Making money from the poor

I have been told one of the most disgraceful stories relating to people with poor financial histories that I think I have ever heard.

Someone I know wanted to replace their car and so rang a car company to see if they had the make and model they were looking for. After being asked where they lived they were pointed to a company not that far from their home who dealt with people who had had a CCJ (County Cort Judgement) on their credit history.

When they arrived at the place the first thing they did was ask two questions, "Was the car on site still, and could they take a look at it. The answer was "Yes it is on site and 'No' they couldn't as they did things a bit differently and before customers got onto the car lot they did the paperwork first." So the customer was asked for the names and addresses of three people, not apparently as referees, but they needed to contact them before they could go any further (so what were they then?). The customer, having complained that they would first need to tell those named that their names had been given, was told that they would give them time to contact them before they called.

The salesperson then asked how much the customer could afford to which they replied, "How much is the car?" The response to this was to tell them that, "They didn't work that way and that they went on what the customer could afford as they 'pre-arranged' finance." So the customer put forward the sum of £150 only to be told that there was nothing within that price bracket available. So they upped the figure to £250 and were told that this would mean that there were cars. The customer pointed out that they only wanted one car, make and model and were told that there were many others to choose from.

So then the customer completed the paperwork and asked if they could see the car and this time the answer was "Yes". The salesperson left the room and returned with a couple of sheets of A4 paper upon each of which was a photograph of the desired vehicle (one from the front and the other the interior). When the customer asked where the car was they received the answer that it was, "Somewhere 'down South'!"

The customer then asked how much part-exchange they would get and said they'd go and take some photographs of their vehicle so that they could get a price. The salesperson said that they would need to conduct an inspection of the vehicle because they couldn't offer anything without seeing it. The customer said that the same applied to them and that they needed to see the prospective vehicle to which they were told that once they'd paid a (non-returnable) deposit the car would be brought to the site!

By now the customer was getting a little fed-up and had decided that they weren't going to do business with this company, but decided to ask what the APR for any finance on the vehicle would be. The figure quoted was 49.9%. When the customer said that this was excessive they were told that because of the CCJ this was the rate because, "It was helping them to rebuild their credit history!"

Now I am happy to name names (well, I will be after the OFT and some other agencies have been contacted regarding this firm) and I am disgusted that firms like this, which are no better than the loan sharks who populate the area in which I work, are seeking to rip people off in such a manner. Such companies as this are, I am sure, not an isolated case and reflect something very wrong in the world in which we live.

Thankfully the person left without getting into an argument or punitively-priced finance but how many others leave having sold their souls (and family finances) to companies like this?

A total disgrace :(