Welcome Finance - This company needs to be banned.

[Charlie1!]

This company needs to be banned. My husband made the mistake of borrowing from them and he is still paying back the sum after 6 years. They are a complete nightmare to deal with and the rates are terrible. Suggest you borrow from the bank, someone reputable, and pay it off that way.

Unfortunately, it is always a mistake after you sign on that line! The terms and conditions of the loan are defined in the agreement! Why do people not read them! Dont let finance sales people rush you into a deal! Ask questions and read the small print!

[Charlie1!]

just thought i would read through this post as i have just posted my thread and i find that childish littel rant unbelivable and typical of the kind of people they employ, i find it strange though that if its that busy why a friend of ours has just been made redundant from there sales force and and they are currnently not putting vehicle finance into dealerships, obviously doing well... not. there day will come, what goes around comes around.

They are FTSE250 so not doing to bad! Also, they pulled out of dealer credit to avoid the afore mntioned problems

[postggj]

interesting comments from new posters x2

 

very strange if i may say

Edited December 16, 2008 by postggj

[jamiethemac]

why strange?

[borisbeaver]

I love Welcome Finance. They are a breath of fresh air. They are the best finance company.

 

Sorry about the red crayon, but they don't allow anything sharp in here!!!!

Edited December 16, 2008 by borisbeaver

[Charlie1!]

bobbyh99 said:

I see you agreed to pay back over 2 years. Did you check the APR?

Unfortunately, if you ever get into financial difficulty (and I hope you don't), then I am sure you will be back on this thread ranting with everyone else.

 

What about the people that can't pay anymore. The one's which through no fault of their own are unable to pay anymore? The one's which were told they had to have PPI in order to get the loan! The one's in financial difficulty and desperate only to be sold another loan to pay off existing one's!

 

I could rant on for ever about these sharks but as I am sure you have already read, there are plenty of people that have already done this!

 

If you find yourself in financial difficulty, you speak to the lender first! Don't avoid them and dont start ranting about them being sharks! You are a grown adult, hopefully of sound enough mind to make sensible financial decisions! Take responsibility for your own actions people instead of trying to find someone to blame!

 

baz300 said:

welcome are a joke!

 

i took out a loan from them in march this year and fell into difficuilty for making the payments

 

i contacted them to explain the situation and was told someone would be in touch to help me manage my account

 

no one got in touch so i had no option but to cancell the direct debit

 

i then recieved phone calls from them about missing payments but were all recieved while i was at work! i asked them to call me back at a suitable time( told them when my breaks were and when i finished) i tried calling them but was told the person dealing with my account was busy and would call me back

 

he then spoke to my mother on the phone telling her that i was in debt and was missing payments and that they will soon be visiting HER house to start repossesing goods!

 

i finally spoke to a manager and agreed a new payment plan but they keep trying to increase the payments that they know i cant afford

 

Just out of interest, how did your situation change so drastically? You appear to be working and living at your mums!

 

Dipply75 said:

Hi Baz300, welcome to CAG . Hope we can help you with these muppets.

 

First thing is to put a big complaint about their breach of the Data Protection Act. Secondly, do you have any of their insurances with the loan?

 

Without trying to be too nosey can you give some details, like:

 

Did you choose to have the insurances and what ones do you have (PPI, healthcare etc) and what kind of difficulties were you having?

 

We may be able to help with those too, claim on any insurances or if you were missold, maybe claim back the cost.

 

Don't let the buggers get you down....we've all been there

Or more simply, either pay your debt or play the game!

1. It is unlikely that your DPA issue can be proven.

2. Did you sign for the insurances? If so, why?

3. They may be able to help with PPI claim but it will be at a cost!

Fact is, someone is always trying to make a living out of us all!

[fergal71]

hi jamie to be objective you may need to see both sides first, I hope and prey you do not see the other side of welcome... also your credit rating can not be in good shape if you needed to go to welcome which company gave you poor credit rating???? what was the reason for poor rating was it another unscrupulous lender who uses defaults as a scare tactic for collection???? welcome will worsen your record should you miss or be late with one payment good luck...

[Charlie1!]

Ok Fergal, that is every finance company the world over! Its what they do, they are operating a business for profit for gods sake, A default is not something that is simply used! It is part of the credit process and is a legal requirement under FSA legislation. Also, credit companys dont give poor ratings, they report facts to the Credit Reference Agencies. It is a system intended to protect the consumer from over commitment. As with all credit providers, they have measures in place to assist customers with genuine difficulties but they will ask for reasonable evidence of change in circumstance which is, after all, their legal right considering you have entered into a legally binding contract with them!

 

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING FINANCIAL DIFFICULTY, SPEAK WITH YOUR CREDITORS DIRECTLY & PUT IT IN WRITING TOO! IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE DOING THIS SPEAK WITH A RECOGNISED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE CHARITY! (ONE THAT DOES NOT CHARGE FOR THEIR SERVICES)

[postggj]

these comments are true with most lenders but with welcome i make an exception.

any body who comes into financial difficulty through job loss, ill ness etc, contact the lender.

but with welcome, there policy is to intimadate, rack up charges, re-write illegal loans etc.

they are not interested in helping, only compounding the problem.

 

the last few comments are nothing but twaddle

[Charlie1!]

postggj, that is simply a ridiculous and unhelpful response. Cattles are a successful FTSE250 company and are FSA regulated with an active compliance team! it is not in their interest! Dont let a few bad apples cloud your judgement! Lets be sensible here!

[postggj]

i am not going to get into a debate over this issue been there, done that, got the tshirt active compliance team, thats a joke thats even if they acknowledge your complainti sugest you read the welcome threads before commenting any further

[Forsure]

Well said Postggj - Welcome Finance are a bunch or nomarks....I have had the misfortune of dealing with them. I think someone regardless of their financial situation, should not be sold ' up the swanny ', which is what Welcome tend to do more than most lenders. I work for a firm of Solicitors and we have now started to do Consumer Litigation - helping clients to get back what is rightfully theirs. Yes I agree to a point that if your credit rating was a bit better then you probably wouldnt have to go to Welcome, and I even understand that they have a ' business ' to run, but what I dont accept is the way they lie & cheat their way to profit making. I have seen it first hand and deal with them on a regular basis so I know what its like.

 

Charlie I think you need to go back to the drawing board there mate and read up on Welcome - maybe you wont be so hasty in your replies next time ! :)

[082stewie]

Hi Charlie,

 

Here are a few words in the press regarding Cattle’s (Welcome)

 

----------------

Cattle’s, the sub-prime and doorstep lender, is facing a potentially catastrophic delay in its attempt to secure a banking licence.

The Financial Services Authority’s decision to toughen up its qualifying criteria sent shares in the West Yorkshire group down as much as 25 per cent yesterday amid market speculation that the regulator had turned down Cattle’s’ application for the licence, made in August.

-----------------

 

The only reason Welcome is what they are is due to the market they prey on. People who are in dire need for help and get faced with massive charges and poorly trained commission hungry staff.

 

If you look up the definition of Doorstep lender you will find the translation similar to that of pond ****.

 

Your assumption that Cattle’s/Welcome are a successful FTSE250 company, then why are they under investigation and the FSA reluctant to issue licence? You don’t see the government rushing to their aid with monies to insure the licence is granted as a lender. Even its own share holders are heading for the hills, hence a 25% drop in stock price. I truly hope Cattle’s are de-listed to face its day in the cold like it has done to most of its customers. For a better word I hope they go "tits up"

 

And Yes I have a Welcome finance loan, and NO I have never defaulted on a payment, and YES I have PPI on the loan. But this will be coming back to me.

 

It’s nice to know 5 calls to my local branch and not one call back as a "valued" customer. Instead I get offered a re-loan when all I want are the facts about the monies I’ve paid. Simple!

 

If you are not part of the solution then you are most certainly part of the problem, so be constructive and give more depth in your statements. Everyone is given equal opportunity on here. Don’t judge,give more reasons. I do appreciate your opinion, doesn’t mean I have to like it.

 

 

Stewie

Edited December 17, 2008 by 082stewie

[postggj]

CHARLIE 1

I HOPE YOU ARE READING THIS

 

they have breached the data protection act calling your mun

police matter, realy, what a joke

 

pure intimadation

 

BS68

 

please start your own thread and we will sort these muppets out

 

ime sure the oft and trading standards will be interested in that voice mail

racking up charges, thats the norm

[pt2537]

hmm, Welcome, yeah a name i love,

 

Pt2537's  16 claims

 

Pt2537's  16 wins

 

 

There are a number of companies like this, Yes car loans were a prime example, Bradley Say a Barrister from Gough Sq Chambers in london has exposed many of these cases. Yes were awful at putting together their agreements as are welcome

 

I have actually drafted a thread on the issues which often arise with these companies, namely that their agreements are multiple agreements falling within s 18 CCA 1974 and that they are not correctly particularised

 

here is the thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/171037-multiple-agreements-falling-within.html#post1845581

 

At the end of the day, like it or not, the law prescribes what an agreement must contain and must look like, and it also clearly sets out the consequences if it doesnt

[postggj]

well said pt

 

by the way

 

great link

[082stewie]

postggj, that is simply a ridiculous and unhelpful response. Cattles are a successful FTSE250 company and are FSA regulated with an active compliance team! it is not in their interest! Dont let a few bad apples cloud your judgement! Lets be sensible here!

 

 

I find it strange how all the posts you commented on are either Shopacheck and Welcome finance, who are owned by .....Wait for it.........Cattle's..

 

Nice to know Cattle's staff come here to soil a great site.

 

Stewie

[postggj]

o82

 

glad you spotted it, i did from the beggining

 

its realy no challange

should do better me thinks

[Dipply75]

and another welcome devotee appears out of the blue trying to convince us we are just over reacting....just pay your debts or seek advice - cause then it will all be rosy.

 

Of course....silly us. we are just hiding money under our matresses and just not paying (there's the obligatory derogatory insult), and we didn't try and get advice, contact the branches, make payment arrangements, blah blah.

 

Charlie1, the reason the responsible lending guidelines etc exist is because ordinary folk don't know the ins and outs of financial laws, regs or all the rights they actually have, can be vulnerable, feel intimidated in that official setting or just to damn polite to ignore the salesperson's incessant (on purpose) conversation whilst attemtpting to read whatever they are signing...and Welcome know it.

 

I agree, your call centres are (now) on the ball, recorded calls, paperwork, compliant but again....try sitting in one of those little rooms in the branches, one to one with no witnesses, no application forms to prove anything, the staff question you verbally then fill in everything themselves, then go away into another room and enter all your details where you cannot see what they are actually entering, where you are made to feel so grateful they are 'helping' you and you feel you cannot argue,question when they slide the agreement across the desk, holding the other end and tell you to 'just sign here and here' - all the time loudly gabbing away so you are in conversation and hardly get to read anything.

 

And do not tell me these folk 'should just speak up, or demand to read, or it's their own fault for not double checking what they signed'. If everyone could do that there would be no need for protective laws and Welcome would be out of business!!!!

 

And this is not just all talk, many of us have plenty of proof and we are coming together, investigating, sharing and fighting back and we will expose what you've been doing to people.

 

Merry Christmas : )

[bobbyh99]

If you find yourself in financial difficulty, you speak to the lender first! Don't avoid them and dont start ranting about them being sharks! You are a grown adult, hopefully of sound enough mind to make sensible financial decisions! Take responsibility for your own actions people instead of trying to find someone to blame!

 

1. I am now not in any financial difficulty and haven't been since about 2004. Yes I have had a couple of WF loans and paid them on time every month.

 

2. At the time, when I was applying for loans at WF (just as Dipply75 says in paragraph 4 of post ) I wasn't given any choice about PPI for instance, I wasn't told I didn't need it, in fact I was told that in order to get the loan it was advisable to get PPI! I sat in a little room with a very nice lady and again as Dipply says I was interviewed verbally and the answers were then input by this nice lady at her desk, away from where I was sitting.

 

3. I wasn't asked at any time whether I could afford the loan, they didn't want any wage slips or proof of earnings.

 

It wasn't until I started my fight to claim back charges from banks and credit cards back in 2006 that I realised (along with everyone else) that I had effectively been conned.

 

I repeat they are nothing more than loan sharks, who prey on the needy. By the time sites like this and many many others have finished "ranting on" about the likes of WF, there will be so many complaints/claims in the system that hopefully WF will be no more. Now I know that means you will be out of a job, but Iam guessing that your experience in preying on the needy and reading from your company script you will quite easily get another job at one of the other "loan shark" companies, or then again maybe you won't, if thats the case, I'll look forward to your rants about your creditors in the near future when you are one of those needy people;)

 

BobbyH

[Charlie1!]

Under Siege said:

I work in the financial sector, and not a day goes by without hearing another Welcome finance horror story.

 

Please however bad your situation seems or no matter how much pressure their dodgy salesman put on you -

 

STAY CLEAR OF WELCOME FINANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

And every other finance company!

 

bobbyh99 said:

1. I am now not in any financial difficulty and haven't been since about 2004. Yes I have had a couple of WF loans and paid them on time every month.

 

2. At the time, when I was applying for loans at WF (just as Dipply75 says in paragraph 4 of post ) I wasn't given any choice about PPI for instance, I wasn't told I didn't need it, in fact I was told that in order to get the loan it was advisable to get PPI! I sat in a little room with a very nice lady and again as Dipply says I was interviewed verbally and the answers were then input by this nice lady at her desk, away from where I was sitting.

 

3. I wasn't asked at any time whether I could afford the loan, they didn't want any wage slips or proof of earnings.

 

It wasn't until I started my fight to claim back charges from banks and credit cards back in 2006 that I realised (along with everyone else) that I had effectively been conned.

 

I repeat they are nothing more than loan sharks, who prey on the needy. By the time sites like this and many many others have finished "ranting on" about the likes of WF, there will be so many complaints/claims in the system that hopefully WF will be no more. Now I know that means you will be out of a job, but Iam guessing that your experience in preying on the needy and reading from your company script you will quite easily get another job at one of the other "loan shark" companies, or then again maybe you won't, if thats the case, I'll look forward to your rants about your creditors in the near future when you are one of those needy people;)

 

BobbyH

 

Hate to tell you this Bobby but as far as complaints to FSA go,Cattles PLC have a good record.

[postggj]

how come this

 

ive lost count on the ammount of threads that the fos has ordered welcome to refund ppi, insurance etc,

they even think them selves above the law by ignoring the oft

 

i have delt with six threads myself

[082stewie]

Hate to tell you this Bobby but as far as complaints to FSA go,Cattles PLC have a good record.

 

Oh Shame Cattle's share price falls again yesterday, in the top 5 loosers.

 

I would love to say I feel for you, but errrrrm I dont.

 

Stewie:roll:

[ReasonableRon]

Everyone is given equal opportunity on here.

 

Evidently as long as you are not Cattles staff?

 

Nice to know Cattle's staff come here to soil a great site.

 

I'm not defending Charlie1! - as an employee he is either a) being loyal and trying to stick up for his employer or b) been brainwashed by the propoganda thrown at him by the corporate machine he is part of.

 

Despite this, is he 'welcome' here or not? I'm confused.

[REST ON A SUNDAY]

Hate to tell you this Bobby but as far as complaints to FSA go,Cattles PLC have a good record.

 

 

why all of a sudden the smooth over publicity for cattles from charlie1 ..............

 

the answer lies in the thread below .............. oh and by the way Cattles passed on their dividend this morning

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/173796-cattles-application-banking-licence.html#post1874993