Expert advice needed! Helploan/Balanceloan - accepted for loan but no money so far...

[Jenji]

Today at around 3:30pm a friend applied for a loan of £250 from this website: https://secure.helploan.co.uk/

 

She followed the application procedure to the letter (including sending a £3 SMS) and received the SMS to say her application had been granted and that it had been moved to the "payout list" and the money would be with her shortly.

 

Now, 3 and a half hours later there is still no sign of the money. She tried ringing their customer services but it just rings out. Wonga and Toothfairy Finance put the money through within an hour or two of the application being accepted.

 

I have tried to research the company but the only info I can find is on their websites (https://secure.helploan.co.uk/ and https://secure.balanceloan.co.uk/)

 

Has anybody here used their service before? Can any experienced people give me any advice? Do you think it's a con for the £3 SMS messages?

 

Please help!

[robjam1969]

Hi

 

Never heard of them. The SMS charge sounds very dodgy. Please tell your friend to avoid payday loans- only misery awaits and the potential for others to have control of your bank account.

 

The money might turn up but I doubt it. Get their debit card changed- they have £3 but access to a lot more.

[cornetgirl]

Robjam and I tend to be in agreement on a lot of things and this is one of them. Please tell your friend to avoid PDL companies - they seem like a nice, easy short term fix but believe me you end up getting one out to pay off another despite your best intentions. A lot of us on here have been there, done that and regretted it and it really is best to either seek financial help elsewhere or try and muddle on without.

 

It is worth cancelling any bank card used to take out this loan as these vultures seem to take your card details as a licence to raid your bank account - there are lots of cautionary tales on these forums about that.

[Jenji]

The loan went in! It just took a while.

 

They still seem very dodgy to me, but then again, all PDL companies probably are!

 

I will update here if they try anything dodgy!

[sillygirl1]

Make sure she texts STOP to the SMS message otherwise they will eat up all her data allowance... and more.... that seems to be one of the latest moneyspinners.

 

Really this government would be doing the country a huge favour by outlawing these firms, Canada has banned them completely, why can't we follow suit?

[26072004]

The OFT have just finished a report into PAYDAY lenders here is a paragraph from the press release.

 

The report found that, in a number of respects, these markets work reasonably well in that they serve borrowers not catered for by mainstream suppliers, complaint levels are low, and there is evidence that for some products, lenders do not levy charges on customers who miss payments or make payments late. The report also makes some recommendations for improvements to the functioning of aspects of these markets that work less well.

 

Complaint levels low?????

Lenders not levying charges?????????

 

who are these companies if its true they should be named.

 

Website concentrate on APR's and costs, maybe info such as official complaints and charges should also be available to all

[Jenji]

Sorry, I accidentally posted twice; please ignore this.

Edited July 7, 2010 by Jenji

[cornetgirl]

26072004 - I would agree with you there - what planet are these folk at the OFT on???????

 

Maybe we've all been too soft and not complained enough to the OFT - or they may be getting some benefit from having these companies around (treading very carefully to avoid charges of libel ) - if it were up to me I'd ban the whole bloomin' lot of them!

 

Jenji - I'd agree - they are dodgy but if you take the loan with the full knowledge that you'll be able to pay it back and not reloan then they're ok as a one-off. If you get to the stage when you need multiple payday loans to survive then they become a millstone.

[KimH]

Beware this company is involved someway in a massive [problem] - sending out loan repayment demands to 100's of people who have not taken out loans. Check out the Action Fraud website