*********, threatening and rude

Firstly - I have contacted the Consume Goods and Services Ombudsman to complain and would advise everyone to do the same: ********** or https://remote.cgso.org.za/RespondSelfServe/C09B956B-0154-468B-B96C-A997994BE1B9/case/new

This is for Lifestyle Legal representing Loan Hub SA. I consider them just as ********* as Loan Hub SA and their communications to me have been rude and threatening, while I can't reach them by phone and they ignore some of my emails.

On 9 Jan 2019 my husband made an application on Loan Hub SA to see if we could get a loan (under my name). There are several sites where you can apply for free and they tell you if you qualify for a loan.

He app**** on a few sites, including Loan Hub SA. Apparently he agreed to purchase a Loan Hub SA service package (which is hidden in the fine print.) We didn't take the loan application any further (we didn't fill in the additional forms they then sent). We received NO services from them whatsoever, nor any other emails or contact to offer us services or try to deliver anything to us.

4 months later, on 1 May, I suddenly receive a threatening sms from Loan Hub that I must pay them R1527,50 now or they will hand me over to legal. Do note, this is the first communication I have received from them in 4 months and they immediately threaten to hand me over to legal.

On 9 May I received a threatening sms from Lifestyle Legal that I have received a Letter of Demand to settle my account or else legal action will be taken against me.

I first tried to phone Lifestyle Legal on the number provided, but I couldn’t get hold of them (tried 3 times). Then I emailed them on the email address they provided. I also phoned Loan Hub SA and spoke to them. The lady said I (my husband) entered into an agreement on their site and they had the mandate. I asked her to email it to me. Both Loan Hub and Lifestyle Legal emailed me a 16-page mandate and said I (my husband) agreed to the terms by “ticking the box”.

So the first obvious problem here is someone can just apply for this on someone else’s behalf and your identity isn’t verified.

The mandate lays out the service we “bought”. It’s a 12 month fixed-term agreement for numerous services, like telephonic legal advice, templates for legal documents etc.

In the mandate they offer monthly services, which will be delivered via email. I have received ZERO emails from them over the last 4 months. So they have delivered no service.

On page 3 there are some billing/payment terms. These are not stated anywhere else on the site, or even clearly upfront in the mandate, and I would only consider it to be purposefully concealed or made hard to spot. Any honest site or business puts the price clearly and upfront for the buyer to see. (You can simply type in Loan Hub SA in Google or HelloPeter to see that many people feel they’ve been ****med.)

Their threats rapidly escalated to a threatened Court Summons and that I'll be blacklisted.

Their failure to deliver the service they promised alone should be grounds enough for me to not have to pay.

I rep**** to them both on these emails and said I don’t intend to pay. They didn’t reply.

After this I’ve received a few more emails and an sms, all threatening me with a court summons and that I’ll be blacklisted if I don’t pay the R1527,50.

As mentioned, if you search them on Google or HelloPeter it is abundantly clear they are not an ethical company. The lady I spoke to on the phone was quite threatening. Them emails and smses are threatening. They are coercing money out of people by threatening them, not by providing any service.