After much time spent pondering i decided that i would buy a second car and had been thinking about the best way to go about this. I didn't have exactly have the cash in the bank to splash out on a brand new fire engine red Ferrari or for that matter a not so new beige Robin Reliant. So therefore i realised i had 3 options.
1. I could steal one....(not really thought through). 2. Buy the car on financedirect form a dealer although i imagine that when you arrive at the showroom quoting the superfandango zero percent cash back free insurance deal offer it applied to the one car in said showroom that cost more than my house. 3. Get a personal loan.
After about two seconds of considering these options i decided that option 1 was the one to go for..............just
kidding, option 3 it was.
APR's %%%%% ___________________
I wanted a loan that i could apply for online due to my busy work and family commitments so i typed 'loans' into google and soon realised that it was a tad broad search field. I narrowed my search to meet my requirements as follows, ' personal online unsecured loans'. This managed to omit most but certainly not all those mega interest debt consilidation companies that advertise between two abysmal daytime tv programmes on channel five.(nb, recently had a day off sick). I wanted to find a low interest rate but at the same time wanted to borrow from a company i had heard of and at least employed humans and not just some faceless website that could close or move the next day. I tried some of the better known banks, loan companies and even supermarkets and found that although they all advertised a super low rate, approx, 4.8% i found that in every case when you got a quote this wasnt the rate applied. To get this rate i had to borrow enough money that i could afford to be personally fed truffles by David Beckham in The Palm resort in Dubai. However when i entered my loan amount, under 10k, i found that the APR was almost exactly the same from one company to the other and only amounted to pennies difference each month.
Having realised the actual cost element was virtually identical i decided that my other requirement was the firms reputation and also the ease of actually using their website. Due to banking with LloydsTSB i decided that they would be my first point of call to obtaining the car of my dreams that i would drive off into the sunset clutching a beautif......sorry, got carried away with my writing.
The Application __________
As previously mentioned i bank with Lloyds so they already had my personal details and knew how i managed my account. This really sped up the application process. I didnt have to enter anything about my income or expenditure as this was obviously taken from the account itself. The only items i had to specify was the loan amount and the loan period. I found this part of the site very easy and helpful to use as it gave you the opportunity to experiement. Eg, you could see how much 3k would cost over 24 months and then see how much 3.5k would cost over 30 months. It then gave you the opportunity to revert any of your previous quotes with immeadiate effect.
The next decision i had to make was how to confirm my application. I could request them to send details of application out in the post for me to sign which they estimated would take about 3-4 days which i thought was a reasonable turn around time. Another option was to 'Quicksign' the documents online which meant i had to enter my internet banking password and one other piece of security information and that would then complete the process. i decided that since i had thought over the loan for some time that i was definite in my decision to obtain a loan so went for the quicksign option. Just before i clicked the quicksign and then continue button i was informed that that the decision on the loan was instant. I assumed that this would mean a few hours or maybe a day, but it really did mean instant. Immeadiatly i had a response saying that i had been accepted for the loan and the money would be in my account within 24 hours. I was impressed with the speed of processing and was pleased and can i say slightly smug with myself for choosing this particular bank. As i returned back to my acocunt screen i was taken aback by the balance of my account......... which had increased by a few thousand pounds! It was so instant that it almost didnt seem like real money and needless to say that my wife who was sat beside me during the process wasnt impressed when i suggested chancing a grand on the 4.40 at epsom.........i was joking of course........or was i??
...and finally _______
no doubt if anyone actually reads this review they will either say, 1. Money matters should be taken seriously and not joked about, 2. this review is far too long and boring, or 3. who cares anyway! Well all i will say is this. I wanted an online loan, i wanted a quick decision and it certainly was that and to be quite honest i didnt want to have to confirm my application by talking to some halfwit who doesnt even know what a bank account is let alone a loan. (NB. just a quick note to dissuade anyone complaining they too are a halfwit that works in on of these places, it is not meant as a sweeping generalisation as it sounds, because if it was, my wife would be the first to bring up that she works in a call centre, duly before stabbing me in the eye with a spoon..thank you please)
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I really like banking with LloydsTSB . . . the online account page shows all my accounts (regardless of at which branch they were actually set-up; if it's a LloydsTSB account, it's there) . . .
. . . . . . ♥ . jes . ♥
HotBabes 19.02.2006 17:09
That was enjoyable to read. Hope you got your car too! x
anonymili 16.01.2006 23:46
Amusing review of something that could have been really boring, cheers. Mil x
Advantages: Easy way to keep track of finances Disadvantages: Can be slow at times
Great_reviewer07 12.01.2009 (12.01.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Lloyds TSB Online Banking
Advantages: Track account movements and transfer instantly between accounts. Apply for e-savngs account. Disadvantages: Access code device doesn't work overseas
Advantages: They will extend your overdraft without your prior knowledge or permission Disadvantages: That overdraft will then cost you darely should you ever fall into financial difficulties
Advantages: I can check my balance or whether a payment has gone out without leaving the house. I can also set up a full months bill payments in one go. Disadvantages: I still have to go to town to get money out - unfortunately I can't see a solution to this problem
di-buzz 20.07.2001 ·
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Review of LloydsTSB
Advantages: A hard copy statement can be printed out. Disadvantages: No identification of who has been paid, or paid you, although this information is provided in the normal monthly statement sent by post.
very helpful by (100%):
