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Petal · 10:49 AM

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My first post! Anyone know anything about Creditsafe (apart from the stuff on their website). They want to charge me (my employer) �930 for something I paid �150 for last year - it was an introductory offer. They've mentioned today that I had to give 30 days written notice prior to the end of the contract and have now offered to let me have the service for �250+VAT stating that I had received an automatic renewal notice, blah, blah.

Something doesn't seem quite right to me? Anyone else have any other experience to share? I've had a look on www.platinax.co.uk/forum and it seems that I'm not the only one. I'm due to speak to their rep again on Wednesday morning and would quite like the scoop on them (if there is any) before I do!

Feeling.....uneasy!

Cheers all!

Debt_Free_Chick · #2 Debt_Free_Chick 20-06-2005, 10:59 PM

You need to look at the original terms & conditions very carefully to see what you committed to. It sounds like it could have been an introductory offer, followed by automatic renewal for the extra service, unless you gave 30 days notice to cancel.

Read the T&Cs .......

Petal · #3 Petal 21-06-2005, 10:51 AM

Thanks...I thought I had! It seems that I paid more attention to the agreement period (which was 12 months) but then, much further on in the contract under "obligations, warranties and limitation of liability" - after a lengthy paragraph it states "you must give written notice one month before the agreement anniversary. Failing this, your agreement will be renewed automatically for a further 12 months and all introductory offers will be charged at their normal standard price"

I feel like a right lemon! (and like I've been had!!)

Ah well.....yet another lesson learned.

BFG · #4 BFG 21-06-2005, 10:45 PM

You might (just might) have a case for an unfair contract if the clause is 'hidden' or not in an obvious place.
Try asking if their contarct has been checked by the OFT for fairness? This might scare them into dropping the bill.

Good luck!

Also ask TSO or the FSB what they think.

Petal · #5 Petal 22-06-2005, 11:28 AM

Thanks BFG! I've contacted our solicitor who says "It does look as if you have been caught in a trap.

There is a good chance a Court would find the renewal clause odious, unfair, or void as a penalty clause (or all three), but the course of least resistance is definitely to renew at �250 + VAT and make a note in your diary to give written notice a month before the agreement anniversary (which clause 2.1 says started on 16 June 2004).

Your legal costs of protesting the matter would be much greater than �250, so it is an easy decision...

I recommend that you write to them now to put them on notice that you intend to give notice in May 2006 so that they are in no doubt as to your intentions"

I'm just in the process of speaking with Trading Standards....these are two links re other companies having the same problem - creditsafe and ASA creditsafe are one and the same.

http://www.platinax.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1845
http://www.platinax.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1861

philyio · #6 philyio 26-06-2005, 10:37 PM

where are you from petal?

santana-mx3 · #7 santana-mx3 29-06-2005, 12:00 AM

We got caught to this before. They said the original offer we signed up for had an auto-renewal feature that you had to cancel 30 days before renewal - we couldn't find this - in fact I think they originally started us off as a result of their cold-call telephoning rather than any written order. When we said we weren't interested in renewing and knew nothing about auto-renewal, they then offered a reduced rate like they did for your employer. As it happens, we didn't mind the lower rate as we had a couple of searches to do straight away that we would have had to pay to do elsewhere. However, before we paid them we got them to put in writing that there would be no further auto-renewal. They weren't very keen on writing that but they did give in. They have tried since to get us to sign up again but we haven't. Their service isn't actually bad - it's just their sales tactics that leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Petal · #8 Petal 29-06-2005, 9:36 AM

Hi Santana

I agree! I don't have a problem with their service it's their business practices I don't like

Petal · #9 Petal 08-07-2005, 3:12 PM

**update**

We have agreed on �250 and I told them that I thought that their termination clause was hidden within their agreement etc etc. Guess what? The new agreement has a clearly defined Termination clause now!

Ah well.....

santana-mx3 · #10 santana-mx3 08-07-2005, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petal

**update**

We have agreed on �250 and I told them that I thought that their termination clause was hidden within their agreement etc etc. Guess what? The new agreement has a clearly defined Termination clause now!

Ah well.....

Good to hear they've made the Termination Clause clearer. It was a very dodgy business practice and obviously intended to trap people - otherwise they would have either made it clear to start with or warn people just before auto-renewal that their renewal would come into effect soon.

A good result!

I, Brian · #11 I, Brian 13-03-2006, 3:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petal

My first post! Anyone know anything about Creditsafe (apart from the stuff on their website). They want to charge me (my employer) �930 for something I paid �150 for last year - it was an introductory offer. They've mentioned today that I had to give 30 days written notice prior to the end of the contract and have now offered to let me have the service for �250+VAT stating that I had received an automatic renewal notice, blah, blah.

Something doesn't seem quite right to me? Anyone else have any other experience to share? I've had a look on www.platinax.co.uk/forum and it seems that I'm not the only one. I'm due to speak to their rep again on Wednesday morning and would quite like the scoop on them (if there is any) before I do!

Feeling.....uneasy!

Cheers all!

There *did* used to be a series of complaints on Platinax about ASA Creditsafe Ltd - then the company began legal proceedings to force us to remove them and apologise.

Last I heard from them, they were looking to take out a court order to force Platinax to provide registration info on the members who complained.

Elgordo · #12 Elgordo 14-03-2006, 2:40 PM

Hi Petal, I work for a company that is a competitor to CreditSafe and we hear these stories many times every day. Apparently CreditSafe have taken lots of customers to Court over refusing to re-sign a second year - and won! My employer will not put this sort of thing in our terms of business as he wants clients to come back because they like our service! Elgordo

pteire · #13 pteire 18-10-2006, 3:58 PM

We are also having the same problems with CreditSafe! They appear to be VERY arrogant and blase about any complaints regarding the 'Automatic Contract Renewal' ploy they use. In my own view, this procedure is nothing less than a 'scam'. PROSPECTIVE USERS SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF THE NEED TO OBTAIN WRITTEN AGREEMENT THAT ANY CONTRACT WILL AUTOMATICALLY TERMINATE AFTER EACH 12 MONTH TERM, AND MAY BE RENEWED ONLY BY A SPECIFIC REQUEST FROM THE USER/CUSTOMER. I wonder just exactly how many victims there are out there?? Peter T.

santana-mx3 · #14 santana-mx3 18-10-2006, 6:06 PM

Now competitors such as First Report mention their policy of not forcing an auto-renewal as a reason to pick them instead of Creditsafe. I don't know how their actual product/service compares with Creditsafe but I think customer annoyance over the auto-renewal will mean that a lot of people who have been caught out (or even heard about it) won't want to go to Creditsafe even if Creditsafe's product/service turns out to be better.

hippyadam · 3:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petal

I'm just in the process of speaking with Trading Standards....these are two links re other companies having the same problem - creditsafe and ASA creditsafe are one and the same.

Just to clarify, Creditsafe Ltd and ASA Creditsafe.com (UK) Ltd are NOT the same company!

Creditsafe Ltd is a small family run credit collections and bespoke credit reporting agency based in Leyland, Lancashire. They have been in business for over 20yrs and have yet to receive one complaint from either their clients, or the debtors they pursue. The link to their website is http://www.creditsafe.co.uk/

ASA Creditsafe UK Ltd are a relative newcomer to the British Isles, and ARE IN NO WAY RELATED to the original Creditsafe Ltd.

creditsafe · #16 creditsafe 30-10-2006, 4:43 PM

Hello,

This post is from the marketing team at creditsafe. Having resisted previous opportunities to come onto this forum, we just felt that we should clarify our current renewal practices and how they relate to some of the cases posted here, to help everyone understand exactly what we do, particularly when our competitors are looking to exploit this site as an opportunity to sell themselves!

We believe that our procedure is now clear and transparent and that this is borne out by the large number of customers who come back to us year after year.

For the last three years our Terms and Conditions have clearly stated that we require a minimum of 30 days notice of termination prior to the renewal date, and our renewal team are proactive in flagging this up with customers as the renewal date approaches.

Our policy is that NO customer should go through an automatic renewal process without first having some sort of contact with us. At the moment our process is to telephone the customer well before the auto-renewal date to remind them, and if they do not want to renew, we ask them to cancel the auto-renewal and then send them an email confirmation of this.
If we cannot get hold of the customer by telephone, they are sent an email flagging the renewal and the cost, and reminding them of their cancellation and renewal options.

Obviously we do keep detailed records of all customer communications, and were therefore able to establish that in the last case cited as well as two conversations we had also sent out two email reminders to the customer, in advance of the automatic renewal date. Although the customer felt unhappy, we had been in touch and he did end up renewing.

At the moment we have over 20,000 customers in the UK and have a renewal rate in excess of 80% year on year which demonstrates that our customers are not only happy with our product, but also the renewal process we currently operate.

mpython · #17 mpython 31-10-2006, 8:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creditsafe

Hello,

We believe that our procedure is now clear and transparent and that this is borne out by the large number of customers who come back to us year after year.

.........

At the moment we have over 20,000 customers in the UK and have a renewal rate in excess of 80% year on year which demonstrates that our customers are not only happy with our product, but also the renewal process we currently operate.

Just curious - is the high renewal rate due to customer satisfaction or the automatic renewal clause? How many clients do you still have after 2 years?

creditsafe · #18 creditsafe 02-11-2006, 9:36 AM

Thank you for your query.

I refer back to our renewal policy as outlined above � we contact all of our customers in advance of their renewal date in order to give them the opportunity to cancel their renewal � and every year 80% plus remain customers of creditsafe. In addition, as the vast majority of our portfolio is made up of clients that have been with us longer than two years � we can say that the renewal rates are linked to satisfied customers � not auto renewed customers.