Privacy Guard - Another CRA?

never-in-doubt

delboy wrote: »

Under the "Freedom of Information Act" they must give you a copy of any legal document you have sign.

Freedom of Information is for Public Bodies - last I knew Barclays were a Public/Limited Company not a Government Dept LOL

Read here: http://www.foi.gov.uk/yourRights/index.htm

poppy10_2

Barclaycard's mailshot says the PrivacyGuard will be billed at £7.99 a month rather than an annual lump sum - anyone had any joy in cancelling in time?

Is_this_it

I too have a similar story to many here. Been duped after a call by privacy guard, related to my Topshop store card (which I never even use). It's easy to think people should know better, but these companies wouldn't get anywhere if their tactics weren't so sly that so many people manage to get caught in the trap. I was caught unawares with the phonecall, and unfortunately managed to let the man wear me down and agree to a free trial as a means to get off the phone rather than hang up on him. Which I would do now - but that's the benefit of hindsight. I'd never dealt with a single call like that before so perhaps didn't act how I should have. Despite that however, I was NEVER aware that I would be charged £69.99 for this thing. Nevermind being given any chance to cancel the trial, I was complety unaware I was signed up to anything in the first place that would need to be cancelled. I have written to privacy guard who sent me a letter saying they will investigate and get back to me. I am waiting for a reply this week to see what the outcome will be. I already phoned them prior to this but was told there was nothing I could do except pay it. Expecting that they will say the same in the letter, in which case I am taking it to the financial ombudsman. It is clear that this scheme must be known to them with the amount of complaints it's getting, but whether they are able to do anything about it I don't know. If anyone has taken thier complaints this far then I would be interested to know the outcome. I am also now getting hassled by GE Money to pay the account, even though I already wrote to them to explain that I am in dispute about it at the moment. Bit of a stress, not really sure where I stand. Fear I will have to end up paying it in the end, don't really have £70 to waste as a student. Will be extra wary of anything like this in the future though.

melodymansoupy

concerned_friend wrote: »

I have found this site after a friend had asked me to find out if anyone else had, had problems with Privacy Guard. She too has experienced difficulties with them.

She signed for a free trial and credit check back in May through JJB sports. She had forgotten all about doing this though as she never recieved anything about it until this month (september) when she opened her JJB statement and noticed she had been charged £79.99 for Privacy Guard.

Privacy Guard are saying they sent the package to her and that she was not entitled to a refund as she did not cancel in time (no documents, how can you). Is it possible that by not sending the package out you could forget signing for such a thing and then of course, know nothing about it until charged after the date of cancellation. Has a bad ring to it to me.

Has anyone else signed for but not recieved such a thing.

I was ripped off from privacyguard,i never recieved a membership pack either, i managed to contact them and they claimed it had been sent, i intend taking the to a small claims court it costs £70 00. and if you win you will get costs.Please if anyone has had the same problem let it be known on this site it can only help rid us of these conmen thanks

melodymansoupy

Like many others i'm a victim of the Privacyguard scam,you're offered a free credit report,in thier offer you recieve a membership pack and have 30 days to cancel otherwise money is taken from your credit card directly from the company who sent you this wonderful offer,in my case it was Debenhams.The clever thing is that you never get a membership pack sent so you don't get the opportunity to cancel and in my case a bill for £69.99. Debenhams being a third party are none the wiser and are happy to shell out your hard earnt money to a bunch of conmen,if they were to ask for bank details this would never of happened very simple and clever like most scams. if anyone has had the same problem as myself please let it be known on this site i intend to stop this scam thanks:T

adam.leics

My younger brother had around ten missed calls during a day at college. He answered the phone and now I'm helping him to avoid a payment of £79.99.

He did not receive a "welcome pack" in the post. Also he was told that he would have to send off to accept the privacy guard.

Here is what I have done (so far).

1) Privacy guard is to protect you from unauthorised use of your accounts - even though you don't really need it (even though the tw@ I originally spoke to refused to admit this - he's called Tim - see step 2).

A phone call to GE (now santander) who supply the card to say that the card had been used without authorisation by Affinion International (Privacy Guard).

This resulted in a block on the interest amounting.

2) Rang Privacy Guard. If you are speaking to someone called Tim, hang up and phone again. One of his colleagues has described him as "not being very personable." I then got an apology even though I hadn't even mentioned the previous phone call.

They will then review the phone call made by the sales person. This takes about 14 working days.

###

This is the stage I am currently at. There will be updates.

Heres some additional information I have gathered.

Affinion
Privacy Guard
Operation Center
Sentinel House
Airspeed Road
[Portsmouth]
P03 5RF

If you are going to be sending a letter of complaint, the person I spoke to said the following;

"sometimes letters don't get through to us."

With regards to the telemarketing people the person said that;

"they do disregard our [speaking as a consumer so meaning you] wishes from time to time" and that they "are a different kind of people"

Also the company set up. They are a client of GE (now Santender). That is where the vast majority of their work comes from. One of their rivals is CPP.

The telemarketing is done by a 3rd party, "an agency that specialises in it, you know, cold calling" - but is a partnership between themselves and GE.

Website is affinioninternational dot com.

mummy_bear_4

Really upset about all this, got caught out with £79.99 on my Argos card, rang privacy guard on 08000852150, they say i signed something, i swear i didn't, they sent copy of it, your guess is as good as mine, i rang consumers advice, they said i should write a letter to the managing director saying i expect it to be fraud, but have been advised on this forum that letters go missing,i had no membership pack sent to me, nothing came out to me, i don't no what to do for the best i just want to sort it out over the phone, anyone no the number for the operation centre in portsmouth?

melodymansoupy wrote: »

I was ripped off from privacyguard,i never recieved a membership pack either, i managed to contact them and they claimed it had been sent, i intend taking the to a small claims court it costs £70 00. and if you win you will get costs.Please if anyone has had the same problem let it be known on this site it can only help rid us of these conmen thanks

mummy_bear_4

mummy_bear wrote: »

Really upset about all this, got caught out with £79.99 on my Argos card, rang privacy guard on 08000852150, they say i signed something, i swear i didn't, they sent copy of it, your guess is as good as mine, i rang consumers advice, they said i should write a letter to the managing director saying i expect it to be fraud, but have been advised on this forum that letters go missing,i had no membership pack sent to me, nothing came out to me, i don't no what to do for the best i just want to sort it out over the phone, anyone no the number for the operation centre in portsmouth?

Here are some things that we should all do, inform police so its documented, then send letter to managing director stating problem & give them a set time limit to sort it out, also ring the Ombudsman finacial services, they were very nice & have written a letter to Argos credit card company stating problem & told them to reimburse within 8 weeks, fingers crossed im not giving up, please let me no if this helps anyone out there.

chris_spackman

They couldn't give a toss about you. All they want is the commission from Experian. I know coz i know someone who works there. Just go to Experian and get your credit file there and sign up to there free trial. I stayed with them so i can look at my file when i want and there is a free phone number to talk to them about any issues you may have and i have used them quite alot to sought out things on my file.

Richard1234

I've discovered this forum because I have exactly the same situation as "mummy bear & Lucy 206"

I 100% know I did not sign up for a free credit report, as I had already spent a year with experian & had no need for a second report. After phoning Argos & then Privacy guard I've received a form I don't recognize with an undated signature (which looks similar to mine)

I never received a "membership pack" with the 30 day cancelation period .The first I knew about the policy was seeing £79.99 on my argos statement.


I do remember signing something earlier in the year for a competition (which I never normally do, I normally throw junk mail in the bin) & I do vaguely remember a phone call for some experian type service, which I told the caller I already had.


I've only ever used my Argos card at Argos & dont understand how "Privacy Guard" got my Argos details to even charge me ?

What should I do- one person here said report it to the police.
I should also report that the argos card has been used without my authorization ! & that I don't intend to pay the £79.99 as it is fraudulent.

But is there somewhere we can report the scam as a group ?