We got it Wronga says Wonga: Payday loan firm vows to behave in future
A top Wonga executive gave a grovelling apology in parliament yesterday for the way the firm had treated customers in the past. And he promised to work harder to do the right thing in future.
The payday lender has written to 27,000 customers to offer redress for mistreatment – for instance, to make amends for sending debt collection letters falsely claiming to come from law firms.
“This impacts on real customers, and we deeply regret that happened,” chief credit officer Nick Brookes told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee. “I personally apologise to all our customers for that. I am very sorry. We’re working very hard to put it right.”
But MPs said the firm had further to go: “The 18,000 customers who received misleading letters from ‘fake’ law firms but who have yet to be contacted by Wonga are evidence a lot more work is needed to change the industry,” said committee chairman Andrew Tyrie.