I have a few threads going at the moment as due to health issues and finance issues, myself and my husband have got ourselves into a mess with loans and PDLs and I have been advised to write a thread for each loan. Without going into the whole story of our sorry finances, I took out a loan in 2016 with a company called Bamboo. I havent had a good credit rating for years due to financial problems and this was probably the start of the rel downward spiral as work was drying up and I thought that by getting a loan and paying off some things it would help. I got knocked back by most but Bamboo agreed a loan without a guarantor eventually and I paid this for about 8 months when things got really bad again and I approached them and they agreed to top up the loan by about £700 which I did to give us a bit of breathing space. I had already started the PDL trap by this time and they told me on the phone when they agreed the top up, not to take out any more PDL which I agreed to because I thought everything would be ok but in reality I was in denial! They cleared off the first loan and took out a new loan with the increased amount. I have made 3 payments and did not make Decembers because I couldnt afford it. I wrote an email to Bamboo explaining my current circumstances and they emailed back saying I should phone them, so I did. I explained everything again to the advisor and they commented that I could not have a deferrment where the missed payment was added to the end of the loan because I had not had the loan for 6 months. I explained to her about the top up and that I had actually been with Bamboo over a year but they said they would have to refer it which could take upto 48hrs and they would come back to me. About 10 days went past and I heard nothing but I was getting txtx/emails from the collections department chasing payment and telling me that I had received extra charges etc. I then emailed then again asking why nobody had called me back and the reply they sent said that they had been trying to phone me but couldnt reach me and had left voicemails. I had no missed calls or voicemails from them to I emailed back again saying that I had no record om phoning and I provided my e number in case they had it down wrong. A couple of days went passed and I got another email basically saying the same that they had tried to call me but couldnt reach me and they would try again later but could I call them so I did. I questioned these calls with the person I spoke too advising that I had no missed calls or messages from them and I could prove it and the person got a bit arsey and started rattling off all these dates and times that they had supposedly tried to contact me and wouldnt have it that I really did not have any calls from them and why would I lie? I was trying to sort the problem out in a responsible way! Anyhow they then went on to say that the request for a deferred payment had been rejected and I needed to arrange to make up the missed payment. They then went on to say that they needed to go through my I & E and could I do it then and there and I said no. I asked them to email me an I & E Form and l wolud get back to them. They also said I should consider contacting Stepchange. They emailed me yesterday asking me to contact then regarding my I&E. I have missed another payment on 2nd and they have now added another charge and sent me an email advising me that I will receive a default sums notice in the post. I cant afford to pay this loan in full, they have been very unhelpful in the scheme of things and I need to know what to do now. The problem I have is I am not working at the moment and my husband is SE and on a low wage that varies considerably month to month depending on how much work he is given. I did go to Stepchange but because my husband is SE, you have to do it through a different site and its very difficult to enter into payment arragements when you really dont know if what you earn in a month is going to cover your essentials let alone debts. should I send Bamboo an offer letter of say £5 pm if the stop interest or should I get someone to look into it as the APR is high? I need to do something now. Many thanks LTB

I really fancy one of these http://www.bluedoorbicycles.com/2012/05/bamboo-bike/ Just out of curiosity if nothing else.