My employer’s corporate intranet proudly announces that the powers-that-be have negotiated access to affordable low cost loans of up to 2,500GBP for all staff. I very much doubt that the powers-that-be are interested in such loans themselves so we might first look upon this as an act of good faith towards the rest of us. That is until you examine just how low cost these loans really are.

Where I come from, 1.5% a month isn’t low cost. It’s robbery. It’s the sort of rate I would anticipate from a credit card not an unsecured loan. Furthermore the friendly folks at the top have worked themselves into a real lather securing our right to have repayments drawn directly from our pay. We don’t even need to write a cheque every month. How thoughtful.

It’s proved to be an interesting experience. After speaking with most of the employees at the FSA, nearly every one of whom was helpful and well informed I eventually made my timid little way to the Office of Fair Trading. Here the yellow brick road ended. The OFT are so busy that they have set up another organisation with the catchy word Direct added to their own name. It’s a sort of triage service for people who want to moan about things the OFT is responsible for.

They weren’t especially helpful. After some effort I made a referral to which the OFT makes no undertaking to reply. If they do then they will do so within five working days. Rapid this service is not. Especially when you consider that all I really wanted was a confirmation that what I had read was indeed misleading so that I might, with confidence and assurance, inform the higher-ups they ought to reconsider the wording of their Ad.

As a special favour I’ll let you know what happens.

Oh and just in case you aren’t clear. 18% is not a low cost loan and offerring a calculator which doesn’t display information concerning the total interest incurred nor the total repayment figure is outright deceptive. There are enough scams out there without local government bodies running them too.

Word of the day: Thaumatrope

-noun

1 – a card with different pictures on opposite sides, as a horse on one side and a rider on the other, which appear as if combined when the card is twirled rapidly, thus illustrating the persistence of visual impressions.