Microlend Problems

[meepfest]

Hi,

 

First time on here so sorry if this is in the wrong place. I am currently in payday loan hell, which is of course my own fault, but I have a question regarding debit card payments. I'll outline the background below, before my question:

 

I have taken out a loan with Microlend, which is a company I have used several times in the past, for £250. Over the last few days it became apparent that I was going to have issues with repayment of both the Microlend loan and another loan I have, so I made the decision to cancel my card and contact the lenders. The other lender has been accommodating as I am in financial difficulties. Microlend, on the other hand, have not. I transferred the bulk of my wages from my Lloyds account (where repayment was due to come from), and transferred it into my Co-Op account. Big mistake.

 

Microlend have, without my authorisation, debited the full £325 from my Co-Op account, leaving me penniless. These card details were given to them over the telephone, for a one off payment, in the summer of 2012. A CPA has not been agreed by me on this card, this card was not stipulated in the loan agreement, they have not had permission to use it other than for the one off payment that was made. They have never deposited funds into the Co-Op account, and they do not have the bank details.

 

Other than the obvious of avoiding payday lenders (which believe me I'm trying to do), where do I stand with this? I have opened a dispute with the bank, and have been in contact with Microlend. Microlend are refusing to refund any of the money, and are saying I owe an additional £89 (£52 late payment fee despite loan repaid on same day, £25 failed debit card fee, £12 correspondence fee).

 

To my mind this is a fraudulent transaction, a possible PCI breach as they have obviously kept the card details in writing somewhere since they were given over the phone and formed no part of an electronic agreement with them, and their request for a further £89 is absurd.

 

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[meepfest]

I hasten to add I am aware that I owe them the money, and I wanted to arrange a payment plan, but they took all of my money from a completely unassociated account prior to me being able to arrange anything else!!!

[Bazooka Boo]

Ring your bank and do an immediate Visa Debit chargeback.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/

[ims21]

Thread moved to the PDL forum

[Conniff]

Have moved you into the Minicredit section of the Debt subforums:-

[Conniff]

Snap

 

Tell your bank you want an immediate reversal of this unauthorised transaction. Don't request, tell.

[meepfest]

Thank you very much for your reply Bazooka Boo, I have done this this evening, apparently it can take up to 10 days for the Co-Op to sort out so I'm waiting for their response. Do you know if Microlend had any legal entitlement to use this card when it is not associated with the current loan and no money has been deposited by them into the account?

[meepfest]

Thanks also to Conniff - have done this, and is pending investigation. I can't wait for the day when my money is actually my own and not owed to all and sundry

[renegadeimp]

Was it done by visa debit? If so, dont believe the 10 day crap. It can be done pretty much instantly.

[meepfest]

Yes, it was Visa Debit - they're saying they're "investigating" and will give a follow up call (though they haven't stated when), although I intend to call them daily to find out the progress.

[Bazooka Boo]

If you suspect your card has been used fraudulently, if the goods and services you bought with your card are faulty or if they do not materialise, then you should contact the bank who has provided you with your Visa debit card within 120 days, requesting they initiate the chargeback process. It does not mean you will automatically and immediately get your money back. It will initially become a ‘dispute’ in which the claim will be fully investigated by both banks before any money is returned.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/

[renegadeimp]

Thats weird boo. I know it says that, but there have been a few people on here, myself included that got the money back within a few hours. I guess it depends on the situation.

[Bazooka Boo]

Yes I have always advised that the refund should be immediate and not to get fobbed off with 'it takes X amount of days', so I double checked and that is verbatim off their site, but I would still advise that it should be refunded immediately, or you want the interest to be refunded also...

[meepfest]

Hi,

 

Thank you very much for your responses so far - I will be calling them in the morning to see what the progress is (no word yet, surprise surprise)

[PDLVictim]

Hi meepfest,

 

Apart from getting the money back via your bank there is also the legal perspective: MicroLend has breached the data protection act and the data privacy law as they have kept your card details received over the phone. I would advise MicroLend of this in writing and inform them that you might take this further. I would also send a complaint to the FOS.

[meepfest]

Hi PDLVictim,

 

Thanks for the advice, I did wonder if there was a DPA breach there since the card details were given over the phone, have already advised Microlend I'm not paying their charges (which they are of course chasing) and that if the matter is not dropped I'll report the matter to the OFT, and they accused me of blackmailing them! (Their words not mine). My response is going to be along the lines of, if you have nothing to hide and have behaved in a responsible and legal fashion then you have nothing to worry about!!! Will be reporting them to the OFT and FOS, as I've seen so many horror stories about them on here and MSE forums that extra fuel for the fire can only be a good thing!

[Bazooka Boo]

If you have that accusation in writing then send a copy of it to the OFT, as for DPA breach, there will be some get out clause in their small print saying they re allowed to use card details if regular payment isn't made.

 

Formal complaints to the OFT&TS should be mandatory when dealing with immature outfits like these.

[PDLVictim]

They have in theirt terms to use card details, but only the ones provided either at application or changed later on. However they are not allowed to store the card details provided over the phone for the one-off payment.

[PDLVictim]

Maybe to illustrate: I once wanted to pay my car insurance over the phone. Their computer system was down so the other person wrote down my card details on a notepad on their desk. A year later someone found that notepad it seems because the insurance company wrote me a letter apologising for the breach of data protection and sent me vouchers as compensation. A few weeks later they called and offered me to pay a year of the insurance premium. All without me complaining.

 

On another note Speedcredit is in trouble not because of their fees and charges but because of data protection.

 

Basically your case shows clearly that Microlend is unfit to hold a license, and this is what might bring them down...

[renegadeimp]

Speedcredit is more than in trouble.

 

http://www2.crw.gov.uk/pr/Default.aspx

 

0613263

[meepfest]

Thought I'd post my latest email to them, which includes their "blackmail" accusation. Am in the process of submitting complaints to OFT and FOS - have removed any of my identifying details:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Further to my last email, I believe you to be in breach of the data protection act 1998 and am submitting complaints to both the Office of Fair Trading and the Financial Ombudsman Service. It is interesting that you should treat my suggestion of making a complaint to a governing body as “blackmail”, since it is a) extremely unprofessional of you to make such a statement and b) suggests that you are more than aware that your business practices are highly questionable.

The card details against which you have processed repayment of this loan were given to you over the telephone on 15.08.12 as a one off payment for a loan that was not credited to the bank account associated with said details. These card details, ending in XXXX, were not entered online as part of a loan application, nor were they submitted in writing. You have kept these details on file without my permission and used them without authorisation to debit £325 from my account. At worst this is a breach of the data protection act, and it may also present a breach of PCI compliance dependent on how you have stored my data.

Whilst I am in no way “avoiding paying”, I explained that I am experiencing financial difficulties and offered to arrange a payment plan – whilst I was in the process of making this offer, you were busy debiting all my remaining cash for the month for food, petrol to get to work and other expenses in an extremely underhand fashion, neither with my authorisation or express permission. You have left me without money to feed, clothe and otherwise look after myself and my household for an entire month, and are still claiming that I owe £89 for your so called fees. These fees are neither in proportion to the debt nor its recovery, and regardless of what is stated in your terms and conditions or in your loan contract, I dispute them all without prejudice.

I have lodged a dispute with the Co-operative Bank against the transactions you have made against my account, and herewith withdraw any and all permissions originally given for the use of any and all card details you currently hold for me. Continuous Payment Authority for any card against any bank details you hold is now withdrawn in accordance with the payment services regulations which are run by the Financial Services Authority, and any more payments taken from any of my cards will be an unauthorised transaction. I have written to both Lloyds and Co-operative Bank to confirm this. Any further correspondence between myself and Microlend is to be carried out in writing, to this email address – I withdraw permission for you to contact me by telephone. I also withdraw permission for you to correspond with my employer either by telephone or in writing.

Let it be noted that any further correspondence between myself and Microlend will be forwarded to the Office of Fair Trading and the Financial Ombudsman Service as and when I deem necessary.

Sincerely,

(Name)

(Address)

From: Micro Lend UK

Sent: 15 January 2013 14:34

To: (email)

Subject: Re: Payment - Urgent

 

(Name),

 

Thank you again for your email.

 

£52.00 - initial late payment fee - your agreement clearly states that payment must be made by 09.00 am - this deadline was missed

£12.00 - this is per email or letter, an email was sent at 06.30 am due to your default

£25.00 - we attempted your payment and it declined, this comes with a charge of £25.00

 

These charges are all written clearly in your agreement. We have not and will not raid your account nor bully you into paying. We are merely requesting that you pay what is rightfully owed to us.

 

We do not appreciate being blackmailed, which is clearly what you are doing in order to avoid paying.

 

You requested to repay in stages and we have been more than accommodating in accepting your proposal and providing you with our bank details. Please explain where we have gone wrong.

Yours sincerely,

 

Micro Lend UK

COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT

T: 0845 116 8000

F: 0845 116 8001

E:

P: PO BOX 48563, London, NW4 9BA

Confidentiality notice

This message is intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to us, and immediately and permanently delete it. Do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment.

For information about how we process data and monitor communications please see our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Website Use Policy.

Micro Lend UK Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 6537710. Our registered office is at PO Box 48563, London NW4 9BA.

We are regulated by The Office of Fair Trading. We are authorised and licensed to enter into consumer credit loan agreements have a Consumer Credit Licence (Consumer Credit License Number: 615977).

 

On 15 January 2013 14:24, (email) wrote:

Hi,

“Initial late payment fee” – the agreed repayment date of the loan was 15.01.13, it is still 15.01.13, and you have, albeit in a covert manner, recovered your £325, which is the original loan amount of £250 + £75 interest accrued and the agreed amount. I dispute this charge.

“Correspondence charge” – you have not sent me a letter in the post, and it does not cost £12.00 to send one, or in fact a series, of emails. I also dispute this charge.

“Failed debit card charge” – it does not cost £25.00 to use a card machine or any other card processing method for a single, or even multiple failed transactions. I also dispute this charge.

Since you have already raided my account and left me with nothing, having recovered your agreed repayment of £325, I would suggest we call the matter closed. I will not be bullied into paying an additional £89 of spurious, overinflated charges and will be taking the matter to the OFT as a breach of guidelines if the matter is not dropped.

(name)

From: Micro Lend UK

Sent: 15 January 2013 14:11

To: (email)

Subject: Re: Payment - Urgent

 

Hi (name),

 

Thank you for your email.

 

Please refer to your contract:

 

£52.00 initial late payment fee

£12.00 correspondence charge

£25.00 failed debit card charge

Yours sincerely,

 

Micro Lend UK

COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT

T: 0845 116 8000

F: 0845 116 8001

E:

P: PO BOX 48563, London, NW4 9BA

Confidentiality notice

This message is intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to us, and immediately and permanently delete it. Do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment.

For information about how we process data and monitor communications please see our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Website Use Policy.

Micro Lend UK Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 6537710. Our registered office is at PO Box 48563, London NW4 9BA.

We are regulated by The Office of Fair Trading. We are authorised and licensed to enter into consumer credit loan agreements have a Consumer Credit Licence (Consumer Credit License Number: 615977).

 

On 15 January 2013 14:03, XXXX wrote:

Hi,

£325 + £89 is £414, the original repayment was for £325 against a loan of £250, where has the extra £89 materialised from in the course of the 14 hours of the repayment date?? As far as I am concerned you have had payment in full if you have debited £325.

(name)

[meepfest]

(It should be noted that they did provide their bank details, but this was after they had already raided my account and recovered the £325, which at the time I requested them I was unaware of)

[renegadeimp]

Nice to see them admit to unfair and unlawful charges. Makes you wonder what planet the muppets that run these companies, live on.

[Bombaymix]

I can't believe that they have been stupid enough to actually accuse you of trying to blackmail them. I have to laugh at the cheek of a payday loan company (especially cowboys such as these) even suggesting that! Pot and kettle certainly springs to mind.

 

I think I now understand why these company's use a lot of generic email auto replies now. Obviously to avoid their collection muppets making accusations like this!

 

I hope complaints such as this are taken seriously by the OFT!

[Bazooka Boo]

Trading standards AND BBC Watchdog, also your local MP, don't let it lie, these crooks will have you sell your Nan if they could.