Parky

Payday loan company Wonga has been told by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) it must improve its debt collection practices, after it emerged it had sent letters to customers accusing them of committing fraud. The OFT said it had seen letters sent out to borrowers who were struggling with repayments suggesting they may be guilty of fraud, and that Wonga would consider contacting the police if the customer did not act as it requested. The regulator said Wonga, which has attracted criticism for the high interest rates it charges on short-term borrowing, had sent the letters without having sufficient evidence that fraud had been committed. The letters were sent to people who had made a payment to Wonga and then contacted their bank to ask it to retract the payment, and to people who had fallen behind on repayments and entered a debt management plan. The OFT said it had also seen a call script used by Wonga which told customers working in the public or financial sectors that their terms of employment said they should not be in debt. A spokesman for the regulator said he was not able to say how many customers had received these communications, but "it was not a one-off letter". Wonga has now been told it must not send such letters again and could face a fine of up to £50,000 for every instance of it breaking the rule. Evidence of the practice first emerged in October 2010, and the OFT proposed a requirement on Wonga in July 2011 not to send the letters again, but the lengthy legal processes involved mean it has only now been able to make public the requirement. David Fisher, OFT Director of Consumer Credit, said: "We have acted to ensure that Wonga does not behave this way again. I would like to make it clear to businesses that they must not adopt aggressive or misleading practices with their customers."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/being-liverpool-brendan-rodgers-envelope-1369893

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/why-wonga-has-no-place-on-a-newcastle-united-1369780

Poster child status achieved. You know what I mean though. I would have been cheaper.

“Anybody who knows me and knows my management will tell you I am desperate to win something, and I think I have got a team that potentially can do that,” said Pardew. “Will we win the Premier League? Well, that’s probably beyond us – the size of squads of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea at the weekend, it’s going to make it very, very difficult for us to bridge that gap unless we get into the Champions League. “I still think that’s probably our best route to grow as a football club. “Having said that, a cup win would certainly raise our fans’ morale and the club’s morale, and that’s something I’m focusing on as much as that Champions League position.” He basically comes out with any old bollocks.

Poster child status achieved.

Noone batted an eyelid when it was Northern Rock. A company that offered 125% mortgages to customers that were allowed to self-certify their incomes. Yeah but on a sliding scale we're....err...Off the scale. NR were doing much the same as other deregulated banks.

you try telling that to slim mike and have him look at you like your some kind of space monkey.

thats alot. Cause they're not run by barrow boys.

Paid equivalent to £11 at Geneva airport for a sandwich.

Spurs get 15m a year for the shirt alone.

They have done in the past, the problem is that by the time the ASA react it's too late for many. As for them charging as much as people are willing to pay, desperate people do desperate things, and I know not every customer is dong it because they've no food to eat. Can you give an example? Yeah Barca are sponsored by Unicef.

Good post. Regardless of the ethical debate how in the name of all that is holy is this a good 'brand' to get into bed with? It's wrong on so many levels as a partner brand and one that might in the long term alienate other brands from getting onboard. Many companies get trickle down or by association financial benefits from being associated with strong brands or 'sexy brands'**...It attracts other business. I can't see other brands thinking 'yeah let's get involved with Newcastle cause they're sponsored by a borderline loan shark business. In the medium term this just doesn't really make any business sense to me. The money of 6/7m a year whatever it is will make not a shred of difference to our ability to compete against the top 4 anyway. Why get involved? Simply can't fathom it. ** Apple and Nike are sexy brands.

Agree.

Totally agree.

What Wonga do is illegal in France, Germany and most of the U.S. In germany ursuary is a prisonable offence. Just to bring some context to the discussion.

How do they prey on people? Genuine question, I've seen it mentioned a lot. Because their target audience are families (single mothers etc) in serious jeapordy combined with financial illiteracy and often just surviving week to week. The most vulernable in society as it were. It's wildly disengenous to take the 'they deserve it' cause they're idiots etc...stance (not saying you are). I understand there isn't much we can do about it other than moaning about it. But I fancy the gut feeling of most on here is that this is a highly distasteful situation and not one a football club with any real concern for the host community should be going anyway near for it legitamises the operation.

This is a great post this like, you could pick apart every sponsor in some way or another. Lets just say, it is what it is and fuck it. Why stop at vermin when we can get head lice? Serioulsy let's find out how much arms manufacturers are offering...Fyck that let's get Blackwater and cut out the middle man. Only Lambyarse and Mashley could dream this shit up. Still wont change nowt though. Not happy about it but what if they put millions into the local community, what then ?. Cut off the arms of every person who handled their money. [/vietcong]. Hey, i'm off for a poo, probably made the toilet paper in a sweatshop in taiwan by kids aged 4, bastards but its so soft on my bumhole Seriously though, not the best sponsor. This club is never straight forward is it. Sad day.

They prey on people betting they won't stick to the payments and as many in serious jeapordy often play one lender off against another that is where the profit is. There wouldn't really be much money in the model if people didn't roll over payments and so on..

This is a great post this like, you could pick apart every sponsor in some way or another. Lets just say, it is what it is and fuck it. Why stop at vermin when we can get head lice? Serioulsy let's find out how much arms manufacturers are offering...Fyck that let's get Blackwater and cut out the middle man. Only Lambyarse and Mashley could dream this shit up. Still wont change nowt though. Not happy about it but what if they put millions into the local community, what then ?. Cut off the arms of every person who handled their money. [/vietcong].

This is a great post this like, you could pick apart every sponsor in some way or another. Lets just say, it is what it is and fuck it. Why stop at vermin when we can get head lice? Serioulsy let's find out how much arms manufacturers are offering...Fyck that let's get Blackwater and cut out the middle man. Only Lambyarse and Mashley could dream this shit up. Serioulsy getting sponsorship money from a company that rips off poor people and people who are facing hard choices about putting food on the table of paying an electric bill. It's wrong whichever way you reletavise it.

Loan sharks on the kit. It's like all PR nightmares rolled into one. This won't end well and it won't last.

http://www.true-faith.co.uk/tbawe.html

Put a donk on it.

Loves to play in the hole apparently.