Are the “wonga scam” claims true?
The question being asked by many “is Wonga a scam?” in these difficult and challenging economic times, regarding pay day loan companies and the extortionate APR rates they charge. Are they exploiting the working classes or are they providing a new ‘lifeline’ service when they are in need of quick cash?
I have scoured the internet seeking reviews, articles, testimonials and examples to answer this question.
Firstly (using the words of Errol Damelin, chief executive of Wonga in interview for the Guardian newspaper) explaining what a pay day loan is – “we can provide a small, short term loan whenever you have an unexpected expense or want to make an urgent purchase. Application is entirely on-line and you can choose the exact size and length of the loan before proceeding. We’ll give an instant decision and, if accepted, you can have the cash in your account within minutes”
So I now have a better understanding of exactly what Wonga, as a pay day loan company, states that it provides and defines as their service.
So that is what the chief execute states, but are Wonga a genuine company with integrity and a long term solid business model, or could they be a start up company who makes a big noise at launch, before making an even bigger noise at implode, as per some of the holiday companies that have gone ‘pop’ in recent months (XL holidays for example!)
What are their credentials to reassure us all? Firstly a credit licence with the OFT (office of fair trading) – good start! Then a responsible lending code of practise – very official! Plus a company registration number and a genuine verified published office address – very reassuring!
Next I was intrigued by the following statistics and customer satisfaction claims which are promoted extensively and prominently across the Wonga website.
92% of our customers are satisfied or very satisfied with the service they receive
95% of our customers think Wonga is easy or very easy to use
79% of our customers recommend us to their friends
72% of our customers say they frequently or always prefer to use Wonga over traditional sources of credit
The source is quoted as “online customer survey September 2009”. Now my initial reaction was how can these claims by substantiated? How many people took part in the online survey in September 2009? Reporting numbers as percentages can be relative to a low response rate. Why nothing more recent? I will endeavour to investigate these claims throughout my investigation
But the question or most objected to fact relates to extortionate rates of APR advertised by Wonga. So firstly let’s me define what an APR is.
The terms annual percentage of rate (APR), nominal APR, and effective APR (EAR) describe the interest rate for a whole year (annualised), rather than just a monthly fee/rate, as applied on a loan, mortgage loan, credit card, etc. It is a finance charge expressed as an annual rate.
So as APR is an annualised measure that wasn’t designed with short term loans in mind. The APR equation takes a typical Wonga cash advance of less than a month and not only multiplies, but also compounds the interest many times over!
The larger the APR the more expensive a loan, right? Wrong. It’s a common perception, but as pay day loan companies have a flexible approach to short term credit the opposite applies. This is a good indication of the potential for APR’s to mislead when trying to judge the cost of a short term loan.
The cost of a cash advance is determined by the amount of money borrowed and the number of days you need it for – the shorter the term, the less you’ll pay in interest and fees. Yet APR actually increases as the term and cost of loan decreases. Confused? Well, as the loan period gets shorter, the more times you have to multiply and compound interest to make it into a theoretical annual figure!
For example:
- Borrow £100 for 5 days – repay £110.70. APR is calculated @ 3253%
- Borrow £100 for 10 days – repay £115.91. APR is calculated @ 3003%
- Borrow £100 for 15 days – repay £121.11. APR is calculated @ 2773%
- Borrow £100 for 20 days – repay £126.31. APR is calculated @ 2573%
Initial Wonga Scam Summary
So I now have better understanding of what an APR is and more importantly what an APR isn’t. Secondly I have definition from Wonga on what they offer and why. A much better starting point for this article to understand if the Wonga scam claims are true, by clearing up some misconceptions and general assumptions related to the potentially confusing world of financial sector for short term or pay day loans.
i believe wonga have a scam when it comes claiming false charges.i borrowed £100 other 10 days which should have cost £115.91.On the 1 dec they were supposably refused the funds at 5 in the morning,so they charge me £7.50.but there was well over a thousand pounds on the 30 nov also on the 30 nov i had paid a cheque for £148,then on the 1 dec about 5pm they withdrew.£57.23 and £28.61,apperantley my bank would’nt let them withdraw the full amount so they had to take the amount in pieces.They then said the would only let them withdraw the 2 amounts mentioned.so they slapped another charge on,but this one was for £17.50,so they a final £46.32 bringing the total to £132.16 insted of the £115.91 aggreed.whilst all the time i had many transactions going out of my bank that no problems what so ever.
Sorry to hear that. Did you pursue this with them or have you just had enough? Would be interesting to know what they have to say about this.
Wonga have helped me quite a few times over the past year since i first signed up.
They have been fast, efficient and easy to deal with.
They have taken the exact, correct amount from my bank account each time.
There was just once when i had to pay a charge, this was right as it was through my own negligence.
When my bank card expired and i was issued with a new one, i didn’t think to change the details on my wonga account page.
However the loan still went ahead, my money was in my account as they said it would be. But the problem arose when they tried to collect my repaynent, my bank declined it. When i got the email from them to inform me of this, they advised me that if i could repay them by 5pm the same day they would only charge part of the fee (i think it was about £7.50). They said in their email that if the loan remained unpaid after 5pm they would charge another fee of £17.50.
I checked my bank details on their website and i realised right away that my old start & end dates also my 3 digit security code were all incorrect because of my new card being issued.
I updated my information and made payment to them (including the £17.50 fee) about 8pm the same day and sent them an email to explain why they were unable to collect the repayment as planned. Also i asked them if under the circumstances they would waive the £17.50 fee.
They sent me a text message soon afterwards to confirm they had now successfully collected my repayment.
The next day i received an email from them informing me that as i had sorted the problem out, as a goodwill gesture they woul deduct the £17.50 from my next loan.
Whilst this wasn’t quite what i wanted (was hoping for a refund to my account), i thought i’ll give them a chance and the next time i took out a loan with them, they had refunded my £17.50 as they had previously promised.
I was happy with that and after all it is my responsibility to make sure that my bank details are up to date. This could happen to anyone at any given time and i think it was right that i had to pay the smaller fee.
They have provided me with further loans since without a hitch.
Do i think that they are a scam?
In a word “No!”
I just want to say everything Chris siad is pretty much the same thing that happend to me.
Take the loan and re-pay everything is fine.
The slightest hic-up will get you charged extra, i mean the SLIGHTEST thing and BOOM.
Anyway, i used wonga to pay off debts within a month insted of telling those people to wait another month. Since then i use wonga and take out less and less each month and eventually wont have to take out another loan.
the golden rule is to pay back when you stated, otherwise……. BOOM
wanted to have my say as i have yet to be abused by Wonga and dont think i shall unless the promise date is not met
Jamie
This whole website is obviously a BRILLIANT marketing ploy by Wonga themselves. I’m sure this comment will get deleted, but nonetheless I want to say WELL DONE for such a shrewd move. People google “wonga scam” and right up the top is wongascam.com. Genius! I’m going to learn from these masters when promoting my own business!
Hi there and thanks for the comment.
While I thank you for the compliment (kind of) I can assure this blog is in no way associated with Wonga.
I’m sorry I haven’t had time to complete the “About Us” section to give more clarity on who we are, but I’m currently sat in a hotel in Vietnam (on holiday with my family) so I’m not getting online too much.
I will be publishing additional posts over the coming weeks which will continue to talk about Wonga (obviously, given the title of the blog) and show other websites points of view (e.g. the Money Saving Expert overview). We’re trying to be impartial here, but we won’t publish anything that is clearly libalous (in case we get in trouble – can’t afford any kind of legal action) or blatantly self promotion on Wonga’s part.
Now I know in your next comment you question the reply from “Chris Scarborough”, but although I thought it could be Wonga, I can’t be sure and it is very in depth. The facts stated within the reply are accurate so in order to fair we published it.
We are also publishing your reply again to be fair.
I hope this clears things up but glad to have any more comments.
i took a wonga loan in june for £200. that was paid off at the end of june with no problems. i got a text saying thanks for your payment within 24hrs, and it advised i can apply for a further loan if i wanted to. One signing onto my online account with them and applying for a £100 loan 10days before payday i was dismayed with Wonga that i have been turned down and was asked to consult a credit reference agency., which seems strange as i have already had a £200 loan from them. I left them positive feedback on a survey i received afterwards and since this has occured its too late to retract this. It seems that they are happy to take a loan application from you, make a an amount of money from you in commission as i paid back £296 from £200 and then thats it.. Easy money from them for nothing.
can someone shed a bit of light on this as it seems weird you pass for 1, pay it in full, and a 2nd application is turned down??
lesley stoker
Also, the reply from “Chris Scarborough” which was conspicuously made just 6 hours after “admin”s response to the above complaint, is obviously, and transparently, a sham. It goes into WAY too much detail and doesn’t sound like the sort of info a genuine customer would share in a review. Close, but no cigar!
Kind of replied to this in the response above. Maybe this is Wonga, maybe it isn’t, but it treads just the right side of being plausible for me.
If more people feel that it is obviously Wonga trying to counter Mark Cambell’s comment, then we’ll remove it (but you have to let us know by posting a comment).
Thanks
Yep this site is smart marketing by Wonga…except it gives itself away by using exactly the same language in its description of APR as the Wonga website itself. As the other correspondent said, close but no cigar.
Thanks for the comment Peter, and I appreciate your input.
While this is not aimed directly at you (promise!) I’m really starting to get a bit pissed off with the negative connotations.
If you guys want me to shut down the site, then fine. It’s a shame because I put a lot of effort into researching this stuff. But if you’re willing to wait and hear everything I have to say you mighy be in for a change of mind. As I said I’m trying to enjoy my holiday, but continued negativity for something I actually give a damn about is begining to get you down.
Life’s too short so please – if you want me to cut things off here please say. Otherwise at least give me the courtesy to allow this ongoing investigation to continue.
Thanks
Guess what – while Wonga isn’t a scam (the governmnet / fsa / any other major authority would shut them down) they are not necessarily the best choice.
Whilst I agree that Wonga isn’t a scam it is however well known for collect payments before the promise date. In fact I had a problem with this last week as my loan was due to be paid off on the 28th May however, on the 27th I extended the loan. I currently work for a bank so I can see everything that goes out of my account. Wonga applied a £10 charge for me changing my promise date which is understandable and I agreed to pay. Then without permission they decided to take out a further £30.52 pence leaving my account overdrawn and me without any money. They also refused to add funds to my loan which means I am virtually stuck until my paydate. When I emailed them about this they told me to ring their collections team where an angry sounding recording tells you that it is there right to collect partial repayments at any time. Yes there is already a recording proving they have done this many times.
By the way, when they took this payment it was the day BEFORE the loan was due to be paid back. I hadn’t missed a payment or anything and I had chose to extend my loan so I could pay it back easily on payday and still have the £30 to tide me over until payday. So Wonga did this without my permission, before the pay date and broke their promise to me.
I like the way you say they took 30.52 withouth asking. must say its just you being stupid and not reading things properley. Ive used them many times, a rip off? yes they are, responsible lenders id say not. I juggled 6 different payday loans with 6 different companies, one of which was wonga, for over 12 months. as you pay some off one the others offer yopu the same amountin extra top up loans etc. Id say they are all communicating with eachother and lending out to people to within the last few pennies of what they earn! Also I checked my credit report regulary whilst using the differtent loans and my financial commitments and number of searches was through the roof. This is information which all these companies viewed each month before they lent me out another loan yet they still kept lending to me when I was clearly pushing things past my limit and well over comitted. I only managed to break the cycle by borrowing £1800 from my dad. This is the problems with payday loans. No they are not a scam. Yes they do operate legally. No they do not take money early, I dont belive any of you that say they did. They are very clear what you are signing up for, the cost is explained upfront, any late fees are explained upfront and they stick to it. You people that say otherwise are twisting the truth because you are ashamed of the situation you got yourself in. If you have problems you ring them in advance and they are very understanding and helpful to your needs. yes they will add charges but this is all explained at the beginning of the agreement and im sorry to say but they are payday loans. You are never entering into an agreement more than 31 days long. If you take money out and 31 days later you cant pay it back you are stupid as your financial situation wouldnt of changed much in that time period and you knew what you were getting yourself in for. They are irresponsible these payday companies but so are the people using them including myself! Used correctly they are very efficient. For example wonga for £1000 for 5 days would cost at a guess £55. For some people that have lots of money in and out of their accounts this could be perfect if they fell short for a coulpe of days and had transactions to be made. Also quickquid if you become a loyal customer, which i was you can get down to £17 per £100 borrowed for 35 days. By far the cheapest.
Specifically about your comment about they took money without asking. No they didnt! If you read the screen correctly you would of realised that for you to extend your loan, by law, you have to pay back all charges and interest to date. This is the law with patday loans. That would also explain why it was taken a day early. If you extend your loan it has to be before the agreed pay back date. When you extend it they take the interest and charges so far. Really! Im a victim! Really! This evil company raped me! No your just to quick to agee to things without reading properly.
I have used wonga.com twice over the xmas period + had no problems, yes the use of apr may be less appropriotte than other methods of calculating intrest and may result in high intrest; but this is to be expected from a premium service, on loans which are unseccure, and i feel is fair enough.
I had a loan from Wonga back in November 2010.
They did everything they said they’d do without a hitch.
Expensive? Yes.
Hassle-solving? PRICELESS…!
You do have to wonder though, how someone who seems to have had such a fantastic experience so far with Wonga, would find themselves on ‘wongascam.com’? Surely by now after so many pleasant dealings with Wonga he would have them bookmarked, or at least be comfortable enough to type wonga.com into his address bar, thus negating the possibility of him ‘coming across’ this site in a Google mis-hit.
Without going so far as to accuse the whole site of being a cunning ploy from Wonga themselves (Although entirely plausible) I would suggest that the comments from Chris Scarborough be viewed with eyes wide open.
I totally agree with you about taking the comment from Chris with a pinch of salt.
Ultimately this site is going to present both sides of the argument (both positive and negative) and people need to make up their own minds.
I’m going to publish any comment that I don’t think is blatantly self promotion on Wonga’s part or unsubstantiated criticism (as this might be one of their competitors just trying to badmouth them).
Ultimately our aim is to be as unbiased as possible.
We’re also going to look into some alternatives for Wonga and offer these as viable options outside of going with Wonga for your loan.
Thanks again for the comment William.
wonga are a scam, they only want to corner you and charge you ridiculous interest amounts. i borrowed £520 and now they claim i owe them £950. they said they would not charge me interest cause i’m having financial difficulties. The lady i spoke to asked me to call them today to make a payment of £80 to extend my loan and i would not be charged interest and they would come to a payment plan arrangement with me ONLY if i called. So i tried calling them all day, spent £20 listening to monotonous elevator music. They never picked up or got back to me although i contacted them through the website several times asking them to call me. They never contacted me and never answered my calls on purpose and hence they eventually forced me to make the automated payment online because it was almost 6pm and no answer. So, after making the payment online, my payment has been inflated by £200!!!!!! DO NOT USE WONGA. They are true scammers and thieves.
Just so I can understand, you ook out a loan on a very high APR site – You fell into financial trouble and could not replay the loan and now you call them scammers for your failure?
NEVER take out a short term loan if there is a shadow of a doubt that you may not be able to pay it back. The fault lies within yourself and I have a strong feeling that you are not telling the full truth about your situation.
Regards
I had to check the Wonga site after seeing an advert on TV just to check that the APR advertised was correct. Although it is not a scam as it clearly indicates the repayment terms, I would say it is a morally questionable company. Charging £125 interest and fees on a £400 loan for 30 days can not be justified. They are just taking advantage of the fact that credit and loans are increasing difficult to obtain. I believe the government should regulate the interest rate and fees that Wonga and companies like them charge.
Hi I totally agree times are hard and very difficult Wonga are basically Dick Turpins in a black suit. The government need to stop white collar loan sharks like this cashing in on hard times! The apr is shocking I would prefer to get a smal loan of the local council estate gangster his apr is cheaper! Only problem instead of getting letters and calls he just breaks your legs!
After using Wonga a couple times, they have helped me out of the brown stuff on a couple of occasions, the bad thing is it has a ripple effect on the months afterwards as you are still trying to compensate for the previous months, they shouold drop the APR for existing customers at least! In response to Chris Scarboroughs comments I do think he is from Wonga, for one statement he made which was “They have provided me with further loans since without a hitch”
Now if anyone has had a wonga loan, you’d notice that after they take the money you get a text message saying something along the lines of “we took the money WITHOUT A HITCH” Could be pure coincidence…..who knows??????
i use wonga quite alot as some weeks are tough but i dont think the interest rates are that bad. At the end of the day we get the amount we want agree to payin bak what they say n if its done on time no problems. i had a problem wiv them once about the money not going through which was through my own fault but they recieved there money the same day n i wasnt charged yet i tried to get another loan but it got declined. i cant blame them as it wasnt in my account 5am but declining me further kinda gutted me. None the less…. no i dont think wonga is a scam!!!!
i have used wonga many times i do feel they charge a lot but then they are taking a big risk lending to people who cant get credit else where id want a good return on that kind of risk and given that they send reminders before your due to pay i had one today saying i had 3 days to go and they let you pay early what more do you want? the hight street stores that offer this are just the same only they pay you out in cold hard cash rather that instant transfers
I have just used wonga and came on here to see if there was anything about a scam as i have to pay them back on 5th feb 2011, i just wanted to make sure that the website is safe and they wont be taking any extra money from my account.
Overall i think this is a helpfull website. Thankyou.
Thanks for the comment – glad the site helped.
Wonga and other services like it have to protect themselves. They often attract people who are in desperate need of funds. If you think Wonga is a scam, no one is blaming you. But Wonga is an extreme-convenience service and that’s comes at a big cost (and risk) to them and you. If it didn’t, banks would offer these services as well.
Hello, i have taken more than one loan with Wonga, i once took a loan with them for 100 pounds, i had to repay in seven days (can’t remember how much) anyway it all went tits up because they said the bank only sent the money on the 24th insted of the 21st .. they didn’t charge me because the money was reserved only on the 21st.. its up to them when they take it. I rang them and spent over 10 pounds on phone bill and basicly didn’t get ANYWHERE! noone took the blame for what happened the bank said it was wongas fault and wonga said it was the banks.. Be carefull because wonga reserve the money on the promise date .. but it’s happened 2,3 times where they take it 3-4 days later. I don’t think it’s a scam and i borrow money nearly every week, it’s just i think they need to get someone good on their computers.. insted of taking the money late.
Kind Regards to everyone,
Kane
I am currently trying to get a loan from Wonga and it has probably been the most annoying experience I have had on the internet to date. Based on the customer satisfaction results, I would be in the minority I am afraid. On my first attempt, the battery on my mobile was dead so I was unable to receive the PIN. 2nd attempt and charged battery, the PIN did not arrive after numerous attempts at resending it. Still unperturbed, the 3rd time I received the PIN and advanced to the security check screen where I was greeted with a message I need an electricity bill. 4th time, with electricity bill on screen (online paperless billing), I was asked for the MPAN, which I found and a mailsort, apparently next to my address. The mailsort code was only 3 digits long and Wonga were expecting 5. I added a couple of zeros at the start and then my application was declined. A bit of research on mailsort codes revealed they should be 5 digits long and they can be found on the Royal mails PAF file. So I opted for the manual check, which involved taking a picture of my bank statement and emailing it to them. Deciding against this, I checked the PAF file (luckily, I have access to this through work) and found my mailsort code. 5th attempt, I was stuck at the ‘email your bank statement screen’ and unable to go back to enter the details from my bill again!! I sent them an email with my MPAN and mailsort and eventually got a phone call to say the loan had been accepted, phew! I waited for their email to arrive and clicked the link in it as instructed, to apparently be greeted with a ‘terms and conditions’ screen and ‘I accept’ button. The terms and conditions section was completely blank and no button was visible!! I decided to call them (at 10p a minute) and had a nightmare through their massive automated menu. When I eventually got through to a real person, they said they are having trouble today and took some details to email to head office and said I would get a call back in an hour. I am still waiting for said call, and numerous checks on their website still show the screen as blank with no button. This has been going on since lunchtime yesterday, so their statement of cash within in an hour is rubbish in my opinion. Do I think they are a scam? I don’t know, I havent managed to deal with them yet!!!
I haven’t actually used wonga myself, so dismiss my comment if you feel you need to, but I have heard from several people that they use illegitimate means to recover the debt if someone cannot repay the loan (even if they unforseeably lose their job or fall into ill health etc.). They prey on people’s ignorance of the law and send round baliffs who under common law have no business being there without a court order.
I have also heard that their lines of communication are intentionally obtuse so as to block easy repaying, so that more money can be squeezed out.
Also their apr rates are disgraceful and exploitative, it must be so depressing working for such a company.
Finally, I whole-heartedly agree with the scepticism around the identity of the people behind some comments on this blog as regards their working for wonga. That being so, anyone reading this because they are considering a loan with wonga ought to look elsewhere first.
My £400 loan is overdue by 3 days,i rang wonga 1 week before the loan was due back and was told that i could extend my loan for a further 30 days for 10% of the total outstanding which totalled £51. I accepted but was told the amount back would be over £600 which is an extra £120 on the outstanding amount so i decided to decline the extension and offer repayments which wonga then refused. I then rang on the 9/2/2011 after i received a response to my email to make arrangements of fornightly payments of £51.44 which was accepted,i then received a call from Santander Fraud Department later that evening after my call with wonga, they informed me that wonga have tried to take multiples amounts of funds from my account total over £2000 before and after the agreement wonga and i had made. Wonga then took small deposits of £10,£15.48 and £20.00 without my permission and after the agreement had been made making me overdrawn by £43.19. Santander Fraud have also told me that wonga have been attacking my account violently for the money to activate a fraud bypass since Sunday 6th Feb 2011.Santander Fraud also told me wonga.com have been using different lender names to get the money incase Santander have blocked wonga.com from accessing my account which Santander Fraud claim is illegal and incredibly sly. I have tried to make repayments on numerous occasions but wonga have refused. As soon as the installment plan was agreed wonga then attacked my bank account violently again for amounts of all sizes. Santander have blocked my bank account for all withdrawals and have given me a new bank account, they have also informed me that i am entitled to compensation because wonga have broken our agreement of installments and have been using different names (which is illegal) to put me overdrawn with my bank leading to bank charges and putting me in more debt AFTER WE HAD MADE AN AGREEMENT!!!
Now wonga are telling me if i do not make the installments there will be serious consequences meaning court,they are phoning me tomorrow morning to sort it out,i wont pay them a penny until they refund my bank charges and the £43.19 they took and then they called me a liar saying they took nothing so….avoid wonga 100%,they are great until they cock up or you dont pay back
Tell them you’ll see them in court – you have all the evidence you need from Santander and the court will only make you pay what you can afford. Also if you can prove you have made a reasonable offer to pay and the lender refused the court will generally be on your side, in my own experience anyway!
Steer Well Clear…..trap you in a cycle of debt. Get you hooked and then will decline applications on a whim. Took out a £500 loan, had difficulties paying due to unforseen problems. Wrote, wrote, wrote, called called called and response was pay in full, or not at all (against the consumer credit act).
Debt was allowed to accrue interest to almost £1500, and passed to a very nasty collections company again with no support but being transferred over and over again to different people who couldnt find my debt. Auwful experience. Never again.
I find that people go to these types of companies as they are usually spending more than they earn, its no surprise when I hear that people take out a £500 loan and cant pay it back as the repayment is another bill added to the amount being overspent each month
People who use these companies only have themselves to blame as they cant manage money, with the banks not lending any money to people these sharks are creaming people
I took out a fairly small Wonga loan today (£120) as I get paid this coming Wednesday and needed a bit of money to tie me over until then. I have taken out this Wonga loan at my own risk and I know I can pay it back on the due date.
Anyone who is claiming Wonga is a scam because you were charged a lot when you missed the repayment date… you have no one to blame but yourself! The amount you agree to pay back is on the basis that you repay on time- if you don’t adhere to the agreement, why should they? This does not constitute as a scam!
I agree with what someone said before, it sounds like some people are borrowing and spending more than they can afford to pay back.
As for the interest rates, yes they are ridiculous, but I’m borrowing £120 and to pay it back in 6 days I think the total repayment was around £135. Relatively, that really doesn’t seem too bad.
Was thinking of taking out a small loan for a week or so till pay day so read this blog with interest.
I dont believe Wonga is a scam and they provide a service at the lower end of the financial tree but a necessary evil. My silly high street bank refuses to give me a short term overdraft despite my salary going into their bank every month for 18months. Anyway all the problems here seem to be from people who are borrowing too much (£500 on a payday loan is ridiculous, infact reckless) or have Problems repaying ,whatever the excuse given.
I asked Wonga for £200 but then a family member gave me it. So i cancelled the money that was on an old bank account and they said it went in 5 days later. I told customer services i emailed to cancel the load before the money went in but they are having none of it! I have the email to say ive cancelled the transaction and still no use. So their cance trasaction claim is Bo***x dont use Wonga,because i wont be in the future (plus they wont be getting a penny from me)
Before I got a loan with Wonga the first time I came across this page and I wasnt so sure so I took out a very small (£50) loan just incase what you all were saying was true. 14 days later I paid Wonga back and all was well. A few months later I decided that I would get another Loan out to cover a debt that I had ran into (£300) and again 14 days later I paid it back and the interest which it had accumulated. However, I went to get some money out of my bank to pay for my shopping and discovered that wonga had taken £129.00 from my bank account without permission and with no previous warning. I have rang Wonga every day for the past week and I have yet to get the phone picked up to me.. or recieve any letters stating why this was taking out my bank account in the first place. My bank has also started an investigation into this too…. Will I get the £129.00 back?? who knows!
I haven’t borrowed money from these bandits, but then I’m lucky, I don’t have to. I’m an accountant and I prepare would-be accountants for the examinations of the professional institutes. One of the subjects I cover is financial management. I can confirm that the interest these people charge is eye-wateringly high. I am foolish enough to have some cash on deposit and get no more than 1% interest per annum, What I get on £5000 in a year they would charge for less than a day and a half. Only those with no option would use these legalised loan sharks. Society has a duty to protect the weak and disadvantaged from such utter usury….it should fulfil it.
I no longer deal with wonga.com and must warn you they will hold on to your bank details indefinate and refuse to relinquish them. Thats right i said your bank details, sort code account number security nimber on back. Address is one thing but your actual financial information. It gives me shudders everytime i think of these details just floating in cyberspace and yes they do pass these bank details to anyone they like, it says it in the terms and conditions. I don’t know if they can legally do this but i’m considering writing to my local mp to raise the issue with him and try and bring this to the public attention.
NEVER NEVER NEVER borrow anything from wonga! A complete scam! I had dealings with Wonga when i took over all my brothers financial matters when he could no longer manage them himself and time and time again Wonga would shove there clever website down his throat and put temptation in his way! My brother took out approximately £600 loan, it was authorised by wonga who 1. had been warned previously by & had verbally agreed with our mother never to give him another loan (as the previous two loans my mother had to pay-SHE WAS IGNORED) 2. knowing full well that my brother only earns £800 a month. so by the time the loan, admin fee and interest over the month it would have reached over £800 – leaving my brother with nothing, having to get another loan, a bigger loan, to pay his rent, car insurance etc and the original wonga loan. VICIOUS CIRCLE!
I tried calling two days after the loan was put into account to pay the loan, admin fee and any interest accured till that day (adhering to there terms & conditions) – no joy, no answer, no email response – NOTHING! this is one part of there scam – ignore the customer, dont allow us to get in touch, which means the interest increases daily, giving WONGA the most amount of money – because lets face it thats want they want – they dont want a customer like me pretty giving them two days interest of approx. £20 quid!!!!
I sent a recorded letter, them same day offering to pay the above loan, admin fee & interest and that i wouldnt be paying anything else. To cut a long drawn out story – they accepted this total, but continued to harrass, threaten, bully me via email, letter, phone etc. but i wouldnt budge – i knew my rights!
My advice to anyone in this position FIGHT IT! This is how i done it – Send off a complaint to the FLA (Wonga is registered with them), provide them with all evidence, retain all correspondence including the bullying/threatnening emails/letters etc and finally read there website! It clearly says that Wonga do not want to get anyone into debt and you can repay a loan amount back at any time WITH NO HIDDEN COSTS! After a couple of months & continued threatnening behaviour by wonga staff, i received a letter from the FLA explaining Quickbridge (Wonga) had resolved the matter – i havent heard from Wonga as they have met there match – they realised i wasnt a push over and was more than willing to see them in court.
anyone in this position id be more than happy to supply you with all my correspondence, including information on your rights as customer, trading standards information etc – just give the nod! these companies should not be allowed to operate.
STAY WELL CLEAR – BETTER OF SKINT!
hi there i have a wonga loan which i now cannot afford to pay back, have been lured into this vicious circle of borrowing more just to break even. do you know what my rights are regarding paying them back over a longer period of time.
You’re going to be best off talking the the Citizens Advice Bureau about this. Contractually you are obliged to pay the money back, but if you can’t afford to then Wonga will no doubt arrange a payment plan for you. However – they will likely be additional charges. I’m no expert, so best to talk the Advice people as they can help you free. Also I think there are some Government debt helplines available to (all free of charge) which may be able to give you some advice.
I’m really sorry for your predicament
Hello unlike alot of people who have taken loans from Wonga and had issues I paid my loan on the due date. They still have taken well over £12O from my account. I have had to cancel mycards and I have made repeated calls to their useless customer service team who allegedly have no direct line to head office! They are thieves and I want my money back I have written letter and sent by recorded post however if u know the organisation where they got there credit lisence from I would love to know how to make a direct complaint plus if you know there real address that would be great . If you can assist e mail me at dsbi@btinternet.com
Let’s be honest, I’d love nothing more than to see wonga fail but let’s face it, they provide a service to which there is a high demand. Everyone on here says they have been hard done by as they cannot relay due to “unforeseen circumstances”! Do that with your mortgage and you lose your house! Interest is charged on the interest with a mortgage too, it’s not with most payday lenders! Up to 30% of people don’t pay the money back… If people were more honest and used wonga properly and paid back, the charges would no doubt be less! For any intelligent people, download their accounts from companies house! Yes they make a profit… As all business try to do, but it is not ridiculous like the £3bn announced today by a high st bank who put us all in this mess!
Wonga are providing a service. If you see two boxes of eggs on a shelf and you decide to pay for the more expensive box then so be it.
The same with wonga, the prices are there and clear for all to see. I have used Wonga for a couple of years and they have been a god send!
Anyone who complains here probably took more than they could afford in the first place.
Wonga is not a scam, YOU DONT HAVE TO USE THEM… I do and have repayed loans, extended loans etc and never had any problems.
Long live wonga!
This is clearly somoeone from Wonga, but I thought I’d allow the comment anyway.
Would be really good to have aproper answer covering some of the concerns people are raising.
if you see 2 eggs and 1 is more expensive- WTF? realistically it would be — a bank wont give u an egg for 2 eggs back, a company (Like Wonga) WILL give you an egg for 10 back.
Viewed from both sides i have used wonga a lot currently have around £200 with them i cant really afford but i will have to either extend or try and pay and have no cash
they do agree to payment plans AFTER they have chucked on an extra £100 or so you CANT get hold of them on phone or live chat (if it still exists) and they will and do ADD ANY kind of charge on just for more money. The service works that is the best thing i can say about this company. On a side note every customer service agent i have spoke to has some kind of attitude problem or serious depression and in NO WAY want to help. Personally i think they are targetting people who dont really need the money but who go to work constantly and dont particularly have time to spend the remaining hours out of full time work to pay bills and manage money.(PERSONAL EXPERIENCE) My only regret is that i currently have a loan with them as i feel even now they will probably be in a team meeting , “how can we squeeze more money out of exisiting customers!”
I have had 3 loans with Wonga. The first time was an expected car repair £150.00 and if I am honest I found them no problem at all, they done what they said they would do and take what they said they would take. The other 2 loans were for £300.00 and £600.00 and again I had no issues what-so-ever. The reason I used Wonga was because these unexpected costs came at the middle of the month and I get paid towards the end of month, however I knew I would have the funds to pay. I haven’t use Wonga for about 4 months now mainly because I changed my car lol and no more repairs but my advice to anyone is, if you feel there is any question you won’t be able to pay then don’t borrow from Wonga. If you know how much your wages are and what date they are coming into your account I think there should be no issues. I always made the repayment date a few days after my wages hit my account just in case there was an issue with my wages but always paid it off the day my wages hit my account which meant I saved on interest. I don’t think Wonga is a scam it offers a service that I have found helpful however I am sure it is not for everyone.
I loast a bank card so when thay tried to retrieve there payment my bank wouldnt allow it. I had to ring wonga and get there account details and put the money into there account. I did but still got a charge that wonga reinburst however I had to ring them four times everytime
Very good service well done. Had a mid monthly loan for £250 and just repaid it today 2 days early, and I received a £5.84p discount for settling early!. Then Wonga sent me a text after taking the payment straight away saying thank you for repayment. Yes the interest rate is high but you should expect that, also once you have registered the service is super fast! Would definitely use them again!
Well Done Wonga!
Well Done Wonga? You Are Congratulating Them On An APR Of Like 2000 Something Percent. Well Done For Saving £5.48 After Giving Them Around £280?
The text is auto, nothing special in it really. and i agree, why weldone?
Well, i for one would have to say wonga and paydayuk, are two good websites.
i am unable to vouch for any others as i have not used them, with wonga they are good for small loans. Add the fact that you can pay sooner then agreed upon and save money is a nice addition to what they offer.
I would say for larger loans Paydayuk offer a better deal, less interest and it is done till your next payday, although now you can repay your loan at anytime like wonga.com, but you don’t get the added bonus of paying back less interest.
i have found customer service of both wonga.com and paydayuk.com to be outstanding and very helpful, both sites have been kind enough and not charge the additional fee if i delayed by a day(understandable if any further) which i cant guarantee they will do for every customer but its nice to know that they do try to help you out as much as they can.
the idea behind these websites might seem like a scam but thousands of people have used these sites and it would be a statistically impossibility for every person who has used these sites to of had a positive experience, but i am sure that it is indeed a majority that would use again with pleasure.
Wonga advertise themselves as a pay day loan lender. the Apr is huge because the customer should only really be borrowing for 1-2 weeks at a time, this isn’t like a bank overdraft or credit card so comparing aprs is pointless. indeed with credit cards, there isnt actually a date where you pay back the loan so this can cost you more in interest in the long run.
the company is lending to low income households, people whom have no other means of obtaining financial aid due to poor credit or salary. Because of this risk, Wonga deserve to charge what they are. there has to be some “take” from what they are giving through this service.
The service is very efficient and run professionally, they don’t ask you to send documents and you don’t have to get ready to go and talk to the bank manager..
They are just offering a service, nobody is forcing anyone to take the loans out and if they do, then the business should be deemed a success and not a scam as this blog is suggesting.
Scams, i feel are places such as cash converters/pawnshops/logbook loans. these places take your possessions for collateral AND charge you a very high rate of interest
Fair point here Nima and thanks – quite a balanced view – however when you’re the person in financial difficulty and can’t pay back the loan, I’m sure it is not so easy to be objejective.
I recently took. £50 loan for around 6 days, due on the 9th. Have to pay £59.39 or so back. Don’t mind paying for a cash advance when needed. After reading comments off here I will never venture over £100 no matter how desperate. But as I see it, yes prices do get extreme but they have got to make money (quite a lot of it by the looks of it) but it does clearly say how much you pay back before you fill out any information, and although I am writing this before I pay back. I will visit again on the 10th and say how things go with the site.
On one last note, as I was reading before people say the apr is ridicules and yes I agree. But if you need a short LOW loan then 10-15 for around £50-£100 I would class as reasonable depending on the circunstaces the loan is needed for. All boils down to priority and are you willing to pay for the help
And before I get accused I aint from wonga lol
Whenever i see the likes of Wonga striving for respectability by advertising on mainstream tv, and sponsoring premiership football teams it makes my blood boil. They are making obscene amounts of money from the people who can least afford it.
For heavens sake people, JOIN A CREDIT UNION and get very cheap loans, nowadays very quickly. Don’t get trapped into an expensive cycle of debt – and especially don’t give these charlatans money just so they can enjoy the high life watching Chelsea – well just for one season anyway!
Well after paying back the loan today, i have had too much trouble with the company. Was on the phone to them when one of there call centre staff broke the data protection act not once but three times about 3 people. I have informed the people concerned and told them to make offical complaints. If braking the data protection act wasent bad enoguh I could have been anyone after fighting my way threw there seemingly endless automated system I managed to speak to someone who dident ask any security questions only my name. Then went and disclosed personel and confidential information about 3 idividuals. As I am on the matter does anyone know the offial complaints procedure for this sort of breach, I have written an email to wonga detailing all information that got said in the phone call including the names of people I spoke too. I have also requested a copy of the phone call. Where should I report this? Any help would be apreciated. Thanks
P.S I know the induviduels who’s information that got disclosed but they did not know that
Sorry to hear you had sucj a bad experience.
The goverment have a complaints procedure that you can find here:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx
Good luck with this and please keep us informed as to your progress.
I have never used Wonga.com, but somebody did using their name but my bank details. There have been soums of money disappearing from my bank account, and they have said that they have no record if recieving these payments, and to be honest I am rather furious. I had to get my card blocked, and yet somehow despite a new card number and 3 digit security number on the back there, they are still taking sums of money out. I spoke to a guy from there this morning, and he was completely useless, it suounded like he was sat on his arse drinking tea and munching toast! There were no office like sounds in the background, sothgis now leads me to believe that yes…… WONGA IS A SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well firstly, if you never signed up, your bank can get the money back, also this sounds like either a mistake on the person(Who did sign up) or a scammer using your bank details.
Also, worth of NOTE, a stopped debit card can still be USED by some companies and the bank will still take the money out, this happend to me with SKY when i lost my card, i got a new card, new number, and my mistake forgot to update sky, (i did have to update alot of things). and they still got cash from my old card details. (odd). it came up as “cash” on my statement, so i checked with my bank and after a little while got the info about sky (tv).
just contact your bank and they can sort this out for you, even better if you never been a customer with wonga
i have used wonga a fair few times and didnt have a problem then due to unfortunate secumstances i couldnt pay them back all in one go, i am now on a payment plan. unfortunatly wonga have decided to take the money out when ever they want and not on the agreed dates, which have caused overdrawns totaling over £200! i would stay clear of them, i would never go back to them again!
i would advise people not to use them at all
I took out a payday loan with these idiots over 8 months ago. It started at £100 then as they took their money back along with charges on top, i ended up borrowing more and more til it got to £760. I know this was silly but it was the only option i had at the time. I was then paid late by my works which by then i ended up in arrears. I spoke to Wonga, after many phone calls, and set a date to repay them. They then decided to take my money out whenever they felt like it! I wasnt happy with this and now i am seeking legal advice. Now i know im not a banker etc. but i for sure know that anybody cant just delve into your account whenever they like without notifying you of charges etc. STEER CLEAR OF THESE CLOWNS!!!!
hi, wonga have stolen money from my account, i had a £100 pound loan with them, £115 was paid back, they then have cleared my bank of over £260 and im having difficulty contacting them as its the weekend, however when i do get hold of them..
Probably best to give them a call on Monday morning to discuss.
they are a filthy thieving company, i had other bills to pay and have been charged, they have first taken two payments for £67.70 then £67.74, then £114, who the hell do they think they are!! no luck contacting them today, try again in the morning, going to waste my college time going to the bank and speaking to them, then the police, then maybe a solicitor, if they can charge me then i should charge them, i wish i knew where they all lived
I am a student and borrowed 65.00 from them, having to repay 84.00 today on the 30th of March…I think anyone borrowing should make sure that the repayment day is at least a few days after money goes into your account, to make sure it is there IF anything goes wrong and make sure you definitely can pay it back. Although I did experience a scary phonecall as I lost my debit card and had to pay using a different one, I was able to contact customer service who informed me my loan was paid off and received a text. Wonga makes it clear that it has a massively high APR and WILL charge a lot extra if you can’t pay and also states that it is not a long term lending solution. Why anyone would borrow if they are in extreme financial difficulty I don’t know.
Although it is all well and good to say that financial lenders have a social responsibility to people in extreme financial difficulty, the reality is we live in a greedy capitalist society where money IS the be all and end all and companies like Wonga are obviously trying to make money like everyone else in the world and will do little to help you, however much they advertise it on there website. Saying that, I don’t think they are a scam and as long as you are very careful they are a good short term loan solution for small amounts, but that is all.
I’d highly recommend wonga.com to anyone who’s in desperate need of money quick.
I’m on benefits and have really bad credit yet they still approved me and the money was in my bank account within 15 mins like they promised. you get to pick how much you want to lend and what day you want to pay it back and if you use this promocode: scv271 you even get £5.50 taken off what you have to pay back. ive used them a few times to see me thru untill payday. but remember to use the promocode scv271 otherwise it can seem alittle more expensive then it has to be.
Can you tell me who owns Wonga and how they source their funds? Do they take consumer deposits like other micro finance companies or source on bulk from banks?
thanks
mike
As far as I’m aware they are bank funded – but I’m not 100% sure. I do know several of the other leading lenders (eg FLM) use banks as their primary source of funding.
I have taken a short term loan of just £30 yesterday, after sending them my bank statement 22 hours later, I got my money – I have to pay back £41.85 in 18 days, it should be less than that as I set it a few days after I get my money, I’m not going to let them take the money themselves , but I will go onto their website and pay it off in full before times up.
I don’t think they are scam artists, yes the interest is very very high, but it’s fair.
They are taking a high risk with people like me, for example I’m 18 years old and only have a bit of credit history, my score is poor as of my age and Wonga can’t really be 100% sure I’ll actually pay back, but don’t worry I will be paying back.
Anyone that is calling them scam artists I’m guessing just took on too much and has
gotten frustrated and decided to take it out on a open website.
The best thing to do, is too look at your own finances and decided whether or not
you can afford to pay them back on time or not. I believe they provide an excellent
service, I have tried to get loans from other companies only to be turned down.
Once I got a letter from Wentworth Finance – they accepted me for a loan of £1000
but wanted me to send them £69 by cheque or Postal order. I instantly shredded the
letter as I’m sure it’s a scam, they called the charge an “admin charge” – my point of
view is that’s one high admin charge, even more than the greedy banks charge, plus
why not just add that amount onto the £1,000?.
My point being I’m currently unemployed and they have no guarantee of me paying
back.
Also I’m not from Wonga! – So don’t dare to say I am.
Ok , so it’s 4:09 in the morning I’m in work at 10:00am and last week. Monday 17th April I took out a wonga loan. £35 repayment after seven days. Today being Monday 25th April is £53.99. Now I have just sent them an E-Mail stating I hadn’t realised that today was a bank holiday and my pay wouldn’t reach my account til maybe Wednesday. I’ve asked them very politely via mail to contact me in the morning in order to find out whether a bank holiday means they would be taking the payment later or whether they would be. Charging me due to my own forgetfulness. Yes I know I should have checked the dates etc but I’m a chef I work long hours and my brain doesn’t always function well lol. Anyway the loan was a necessity and a god send as I have very poor credit I believe there’s 9 bands and I’m in the 9th. 9th being the worst. I was delighted that they accepted me and the £35 receive immediately went on electric. Now I am waiting to see whether I will be charged late fees or if we I will receive contact and possible be let off. I think this site is very balanced and congrats to Mr Admin. It’s a good read and there’s a lot of different thoughts up here. I just thought the fact that since the answer to my question wasn’t up I’d post it and hope that it helps others in my predicament. I will check back here on Wednesday with the out come. Goodnight. : )
Hi Richard,
Sorry to hear about this – easily done.
I recommend you get on the phone and call Wonga. Although they do seem to be good at getting back when emailed, because they are very busy emails can sometimes take a while to get a response. If you call them then hopefully you’ll get a swift resolution to your problem.
Thanks
To be fair he needn’t bother trying to argue it. At the end of the day it is your responsibility to make sure you state the date you want to pay the loan back is correct. So many people on here are complaining about Wonga being con artists when they are the ones who effed themselves up the rear passage by defaulting on their loan!!
The advert and as it says on the website “Instant decision and 15 minute payment – GUARANTEED” is not true. This is misleading.
I used Wonga before and it saved me through these times where my partner left me with all the bills. Still in the middle of this I aplied today for £140 with repayment in 10 days. Surprisingly I received the message:
“Your last application was referred, just so we can check a few more details. We are sorry for the delay, but we are still in the process of making a decision. You don’t need to do anything and we will contact you by email soon with the decision. Please look out for that email and thanks for your patience.”
So I wrote through their contact form receiving this reply:
“We make an automated and instant decision on the vast majority of applications, but we occasionally need to refer one to our team to make a few final checks. During business hours this generally happens the same day and often within an hour. If an application is submitted after 6pm or over a weekend, you’ll receive a response the following business morning.”
Now, it may not seem that bad, but today is the 29/4/11 and I applied after 18:00
Today is the royal wedding day and monday is a bank holiday. Why on earth are they doing this? Can’t they just refuse so I can carry on with my life and sort this small amount somewhere else? I have no chance to cancel the application. I do not think this is a fair way to treat people. They should not be allowed to advertise with the guaranteed instant decision. That is misleading!
Hi Wonga haters
Ii have had several loans with wonga and I am also paying them back but the key here is ti stick to your payment plan (was anyone moaning when wonga gave them money within 15 minutes)??? yes it is expensive but what do you expect borrow money and pay it back simple…
btw i do not work for wonga!!!
Wonga are total Cheats & Fraudsters. My son took out a loan with them and just before he was due to pay the loan back he had his card cloned which had to be cancelled. He called Wonga and told them what had happened. He arranged with them that he would pay £50.00 and the rest when he had his new card. I agreed to pay the £50.00 from my card and my son passed the phone to me so that i could give the lady at Wonga my card details to pay the £50.00 this was on Friday 6th May. All sorted we thought. Then on Sunday 8th i checked my on line banking the£50.00 had gone through and showing on my statement, but my avilable balance was about £200 less than it should be. I called my bank this morning and they advised me that there were 5 payments going through from Wonga made on 7th & 8th and one made today none that have been agreed by me . My son called Wonga and explained to the lady what had happened she said the card was in his name, i then took the phone and said that the card was infact in my name not my sons and that i had only authorised the one payment of £50. 00 and you have taken 5 payments to the value of £200 without any authorisation from me and that it was FRAUD. (It was like talking to a brick wall. ) all she kept saying was the card was in my sons name i told her if she has a good look it does say MRS. I asked to speak to a manager and she told me that no one was there, this was about 4.40.I left my number with her and told her that i expected a call back tomorrow to get this sorted, what the have done is FRAUD and if they think that they are getting away with it then they are so wrong, i will be like a dog with a bone. So someone from WONGA had better phone me tomorrow or I will be contacting the papers and any other publicity i can source to stop this happening to anyone else who tries to help somone out.
Hey,
In response to wonga being a scam, i feel that clearly they are. I have had a few loans with wonga for other the past year now, ranging from £50-£200. I paid all the repayments on time, despite being ridiculously high, you know the apr before taking them anyway so it came to no shock to me. However, I took a loan out for £65 to cover a bill. My student loan came in early and i was able to pay it off two weeks before the due date (the due date being 6th may) . The total came to about £76.24. However, they didn’t allow me to pay the 24p, claiming they could only take the £76. I left the 24p as t was until the due date, nowing full way I would get paid on that day anyway.
5pm of the due date, and i receive a voicemail claiming that they had been unable to collect me money, despite the fact they sent me a text claiming all the rubbish they “collected it without a hitch” and “They were all smiles” they had been able to collect it. I then checked on the internet to realize that I owned them 20.24, as they had put the charge on. Now, that to some people is a relatively small amount to pay back, but considering the fact it was 24p, it was a massive increase. I rang them up for over an hour, finally got through to a caller, who I explained the situation to. I explained that in recent loans of much higher amounts they had easily taken them out. He then reassured me that they would take the 24p only. On the saturday I checked my account and 20.24 had been taken. I have tried to get in contact with them via email and phone but to no prevail.
The issue here is not so much the amount taken but the “dirty” tactics they will take just to get as much money as possible. The lie, hence the text they sent me the night before, which clearly shows they are unprofessional. In my opinion, it is a joke that they are presented in such a positive light. Being sponsors of a premiership team and with so much air time on TV.
I know I will never get my £20 back and hopefully I will close my account somehow, but these people will go to any extremes to take as much money as possible!!!!
Try small claims court, it is easy to file the paper work,
p.s., i apologies for some of the appalling spelling errors in the previous comment, clearly proof reading was needing lol.
I have used wonga.com on numerous occassions for loans to tide me over. The service has always been perfect. fast, efficient and they do exactly what they say, when they say.
I would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone at anytime.
Great company
Wonga r total idiots. I asked 2 repay the money I borrowed on the 16/05/11 I went 2 the bank yesterday the 12/05/11 they had taken ova £300 out ov my account how fair is that. They broke the agreement. It wasn’t even my money they had took it was my disabled daughters. So called them they wanted an extra £10 2 renew the loan which is a joke and they would refund me £184 back well that’s not happened so ty wonga 4 robbing a 10 yr old disabled child. And by they way they didn’t go in once they took 4 separate amounts ov money out
I got a wonga loan about 2 weeks ago for £75 pound i repaid the full £91 back with no hitches but now i have applied for another onefor a smaller amount of money and it says they cant acess enough information from the credit beaureas i dont understand why they wont accept help anyone??
Just out of interest, as I can read alot of “this is wonga.com” type posts, have you been contacted by wonga.com to remove posts/items, or delete the website?
Actually no, which has suprised me, although I was contacted by the BBC a couple of months ago to give them some insight into Wonga.
That i must admit is interesting, after-all, I am sure they check the internet for reviews and all, so must have found your site, if not, they are not very good at the whole online stuff..lol
Did you help the BBC?
I did… I had a good chat with them and told them that while I didn’t think the company were a scam, it did seem there were a few dodgy practices going on – especially based on the feedback reflected here.
Have you ever used wonga, if so, what do you think and if not, would you?
No I haven’t.
I did spend some time working with one fo their competitors – FLM Quick. I was a coder in a former life and helped build their back-end systems.
But I’ve never used Wonga.
I’m very lucky that I don’t need a loan at the moment, but if I did I think I’d probably try the bank first, and maybe look to them as a last resort.
Have you?
lol, i cant reply to your message for some reason, am guessing a limit to the sub replies ect.
I did use them, and this is honest, for £1 to test how they accept people and their methods. needless to say, i got accepted, and did pay it back, then was offered a full £400 loan. so much for building trust and all.
I have a good question with wonga.com, after talking to others,
Lets give an example, and then what I found,
you take out £400, 30 days, after the 30 days you dont pay it back. in your account is not £400, but let say £200, or £300. wonga.con wont just try the £400 and stop, if they does not work, they will and have(I have seen the statements) take out smaller amounts to remove as much as they can from your account. has anyone else has this happen to them?
and is this really good lending practice?
I’ve posted on this site, I’m waiting to see if they allow what I wrote, but yes the same thing happened to me, 5 times they withdrew from my account in 1 day, I worked it out they take an amount and then procede to half the original amount until the bank say there is nothing left, Dick Turpin was hanged, these bastards should be as well
If money is lent to you, by such company’s, it is normal practice to recover as much as they can on the promised date.
nothing but a shower of bastards, I asked for an extension which I assumed had been agreed but 3 days later they took every penny out of my account, 5 withdrawals in 1 day, so much for helping people!! they took every penny of my rent and then had the balls to ring me and text me and tell me they could save me money, the hard faced bunch of bastards are even now still taking money out of my account for what they class as late fees
Hmm, that is a problem, as the bank wont help as you “gave” the card details to them. i really think banks need to get sorted, yes if i get my debit card to a company and say, take out £50, that is cool, but if they start taking out other amounts, the bank dont wanna help alot, just tell you it “your fault” for giving the card details. ect, surely this must lay with the bank, if you can show you did not give them permission to remove the cash, for example 5 times in a day. most people would see this to be a mistake or wrong.
Alison,
How much did you borrow?
They did a similar thing to me. I took out a loan of £120 which was due on the 28th.
On the 27th I chose to extend my loan so that I could repay them later on.
They took £10 for extending the loan which I authorised.
They then took a further £20.52 ON THE 27TH. For no reason whatsoever. Classing this a partial repayment.
BEAR in mind my loan wasn’t actually DUE BACK for another 20/30 days after my extension.
Then later that day when I added £10 to my account they took that out too. Making sure my account was empty and I was left with no money and bills to pay.
I am a teenager currently in High School / Secondary school. Occasionally when I am watching TV with family or friends I see a Wonga / Quic Quid / anything else of the sort come on. I am appalled to see such things being allowed to advertise.
Being only 14 I do not understand finance or debt but I do have a basic understanding of APR. In my opinion the APR that these companies offer is so morally wrong that it makes my blood boil.
I feel sorry for any person who finds themselves in such a situation that they have to turn to companies like Wonga. I wonder how many people’s lives have been ruined by such companies that lead insecure and in – debt people into further turmoil.
Yes, Wonga may be good for some people, but I bet some people have faced the full force of this terrible company.
I am not from UK so I have no experience with this company, I just saw the name on the shirts of a football match I am watching now and wanted to see what kind of company it was.
I don’t understand all the complaining in the comments about the company trying to get their money back when the payment is due. Some comments complaining that Wonga will try taking out the full amount, if it fails then 50% of it, then 50% of that amount etc etc. What is the problem with that? That’s common sense in order to get their money back, I can’t believe people are complaining that the company that lend them money with an agreed payback deadline is trying to get their money back? How stupid can you people be, do you think any company can make a living if they just let you go past deadlines agreed to beforehand?
Try go to your local loan-shark and go past the payback date, you will end up with broken kneecaps instead
Moral is: if you’re gonna get a loan, MAKE SURE YOU CAN PAY IT ALL BACK WITH INTEREST. Otherwise, of course, you’ll get charges, and such. If the money’s there when the loan’s due for collection, there’ll be no problems.
Sure, the interest is high, but these are short term high risk loans, so you’d expect them to be high. Especially as these loans are intended for those with a poor credit history.
PROTIP: If you need a wonga loan, and you get paid the 1st of the month. Get the loan out until the 2nd, just to be sure your wages get to your account before wonga try and take their money. Then on the 1st, when you have your wages, you’re free to pay the loan back a day early, with a slight reduction on interest.
Dear All
I have used Wonga a good few times, i have never had any problems, maybe thats because Ive paid either on-time or before the due date.
For those of you who are bitching about the charges, they are made VERY clear whenever you apply for a loan, maybe you should sort out your finances and stop crying!!
WONGA ROCKS!!
VIVA LA WONGA!!
I have sent this message to wonga today. I borrowed 200 pounds and the agreed interest was 284.55 pounds to be collected on 31st May. Later that day I dad more than 500 pounds avalable that day. Later that day I get a message on mobile thanking me for the payment which went smoothly. I go on the internet and see two messages on my hotmail one sent at 8.15 the same day saying my bank had declined the sum and I had until 5pm to repay the 254.55 or pay a 20 pounds charge. Then another at 2pm saying the money had been collected but not how much.
However they took four payments in that day adding up to 326.83 pounds 42.88 pounds higher than the total!!!! For two days I have emailed the team about this but no reply just sent this one today on their site and by msn lets wait and see.
Here is a copy I have sent messages about this
Hello team I can now see the withdrawals which you took out from my bank by 2pm on 31st may. These are showing on my statement as a total of four payments adding up to 326.83 pounds and not 284.55 pounds which is what was agreed by us . We agreed 200 pounds and 84.55 interest so why have you taken out four payments 142.28, 80, 80, and then 24.55 pounds all during the same day. I am not happy with this can you please contact me by phone or email inorder to resolve this I make it 42.28 in excess that you have taken from me and for what reason. It may be someone has made an error at your company please contact me at ………………….. or ……………….co.uk Thanks for your co-operation pierre cope
Sorry to hear about your problems there Pierre. Have you tried calling them to sort this out?
Their phone number is: 0871 288 5704 for Customer Care and 0844 842 9109 for Collections.
Good luck and please keep us posted…
I have tried getting a pay day Loan today after watching a Tv advert saying 15 mins and u will know if your accepted or not . I submitted my claim at 2:50pm today and Im still waiting for confirmation and its now 5:20 pm its the longest 15 minutes Ive ever encountered ):
i admit the first t i used them it was easy. payments in. payments out.
BUT, the second time around i was dropped in financial difficulties. i had gained the support of a debt consolidation company who explained to contact wonga and give them their number and code etc.
I did this twice in one week.
nothing was heard and funds stopped coming out of my non-excistence bank account.
after paying off all my charges from the bank i received a lump sum in inheritence.
this saved my family and i and we were able to live on the funds for all of one day.
then the day after the cheque cleared, £400 was removed from my account and even after ringing wonga and emailing them i havent been able to get any back.
the fact of the matter remains that i’m paying £100 a month to my consolidation and a portion of that goes to wonga. i was told that i “didnt contact wonga” and they “had nothing on their files” to report such phnes calls or messages left.
now i have quite literally nothing to keep us afloat nor enough out of my weekly wage to feed three children pay rent etc.
so all in all it would seem they dont give a damn regardless weather you do the leg work.
a few weeks back i applyed for a loan with wonga i got turned down on thursday past they stole £150 from my account these people are scum left me with no money
Just thought I would post my experiences of Wonga
Being self employed, things are a bit hand to mouth at the moment, mainly due to late payment of my invoices, I don’t currently have an overdraft, and I have got rid of my credit cards. I posted a cheque to my bank two weeks ago, and it took three days to arrive, which added to the five days clearance time, meant that I had no money last week, plus two jobs to do which I needed to buy fuel to get to. Phoned my bank explaining the situation, could I have a £ 100 overdraft for 1 day, as the cheque would clear tomorrow, they were going to have to do a credit cheque, could take a few days, and there would be an arrangement fee – I decided to try Wonga instead – initially got turned down, as I stated that I wanted the money for 2 days, reapplied for five days and was successful, money was in my account 30 minutes later when I checked.
I was initially asked to pay around £110 interest and charges, when I repaid 3 days early, this was reduced to around £107 costing me just £7 and frankly I was very impressed, and certainly a lot less than the banks.
I can understand people getting upset with late charges etc. but bear in mind that until relatively recently, credit companies have been charging between £25-40 a time in late charges, which has now been reduced to £12 (it would be interesting to see if the unfair charges rulings could also be applied to wonga), plus I used to be charged
£35 a time by my bank for unauthorised overdrafts or returned direct debits – EVEN WHEN THE MONEY WAS PAID IN IN CASH ON THE SAME DAY IT WAS DUE OUT!
All in all, if the situation arose again, I would be happy to use them again as I believe they do offer a valuable service to me, of course you do have to remember that it is short term emergency borrowing, and is charged as such, and frankly I would not lend someone the money for the fee that I paid them! – basically if you go on holiday for 3 weeks, you wouldn’t leave your car in the short term car park at Heathrow airport, because it was more convenient!
just been reading some of the comments and thought id add my part, first off great website, ive used wonga a few times before ( never missed a payment ) and was just searching to see how wonga react to late payments when i came across this site. i understand both sides of the argument but i have to say im pro wonga, fair enough their APR may be exensive ( only just learnt what APR is thanks to this site ) but you dont have to use the service if you cant afford it. i think wonga is just another one of those luxuries for the people who can afford it and if those who cant are using the service and missing payments surely this is just self inflicted?
howeveri am just a 19 year old who doesnt fully understand all the technical parts of a loan except when to pay and how much. this website has been very helpfull and whould just like to say thanks
p.s i am not working for the wonga site and dont belive this site is either
We used wonga because we needed the money to pay for food and nappies etc. We usually ask parents but they were away.
They are easy to use and pay out quickly which they can’t stress enough but boy do they come down hard if you don’t pay them back on time, they should make this a bit clearer and inform people of what happens, like how they will persue the debt and will attempt several times to obtain funds from a bank account if it is unpaid and display charges clearly too so you know what to expect not the rose tinted spectacle approach which they have used.
I will say we had no problem at all, borrowed £50 for 3 days, paid back £6.59 on top of that, which is really good I think as opposed to £8 bank charge for going over the overdraft by £2.
We will use them again, hopefully they won’t steal money from us.
There maybe another scam which is going under the radar. Please note I am only speculating. What happens to defaulters? Somebody borrowing less than a hundred pounds could owe thousands by the end of the year. A common way of dealing with such debts is for the creditor to go to court and get an order to deduct money direct from the debtors source of income. This is often quite a small amount maybe £2 a week. Doesn’t sound like much. But as it doesn’t cover the interest it is £2 a week for life. £100 a year still doesn’t sound like a lot but for every 10,000 defaulters that would add up to an annual income of £1 million for the creditors. So the question is how many defaulters do they get each month and how many have they got since they started?
Rgds Nick
ive been reading the comments on this site i currently use wonga but after what ive read about them i think this will be the last time i mean keeping ur bank details and passing it on to other parties collecting money whenever they want sod that il live on beans on toast for a week than risk that thanks people for the warnings ill steer clear in the future
i wouldnt say wonga is a scam, i think it all depends on how you use it. i mean we would all love the interest to be cheaper but every other company has around the same APR so you cant blame them. wonga does have its little extras like money in 15 minutes, loans for self-employed and extension dates. all i could recommend when using wonga is-
1) only use it if necessary, or your only end up in more debt
2) use a promocode, i used LFN585 and saved £7.50
3) dont borrow the lowest amount you need, if you decide to upper the loan they charge you more in transfer fees.
4) always borrow to the maxuim date, even if you do pay back early, you will still save on interest, saves you extending it aswell if you are capable of paying it within the month which requires a deposit
5) always think ahead with future income and that you are capable of payin it back
i hope this helps
dean.p
I stupidly and out of desperation took out a womga loan
worst mistake of my life! Checked my bank this morning and they have took 3 payments of 10pound out of my account and when I phoned them said I failed to keep up with my payment plan of 25pounds per week I have my bank statements which shows I have made these payments religiously can anyone help me please
I think you need to give them another call and tell them you have evidence that they have taken out the payments of £25. You may need to fax them a copy of your statements, but this should then sort out the problem.
I told them this and set up another payment plan but they persisted in taking another 10pound out of my account I have spoke to my bank and they have said to dispute this and also spoke to wonga again today and they have sent an email to right department I’m now worried they are going to take more money! You phone them asking to set up a payment plan to get you out of the situation and they put you in a worse one by taking money that isn’t there which then results in bank charges
I have just discovered Wonga has taken money for mu DADS card as I am now in a debt management program, so was advised to cancel my cards etc… My dad made a payment for me months ago, and gave no authority to take the money this time… Can Wonga do this legally? or do I or my dad have a case to claim money back and still put debt to the management Co?
This actually sounds very dodgy to me. As far as we know your Dad has NO liability to pay back your debt, so I’m sure he has a claim. However I’d get him to cancel his card now, or he may get more charges levied against him.
Hi All,
Well im just gonna get stuck right in. I used the wonga service to attempt to improve my credit rating. Soon as you have a loan with them the acccount appears on your credit file and then you get a 0 for repaying. I have always taken the maxium i can then repaid 24 hours later.
So the most recent one i done 1st SEP to repay today 2nd SEP loan amount 499 repay 509 and a few pence. Normally nice and smooth in and out, not this time, my banks fraud operations team prevented the payment going out of my account as they wanted to subject it to further checks. (i.e. talk to me).
Now i knew nothing about this and i dont really check my email’s until at 6:48PM i get a text saying i need to call their automated payment line (wonga), hmm strange, loan should have been repaid. When i check the balance it was at £83 something, what? how an earth can this be, repayment amount £509 balance £83 WTF?
So i call my bank to see what the score is, sure as shit, £509 declined for fraud checks which was subseqently lifted after authorisation now here comes the intersting part why the £83 balance? Well, after further digging wonga took three payments from my acccount, without going into specifics it looks like this:
1st payment = £250
2nd payment = £125
3rd Payment – £60
Now you have to ask yourself a couple of questions here! when a bank stops a payment for fraud reasona it does so for obivous reasons, the minute a payment is subjected to a fraud check that company can no longer requested payments or rather any further requests will simply be declined. Thats the purpose of it and its tried and tested many times before.
So now im pissed, i owe the money fair enough and i dont mind repaying it, that was my intention, what was not my intention was for wonga to some how BYPASS the fraud checking service and manage to take the funds from account even thou they were already prevented from doing so.
I have got to speak to Fraud Operations again tomorrow but my guess is that they either used a different company to take the money or a different merchant/gateway hopefully more light will come of it tomorrow.
Im firing both barrels at the them, this is clearly a serious breach in banking security in my opinion so under the DPA im requesting from wonga all the information they hold on me including the refusal codes from my bank and copies of the gateways they used and/or other companies to retrieve the funds.
I will also be writing to the FSA and Trading Standards.
Now for me, i will give them as much grief as i can simply becuase they have shown their true colours. People that truly could have been in financial difficulty should not be subjected to these types of tatics. One customer they really did not want to piss off.
You make me so mad! They can take the repayment in as many parts as they want if the first one is declined. you know why? because it clearly states they will do this in the credit agreement! my god! dumb asses! read befor you sign your life away! I am not from wonga! If this is enough proof – Dont use wonga you must be mad, payday loans are a rip off! But seriously I got myself into trouble with payday loans. Me not Wonga! Read the damn terms and conditions before desperatley clicking for money! Wonga to improve your credit rating? Wow you’re clever! Drawing funds from a payday lender makes you look desperate and immediately downs your credit score! They are only possibly going to improve someones credit that couldnt get any worse allready
neil, I think your reply was very harsh, after-all, (taken what is said to be true). he did plan to pay it, the money was there, the BANK stopped it due to fraut, this is neither the customer or wonga fault. I agree that it is odd they could still take money even with a fraud thing came out, but there might be a real reason for this. but still would be interesting to find out.
Your post is equal to a second post on here, words for word, so please dont just copy and paste. given this person clearly stated he was paying them the past loans and wanted to this time.
Just my view, but i do think you are being too harsh on this person. and next time please reply back with a valid reply that is not just a general type reply. ty
I dont understand what you mean about a general reply as i dont usually use these chat forums. The only thing I can think you mean when you say i have copied and pasted another persons post is the fact i posted it twice. once as a reply to the person who says that wonga cant do this etc and one in general at the bottom of the post. I have not copied anyones post it is about my personal experience with wonga and 5 other payday loan companies i used. yes a bit harsh but you dont know how silly people sound when they start ranting this companie has done this done that when its just them not looking into it properly. If your payment does not go through because your bank wouldnt let it but the funds were available between wonga and your bank you would get charges on the account waived. also my post is in the wrong place it is not where i posted it! wonga state they will try to take the payment in as many small chunks as they can until it is repaid. you are told this before you sign. it is for your best interest as you get multiple chances on your promise date to repay as if it goes past the date you will be charged. as for it being wrong for wonga to bypass fraud they havent, your bank has decided in the end to let it go through. if they didnt want to let the money leave it wouldnt! wonga just do as they say in the agreemnet. I do not see youre problem with my post. I was blunt but total matter of fact. also if you look into every part of the persons post i replied to he doesnt have a problem with anything, he hasnt been charged he is just outraged wonga bypassed fraud and is complaining to the fsa! my point was he was very dramatic and wrong!
im not being rude and i would be interested to hear your reply. to clear up this posts in the wrong place i replied to WongaGoingDown about wonga taking payment even though it had been intercepted by his banks fraud department! I replied you make me so mad! etc.. assuming we are taliking about the same posts i have justread them again and i see my comment totally valid. i do on the other hand not think yours is valid. unless we are replying to different posts! you seem to be defending the wrong person as your defence for him makes no sense to his case?
How about personal responsibility? If you are old enough to spend 400 pounds you are old enough to realise that loans come with interest and I think Wonga – in true internet spirit – are pretty up front about it. If you don’t like the service then don’t use it (I don’t) but please God don’t blame other people because you can’t get your sh*t together. I don’t blame N-A-P for making me buy expensive handbags I really don’t need.
I am sure some of the comments on here are from Wonga… as are there some from it’s competitors. Thats the beauty of the internet.
-J
The thing you have to remember is to choose the right repayment date. A lot of the time I think they try to take the money out at 3am on the due date, so if your wages are going in that day they might not be in your account til 9am, so when they go to get it then it bounces. I know a couple of friends who have had this happen to them. But whenever I use it, I make the promise date about two days after when I actually get my money, then I go online and pay it off early (really easy to do) so it improves my trust rating thing. I was moving house and needed money for deposit for the new flat, but I wasn’t eligible for any other credit, and I knew it would be a few weeks til I got the deposit back from the old flat so I was doing it that way. Much cheaper than bank charges, and you know exactly how much it is that you owe. I’m currently making an application on their website, but it’s taking a while (I only just repaid one loan today so don#’t know if this will go through or not) and I was bored so thought I’d see what other people were saying about them.
How do Wonga ensure the person applying for the is actually who they say they are? My daughter has never had a loan with Wonga but despite that they have been given her bank account details and have taken two amounts out and as it fell between two statements being sent she wasn’t aware until her account went over drawn. So I’m back to my original question what checks to Wonga make before handing over the money?
I have used Wonga several times over the past twelve months. I am self employed and the flow of my income is erratic, to say the least. No one wants to know when you go three months with too little in the bank to pay all the bills, even though you pay in full when the money does come in. The hassle can be a real pain. Wonga has provided the flexibility to cover this and I have been meticulous in keeping my side of the agreement. Reading the above, it seems most people are insistent on Wonga sticking to the letter of the deal, whilst they see their own failings as being something Wonga should sort for them! I don’t think Wonga is a scam. It does what it says on the tin. If you don’t want what’s in the tin, don’t buy it!
I have used this company on a couple of occasions which had helped me out in a time of need, however despite their efficient service on these two occasions the companies service went down hill when I applied for a small third loan which was declined for no apparent reason.
Their claim is that all applications are put through a computer which will assess your credibility as a customer. Having paid back two large loans without a problem and having no credit issues in the mean time I failed to see how they had managed to come to such a silly decision.
I contacted the customer service department only to find you had to listen to endless pre-recorded messages and couldnt actually speak to anyone about the decision. I eventually managed to email them and was fobbed off with the same rubbish as before.
Total waste of time, I wish I had never gone with them as all I get is regular emails telling me how wonderful their service is and please don’t hesitate to apply again…. Guess what apply again and get knocked back!!!
Wonga.com go rot!!!!!
Wonga made a profit of £17 million in the year ended 31 December 2011. One Director got paid £1.59 million! They only have 15 staff,according to their own accounts.
Remember that before you give them any business – you are being exploited.
The company is owned by various venture capitalists – Americans, French, South African, British, Israeli – they are preying on the financially vulnerable.
They bank with HSBC, and have borrowings with Silicon Valley Bank.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY OR ANY OTHER LOAN SHARKS – Go to your local credit union instead – they can provide lending at much better rates, and your money goes back into the community – not into the pockets of rich venture capitalists.
Today I successfully repaid my first Wonga short-term loan. I was desperate when I took it but still knew it would be repaid succesfully if my ‘Promise Date’ was set to today. Ive had a really good experience so far but am now very worried that Wonga are going to start making random debits from my account so I’m regreting sharing my bank and card details with them in the first place.
I believe the amount of APR they charge, 360% (the thousands of £’s is misleading as it is compounded) is fair as they provide short-term loans to nearly anyone, including those with poor credit.
There Customer Care dept. are crap though. I called them today as they promised me £20 cash if I recommended anyone using this code: tqg434.
My friend used the code to have the £5.50 ‘Rapid Transfer Fee’ or whatever they call it waived.
As of yet I have not recieved the cash. Trivial I know compared to some peoples issues but the woman on the end of the phone sounded like she didnt know what she was doing. Doesnt instill much confidence in the company as a whole IMO.
Bottom line: Only use Wonga if you have to, only if you are desperate (ie. no other options) and only if you know you can pay on the date you say you can.
I do think it is unfair to bombared people with Wonga advertising (football shirts, 3 adverts per hour, friendly trustworthy-looking old-age puppets, sliders ect.). Some people are vulnerable and cant say NO to this can of temptation. I know its all about personal resposibility (I can assure you I can restrain myself) but some people are vulnerable and shouldnt be targeted
You make me so mad! They can take the repayment in as many parts as they want if the first one is declined. you know why? because it clearly states they will do this in the credit agreement! my god! dumb asses! read befor you sign your life away! I am not from wonga! If this is enough proof – Dont use wonga you must be mad, payday loans are a rip off! But seriously I got myself into trouble with payday loans. Me not Wonga! Read the damn terms and conditions before desperatley clicking for money! Wonga to improve your credit rating? Wow you’re clever! Drawing funds from a payday lender makes you look desperate and immediately downs your credit score! They are only possibly going to improve someones credit that couldnt get any worse allready
I like the way you say they took 30.52 withouth asking. must say its just you being stupid and not reading things properley. Ive used them many times, a rip off? yes they are, responsible lenders id say not. I juggled 6 different payday loans with 6 different companies, one of which was wonga, for over 12 months. as you pay some off one the others offer yopu the same amountin extra top up loans etc. Id say they are all communicating with eachother and lending out to people to within the last few pennies of what they earn! Also I checked my credit report regulary whilst using the differtent loans and my financial commitments and number of searches was through the roof. This is information which all these companies viewed each month before they lent me out another loan yet they still kept lending to me when I was clearly pushing things past my limit and well over comitted. I only managed to break the cycle by borrowing £1800 from my dad. This is the problems with payday loans. No they are not a scam. Yes they do operate legally. No they do not take money early, I dont belive any of you that say they did. They are very clear what you are signing up for, the cost is explained upfront, any late fees are explained upfront and they stick to it. You people that say otherwise are twisting the truth because you are ashamed of the situation you got yourself in. If you have problems you ring them in advance and they are very understanding and helpful to your needs. yes they will add charges but this is all explained at the beginning of the agreement and im sorry to say but they are payday loans. You are never entering into an agreement more than 31 days long. If you take money out and 31 days later you cant pay it back you are stupid as your financial situation wouldnt of changed much in that time period and you knew what you were getting yourself in for. They are irresponsible these payday companies but so are the people using them including myself! Used correctly they are very efficient. For example wonga for £1000 for 5 days would cost at a guess £55. For some people that have lots of money in and out of their accounts this could be perfect if they fell short for a coulpe of days and had transactions to be made. Also quickquid if you become a loyal customer, which i was you can get down to £17 per £100 borrowed for 35 days. By far the cheapest.
Specifically about your comment about they took money without asking. No they didnt! If you read the screen correctly you would of realised that for you to extend your loan, by law, you have to pay back all charges and interest to date. This is the law with patday loans. That would also explain why it was taken a day early. If you extend your loan it has to be before the agreed pay back date. When you extend it they take the interest and charges so far. Really! Im a victim! Really! This evil company raped me! No your just to quick to agee to things without reading properly.
Reply
I have received several letters from wonga under someone elses name but with my address and postcode. obviously a fraudulent application. i have contacted Wonga and explained the situation but still have letters weekly. I am concerned that this bad debt at my address will affect my credit rating if in future I want to apply for credit. I have asked them to take all my details off their system and that I want a letter stating that the loan was nothing to do with me. I was told ‘we don’t send letters’ I pointed out that them obviously do as I had received several of them. Now awaiting letter but not convinced that it will be forthcoming. Any advice?
OK, yes the terms are there before you decide to borrow. But why can you not view a history of your transactions? I wanted to review exactly what my borrowing had cost me over a period of almost a year ( via multiple loans and extensions) they claim on their site, that they would like to do this. Well why don’t they, when every other bank, credit card company or other provider easily do so. The truth is that despite the rhetoric in the ads, they dont believe their own claims & know that in the cold light of day, people would come to the conclusion that it is unsustainably expensive, if they could view their entire transaction history. They will if you serve a data protection notice on them, at a further cost of £10.00. This is something that most banks/ companies give you on a statement for no extra charge.
My adice: stay well clear, come to arrangements with your providers if you have problems with bills, maybe borrow off family for a short period, if possible go without something. Only go to Wonga if you are absolutly desperate and have absolutly NO ALRTERNATIVE.
DISGRACEFUL!
Just found this website now. and i think wonga.com is a big fat scamming con artiats. i am a single mother on benefits but uet wonga still give you a loan hmmm not really ideal for someone like me. i am now havibg to extend my loan every month as i physically cannot afford to pay £632 off i have one more extension then i have to find £600+ from somewhere. i ranf wonga today to find myself put on hold for 7 minutea i then gave up as i had my 3 year old wanting to go out. I have now made a complaint and will see what theu do nob Ove also had to apply for a Dett Relief Order. I think wonga make it too easy to get a loan and people who cannot afford to pay it back spiral out of control ibto debts we cannot get out of.
Anyone using these kind of loan companies deserves to be ripped off.