Outrageous APR

These two aren't the only companies doing it, mind - I've received a similar letter from another company (whose name I can't remember), shortly after I cancelled my credit card with Barclaycard.

If something like that occurs, I suspect they just assume you've got no other options for credit - mine was a credit card to replace it with a lovely 65% APR and max limit of about £750.

Check this one out then...... UNCLE BUCK

Basically an advance on your payday, if ends don't meet.

2339% APR anyone???


Did i win?

term 30 days its ok if it is 30 days but you dont want to leave it a year! £250 over 1 year total repayable £1250. i'm in the wrong job, anyone want to borrow £250

At the end of the day if people are daft enough to take out these loans then who can blame companies for making it available. I really can sympathise with people who are in financial difficulty after having been there myself a few years back. Businesses nowadays are not there to help people out, they are there to make money (similar to the police force! haha)

The reason it's so high is because the people they are lending to (who have been rejected by every other lender) are extremely high risk and comparatively unlikely to repay the money. It's a bit like stupidly expensive insurance for people with 15 points on their licence, a couple of charges of dangerous driving and a string of written-off vehicles to their name.

EDIT: Although, like expensive insurance, the cost charged is exploitative and not proportionally reprasentative of the increased risk.

I actually went for an interview as a business analyst for Provident. Did some research and they are only a very short stones throw from being a loan shark. I don't normally consider myself a particularly moral person but they were across the line.

Jeez and I thought these were bad ...

http://www.phonesonfinance.com/Default.aspx

Although they actually over-inflate the retail price of the goods anyway!

I bought my (old) Nokia 6230i OVER TWO years ago for £185.
It had been out for a few months by then (IIRC), and had an RRP of £199.

I just checked the above link today and the "cash price" for this phone is now ...
£199!! Even though I can get one from carphonewhorehouse for as little as £70.

Absolute rip-off merchants, and the worst part of these companies is that they are making money off the people who can least afford it. Nothing new though as cataloue companies have been doing this for YEARS!

Pete

At least companies like this now have to put APR and other things on their ads and letters now. I'm sure it would have caught a lot more (naive) people out if all it had said was

"Borrow £300 at ONLY £9 a month!!"

Still a rip off though