Advice and hope for all those in Payday loan hell

[Blossom99]

Hi. Just want to share my payday loan nightmare story and show that there can be light at the end of a very long, dark and frightening tunnel. Last June I took out 3 payday loans during a tight month. And unintentionally defaulted. My phone rang all day and late into the evening. I kept it on silent and got to the point where I dreaded looking at it and seeing all the missed calls and the voicemail symbol. I was scared of my own phone. The constant texts and emails, the dread of walking through my front door and seeing the letters on the mat. Then the phone calls at work. The humiliation of the receptionist slamming messages on my desk,saying she was sick and tired of these companies calling every half hour and being a pain in the ass. Then came the threats. We will visit your house. Felt like a prisoner in my own home. Terrified every single time there was a knock at the door, jumping every time I heard a car outside. The only day I could relax a little was Sunday as that was the only day my phone didn't ring. Suffering ill health and blinding migraines, at the end of my tether, I called one of these companies. All the aggresive and rude guy on the phone kept saying was "I can't discuss ure case until u give me your card details" over and over. Until finally he said "look love I'm due to finish in ten minutes and I'm not having you holding me up, u need to call back another time" and hung up the phone. And a week later BAM lost my job. I was at rock bottom. No income and being chased by the sharks, I was scared witless. I eventually got a new job. And something clicked. I was going to get my life back dammit. I emailed the companies to find they had all passed my details to DCAs. With strength I had gained from advice on this wonderful site, I offered repayment plans. The first 2 readily agreed. The 3rd put up a long fight which I eventually won (despite threats of taking me to court) I have nearly paid 2 of these off. My life and thoughts now no longer revolve around payday loans. I now enjoy logging in to my emails to catch up with friends. I am beginning to be able to hear my phone ring without feeling sick. This is advice I have gained from amazing folks on this site, and from my own experience ... 1. NEVER NEVER NEVER speak to payday loan companies on the phone. Communicate in writing only, as backup for yourself and the fact that the staff are rude,bullying pondlife. 2. DO NOT GIVE A HOME OR WORK PHONE NUMBER. Some insist on a landline number aswel as a mobile, trust me, DONT. It is humiliating when they call colleagues, and u will feel trapped in your own home. 3. Have the money paid into a seperate bank account from where wages and bills are paid. Otherwise they will steal your entire wage packet and leave you with nothing. 4. They will constantly threaten with visiting your home / taking you to court. Very likely just a bullying tactic. It will cost them a lot to take you to court where you will just be ordered to make an affordable repayment agreement. If someone did visit your home, they have no more rights than the milkman. ONLY a court can order bailiffs. Therefore tell them to DO ONE otherwise you will call the police. 4. Once the debt is passed to a DCA, they will be easier to deal with. Email them with offers of repayment and they are more likely to readily accept as they want the money and they can put their efforts into chasing other victims.

[Blossom99]

I don't want to be patronising or condescending, but these were questions I desperatly needed answering during my darkest time. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I just hope to help others trapped in this hell. I also hope these parasites all get closed down one day

[Bombaymix]

Blossom! Thanks for sharing your story! I'm glad you got sorted in the end.

 

A lot of us here have shared your experiences with these sharks.

 

I'm in repayment plans now with a few. They're not hassling me at the moment. I also had months and months of content telephone abuse and embarrassment at work.

 

There is light at the end of the tunnel

[Sophia1205]

What Bombaymix said goes for me too. Thanks for sharing your story and offering hope in what seems a hopeless situation.

 

xxx

[quackquack]

:cheer2:Well done sweetheart you are fab you got your self out of it like i did and im free now ,you see you can take full control of these sharks its just summoning the courage to do so and your post is one of many that shows it can be done .brilliant and good luck to you xxxx

[Blossom99]

Thanks all of you guys. To Bombaymix and Sofia, I wish you both luck with your repayments, you will get there in the end, as will i. Quackquack, well done to you aswel! *high fives* I'm not by any means out of the woods until I have made my final repayment. And on the day of the final payment I will be having a very large glass of champagne. Its been a terrible time, but in a strange kind of way I do believe that some mistakes are worth their weight in gold. Now I have experienced being deeply in debt and what's its like being hounded by debt collectors its changed my attitude to how I manage and save money, and never as long as I live go near a payday loan shark again. I would sooner live off bread and water for a month. I owe so much to this wonderful site. The unjudgemental advice and support and encouragement that complete strangers offer each other here is wonderful. I wish all of u here a debt free future. XX

[quackquack]

:behindsofa:ur welcome take care of ur self and no more hiding behind the sofa lol xxxxxxx