Candis - don't bother

Annabee

I suppose it's not exactly a scam but I don't see the point of Candis.

Tonight a bloke knocked on the door. He had an identification badge on and immediately started talking about money for MacMillan cancer nurses. I got my purse out thinking it was a one-off charity collection, but he said they wanted people to pay 2.50 pounds a month by Direct Debit, and you would receive a monthly magazine and there were prizes each month. As I thought it was for charity, and it was only a small amount, I agreed, and he gave me a sample copy of the magazine.

Now I've looked through the magazine I was disgusted to see that only 10 PER CENT of the 2.50 will be given to charity. Talk about misleading! I imagine they get most customers this way.

I'm going to cancel, and give the money to a proper charity instead.

I realise it was silly of me not to ask the bloke more questions, but I wanted to get back to the TV!

mjanet

When I was 23 weeks pregnant I went into labour and if it was not for Candis having recently donated an open top incubator to the special care baby unit my son would not be alive today, as that was the only one in the region available.Thanks to the genorosity of Candis readers many many babies where given the chance of life by this incubator .Thats besides all the other things they donate to .I understand your point but I can only give my heart felt thanks to anyone who has bought this.... :T

black-saturn

I think £2.50 isnt bad for the volume of things in it. There are also lots of competitions in it so it's probably worth it.

Annabee

MJANET - I see why you feel grateful to Candis. That's wonderful for you and your child and I wish you all the best. (Isn't it shocking that the government doesn't provide enough facilities for premature babies? What happens to all our tax?)

But I just think that CANDIS shouldn't allow their agents to push the charity aspect when you are really paying for a fairly ordinary magazine, with only 25p going to charity. Surely they must be making a good profit and could give a bigger percentage.

If all their subscribers gave their 2.50 a month direct to a local charity, the hospitals etc would probably get ten times as much. For instance our local hospice charity, LOROS, runs a lottery scheme monthly for about the same amount as the Candis subscription (I think) so people would be helping much more, and still have the chance to win prizes. I'm looking into doing that instead.

bylromarha

Got caught at the end of tesco by a Candis rep...always find it difficult to walk past someone who's collecting for a prem baby charity when I have my 2 healthy littlies in the trolley. But he too started from the charity angle, which on reflection is sneaky.

Lots of talk about the charities and then he went onto the benefits of joining Candis. Don't think he liked me much as he said about 2for1 cinema tickets...I told him about orange (plus now I've looked on the website it's independent cinemas and my nearest is a 50min round trip and having worked at that cinema I know they only ever have arthouse stuff).

He told me about the cashback website...I asked about specific percentages from retailers and he couldn't tell me, so probably the same as quidco.

He tried to sell me on the nationwide autocentre 20% off voucher...I told him clubcard pay that for me...

he then tried to sell me on the holiday discount...I then told him I'd just got back from a week in tunisia that clubcard had paid for entirely. he didn't believe me, so I pointed him in the direction of the deals brochure.

His final try was the free hotel stay if I pay for dinner and breakfast...I told him I already have one of those vouchers at home.

I told him I'd take the leaflet away and think about it.

He didn't argue.

Will continue with my charity donations that already exist where far more than 10% goes to charity.

eleurph

Hi, Just to make everyone aware that candis now charge £3 per month as well as an annual £3 charge. But this increase in cost is not passed on to the charities that are meant to benefit from the sale of the magazine ( I use the term magazine loosely)