Grrr Timelife - how do i stop them charging my card?

Milky_Mocha

I'm quickly losing patience with Timelife. I ordered a boxset of DVDs from Timelife, worth about £100 for my Mum. Before placing the order I noted that the TV ad says it is not a subscription but there is a 60-day moneyback guarantee - if you return your DVDs within that time period your card will not be charged.

On the phone during the order I asked again that I do not wish to place my order if this is a subscription. I am interested in that DVD set and nothing else. The lady again confirmed this and all was fine.

The next day they informed me via email that my order has been despatched. Great.
The following week I received an email stating that some other title had also been despatched. I replied stating I had not ordered that so please do not despatch. I explained that I am not pleased since they assured me I would not be receiving items not ordered. They responded by apologising and stating that they have halted the despatch. Then they went on to say, however we may not be able to halt despatch of future DVDs so if I don't want them simply return them within the required timeframe.

I was livid and I told them that if I do receive any more DVDs I do not have time to be returning these and if they charge my credit card I will chargeback the payment. I then told them to delete all my personal information from their records and notify me of this. I made it very clear that I do not want to hear from them again. This was about 2 weeks ago. I did not get a confirmation but also got no further emails from them.

This morning lo and behold there's a DVD from them on my doormat.
My credit card provider is Sainsburys Bank and I don't know how they deal with such matters. With Barclaycard I know it would be no problem. Does anyone have experience of dealing with these crooks? I would like to be forewarned before I call them.

mountainofdebt

Phone Sainsbury up and explain that your card is being used for unsolicited goods and ask for their help. It might help also to pretend to have lost your card so you need a new card and hence a new account number that timelife have no access to.

I would also write a letter to Timelife, sending it recorded delivery, stating that in future that they will be responible for the collection of said dvds and that if they do not collect them within 6 months, they become yours by default.

Milky_Mocha

Thanks, mountain of debt. i thought about that but am concerned that then i would not have paid for the original boxset I did order. I suppose I could monitor the card very closely until they take that and then cancel the card.

grumbler

mountainofdebt wrote:

...It might help also to pretend to have lost your card so you need a new card and hence a new account number that timelife have no access to.

AFAIK cancelling the card does not help in such cases ...
For more information see long thread: Regular Payments off a Credit Card Discussion

econ0013

I suggest you stamp on this very quickly, I had an even more ridicoulous experience with them which ended with me attempting to report them to the police for fraud (who did not want to know). You need to deal with it quickly as they may try to sell on your (imagined by them) debt to a debt collection agency. You wont know until a threatening letter arrives on your door.
They are a swiss company with no-one accountable in this country and no-one prepared to do anything about thier frauds.
You should immediately get your trading standards to sort them out and be prepared to do more.

Moglex

econ0013 wrote:

I suggest you stamp on this very quickly, I had an even more ridicoulous experience with them which ended with me attempting to report them to the police for fraud (who did not want to know).

What was the excuse the police gave for not wanting to get involved?

I once threatened to call the police if a certain supermarket charged me a different price to the one displayed. For weeks, at least once a week this would happen, and the price charged was always higher.

As they bucked their ideas up, I never got to find out what the attitude of the police would have been.

asharon

phone timelife and ask for their freepost address. Then send it recorded delivery. Include a letter stating you want to cancel the membership. Then also phone and confirm this. Always works for me.

Milky_Mocha

Oh crumbs! The last thing I want this Christmas is a fight with a crooked company. I really wish I wouldn't have to give in and post their DVD after I've given them so many warnings via email and on phone. How could they get away with doing this? And they are selling religious material. They give Christianity a bad name. This is the last time I do anything like this for anyone.

I'm so cross.

Thanks for your replies. I'll sort it - hopefully

ronaldmacdonald

Moglex wrote:

What was the excuse the police gave for not wanting to get involved?

lol, the police won't be interested, why even being half murdered to death barely registers on the police radar - now if you want action then youv'e got to commit a thought crime. see how quickly they will "act" if you go and read out a few british war casualties outside parliament or wave a union jack around :eek: .. that will have the paramilitaries, sorry police out before you can say "jackboot stamping on my head"

fandabidozi_2

I have just joined the forum to post this -

I ordered from Time Life using a cashback site just to get the cashback (I have no interest in Time Life products)

I cancelled the order in writing (keeping a copy of my letter/ certificate of posting) but they ignored this and sent a further shipment and charged my credit card (I do have proof that they received my cancellation letter long before they sent the second shipment - indeed they admit it) but they wanted me to return the goods before issuing a refund

I am unwilling to return the goods to these scum (check the dictionary definition of scum)

anyway I sent a copy of my letter / certificate of posting to the credit card companies a few days ago (yes I ordered from Time Life twice at the same time using different credit cards (different issuers) - and got cashback for both orders from the cashback sites)

One of the credit card companies refunded the money to my account today and I am just waiting for MBNA to refund the other one


Time Life scum are members of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) in the UK but as econ0013 points out Time Life
are not UK based so they can steal my money and I cant use the County Court to get it back


Anyway the credit card companies can chargeback the transactions within 3 months from the transaction date , that it the cut off point
credit card companies often refund from their own funds for small amounts eg £5 because it costs more than £5 for them to pursue the matter , in this case the amounts are £18 per order so I do hope they have not refunded from their own funds
I know they have reclaimed £30 from a merchant in respect of a previous chargeback I am not sure of the cut-off point for this

as you ordered over the phone , Time Life will not have your signature and these claims are even easier for the credit card companies to chargeback "Cardholder not Present" so as long as you are within 3 months of the card being charged you should be ok



Is there a thread on this forum detailing how each credit card company deals with chargebacks ? I can't find one
LloydsTSB , HFC and Capital One have all dealt with these very well , I have had problems with RBS and Morgan Stanley but these were outside the 3 month time limit
I dont know how Sainsburys / HBOS would deal with it

fandabidozi_2

asharon wrote:

phone timelife and ask for their freepost address. Then send it recorded delivery. Include a letter stating you want to cancel the membership. Then also phone and confirm this. Always works for me.

Here's the freepost address


Time Life
FREEPOST NAT4789
PO BOX 38
Feltham
TW14 0BR

although I wouldn't return it to them (unless the credit card company can't chargeback)

I don't know how they can obtain a PO Box if they don't have a physical address in the area covered by the delivery office , I used to have a PO Box and they required proof that I have an address in the area covered by the delivery office

I would order from Time Life again to get cash back - It doesn't deter me