Wednesday 14 April 2010

Short Term Loans Advertised On TV



I could hardly believe what I was seeing last night whilst I was watching Five. It wasn't the building suppliers in "Cowboy Builders" giving away stuff when asked very nicely by ex page 3 girl Melinda Messenger. No, it was during the ad breaks when a short term loan website (which shall remain nameless for now)was advertised. The advert explained how simple it was to borrow a few quid to tide you over for a short time. And the money would be in your account in fifteen minutes. Now I can see that being very useful. But if you looked closely at the screenshot from the website there was a very interesting figure "Typical Apr 2689%". Now I don't know what you think but didn't such lenders used to be referred to as loan sharks? If you visit the website you will find the lenders' explanation as to why the rate is so high but there is no escaping the fact that if you borrow the maximum £400 for the maximum thirty days you will pay £125.48 in interest and charges. If you borrowed the same sum on a bank overdraft at say 12% you would pay £3.94. That makes the web site's charges 31 times the going rate.Even at a ridiculous 34% credit card rate it would only cost you £11.17. The site hides behind a ridiculous explanation for their charges but there's no escaping the fact that this is exploitation pure and simple. If you really need a few pounds to tide you over until pay day this has to be the very last resort. Please don't be taken in. There is no justification whatsoever for these rates. And as for FIVE? Shame on you for accepting their money.



I'm into my third day of my stint in solitary now. I'm not sure that I will last eight months but at least Dave Wilson and Gavin are getting the opportunity to learn the ropes in the office and I hear that they have already picked up a fair deal. We've got a Dealer Newsletter going out this week so yesterday I spent a few hours sticking labels on envelopes. I've got a few thousand more to do today and then there's a big pile of filing so I've got a really exciting week ahead of me.



This week's Orange Wednesday cinema trip is to the new Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant film "Cemetery Junction". The newspaper reviews won't be out until Friday but I caught a radio one on "Front Row" last night and Mark Lawson was not exactly gushing. Comparisons with Richard Curtis were made. I know that Curtis' films are very unpopular with the broadsheet critics but I'm one of those lowbrow people who enjoy a bit of sentimentality (as anyone who has read my novel will know).So I'm quite looking forward to it. Not expecting a lot as their directing experience is in TV but it may be a laugh. The other choice was "Whip It" starring Drew Barrymore but after feeling like a granddad in "Kick Ass" last week we'll give that one a miss until next week.




As soon as I saw it, I thought that the cover of the Labour Manifesto had echoes of Chairman Mao and I wasn't alone as a number of newspapers made the same comparison.This is not a political comment, merely an observation. As usual the Guardian's ace cartoonist Steve Bell made a perfect parody. I can't reproduce it without permission but you can check it out by clicking here


When I tidied out my desk the other day I fond hundreds of business cards. I always thought they might come in useful one day. I might have a try at this. And if you are one of the fifty people that I actually gave one to in the last twenty years, congratulations, you may have a collector's item. And no it doesn't have my mobile number on it.




2 comments:

  1. Short term loans are as the name suggests meant for solving small term financial difficulties. Short term loans are approved and transferred to the borrower within the time span of one day. They are easily accessible and offered without credit checks. The catch with short term loans is that they come with high interest rates. However, they are the best debt instruments to prevent short term money problems from converting into long term ones.

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  2. Sorry Donna I disagree. An overdraft is by far the best way of solving short term difficulties and is a fraction of the cost.

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