pressplay home shopping

sirlizzie

Phoned and cancelled but have been told that a charge may be made for Administration over which they have no control and if so i should phone again!

What right have they to do this ? So beware if you get a letter from TRAVEL STEPS

Our_Nip

Thanks for all the very useful info. about Pressplay Home Shopping. I have cancelled my (unwanted and uncalled for) membership by phone followed by a letter to the Managing Director - I do like things in writing. I will be checking with my credit card company as well. What a brilliant site!!! I am now a disciple!:A

Our_Nip

Just to say that when I rang to cancel my 'membership' of Travel Steps, there was no mention made of an administration charge. Perhaps they've got fed up with all the aggro. they've caused and are not now making this charge. In any event, I shall keep an eye on my credit card; I shall contact my credit card company to make them aware of any possible illegal transactions.

Incidentally, I thought that when payment is made by credit card, details of that card were not allowed to be kept by the Company you have traded with. I buy occasionally from a couple on companies on line but there are certain things I have to verify each time I make a purchase. I know someone who works as a Credit Controller and she says card details are automatically deleted from their computers as soon as payment is collected. Anyone know how the Law stands on this?

Fabulotsie

I have also received a Travel Steps brochure and have cancelled my membership to it. Although I regularly make purchases using my credit card I have never had any problem like this before and cannot work out how this outfit came to acquire my credit details.
I rang Consumer Direct ( Tel: 08454 040506 ) who are funded by the Office of Fair Trading on behalf of Trading Standards, who my complaint is being passed onto.

MisterJ_2

There appears to be a large number of these letters being sent out and the common theme seems to be that the recipient has no recollection of joining or requesting to join the Travel Steps club (myself included).

After carefully looking over the letter, I have come to the conclusion that Travel Steps (AKA - Pressplay Home Shopping Limited) are in a win-win situation.
If you do not cancel the membership they will take £99 from your Credit/Debit Card account. If you phone to cancel as instructed in their letter (using the 0870 number), you will inadvertently pay them for the privilege of canceling something you didn't want in the first place.

I have however found an alternative phone number (01371 873138)which I used today to successfully cancel my subscription. I will of course be checking by next statement very carefully.

Fightscams

I have also received an unsolicited brochure from Travel Steps Lifestyle & Leisure following telephone call from Good Music. I clearly remember the caller asking if I would like a copy of their new brochure and was led to believe this was for further music CDs and DVDs. No mention of travel club or membership fee of £99. I was also asked for my place of birth and queried this. Told it was necessary for caller to prove he had made the call - what about 'phone bill, wouldn't this prove call had been made? Gave them false place of birth because I was suspicious. Have telephoned my credit card company who recommended I speak to Consumer Direct who in turn asked that I inform the Information Commissioner's Office. They would like to hear from anyone else involved in this scam. Their address is Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Tel: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 450.

pressplay

If like me you have just received a brochure welcoming you to travel steps for 30days free trial. DO NOT PHONE it will cost you, instead contact the consumer protection department or Trading standards. This form of marketing is possibly illegal under the consumer protection regulations.

imipak

Just been called in by my (OAP) parents who've had one of these, suspect it's a scam but are worried about the claimed £99 charge, and asked me what they should do? After reading the similar stories above, I've suggested they should bin the junk mail and forget it -- apart from keeping an eye on their CC statements, of course (which they do anyway.) They certainly haven't signed up for this, so even if this company DO have their CC number, they can't legitimately charge them for anything. If "Travel Steps" do try to put a payment through, they can easily get it cancelled by calling the CC company and telling them it's a scam. Presumably the CC firm will have had many similar complaints about them and will have it listed as a known scam.

Phoning PressPlay to cancel would give them the 0870 number profits AND confirm that the address details they've got on their list are accurate - that makes their list of names and addresses more valuable. Once they've fleeced as many people as possible (through a combination of 0870 call charges, people failing to notice / object to the £99 fee, and possibly actually making that a regular payment for some unlucky victims) they will then be able to sell the confirmed addresses along to another bunch of pondlife scammers. I work in the field of spam email, and this campaign looks to me like the same sort of tactics. I'll pass along the various Trading Standards addresses shown above (thanks! to all the earlier posters.) Please do post updates if you hear anything more, eg. if you get charged the £99...

curtainrail_2

I have had the same thing and this is what I have done
1 Phoned the number provided and cancelled my "membership". Asked how they'd got my credit card details. They said they'd got them from another company with which I had previously dealt.
2 Got in touch with Trading Standards (via local Consumer Advice Centre who transferred me). They took details and advised me to send a registered letter cancelling my "membership" so Travel Steps could not claim I had not done so. The only address was a PO Box in Dunmow, so they advised I call the Post Office to check its geographical address. The phone number is: 08457 950 950. They also suggested calling the Information Commissioner's office - phone: 01625 54 57 45
3 Called Post Office re box number. After being treated to a whole concert of classical music, was told they weren't allowed to give the address to members of the public, but Trading Standards could get it if they asked. They did tell me that this outfit (actually Pressplay Home Shopping Ltd.) has twenty different PO Boxes!
4 Called Information Commissioner. More music. As soon as I got through and mentioned Pressplay they immediately asked if my credit card had been charged £99. They already knew about the scam and were investigating it. On the question of legality, they said it depended on what I'd told Travel Steps over the phone - ie. whether I had given them my credit card details and authorised them to use them to obtain money, which I had not. In that case, it was probably in breach of Information Protection law. They asked if I wished to lodge a formal complaint, and when I said I did, they said they would send me the complaints form to fill in and return.
5 To make sure my credit card had not been used already, I phoned my card service and was told it had not. They said they couldn't refuse to pay up if they received a demand, but that if I noticed it on my next return I should let them know and I could then recover the money from the company. That's nonsense. It is the card company that must take action, not the card holder.

I think that this will safeguard my own position, but I strongly advise other potential victims to contact both Trading Standards and the Information Commissioner and lodge a formal complaint. The more, the better if the scammers are to be stopped.

teachers_2

Many thanks to everyone for the information on this unbelievable scam. This should be one for Watchdog! I have included below the e-mail I have sent to the company:

Mr Peter Carruthers

Having received a phone call recently from your colleague offering to send a free brochure about holidays with no obligations, I am angry to receive the letter from you informing me that money will be taken from my account if I did not contact you to cancel.

Please accept this e-mail as confirmation that I DO NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION NOW OR IN THE FUTURE TO WITHDRAW ANY MONEY FROM ANY ACCOUNT IN MY NAME. I am appalled by your practice and will seek legal advice if money is withdrawn from my account or if you attempt to charge me in any way through this company or any other company whereby I have not given my permission. I did not agree to the membership and I do not accept that agreeing to receive a free brochure means that you are entitled to make me a member or take money from my account. I hereby refuse membership and wish to receive confirmation that I am not a member of Travel Step or any company associated to it or having any connection to it. Please withdraw all of my personal details from all of your databases as I do not wish to receive any future invitations, requests or demands for money or any catalogues selling products which will enable you to gain access to my personal details in the future.

Please send confirmation, before Monday 15th September 2008, that you have received this e-mail acknowledging that you will not take any money from any of my accounts and complying with my requests or I will seek advice to start legal proceedings.