Hello, I work in sales at WFS...they're a fantastic company to work for, but I'm guessing most of you don't care about our free vending machines and fresh deli sandwiches and you want my opinions of the so-called "misselling" of PPI, our "extortionate" APRs, and our utterly unreasonable demands to ask for the money we lent you back as per the legal document you signed with your own free will.
I'll start by saying that I personally wouldn't touch a WFS loan with a barge pole...but why would I need to? I'm not some muppet who has 10's of 1000s of punds worth of defaulted debt and CCJs...I just talk to such people. I earn and I save, and I don't borrow. Maybe I'll get a mortgage one day, and you can be damn sure with my spotless credit file that I'll be shopping around for the best rates in the prime market.
Far be it for me however to deny my employers their marketplace, and they pay me well with handsome bonuses for compliant sales of PPI, life insurance, accident insurence and home emergency insurance. Did you spot that c-word? Yes compliant.
In the script that we work off, a number of give away phrases are used. To start with we make it clear at the start of the call (where we witter on about the agenda) that we fully intend to offer you insurences if we establish you qualify for them. We then ask a bizarre series of questions (are you in the army, are you self-employed, do you have any next of kin) especially designed to ensure that according to the answers you give, that FSA rules on selling insurences is obeyed to the very letter of the law.
Next when we come to the big push for insurences, the words "of course the insurences are optional" is printed in extra bold type and we are trained to emphsise this statement, so at the end of it nobody can be in any doubt that the customer has taken it (the quote with insurance) of their own free will. Incidently the calls are really ALL recorded so it would be very easy to prove if we missold or not, in case conspiracy theorists are about to angle that we don't do what we're told. We live under constant fear of being monitored by the quality section.
If that were not enough, the whole shebang of info is sent for your perusal...remember we only quote...you do the whole paperchase, signing, and dreaming of what you'll do with the cash. We look at your file. We ask you what your existing credit is. We don't judge you for having a piece of sh!t credit rating. We certainly don't quote you if your outgoings are more than your incomings...the decline button is our friend in such cases.
I personally think you'd have to be insane to take APRs of upto 80% (and yes I sold such a rate today with PPI), but people are snapping them up like there's no tomorrow. Put it this way. There are 80 (yes 8-0) sales people on our floor, who are on the phone from dawn til dusk, and still the recruitment drive goes on...we get insane amounts of calls every single day and insane amounts of loans with PPI are given and paid out. The Crunch is also our friend.
We are not forcing people to take these rates, nor are we forcing people to take the frankly quite ridiculous PPI..indeed if they ask us (for the 3rd time at least) to take the PPI off we do so with the utmost courtesy, and it is never even hinted that the quote is indanger of being declined if they don't want it. It p!sses my bonus up but thats FSA rules for you...
Finally, I'm not sure how far people are not getting the concept of legal agreements, but my hard and fast rule is, if you don't like them don't sign them, and if you do make sure you stick to them. Whining that it's not fair that you have to pay back your loan is just pathetic....I see some ridiculous credit files daily with folks owing thousands, but still wanting more. They often have great jobs, but instead of saving money they p!ss it all up the wall on crappy interest payments...but fok me if that's not their choice.
I hope I've been frank with you on this. I like having a job, and this is certainly better than flipping burgers or emptying wheelie bins, and it's definitley better than being dolescum. I like welcome, they give me money...but the difference is that I don't have to give it all back to them and then some.