INTRODUCTION.
********************
Last Summer I found myself in a seriously stretched financial hole.
My bills were increasing, my outstanding debts were piling on the interest, and my personal overdraft was fit to burst.
I felt rather despairing, as, being a tennant, I had always ... Read review
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A review by genn133423 on Citigroup March 6th, 2005
Author's product rating:
Additional Charges
average
Ease of Application
excellent
Advantages:
Ultra - friendly staff, deal with tennant loans, good repayment options .
Disadvantages:
None that I can think of .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
INTRODUCTION. ********************
Last Summer I found myself in a seriously stretched financial hole. My bills were increasing, my outstanding debts were piling on the interest, and my personal overdraft was fit to burst.
I felt rather despairing, as, being a tennant, I had always found in the past, that most lenders only want to deal with the home-owner market, when it comes to lending money.
I scoured the internet, newspapers, magazines for a solution-nothing seemed forth coming.
As a last resort, I sat down one evening, with my local "Yellow Pages" to see if I had missed anything.
Purely by chance, as I thumbed through the pages, I read a bold dark blue titled advert-"Citi Group-incorporating Citi Financial".
The advert claimed that this reputable company(I had heard of them) would offer loans to almost anyone-including tennants and people with a low credit score-sounded like me!!
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT. *****************************
I decided to give them a call-I had nothing to lose. Nervously, I dialled the number. After only three rings a warm voice answered-and it was a person-not a computerised voice message.
I briefly outlined my personal circumstances-working full time, tennant with possibly below-average credit rating.
I explained I only wished to borrow a small sum-about £1000-to clear some of my debt, and reduce my monthly outgoings.
The lady said that it should be no problem, and if I came to see them, she was sure they could help!
I couldn"t beleive it-all the way to their local branch, two days later, I kept thinking that she had made a mistake-and that when I got there, she would greet me with "Hello-look, I"m ever so sorry, but we checked your records and found that we can"t help you....no one can....(cue the dark, dramatic music of despair-that my paranoia was creating in my head).
On arrival, no so thing actually happened. I was met with a cheery hello and given a cup of coffee whilst waiting to see an advisor.
The lady I saw was called Jo, and was so nice I almost forgot I was there to apply for a loan! I filled out a short application covering the usual-address, work and salary details, incomings and outgoings. This only took about half an hour, and then Jo went off to "process" my application.
I sat waiting for her to return and tell me they could not help me.... It seemed worse as it was a boiling hot August day, and I felt stifled.
When she came back, only ten minutes later, she commented that I looked really hot, and opened the window-how considerate was that!
She sat down and smiled... "Well-I"m pleased to tell you that we can offer you some help with this."
The words were like music to my ears. Jo explained that whilst they could"nt loan me the full £1000 I"d requested(due to an outstandind debt on my credit file) they were happy to lend me £600 at a very painless rate of repayments-£46 per month for 18 months.
I worked out that meant I would repay them about £750 all together-not too bad. Believe me. Most lenders that do deal with tennants, offer only sky-high repayments, or you end up paying off the loan for the rest of your natural life!!
We completed the paperwork and that was that-all done in under an hour. I left their office with a definite spring in my step-it wasn"t the full amount I needed-but it would certainly take the financial strain off.
I agreed to repay the loan via convinient direct debit-and received a cheque from them within 3 days of my appointment-very prompt service.
That was about 7 months ago. I have continued to repay my loan to them, month by month-and have had no problems whatsoever.
Earlier this week, I got a letter from them saying because I am a valued exisiting customer, they would like to offer me a higher loan amount, should I need it. I am mulling this over-it is good to know that there is more credit there for me, should I need it-but I do not want anyone reading this to think that borrowing more and more is a good solution to debt worries. It"s not-and for me, it honestly was a last resort-thankfully, since then my situation has improved.
I do, however believe, that it was thanks to this friendly company, that I managed to finally sort out my finances, and move forward again-so I would highly recommend them-to anyone in a similar position.
COMPANY INFORMATION. *********************************
"CitiFinancial" is a registered service mark of "CitiCorp"-a member of "CitiGroup". They are the trading "style" of "CitiFinancial Europe plc", which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. ****************************************
Registered head office-
87, Castle Street, Reading, Berkshire. RG1 7DX.
CitiGroup.co.uk
Branches nationwide across the UK-consult your local "Yellow Pages" for your nearest branch telephone number.
Opening Hours-
Monday-Friday 9.00am-5.30pm
Saturday By appointment
Personal loans from £500-£10,000-Everyone welcome to apply.
Advantages: None Disadvantages: Too many to mention
DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY
I found myself in a rather disaterous financial situation just a few weeks ago and got put into contact with Citi Financial who, after a phonecall said that the would be able to help me with a loan for more than what I had orginally asked for.
We went through the application over the phone and then they asked me to come into the branch for my signature. Needless to say, I had to take half a days holiday from work to ... ...the docs and got told the cheques would be in the post the following day.
On my way home from the branch I got a call from the guy I had been dealing with, but didnt have any battery left on my phone, so called him back the following day and left a message for him to say I had returned his call.
A week went by, and no cheques arrived, so I decided to give them a quick call.
Chatted to the guy who said that he had put my address in incorrectly ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: easy loan Disadvantages: blacklisting without cause and very rude unhelfull staff
march 2004 applied for a loan wtih citifinancial - everything fine. Folks at local branch excellent. Loan granted and 36 payments of £150.70 compleated in April 2007 - payment taken again in May 2007. I complained and £150.70 returned promptly.
Asked for PIF (paid in full) letter on two occasions, nothing
July 2008
Letter from Cabot financial - bought my debt from Citi - what debt - staff at Cabot more than helpfull.
Citi have gone against me ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: None unless you are refused EVERYWHERE else Disadvantages: Outrages charges, cheeky staff, no help if you are in difficulty.increase rates repeatedly
...and totally unhelpful and unsympathetic, despite being a member of Citigroup, who claim to follow all the relevant codes. We are in the process of writing to the Chairman of Citigroup. In a nutshell, DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY - THEY ARE CHARLATANS AND WILL CHARGE YOU OUTRAGEOUS FEES FOR DOING VIRTUALLY NOTHING!!...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: repairs credit rating. good first credit card Disadvantages: high interest rates, charges
...Well I’ve been away from ciao for some time now and I’ve finally decided to neglect my fellow ciaoers no longer. As for my review. I firstly must point out that I do not own nor ever have owned an Associates visa card. For those of you quickly dragging your mouse to the ‘unhelpful’ button, before you click I would just like to point out that I did however work in their customer service department for nearly 2 years as a customer account manager so I hope the following will be a resourceful insight for you all.
The Name Change
Those of you who already have an Associates account should now all be aware of the fact that the Associates are now trading under the name of Citigroup. More specifically, your credit card will be issued by Citicard. This encompasses a number of different financial sections of the parent company Citigroup...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
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