Which is worse - Islam or Wonga?

[Mich the Tester]

Typical Mitch, runs away from the argument.

From the man whose tactic amounts to "bores everyone to death and then claims he's won the argument".

[Robinho]

by the same argument you could also say Heroin dealers enter in a mutually beneficial agreement with junkies, however I would hope you would agree that its not the sort of thing you would promote?

If you value freedom of choice then yes they are entering into a mutually beneficial agreement.

[shaunbhoy]

by the same argument you could also say Heroin dealers enter in a mutually beneficial agreement with junkies, however I would hope you would agree that its not the sort of thing you would promote?

Don't bet on it with that mincehead!!

[ZARDOZ]

I think it's pretty low knowing the demographic of most fans. It's not like Chelsea would have this Sponsor.

Of course to Robinho it's a free for all, he'd be renting his mum's arse if he could.

[chef]

agreed Wonga are a legal company but the following sums up my thoughts on them

Wonga.com is one of literally dozens of pay day loan companies where people can access quick money, but it is probably the most high profile of the companies currently capitalising from poverty and people’s misery. Formed in 2007 Damellin proclaims Wonga.com is seeking to change the world and that its client base is made up of “the ‘Facebook Generation’ – the couple whose boiler breaks down at 7am or the teenager who has to find money for a Glastonbury ticket” (Observer, October 2011). This is a grotesque PR offensive that represents a complete distortion of the truth.

The truth is people use Wonga or any other pay day loan company because they are desperate and have no money and as they have no other alternative means to quick money. Pay day loan companies target the poorest people, the people who are already struggling with their bills and who turn to these companies often just to pay their rent and mortgage. These people can accrue huge debts as their loans roll over each month; hence the OFT inquiry begun in February 2012, which will consider the pay day loan sector and the ‘alleged’ irresponsible lending in the sector.

Pay day loans companies need legitimacy as well as business. Advertising and marketing are the most obvious ways to seek that. They practice blanket advertising and sponsor football clubs (shame on Hearts and Motherwell). Other methods are much more cynical. In 2010 Wonga.com was accused of being predatory when it focused an advertising campaign amongst students. They suggested that students take out high-cost short-term loans so they could buy plane tickets to the Canary Islands. This short-lived campaign – it was withdrawn after a public outcry – also misleadingly suggested to students that their short term loans might be better than student loans. Despite the fact that the annual interest rate with Wonga.com is 4,214 per cent and its only 1.5 per cent with a student loan; a fact unsurprisingly omitted from their advert.

taken from Rise of the Legal Loan Sharks

[DodgyAgent]

It is very easy to sneer at people who pay the sort of interest rates that wonga demand but it is not for us at the top of the worlds income pile to make decisions about those who are less fortunate than ourselves as to what is a "need" and what is a "want"

[chef]

I think it's pretty low knowing the demographic of most fans. It's not like Chelsea would have this Sponsor.

Of course to Robinho it's a free for all, he'd be renting his mum's arse if he could.

so you haven't seen the telephone booth ads then?

[Mich the Tester]

It is very easy to sneer at people who pay the sort of interest rates that wonga demand but it is not for us at the top of the worlds income pile to make decisions about those who are less fortunate than ourselves as to what is a "need" and what is a "want"

But in reality a lot of us do that, every day and in all sorts of ways, sometimes conciously and sometimes without even thinking about it, and it might just be a good thing if 'those of us at the top of the income pile' remember that our decisions affect lots of other people.

[chef]

If you value freedom of choice then yes they are entering into a mutually beneficial agreement.

addiction is not freedom of choice

[Robinho]

Of course it is