous calls later like most people on here and no joy. Told me I could have a refund as long as I sent them a copy of my bank statement, no chance!

Little do they know that I am a serving police officer within GMP and work in Stockport where their office is based, let the games begin!

Went to their office on my way to work, managed to get into reception, made my way onto the first floor, gained entry through the next secure door and knocked on their office door. On the door was signs displaying 'the lending group' - 'loans supermarket' and 'carted & carter' i knocked on the door but no-one would let me in, could see through the window and watched as about 40 people inside stared back at me! all on the phones sat infront of computers taking money from people! I voiced my concerns quite loudly until someone let me in but told me to wait at the door. i eventually spoke to the manager, you guessed it, mr Iky! In a knutshell he told me that i would have to write in and send off a copy of my bank account, i refused and revealed who i was, he was quite abusive so i threatened to speak to the financial investigation unit and return. I left and within 30 minutes mr Iky phoned my wife and told her he would send us a cheque via first class post!

Now this helps me but not all the other people that have been ripped off! i have spoke to financial investigations but they can't do much with just one complaint. i have also spoke to trading standards who state that they will conduct enq's to establish if other complaints have been made, i presume most people haven't made formal complaints so i suggest you do, 118500 or google trading standards in your area for info.

If you want to find ou any info about the company you can write to consumer direct, 3rd floor, craven house, michelson road, barrow in furness, cumbria, la14 1ae. in your letter just state that you wish to obtain info re this company (qoute all 3 names) under the fredom of information act. i was also advised that the company is a brokers and that they have to advise you of this before taking any money, if they don't and tell you that they are the lenders (did with me) then they contravene section 155 of a certain act, sorry but i can't remember which! anyway if you want anymore advice or want to contact me feel free. [EDIT] i think i hold the record as i have seen the office in person and had the pleasure of speaking to some of the staff. its a room approximately 80feet long by 30feet wide, all dressed in normal clothes! i think we need to make a stand against this company and do something, any suggestions appreciated! Also if you live in the local area or want to visit them in person contact me and i'll give you address and directions straight to the front door, they have only been in the building for approximately 1 month so may move on soon or change their name again. Like i said, e-mail me and lets do something!

Edited February 22, 2009 by Rooster-UK
Email address removed

[JonCris]

excellent Paul well done:) Hope you scared the wotsit out of them:D

 

Suggest you start a 'campaign' thread in order that all of the victims can unite on CAG & organise collective action as you suggest.

 

For example you could start by producing a template letter specifically aimed at this company for victims to download

 

Once they get lots of similar letters they are going to realize that there is a campaign against their unscrupulous practices

Edited February 18, 2009 by JonCris

[Dazzzza66]

Had another fun day on the phone...iv been told a cheque was sent out to me on the 14th feb...

 

if i get no joy tomorrow i will report as theft at cheshire police HQ..i used to work there so so the script..

also will instruct the halifax to start fraud investigations which they said they will.

Trading standards iv contacted...any one else i should voice a opinion to..

cheers people

[tom6500]

hi guys i think you might have got wrong information. one of my friend did make the application with them last weekand he was unsucessfull he was charged £49.99 and he speaking to so many people in there finally he got throught to senior manager or someit he litterly got the refund on the 5 day and was advised 14 days. the person you need to speak to is Sam Higginson best thing is you can email him at [email protected] or [email protected] and Att : Sam Higginson and I hope he will be helpfull to you guys

 

Good Luck!

[andymanx]

subb

[smurf1979]

I've also had £49.99 taken from my account without permission. Spoken to customer services today and they won't refund unless I send in a bank statement. They'll then listen to the recording of my call and see is I was not advised correctly about the charges.

 

This is complete rubbish - what can we do to stop them? I've had to cancel my bank card and start a fraud investigation with my bank.

[kezjarran]

Seems these guys are doing it a lot. there is another site that has many complaints

 

[EDIT]

 

Trouble is most of the people will not complain......

 

I suggest everyone that reads this contact watchdog

 

BBC - Watchdog - Got a story

 

The more that complain the better the chances of a refund.

 

Also contact as said above your local trading standards.

 

 

I ahve also sent this email to them today..... feel free to copy it if you want to.... or someone might come up with a better one ? make sure you put your reference number on it.

 

 

Dear sir/madam

 

 

 

 

I demand a refund in full for the amount of £49.99 that was taken unauthorized out of my bank on Monday 16th February 2009.

 

I spoke to an adviser on Saturday the 14th , after around 1 hour I re-phoned and cancelled , I was told that my payment would therefore not go though and I owed nothing and nothing would be taken from my account.

Monday £49.99 was taken from my account , this is fraud, I have contacted OFT,trading standards , BBC Watchdog, my bank and the police.

 

I am not prepared to wait the ridicules' amount of time of 3-6 months while my money you stole from me and others gains interest. You took less than 2 days to withdraw my funds, so it will be just as easy to re-credit my account in that time.

 

I will not let this drop and demand a refund immediately , if no refund is forthcoming by close of today, I will instruct my lawyer to take this matter further.

 

There is a massive amount of complaints on the internet about this group, this is not a one off but seems to be a trend, please be advised that I will ensure that this matter will not be laid to rest until a full refund is given.

 

If my card gets debited again I will personally hold you responsible and take actions though the courts.

 

A copy of this email will be sent to all I listed in my first paragraph.

 

I have also attached a copy of the bank statement that shows the fraud payment.

 

Please deal with this as a matter of urgency or further action will be taken at close of today.

Edited February 22, 2009 by Rooster-UK
Commercial website link removed.

[Dazzzza66]

I have already contacted Trading Standards in stockport about this...

TLG called me this morning regarding the cheque that has been sent to me (not arrived yet)..ringing back later ??

and il drop watchdog a line as well...

[ac53nd5]

hi all we all need to report them to the TS police and your banks to stop them from doing this to a lot more pepole , plus we all need to keep ring them , i have for the last 4 days none stop asking for a refund , i have been useing there freephone number 0800 6528529 and been asking them to put me though to the admin office or ask for lee , thay will say you have to ring a diffrent number (but say no you can put me though on this number). hope this helps;)

[smurf1979]

I have contacted watchdog, TS and my bank fraud team about TLG this afternoon. Hopefully they can soon be stopped.

[ac53nd5]

you need to report this to the police too

[smurf1979]

The police will no longer deal with any situations like this.

[Dazzzza66]

i was told that a cheque had been processed on sat 14th feb...but they missed the post on sat and it was sent out on monday ...but takes 5-7 working days to arrive at my house via the post....why i ask..i was told company policy to be sure the cheque arrives...mmm not sure how that works.

oh and Lee is away next mon tue wed...so if they say there puttn you through it may be a little white lie...not that a company like this would tell lies...

[smurf1979]

I emailed Sam direct. He responded saying he'll check the recording and get back to me within 7 days.

Edited February 21, 2009 by smurf1979
Wrong name entered

[pc999]

Re the comments about the police not taking action any longer re these situations, thats not the case. If the lending group are taking money from peoples accounts without their authority i.e telling you that they need your account details for verification and then take out a sum of money then thats theft. If for example they tell you that they have found you a loan, get your authority to take your money but do not provide the service (the loan) and then take your money they are committing the offence of 'false representation' both these are criminal offences. I was told last Wednesday that they were sending me a cheque out first class and surprise surprise it still hasn't arrived. I will be paying them another visit tomorrow and also popping into the council offices in Stockport in order to log a formal complaint. Plus I have a little something up my sleeve! Thats for another day! What I would like is for people in our situation to email me with your name, contact number, date that you applied for the loan, how much money they have taken from you and when they took the money. If trading standards are going to do something about them we need to unite and take action together, i will try my upmost between work and the children to make up some sort of database, the more people that contact me the better.

 

[EDIT]

Edited February 22, 2009 by Rooster-UK
Email address removed

[pc999]

Another snippet of information i have just found out is that the lending group's proper name is Best practice (UK) LTD, 16 Derwent Drive, Hayes, UB4 8DR The registered company number for both is 06399594. [EDIT] Best practice was incorporated on the 15th October 2007. They are a accounting, auditing and tax consult. As of yet I cn't find them on the t'interweb, i'll keep you all posted, thanks for all the replies so far, Paul

Edited February 22, 2009 by Rooster-UK
Libellous comments removed

[JonCris]

Go get 'em Paul & please keep those of us not directly involved with this shower informed as there's now't better than seeing bandits like these taken down:D

[ac53nd5]

Re the comments about the police not taking action any longer re these situations, thats not the case. If the lending group are taking money from peoples accounts without their authority i.e telling you that they need your account details for verification and then take out a sum of money then thats theft. If for example they tell you that they have found you a loan, get your authority to take your money but do not provide the service (the loan) and then take your money they are committing the offence of 'false representation' both these are criminal offences. I was told last Wednesday that they were sending me a cheque out first class and surprise surprise it still hasn't arrived. I will be paying them another visit tomorrow and also popping into the council offices in Stockport in order to log a formal complaint. Plus I have a little something up my sleeve! Thats for another day! What I would like is for people in our situation to email me with your name, contact number, date that you applied for the loan, how much money they have taken from you and when they took the money. If trading standards are going to do something about them we need to unite and take action together, i will try my upmost between work and the children to make up some sort of database, the more people that contact me the better.

 

[EDIT]

hi paul thanks for the info got some more for you ,Carter & Carter Financial Ltd is the same as the The Lending Group ,the number you ring is a free phone 0800 6528529 but as form sat thay have stoped picking it up , hmm so i done some diging around and found a 2nd freephone number 08005878519 so as form now i will use this one to give them s--t.

i will send you my details by email.

[JonCris]

Carter & Carter:eek:.......... No relation to Bryan Carter I suppose:) If it was it would certainly explain a few things;)

[pc999]

Just a quickie, thanks to everyone for the replies so far but i have a request for you all. I am aware of a number of different websites/forums similar to this one and will be posting a thread on them directing people to this forum, would you please all do some research to find other sites and either let me know which sites there are or put a post on directing people to this one or post my email adress requesting people to contact me. The more we all do the better the outcome, hopefuly! I'll be going to see them tomorrow and will update you all tomorrow evening. One last thing, I contacted watchdog today requesting they contact me and gave them an overview of the circumstances and possible number of persons involved. Paul

[Dazzzza66]

wiil have a look into other sites and see what can find...

i have also contacted watch dog with a over view of the situation..i also put a link to this forum as well in it..

[commankiller]

Include the relevant legislation.

1.1 Under section 155 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, a consumer is entitled to a refund (less £5) of the fee paid to a credit broker if for any reason the consumer does not enter into a relevant agreement within six months of an introduction to a source of credit or hire.

 

I did and so did my friend applied for a loan with the same company. we got a the loan even though we dont get the amount we asked for but they are helpful to us they are a bona fide compnay they have a CClicence, but they are brokers not lenders. I think people on here are getting confused. they will have a basic criteria check, CCJ defaults etc and based on thta you'll be approved "on principle".

This s term they have to use due to the FSA although a broker doesn't have to be registered with the FSA as they only introduce buisness not package it.

So if people who have got really bad credit records are loking all over the houses for loans then no wonder they dont get one, its not the brokers fault. Every search leaves a footprint on your credit report and that knoks points off.

 

hope this information helps

[alex809]

PLEASE EVERYONE READ

 

Do not wait for them to get back to you.

Go to everyone you can E.g. watch dog to get something done, they are not just doing it to you its thousands of other people.

They will never get back with a letter or pick up your phone call and if they do they LIE.

Please if enough people get in touch with watchdog something WILL be done. And everyone will have their money back and the b'as'ards will be locked up where they belong.

YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME RINGING OR SENDING A LETTER

[commankiller]

a consumer is entitled to a refund (less £5) of the fee paid to a credit broker if for any reason the consumer does not enter into a relevant agreement within six months of an introduction to a source of credit or hire.

 

 

they are a bona fide compnay as they do have a CClicence, but they are brokers not lenders. I think people on here are getting confused. they will have a basic criteria check, CCJ defaults etc and based on thta you'll be approved "on principle".

 

This s term they have to use due to the FSA although a broker doesn't have to be registered with the FSA as they only introduce buisness not package it.

 

So if people who have got really bad credit records are loking all over the houses for loans then no wonder they dont get one, its not the brokers fault. Every search leaves a footprint on your credit report and that knoks points off.

 

i hope this information helps!