Egg loan - great when it works, pants when it doesn't (egg loans)

Member Name: hypno06

Product:	egg loans
Date:	23/11/08 (222 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can make additional payments and bring the end date forward without penalty.

Disadvantages: When it goes wrong, it goes horribly wrong.

Egg loans are great when they work, but hideous when they don't!

They are easy to apply for, with a lower than average APR. One of the best things about Egg loans is that you can overpay your loan and bring your end date forward without penalty, or you can have a payment holiday for up to three months each year, if you have kept up to date with all your other payments. So if you hit a rough patch and finances are stretched, or if you come into some extra money, this is quite a flexible product, unlike most loans on the market.

However, when it goes wrong, the systems at egg cannot cope. I have been making overpayments on my account, but if you make an additional payment to your account within 14 days of your next direct debit being paid, the computer gets confused, can't allocate the direct debit (even though they have taken it from your bank) and they put it in a suspense account. At the same time they write to you and tell you that you are in arrears, and so the phone calls start from their collections department! And of course at this point you know you are actually AHEAD of your payments, and certainly not behind!

This takes time to sort out, and can be quite stressful.

My worst experience with Egg, though, was when their computer decided to set my direct debit request at £0 - this resulted in my account immediately being in arrears and was very quickly passed to a debt collector who was rather aggressive. Obviously Egg took it back into their control, as it was their error, but the stress of a debt collector calling me a dozen times a day was not the most pleasant experience of my life. It took the best part of a year to resolve this, and eventually they sorted it out.

So, a great product in theory and I am sure for most people it works well. But when it goes wrong, it goes wrong, and their customer service department don't always know what to do to put it right - very frustrating!

Summary: This is a flexible product which should work really well. Sadly it can be a nightmare.