Welcome Finance - This company needs to be banned.

[Voda]

Hi Stewie and everyone else who kindly have replied to my post.

 

Many thanks for all your advice....

 

My apologies that I have not replied to you all earlier but my PC had a corrupt file and I have just got it back from the repairer.

 

Maybe Welcome got to it ............

 

I did get a letter dated August 2009 from the LCU Dept of WF that was based at 307 High Street, Sutton, Surrey stating that they confirm interest and charges are now frozen subject to quarterly review. The letter was headed " WITHOUT PREJUDICE " incidentally .....

 

I see from my latest statement dated 30th Dec 2009 that no Capitalisation has been added since last August.

 

Moving on, I received a letter ( dated February 18th 2010 incidentally, so nothing changes there !!! ) in the post from them today saying that my local Welcome branch is moving and is, in fact, back at Hampton Road West, Feltham where I took the loan out.

 

As I was due to send my monthly cheque to them today, I called the old number at Sutton ( where I have been sending my cheque ) and the call was redirected to Nottingham.

 

I was told that Sutton had closed and they wanted to put me through to Feltham to which I said " No Way ".

 

I did not want to talk to anyone as I have had previous bad experiences with them there and for months I have been dealing with WF in writing and sending my letters by Recorded Delivery.

 

When I aked him, the chap in Nottingham did confirm that interest and charges on my account were frozen which is good.

 

So I await with interest ( excuse the pun ) to see what happens this coming Friday.

 

Nite all, take care and thanks again.

 

Voda

 

 

 

 

Hey Voda,

 

Very long time no chat on this issue.

 

I agree with you and I have mentioned this before. Take what you need from the thread but do NOT pin all your hopes on what others are doing. I am like PT I will have my loan reduced by a reasonable amount and get what I originally aimed for.

 

I was led down the road of "my loan is scrap" and "interest on acceptance fee" and “direct group” and “Healthcare insurance” and and and and and and....... the list goes on.

 

I believe this was down to one member in particular who was overly passionate about Welcome finance and started giving hope but when it came to crunch time, never heard from him. The intensions were good but follow up was null.

I think we both know who I am referring to.

 

I stopped reading this thread and following it for those exact reasons, I got side tracked by others failings of media publicity, regulator investigations, FSA, un-enforceable loans etc etc etc. It never stopped. It’s just so easy to be pulled into it. And to be given false hope on top of everything, it was just not realistic.

 

I am still in the process with them, but I will win. This forum has given me the tools and information to take it to the next level; I would never have been able to manage on my own. So for that I am thankful.

What I regret is I wasted so much time getting involved with the politics of Welcome/Cattles.

 

Who cares if the shares are suspended and the directors go to prison, or the branches all close. The debt will still exist and they will still call on a Saturday morning to chase for money. If it’s not Welcome then it will be whomever the loan book is sold to.

 

It just makes me smile a bit when I hear they are being dragged through broken glass as a company. They took advantage of my desperation, and that is unacceptable. I just want a fair deal.

 

You are right when you state " cant get blood from a stone" But what I say is "where there is smoke, there is fire" and Welcome are feeling the heat!

Edited March 4, 2010 by Voda

[pwg6565]

Lets hope RBS are doing some early spring cleaning.

 

BBC News - RBS begins Williams & Glyn's sale

[tarquinfosbert]

Here's the news guys..it's reliable.

 

There's a good 24-30 months left in WFS (as job security goes there is worse than that these days.) Jacksh1t happened on Friday, and won't be happening any Friday soon. What will be happening will be more intensified collections...WFS is taking hundreds of people ON...far more then have been laid off in the branch network last year....collections heavies, and temps looking for a piece of bonus for grabbing the cheddar in. As Club 18-30 say, not here for a long time but here for a good time. It was the branches being cowboys that screwed the business up, so they now have a tightly controlled and huge collections department, focussed on hammering deliquents.

 

WFS has sold 15,000 of it's most hardcore debts, they are being written completely off their system and are going to some unrelated, heavy and very solvent dudes. Expect them to be camping out on your doorsteps in the coming weeks.

 

Another 15,000 are going to Cattles debt heavies The Lewis Group.....AOE's galore! Got a car? 2 months arrears and it's gonna be repo'd here on in. WFS is like a wounded animal, and it's starting to bite.

 

Also PPI scrounge-backs, take a number and get to the back of the queue, you think they're going to expand their complaints department to pay back your bet money even though your horse came last? Nobody cares, it will be done in their sweet sweet time. Moan at the FOS all you want.

 

It's a sh1t company, don't get me wrong...but illegal loan sharks are sharpening up their baseball bats countrywide and rubbing their hands together with glee at all the new business it will get, now the last chance saloon is beginning to close it's doors.

[pt2537]

Post removed,

 

Personal insults are a breach of the site rules

 

any repeat of this will result in account moderation

[ozzywizard]

It was the branches being cowboys that screwed the business up

 

Exactly, cowboys doing cowboy agreements and contracts that will not stand up in a court so we have allready won.

 

WFS has sold 15,000 of it's most hardcore debts, they are being written completely off their system and are going to some unrelated, heavy and very solvent dudes. Expect them to be camping out on your doorsteps in the coming weeks.

 

 

when you say hardcore do you meen unjustified, they are sold for pennies because they are not justified and no matter what company is collecting the law is on the consumers side and with our advise will not be able to claim anything. Oh there are laws against camping out on doorsteps too . .

 

Also PPI scrounge-backs, take a number and get to the back of the queue, you think they're going to expand their complaints department to pay back your bet money even though your horse came last? Nobody cares, it will be done in their sweet sweet time. Moan at the For the most part, don\'t bother.

 

This process with WF takes about 12 weeks and if it is due it is due, we dont mind waiting as long as the result is the same . . we are getting our money back fact. .

 

...................................

 

 

Read a few more threads on here for yourself, we do have rights and they will be exercised.

[ozzywizard]

but illegal loan sharks are sharpening up their baseball bats countrywide and rubbing their hands together with glee at all the new business it will get, now the last chance saloon is beginning to close it's doors.

 

Really glad we agree on somthing as this is a real good description of welcome finance in your own words not mine

[emandcole]

If this is the case then all Welcome customers should perhaps get a head start on any 'dodgy behaviour' that may or may not come their way.

 

Important to keep the FSA and OFT etc advised. Although they don't always come up trumps if we stop making complaints we'll never collectively have an argument to insist on better regulation in the future.

 

And as for doorstep visits know your rights here, there is no obligation for you to entertain any questions or to enter into any discussion with them - keep all of that in written form as verbal contact means nothing.

 

If they refuse to leave threaten to call the police, if they don't leave call the police. Best not to mention it's a debt issue as you may receive a low priority due to the civil nature of it all. Simply report you are being intimidated by someone unknown to you and you require assistance, all the more so for lone females and single mums in the case of a male visitor at your door.

 

A 999 call is not really warranted, unless you genuinely feel either you or your property is at risk of harm or damage from that visitor, and who's to say an unknown heavy at the door isn't going to cause harm?

 

Scaremongering not intended, just make sure you don't forget you have rights to protect you from aggressive debt collecting tactics and there is no need to be worried if it ever happens to you, the law is on your side here .

[emandcole]

No I mean scumbags that were given money, signed a contract and refuse to pay it back with the interest they agreed to. Camping on doorsteps is a figure of speech. I'm sure they'll only come a-knocking in strict compliance with current legistlation...and charge them a **** load of recently upheld in court default sums. lmao

 

Scumbags being people in general?

 

Upheld in court default sums? Are you comparing bank charge issues with personal loans?

[Major Player]

Tarquin, your "Facts" are spurious at best, not sure if you are trying to stir the hornets nest because you have or will be canned very soon but why post on here with incorrect information?

 

A company in the process of redundancies can't hire people externally its against the law, Welcome are not recruiting, Shopacheck have announced redundancies too, am sure that Welcome are not going to open themselves up to 100s of cases of unfair dismissal.

 

Collections activity must occur in line with the Administration act, the posters on here seek advice for fraud, misselling, harrassment so are not scroungers as you put it, most feel unjustly treated and turned here for assistance.

 

Have you considered what the FSA have to say in all of this? Just a thought but criminal prosecution of directors and senior staff members, full investigation of every account on file, misselling galore (Check out the FOS statistic of 92% cases upheld against Welcome). The directors might be leading you on to think you have a few years left but lets be honest, the timeframe will probably be out of the window when the accounts are published, the FSA intervene and the operation gets shut down. Was it not the board who said the company was a profitable enterprise? That a banking licence was around the corner? That the credit crunch will have no impact on Welcome. Don't believe what you have been told, it ain't true if you get another 6 months you should feel lucky, i'd trawl the jobsites rather than forums, trust me, you'll find it more productive.

 

The posts you have put on here are misplaced, misinformed, and show why Welcome will go to the wall sooner rather than later. It seems as though from what you say the staff left in the place are the dregs of whats left, good luck in your little world, now let the grown ups do some talking whilst you go and look for the easter bunny.

[ozzywizard]

they paid the price

 

Quite right, and they will continue to do so and any help I can offer to make this happen I will do gladly in my spare time..... the big price they will have to pay is still to come and it will happen

[emandcole]

Post reported to site team .

[Billy goat gruff]

Will someone from the site team please ensure `tarquinfosbert` is prevented from posting on here as he/she has nothing of value to add only a pile of bile and inflamatory clap trap.

[BEBOBEBO]

WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information

 

Accounts are well overdue, next date to produce accounts is 21/06/2010

[pt2537]

Ok,

ive just remove more posts that were either off topic or insulting users (or they simply made no sense once the other posts were removed)

 

Please keep on topic, any more abusive posts will result in account moderation without further warning

[Voda]

H'mmmmmmmmmmmm

 

It doesn't matter who the legitimate creditor is, they still have to work within the law and various guidelines.

 

Some things said on here, I take with a pinch of salt.

 

Have a nice weekend everyone.

 

Voda

[qualitystreet]

Has anyone though of doing a "Debt Relief Order" and thus giving Welcome "One up the A**e"

iThey wont get any money you owe them and its only at a small cost to you - relief for a year from them - they cant contact you by law and then all your debt swritten off.....nil money to Welcome....only problem you cant own you own home- only a car value under 1k (but with allowances for adapted cars for disabled) and it for total debts under 15K....If enough of us could do this then it would not only be a victory for us but hundreds of thousand of pounds would be lost by Welcome - and its not like being Bankrupt and wont show in your local paper.....if our credit files are buggered this could be a way out. A mass protest me thinks....... Comments....

[Picador]

Hi All

 

Need some advice re: default on credit files. Welcome in their own inimitable way have changed the date of my original default from 2003 to 2008 on my credit files! obviously to continue the damage. I have original sheriff officer letter and default with correct 2003 date on it. Before I go back to them can someone clarify my rights on this. In particular can a default be issued twice? (I have never received a 2008 default) is the 6 year rule an absolute? and if so how do I stop a company issuing a default on false information? I have sent copies of the actual default to the CRAs involved but they want to pass the buck to you know who! Any advice appreciated as always.

 

thanks in advance

 

amjest

[chrisb333]

Can't really understand why I had post removed.

I was simply informing Tarquin that I thought his post re Welcome was a very intelligent piece of work!

 

Whats wrong with that?

 

Yet his post, which will cause stress and worry to lots of caggers remains untouched.

You know the one, where he states that Welcome will be banging your door down for their money.

 

Don't quite see the reasoning.

 

I aint the bad guy!

[beyondhope]

chris did you quote the other message in your post? if you did thats why it was removed

[Voda]

Hi,

 

Yes indeed.

 

I checked the value of my car with Parkers the official car valuation guide used and in a few months time, it will be under £1K in value.

 

Then I will go for it and have all my debts written off.

 

I have already been advised to do this by the CAB and other debt charities.

 

Being a pensioner now, I need every penny that I can get and not paying creditors who will be around for many years to come.

 

These companies take a risk when they lend you money and this risk factor is built into their interest rates.

 

I don't know about Welcome's future yet but most of these firms will be trading many years after a lot of us will be history, if you know what I mean !!!

 

Voda

 

Has anyone though of doing a "Debt Relief Order" and thus giving Welcome "One up the A**e"

iThey wont get any money you owe them and its only at a small cost to you - relief for a year from them - they cant contact you by law and then all your debt swritten off.....nil money to Welcome....only problem you cant own you own home- only a car value under 1k (but with allowances for adapted cars for disabled) and it for total debts under 15K....If enough of us could do this then it would not only be a victory for us but hundreds of thousand of pounds would be lost by Welcome - and its not like being Bankrupt and wont show in your local paper.....if our credit files are buggered this could be a way out. A mass protest me thinks....... Comments....

[qualitystreet]

Go for it Voda. Do you get any DLA allowances? or do you have the car adapted. If you do its value can be over 1K. Try checking out a few of the advice sites.

I think I am going for it too.

[Voda]

Hiya,

 

Nope I don't get any allowances and my car is bog standard.

 

Good luck to you as well.

 

Take care

 

Nite

 

Voda

 

Go for it Voda. Do you get any DLA allowances? or do you have the car adapted. If you do its value can be over 1K. Try checking out a few of the advice sites.

I think I am going for it too.

[edwi69]

HI ALL

NOT MUCH BUT A LITTLE READ

 

Sitting tight despite brighter outlook

 

By Oliver Ralph

Published: March 12 2010 00:13 | Last updated: March 12 2010 00:13

 

As 2008 turned into 2009, life was looking bleak for Pendragon, the car retailer. Demand for new cars – especially the luxury brands that are a core part of its business – was dismal, and it was struggling with £357m of net debt. The shares, which had traded above 100p in 2006, had fallen to below 2p.

Twelve months on, the picture was far brighter. The company had refinanced its debts, trading had improved and brokers were forecasting a sharp increase in profits. The company was cautiously confident. That improvement was reflected in Pendragon’s share price, which had recovered to 23p, providing a handsome return for anyone who invested at the bottom.

Pendragon’s experience was an extreme version of what many mid-market companies went through in 2009. The year started bleakly, with companies struggling to cut costs and refinance amid tough trading conditions. Share prices had fallen heavily, and bankruptcies were on the rise.

But as the year progressed, companies raised cash, share prices improved and a mood of cautious optimism started to take hold. Companies are no longer asking whether they can survive, but are instead looking for the right moment to invest.

The mid-market companies that coped best with these conditions are recognised in the 2009 PLC Awards. The awards have been tracking the achievements of small and mid cap companies for the past 23 years and this year, for the first time, FTSE 250 companies are included.

Mid-market companies are, in general, more sensitive to the economic environment than their FTSE 100 counterparts, suffering more in recessions but recovering more quickly as they ease.

The same is true for their share prices. Mid-market companies had a poor start to 2009, falling heavily until the market reached its turning point in March. After that, though, they recovered far more quickly than those of larger companies. The FTSE small cap index ended the year up 50 per cent, slightly ahead of the FTSE 250 which rose by 46 per cent and well ahead of the FTSE 100, which managed a comparatively pedestrian 22 per cent increase. The star performer however, was the FTSE Fledgling index, consisting of companies that are too small to be included in the All-share, which ended the year up 74 per cent.

Such attractive returns are, as equity strategists say, simply a reward for taking on added risks. And the risks of investing in small and mid-cap companies were evident in 2009. At one end of the spectrum, shareholders in some companies lost everything.

One of the most prominent examples was Cattles, the sub-prime lender, which suffered from a combination of accounting irregularities and trading difficulties. Its shares are now considered to be valueless. Entertainment Rights, owner of the Basil the Brush and Rupert Bear characters, went into administration after hitting debt problems. Again, the shareholders were left with nothing.

However outright bankruptcies were rare. Far more common were financial restructurings that left shareholders, debtholders or both out of pocket. For debtholders, the new bête noire is the Company Voluntary Arrangement, or CVA. This process enables companies to avoid administration by cutting debt and making new arrangements with creditors. These were most common in the retail sector with JJB Sports and Blacks Leisure taking the CVA route out of trouble.

For shareholders, 2009 will be remembered as the year of the equity fundraising, especially the rights issue. With debt markets either off-limits or extremely restricted, mid-cap companies turned to their investors for money.

Such fundraisings were partly driven by fear – that the recession could last much longer than expected, but also that large rights issues from FTSE 100 companies would empty the pot of money available, making fundraising efforts from mid-market companies far more difficult. Boards decided to raise money while they had the chance, even if they had no immediate use for it.

Fundraisings were particularly common in the property and property-related sectors. Grainger and Quintain were among the property companies asking their shareholders for additional cash, raising £250m and £191m respectively, while housebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Bellway, Redrow, Bovis and Barratt Developments raised almost £1.5bn between them. Pub owners and brewers were also turning to their shareholders, with Greene King raising £207m, Marston’s pulling in £176m and Punch Taverns raising £375m.

Shareholders, for the most part, signed up to the fundraisings. “If we like a company, we’ll always support the management team,” says Catherine Stanley, head of UK small companies at F&C Investments. She is expecting to see more rights issues as companies look to take advantage of economic recovery, but warns: “We’re very nervous of management teams who want to go back to the same level of debt-to-ebitda as they had two or three years ago.”

Even for those companies that avoided cash calls, returns to shareholders were dented by dividend cuts. Some companies, ranging from accident management group Helphire to property adviser DTZ, cancelled their dividends entirely, and others reduced them. While there were some dividend increases, including chemicals specialist Croda and support services group Mitie, data from Capita Registrars shows that, of those companies that paid dividends in both 2008 and 2009, the average change was a drop of almost 6 per cent.

Those fundraisings and dividend cuts were accompanied by operational changes. “Companies have spent time addressing their balance sheets and cost base efficiencies,” says David Snell, partner at PwC. “They are in a much better place than they were 18 months ago.”

With fundraisings, lower dividends and cost cuts now in the past and the UK officially leaving recession in the fourth quarter of 2009, the stage is set for a recovery in 2010. Certainly mid-market share prices, which rose so strongly in the second half of 2009, are pricing in an improvement in corporate fortunes.

And yet, almost a quarter of the way into the year, companies and their shareholders remain nervous. Companies are still cautious in their official outlook statements, pointing to improvements in some of their markets but unwilling to call the start of a broader recovery. And the more tangible evidence of a recovery – the deals and internal investment that would signal companies’ willingness to back their optimism with hard cash – is hard to find.

“We have a bit of paralysis at the moment. Companies are keeping their cost bases down and sitting tight,” says Mr Snell at PwC.

“There are good opportunities out there and once confidence returns and the uncertainty of the [forthcoming UK general] election is gone, companies will turn to investment.”

[edwi69]

DOSENT IT MAKE YOU LAUGH

 

this letter

[beyondhope]

DOSENT IT MAKE YOU LAUGH

 

this letter

 

 

:lol::lol: Thats the least of their worries!!!