Caught out by DazzleWhite

singlehouseholder

agnetha wrote: »

Barclays are absolutely useless. Their Indian call centre is hopeless and neither understand or help.

Another 58.08 is pending from my account (don't know who from yet but almost certainly another payment to this company under a different name). Barclays won't do anything. I have cancellation confirmations, proof of delivery, you name it and yet they're saying they can do nothing. I have finally received a letter regarding the chargeback for 15.57 take out on 29.12.09 but nothing else at all so far. I'm currently down nearly £130 - I cannot afford this.

Strange how most other banks are seemingly doing all they can to help customers but Barclays are seriously dragging their heels on this matter, and yet closing my account down with them won't make things end. I've continually asked them to do things to resolve the matter and even though they say they'll do so they haven't. Utterly ridiculous. Their standard of customer service is a joke. I feel a letter to the Financial Ombudsman coming on...

I honestly don't know what else to do - I'm down £130 which I can't afford, Barclays won't do anything much despite being aware of what is happening and despite me having proof of cancellations/delivery, etc.

Halifax were useless for me too, I switched all my DD and closed my account, they know fine well its a scam but would not commit to no further payments being released from my account. Can you just close your account, I know its a huge hassle but if you're account is closed they can't take any more payments. Halifax stated they could still take payments even if I cancelled my card and got a new one. I will never ever bank with them again and will be taking my morgage elsewhere when its up for renewal.

agnetha

sooperb wrote: »

Agnetha, have you tried going into your branch and taking them to task? Closing your account may not put a stop to the withdrawals but it would send a very clear message to Barclays. While you're in the branch you could also complain about their call centre!

Not yet. I don't suffer fools gladly and take being fobbed off extremely badly (even though I often realise there's not a lot they can do) - I will almost certainly end up shouting and bawling and in tears of frustration at how bloody useless they are - which I why I've put off going into the branch so far.

I'm an ex-Woolwich customer (never had any complaints about them at all) and never wanted anything to do with Barclays. The only reason I haven't already cancelled my account with them is because I already have a complaint going through about them concerning a matter that happened in September. Once that is resolved to my satisfaction then Barclays can go hang for all I care.

But £130 down so far is well worth bursting into tears about. Barclays are fully aware of the scam - shouldn't they be doing more for their customers caught up in this? I'm not stupid or gullible - I've been purchasing items from the internet for knocking on 20 years and this is the first time I've been scammed, so I can do without some clueless clump making me feel that way.

sooperb

" but if you're account is closed they can't take any more payments."

This really doesn't seem to be the case, I was told, as others appear to have been, that the banks still have to accept the charge even if you close your account/card. Has anyone who has done this been told by their banks/card issuer that they have continued to accrue a debt?

The emphasis seems to be that you need to cancel with the scammer. I was told this by Firstdirect who accepted the date I gave them and charged back the charges after that date. They took my word for it, I didn't have to give them any proof. The scammers apparently have 60 days to contest the charge back, does anyone know if they do? I would suspect that they wouldn't bother because of the time and cost involved and the fact that there are new victims falling for it every day.

Proboards have suspended all ads from their forums for the time being because they said they have had reports of ads that break their guidelines. I don't know if the whitener ads will fail because of this but they have added a report button which I will be the first to use if the ads re-appear.

Apersonwho

Thanks for this thread - I saw an ad for Everbright and clean something or other and clicked the contact page to check for a street address as opposed to a PO Box address. I then googled it, and found this forum, so have avoided this scam (I didn't even put in full real details at the start (the bit before it asks for card details) - so they can't even start spamming me so easily, or look up my personal details so easily).

Suggestion (some infor is UK-based): draw all your money out and open a new bank account. If it takes a while to open it, and you're due to receive money in your old account in the meantime, then draw out everything as soon as money is paid into your account.

When you've opened your new account, have everything paid into there (wages etc.). Until all that's been processed, keep drawing your money out every time it goes in, and physically deposit it in your new account. If your credit rating makes it difficult to get a normal bank account, Lloyds TSB and at least one other bank (I think it's RBS but their website doesn't seem to mention it) does a basic account that you can probably still open. Only with the Lloyds one you can't draw money abroad (but you can buy stuff in most, though not all, shops that accept Visa whilst abroad. For example Piggly Wiggly in the USA accepts Visa but DOESN'T accept the Lloyds TSB Visa card), and you can only use Lloyds TSB cash machines (apparently you can use the Post Office from a Post Office counter, but I tried drawing money out from a Post Office hole-in-the-wall cash machine outside, and couldn't).

I have a crap credit rating but have the Lloyds TSB card. Be warned though, VERY occasionally somewhere even in the UK may not accept it even if they accept Visa - example, I tried to use it on an East Midlands train and it didn't work. But I paid at the office at the train station after and it worked fine there - that's the only time it aint worked in the UK).

Your old bank may TRY to carry on processing payments, but how can they if there's no money in there? O.K. so it may mess with your credit rating but you can try to amend that later, and at least, if it works, this is a short fix to stop further payments being taken out.

I think we need an international fraud body (one with teeth).

bayley84

Ive fallen for this too, anyone know what the website address is? ive tried http://www.dazzlesmilepro.com/contactus.php but all i get is a phone number in USA to ring which im not gonna do as it doesnt seem anyone can get through.

competitionscafe

Following the Visa crackdown on these scams, Mastercard is following suit by closing the merchant accounts of the scammers folowing high volumes of consumer complaints - so perhaps all the complaints to banks etc about allowing these scams to continue are finally being heard:

"Mastercard is reviewing individual accounts and requesting freezes on some accounts which have forced continuity and "Free - just pay shipping" offers."

"...both Visa and MasterCard are taking action in response to increases in consumer disputes related to card-not-present and direct response products and services.

MasterCard has recently warned the Acquiring community that “Negative Option” enrollment will be considered a “Brand Damaging” business practice. “Brand Damaging” is a very broad term and is still being defined, but in light of recent fines to our counterparts, we must be proactive. Indications are that MasterCard will require immediate termination of merchants identified as using this business practice, along with any other practices considered “Brand Damaging”. This follows recent policy changes from Visa regarding descriptor formats and disclosure of corporate entities related to Direct Response offers, with the intent to enforce all chargeback and transaction monitoring programs as defined by the associations.


(We) cannot accept merchant applications for products and/or services employing “Negative Option” enrollment, in addition to the following practices:
Marketing models that employ “Free-Trial”, “Deferred Billing” and/or “Shipping Only”. Customers must be receiving a tangible good or contracted service in exchange for charging of payment cards. Incentivized discount offers are acceptable when the cardholder is receiving something in exchange for payment, however we will be unable to support accounts engaging in hidden or delayed charges and ‘free’ offers that are not truly free.


The FTC has recently published guidelines regarding “Negative Option” enrollment programs and is taking a very aggressive position against merchants utilizing/employing this business practice. Recommendations take in part from the FTC’s website may include but are not limited to the following: Material terms should be disclosed in a clear, concise manner. Unnecessarily long or inconsistent terms are viewed as an attempt to mislead the consumer.
Terms should be disclosed in a conspicuous manner, clearly placed and labeled on websites in a location that indicates the importance and relevance to the transaction. Fonts and colors must be easy to view.
Material terms must be disclosed prior to completion of the transaction and before a financial obligation is incurred by the consumer.
Customers must provide affirmative consent to any offer, examples include a mandatory “I Agree…” statement checkbox, where the customer is acknowledging the Terms and Conditions of the offer and consents to be entered into continuity program as a result of completing the transaction. Pre-checked boxes do not qualify as affirmative consent.
Merchants must not discourage or make difficult in any way the disclosed cancellation procedures and all cancellation requests must be honored in accordance with the stated terms of the transaction."


http://www.membershipsiteowner.com/public/IMPORTANT_Crack_Down_from_Mastercard.cfm


http://www.ftc.gov
http://www.econsumer.gov

Olderbutnotwiser

:j Cheque arrived today from Capital one refunding all monies taken, there is hope folks.

sooperb

That's excellent news from the pair of you. Are we to see and end to these scammers now?

My husband sent me a link to a Michelles diet blog where she was flogging the use of acai berries and colon cleanse because she had lost so much weight. Same format, almost exactly, but on the "offer" page, there were no T&S only a privacy policy which is where the terms had been hidden. Just the same old same old. Funnily enough when I clicked the link to her page, she was Michelle who lived in, well exactly where I was at the time. What won't they try, when hubby clicked the link she was in London so I can only suppose his uni servers are located there.

span66

Agnetha,

Go to Google and type in these words without the quotes:
"no more 0870"
Choose the first result - follow the link on that page to "Search for alternative number", and, when there, insert "Barclays" in the Company Name section.
It will return a long list of numbers to all sorts of departments - many, if not most, of them will get you through to UK centres rather than Mumbai.
In particular, look for the fraud departments - they will get you sorted and you "should" receive all your money back.
For other banks, follow the same advice, but insert your bank's name instead of Barclays.
Good luck!

jasmine10

Having fell for this scam too i had £148.27 taken out of my bank account on 24/11/09 I rang the Coop bank up and i was told to write a letter to the dispute centre, which i did the same day. I also asked if i should close the account because i did not want any more money taken out and the reply was no they will sort everything out for me. Then to my shock i had on the 8/12/09 £53.97 from a firm called sup*smilebright and on the 9/12/09 £88.90 from Fysopro.com. I rang the bank again and she still told me not to worry i would get a refund and not to close the account.
I did close the account as i was so worried. A few days later i received a letter from the dispute office to say that i had agreed to the terms and conditions when accepting this offer and therefore unable to claim a refund. As you can imagine i went mad and i rang the financial ombudsman services and explained everything to them. Luckily i had the dates and times and names of whom and when i spoke to the bank.
This week somebody from the bank rang to tell me that the ombudsman had got in contact with them and being as i have been with the bank for many years said that i will get a full refund. He told me because i paid with a debit card it is harder to get refunds and being as the lady on the phone had not given me a proper reason why not to close my account that they will refund me the money. They told me if i had kept my account open then they could have claimed from visa but if you close your account the bank can't get the money from visa. Don't quite understand that bit as i paid with a debit card.
The money now is bank in another of my accounts.
So try the ombudsman if you have problems with your bank it worked for me!
I will be very careful in future when i buy anything from the internet. This has caused me hours of wasted time and stress.