Upon perusing my options of a low interest rate loan, I ran across the 1st Payday Loans website and filled out the online application. I immediately received an introductory email from Lloyd Foster who introduced himself as the account manager handling my loan. He informed me that he had sent my electronic application information to some of their lenders and received a reply back requesting more information. He also attached an expanded application to the email that he said the affiliate lenders required.
I filled out the expanded application and submitted it to Mr. Foster and he emailed me and said he sent the application to their group of affiliated lenders and had received a tentative approval from Global Financial LLC for a $5,500 personal loan at 9.9% for up to 60 months.
The next day he emailed me again stating that he had received approval with terms from the lender and was forwarding me a sample copy of the loan agreement for my review. He stated that if I agreed to the terms to simply email him back and he would prepare the paperwork and overnight it to my via Fed Ex. He said the lender needed an original signature (not a faxed copy) for their records. He also said that funds would be deposited into my checking account within 24-48 hours and that 1st Payday Loans, Inc. Would service the note, debiting my account monthly for the payment. He went on to say that 1st Payday Loans, Inc. Does not participate in the interest generated by the loan and that their finder's fee is 4% of the loan amount ($220) and is collected by the Fed Ex deliveryman when delivering the loan package and that the fee must be paid by money order or cashier's check.
At that point I of course had questions and concerns, so I emailed Mr. Foster and asked him to address them. I asked if the quoted 9.9% interest rate was good for the entire term of the loan and he replied yes. I also inquired about the finder's fee and he said that they did not participate in the interest generated by the loan, so their only source of profit was the finder's fee. I also asked him to confirm that the loan was approved and not pending approval and he replied that the loan was approved and was valid for 30 days without having to reapply.
I agreed to those terms and Mr. Foster sent the package as promised via Fed Ex. Upon receipt of the documents, I gave Fed Ex a money order for $220.
For the next few days Mr. Foster did not answer my emails, nor did anyone answer the phone at 1st Payday Loans, Inc. Their website advertises that account managers are available from 9:00 A.M. To 5:00 P.M. Monday thru Friday, however I have not been able to reach anyone at the number listed since all of this happened.
I asked Mr. Foster repeatedly for his physical address so I could Fed Ex the loan agreement back to him to further expedite the process, but he did not respond. I also asked for the lender's address and phone number (he had stated that it was Global Financial LLC in a previous email), but again, he did not respond. Still trying to find his physical address, I did a Google search using his phone number, the first thing it showed was a link to this website where I read the report left by Jessica from Gulfport Mississippi. Reading her report was all too familiar because it perfectly described my situation.
I emailed Mr. Foster again and told him what I had read on this site and that while I didn't necessarily believe everything I read, it had left me with a very uneasy feeling. I told him that if I did not get an immediate response from him that I would enlist the help of the Better Business Bureau. Mr. Foster replied saying he was aware of the posting I had described and that there were conditions issued by the lender that the person did not follow thru on and that her money had since been refunded.
After constant prodding from me via email, Mr. Foster emailed me stating that he had received permission to refund my finder's fee and that he would see to it that the accounts payable processed it the next day. Needless to say I have not received the refund as promised and Mr. Foster has not responded to my last three emails.
I gave Mr. Foster the benefit of the doubt and gave him countless opportunities to prove to me that his company was legitimate and he simply did not.
If you're reading this and have had similar problems with this company or others I would strongly urge you to file a complaint with the BBB and to use all the online resources available so that this doesn't happen to anyone else.
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