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Praise, vent & warnings

A place to share your experiences as a consumer with other MoneySavers.

Praise, Vent & Warnings sticky
Please keep in mind the MSE Forum rules, notably that: * We cannot accept active calls to boycott organisations. * If a post is reported to the Forum Team as being defamatory, we’ll follow a legal process set out in Section 5 of the Defamation Act 2013. 📢 Here are some threads from this board which you might useful: *…
Social media "Customer Services" scam
A vent and a warning TL;DR: accounts that appear to be "Customer Services" replying to you when you vent to a company on social media may not be as they seem! And some things to watch out for with PayPal-like apps. I've been trying to squeeze a refund out of Three for a monthly payment they took when my account was already…
Lottery
I tried to add my new card to account as other was expiring and was told to take funds out which I did I then added new card and then added £10 according to my bank account the £10 has come out but it’s not on my lottery app and keeps asking me to add funds
'Free Wills Months' is just marketing for a paid service.
As pushed on here, I've tried every company that says they take part in this in my area, and all of them say they've reached 'capacity', but are happy to offer a paid service (£500+). This is 3 days since the scheme started this month. None are transparent on how much capacity they offered the scheme. As far as I can see,…
Fake Martin Lewis Ads
Hi! This is the discussion thread for the Fake Martin Lewis Ads guide. Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. Thanks folks,
BEER52 - cancellation warning
Be aware if you apply for the special offer case as mentioned on this site/newsletter they make it very difficult to cancel subscription. It has to be done by phone and you get a hard seller at the other end of the line.
Non-Existent Amazon Customer Service
My Amazon account was apparently hacked last week. About half a dozen other people I know (and I don't talk to that many people about these things) also had their accounts hacked within the last month, so something strange seems to be going on, or it's just an unfortunate coincidence. I had no gift balances, but I did have…
Lidl Plus... bye, bye.
I've never been a great fan of Lidl Plus (at least when compared to Sainsbury's/Nectar offers). And twice in the last four months their %$&^ IT infrastructure was down, so the Lidl Plus card couldn't even be scanned (compare this with Sainsbury's where I had just one outage in more than two years). And scanning a receipt…
Everything5Pounds
Not sure where else to post this. Why is MSE still promoting Everything5Pounds? I received an email from E5S today saying I needed to use a code for a £5 saving or lose it and I clicked through to find a simple message on the screen saying "CLOSED "SORRY,THE SHOP YOU ARE LOOKING IS CLOSED RIGHT NOW, PLEASE TRY AGAIN…
Shame on United Utilities Water
Hi ALL,....I filled in the form to see if I could get my water bill reduced as I am over 75, on Pension Credits, Housing Benefits and Attn Allowance...I waited 3wks for a reply only to be told that because I live in a Private Rented bungalow and NOT a Housing Assoc/Social Housing I am NOT entitled to it...I find this very…
Complaints about Booking.com’s service?
Hi, I’ve been with Booking.com for several years, and had moved up to Genius Level 3. My old international provider decided to cancel my old email account with very little warning. When I tried, in November, to change my details with Booking.com, it didn’t work - and when resolved, the old email had expired. The new email…
Warning: Chinese web sites masquerading as UK - Barefoot shoes craze
Barefoot shoes and other Chinese offers. Beware of Chinese web sites masquerading as UK. My Facebook feed is currently full of ads for what seems to be a craze over the benefits of "barefoot" shoes. My wife took up one of these offers, paying £49 for a pair, from a .co .uk web site called PureStep. I've seen about 10 or 12…
HI Child Benefit charge - System is broken
I have been struggling with this for years now. A few years ago i exceeded the tax threshold for the HICB charge (which is ludicrous in itself as i wouldn't consider myself a 'high earner').To note this was before it changed as well so i would've been fine when it first kicked in. To make matters worse i don't even receive…
Neighbour snoring
Hi all , I am at the end of my tether , bought a 1st floor flat , I have not been able to use the main bedroom at all due to neighbour below snoring , my adult sons have each tried and either can’t get to sleep or are woken up , the last straw is finding my son sleeping on the floor in the kitchen . when the neighbour is…
Just a moan about HMRC
I am in the fortunate position of having received enough interest on my savings to have underpaid income tax. Rather than having the due monies deducted via a tax code I wanted to pay the outstanding amount as a lump sum. The agent told me this morning that they can't take it over the phone, only by my personal cheque, a…
Help! Scammed?
Hi, my mother, who is in her 70s, fears she has been scammed for the first time. I must stress that my mum is not gullible and never answers the door unless she is expecting someone, and doesn’t answer her phone if the caller is unknown. She’s always been vigilant and sensible regarding sales people to the point of being…
Amazon account hacked advise please?
This happened earlier this month 7th April. My Amazon account got hacked and they bought £200 gift cards I saw it first as a pending payment in my Barclays Bank account. Stopped my cards and spoke to both Amazon and Barclays immediately. Amazon have been no help so far just saying they’re investigating and Barclays…
Passport Renewal - April 2025
Applied online 3/4, one week before the price rise and the website said they were busy with an estimated 3 week turnaround. Old passport sent First Class mail the same day. Updates by text and email at every stage. New passport received 11/4. Old passport received 16/4. Well done Passport Office !
First line financial cold call
Hi, not sure if this was a scam/phishing call, but I had Firstline financial cold call today. First question was ‘had I heard of Martin Lewis?’ And ‘had I seen the latest programme?’. They started asking about wills etc. I wasn’t sure so I ended call. Has anyone else had these type of call? Sorry if this is not the place…
Amazon refusing to refund on a phone that wasn't in a parcel
Hi, I'm new to the forums but have joined to get people's opinions and to find out if they've had similar experiences. My son bought a phone from Amazon last week. It arrived, the courier was given the security code and my son was given the parcel. The parcel was in one of the Amazon cardboard envelopes that had not, as…
Free M&S Afternoon Tea Hamper Scam
I recently (foolishly) responded to an email purporting to be a survey with an M&S Afternoon Tea Hamper as a free reward. On completion of the survey I was asked to pay £1.00 for postage. My debit card was charged £1.00. No hamper arrived. Then a few days later they charged £53 to my card. Fortunately this payment was…

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MSE News

Martin Lewis: How to call your bank with just three digits – as 'anti-scam' phone number called over a million times
One million calls have been made to the '159' anti-scam phone number since its launch in 2021, new figures reveal today (Wednesday 30 April). MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis – one of the well-known faces most used in scams – explains how to call your bank by dialling just these three numbers.
Revealed: Holland & Barrett's supposedly cheaper 'Subscribe & Save' often costs more – it's promised a review after our investigation
Holland & Barrett's 'Subscribe & Save' scheme claims to offer regular shoppers "the best value" – but it failed to do so in the majority of cases MoneySavingExpert.com checked over a five month period. The retailer has now promised to review the scheme after our research found it was often more expensive.
Don't get your passport by post – 360,000 paid more than needed last year
If your passport is due for renewal, apply online if you can – it'll save you £12.50. More than 7 million Brits did just that last year – but over 360,000 missed out on savings by using a paper form instead, MoneySavingExpert.com can reveal.
Sainsbury’s Bank customer? NatWest takes over this week – here's what it means for savers and borrowers
Sainsbury's Bank's savings, credit cards and loans will be taken over by NatWest from Thursday 1 May. For most, this means little will change for now as the Sainsbury's Bank brand will remain, though it's expected to be phased out towards the end of this year. However, if you've over £85,000 saved across both banks, it's worth considering moving any excess elsewhere to ensure your cash remains protected.
Chase customer? Check if you can get its newly boosted 4.8% easy-access saver
If you've got a Chase account, check if you can boost your easy-access savings to 4.8% – made up of a 1.8% AER fixed six-month bonus plus its standard 3% variable rate. Chase says over 2 million customers can get the boost, which would top our normal savings tables if it were open to all, though it's beaten by the top easy-access cash ISAs.
NatWest to complete takeover of Sainsbury's Bank this week – here's what it means for savers and borrowers
Sainsbury's Bank's savings, credit cards and loans will be taken over by NatWest from Thursday 1 May. For most, this means little will change for now as the Sainsbury's Bank brand will remain, though it's expected to be phased out towards the end of this year. However, if you've over £85,000 saved across both banks, it's worth considering moving any excess elsewhere to ensure your cash remains protected.
Martin Lewis: Is the £20,000 cash ISA limit about to be killed off? What savers should be doing now
Plans to cut the £20,000 cash ISA limit later this year are being considered by the Government. In his latest video, MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis explains what's likely to happen, what the changes would mean for savers and what you should be doing now.
NatWest to complete takeover of Sainsbury's Bank this week – here's what it means for savers and borrowers
Sainsbury's Bank's savings, credit cards and loans will be taken over by NatWest from 1 May. For most, this means little change for now as the Sainsbury’s brand will remain, though it's expected to be phased out towards the end of this year. However, if you've over £85,000 saved across both banks, you'll need to move any excess elsewhere to ensure your cash remains protected.
NatWest to complete takeover of Sainsbury's Bank this week – here's what it means for savers and borrowers
From Thursday 1 May, Sainsbury's Bank credit cards, loans and savings accounts will be run by NatWest as part of a deal between the two banks. You'll be moved to NatWest in the future, likely towards the end of this year, but for now the Sainsbury's Bank brand will remain and you can continue to use its products and services as before.

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