same as above...paid off now and left me without the buffer i prefer...but ho-hum.
You should try talking to these people....hopeless.
I have been trying to get a 40p per month 'protection' fee removed for about 2 and a half years....computer says no.
Shut that as well ...the internet is adrift with people hacked off by cahoot.., being given contradictory addresses and just being treated like customers of the very worst double-glazing cowboys..they are rubbish
The senior management is on a bonus to drive everyone off,,,surely!!!!!

you are quite right

i got fobbed off with the answer that

we have carried out an in depth analysis of the flexible

loan market and the rate of 19.9% is comparable with other

lenders

this is crap the highest apr is hsbc @ 16%

and besides why would you carry out an in depth analysis

for something which is no longer a product of your company

im still awaiting their reply to that

dunno about you but i  am now at a stage 2 complaint

i think they use stage complaints because as you say

cowboys is the word,and if they keep fobbing me off i

am of the opinion that they hope i will go away

i wont,and i may keep £1 in debit to this account

just to keep it open........ 

Sometimes its better if you have things in your life that dont work, or are unsuitable to get them out of you life,
The best service i have ever had is from my marbles card, im just going to be more careful who i borrow from if any , .....
cahoot a few years ago did have a security breach so i would not recommend you keep this account open with just £1.00 you wont keep track of it, and if there was anything untoward happening you might find someone has withdrawn the loan ,
I understand your reasoning though,
best to get ride of bad rubbish,

johnnie

THNX

JUST A BIT OF ANGER THERAPY....

ITS UNFORTUNATE THAT THE LIKES OF FOS ETC CANNOT HELP

 

 

I have a cahoot flexible loan since May last year, I've checked my loan account on cahoot's web site and it says that my APR is 6.9%

What does other peoples say?
 

well if that is up to date hang on in there,but check your cahoot messages

god luck a lot of people like myself started at that rate and are now at 19.9 

Yes basically the same situation for me. Am going through the complaints proceedure with Abbey National at the moment. The Abbeys reason for refusing the loan is twaddle. Why can't they simply transfer the cash to the flexible loan and either close the flexible loan facility or reduce the credit limit as appropriate? As you say Abbey and Cahoot are sisiter companies..

No doubt I will get a ridiculous 'up yours' response from the Abbey complaints departmant as I did from Cahoot. I will then go to the banking ombusman. Not hopeful though. I am informed that the Bankers Omdusman would be more appropriate name

If the rate does go up again I will be contacting the Debt management team. Stuff the credit rating, I have other credit cards who have been fair with me and I will honour my debt to them. In view of Cahoots behaviour I have no moral issues with with telling them to get stuffed, after all that is what they are saying to me and other Flexible loan customers!!

Neill          

yes it is a bad situation with abbey/cahooot

they have been taken over by a spanish bank santander

however i  believe they are not being fair to the customer and

having gone through all their twat i can only say that what

i am doing is telling friends colleagues and forums just

what they are about.

I am awaiting a legal response from a solicitor friend

 

Is it legal for a company to provide a flexible loan

to customers of that company 

when they do not have a flexible loan available

to new customers?

and if they offer lower rates to new customers 

to borrow money is this legal?

we must always remember thast in cahoots

terms and conditions

they do state that they are part of abbey .

dont lose out keep up the momentum

there are plenty of forums interested in

what is happening with cahoots loan

sharking

try: martin lewis money expert forum for starters

if cahoot are screwing people like myself for money

then i for one am going to make sure that others

will not be screwed 

 

Hi

 Try for a loan with Citibank.

I've been turned down for credit more times than I care to remember, due to a bad credit rating from when I was with my ex.

I've recently got a loan with them with an apr of 15.72% - I know it's not great but much better than taking the arangement that Cahoot have offered you.  If you do accept their payment plan, they'll register a default against you that will stop you getting any reasonable credit for the next 6 years.  Trust me I've been down that road with them & have been paying for it ever since.

 Hope this helps - good luck

Ellielou

I have given up on banks, If i cant afford it i dont have it, old fashioned i know, but there are so many advantages to being debt free,


Last year I moved my business bank current account and mortgage to Abbey national,
After 6 months i applied for an increase overdraft on my current business account, from 2k to 5k, I was then told We know you sell cigarette papers , you are considered an unethical business and we are closing your account, This left me with a business that was busy, and no bank ,,,,,,,, so i moved to bank of scotland, ,,,,, the funny thing is when i phoned them as the house that is mortgaged it has a industrial unit with it, thats mortgaged will abbey national on a business mortgage, I asked " you wont want my mortgage then" they replied different department and that doesn't affect the banking code that we closed your current account down with, I lost my temper swore at them, and they closed my account that day,,,,,,,,,,
Im happy with Bank of Scotland, :

15%+ is far too expensive, and would rather go without, but thanks for the suggestion

cahoot/abbey finally gave me a response stating that

my apr will stay at 19.9% without answering specific questions

e.g.i am a loyal customer ,no defaults,9.9 to 19.9 why....the list goes on

so i have now involved the banking ombudsman ,

i will keep all informed as to progress

Cahoot owned by Abbey National is dreadful

1) the loan you get is invariably at a higher interest rate than you thought.

2) the rate is increased at no notice. I am currently on 21% from 11% never having missed a payment.

3) reduced my facility to £5000 from £13000 with no  notice.

4) They never reply.

Cahoot - don't.

yeh they are definite loan sharks,

as i have said before we are paying for defaulters,and bad management practise.

i am now at the ombudsman level hope other people follow suit 

GO VERY CAREFUL!  As noted above others have had similar experiences. Basically Cahoot reel customers in with a low APR advertised. This is not an introductory rate but what appears to be ongoing.  My rate increased from 6.9% to 14.9% in one swoop!!! An effective increase of 216% on the cost of borrowing.

The terms and conditions allow them to increase the rate for almost any business reason.

I complained to Cahoot on May 2007. I escalated the complaint to Abbey. I had to write 3 letters before they acknowledged my complaint. All attempts to state how unfair this was have been ignored.

Considering the moto "treating customers fairly" as bounded around by the FSA, what I have encountered is Abbey/Cahoot reeling customers in with attractive rates before applying massive hikes on APR rates!

This is very similar to practices of 'loan sharks', by one of the largest banks!  I have over 5 years complaint handling experience within financial services including Abbey contracts and I rarely get caught out. However, this time Abbey have really hit me below the belt and a whole lot of other customers no doubt.

I am now complaining to the Ombudsman.  Failing that a letter to the FSA. At least by complaining to the Ombudsman Abbey will have to pay £300 in a fee towards the investigation if the Ombudsman service are able to look at such loans. I myself am not certain of this as have been dealing with different products.

Please be very careful! Use a reputable company like Nationwide or take a fixed rate loan.

Since the hike I was made redundant and subsequently now self employed for less than a year so any chance of me obtaining a decent rate are narrow, but if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear from you.

 

like some other people i too have gone as far as the financial ombudsman service

and if it costs cahoot,if it makes the ombudsman aware of their practice and if it

makes individuals aware of their loan sharking then at least a positive gain is achieved

if not a financial one

thank you