URGENT ADVICE PLEASE..is this illegal....

mysterious_girl

I have used Vista Print for about 4 years for my business cards and postcards which I use for advertising. I have never ever been charged anything above or beyond what I am expecting to be charged for my products and postage.

jonidancer

Clubprem.com had been taking money out of my credit card account since May 2008, it was through Vistaprint VP rewards scam that this happened. I never knowingly signed up to be part of it. So they had been taking £9.95 out of my account per month and then had the cheek to increase it to £11.95 since April 2009. I'd never noticed as I only ever use this card for expenses and clearly wasn't checking my statement thoroughly enough (that has now changed). Anyway I thought I would let you know that thanks to this forum & the information I got from it I managed to track down who it was taking my mmoney from my account and how to get in touch with them. I was given a full refund into my account this week. I only dealt with the Clubprem.com & VP Rewards through email and it probably took just under 3 weeks in all to deal with it and get a full refund. The thing that annoys me is they say you're part of a rewards scheme but not once was I contacted regarding what I could actually get for my money. Total con.

cyberbob

mysterious_girl wrote: »

I have used Vista Print for about 4 years for my business cards and postcards which I use for advertising. I have never ever been charged anything above or beyond what I am expecting to be charged for my products and postage.

Same here we have never had any problems.

moh1948

This company are scamming it would appear on an ad hoc basis as some people seem to no get hit.
When challenged they refund up to six months payments to CLUB PREM . They agree to refund the rest but unfortunately they can not trace your account (really) I am preparing to invest a further £25 and issue County Court proceedings on line because after being reasonable for three months it became obvious I was getting the run around to nowhere. They have an office in this country if I succeed I will instruct Bailiffs to seize goods to the amount due plus costs.
I never signed up for any services with them they can supply no proof what so ever that I did .There are hundreds of complaints (Google it and see)
The first few emails are dealt with on a reasonable basis but eventually you get one with a few miscellaneous characters in a group of four them two I wonder what that means

Deal with this company at your peril They grab your IP address when you go onto the site check their own Terms and Conditions

KEROUAC1957

Hi i too have been scammed by Vistaprint after getting "free" business cards.

I contacted Premier Club some time ago and they asked me to let them know the email address I registered with which I then sent to them. They still haven't cancelled or refunded me probably about a year on. I've been feeling pretty stupid to have left it so long but I've taken heart from the posts on here and am determined to get things moving. My credit card company Egg also refused to cancel the payments (I don't understand this at all).

My question for anyone in the know is this. Would it be wise to go with my own instincts and issue a county court summons against Adaptive Affinity Limited who I believe run Clubprem and 'VPrewards' and who are based in the UK?

The reason I ask is that the forum which was setup vistaprintscam.freeforums.org states that the company behind this is based in the US and to contact them so I'm a little confused. Is this forum on the level or is it there to muddy the waters? I have a suspicious nature.

Also I found an interesting article regarding an OFT ruling which I don't know if it's been posted before double u x3.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2009/75-09 (sorry the forum won't let me post links as I'm new)

Online discount scheme agrees to change sign up process

75/09 24 June 2009

The operator of an online discount shopping club has agreed to revise its advertising and payment pages after the OFT raised concerns that consumers could be misled.

Adaptive Affinity Limited runs 'High Street Max', a paid-for membership service offering discounts across a range of high street and online shops and services.

The company advertises to consumers shopping on other retailer's websites and has agreements with Lastminute.com and Millet Sports. It previously had a similar agreement with Vistaprint to advertise schemes called 'VPrewards' and 'Premier Club'.

The schemes offer consumers who have finished making a purchase from one of these host websites the opportunity to receive a 'cash back' off their next purchase together with a 'free trial' membership to the discount club. If the consumer agrees to the offer, but does not cancel during the free trial period, they are charged a monthly membership fee of up to £14.95. More than 130,000 consumers joined the schemes in the 12 months to the end of April 2008.

The OFT raised concerns with the company that its advertising and sign-up process may not be clear to consumers. The company has agreed to make changes, including making it clearer that the consumer is entering into an agreement with Adaptive Affinity, rather than the website from whom a purchase has just been made.

Adaptive Affinity Limited has given undertakings to the OFT, under the Enterprise Act 2002, in relation to alleged breaches of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Heather Clayton, OFT Senior Director of Consumer Protection said:

'The internet offers a convenient and simple way for business to promote new and innovative products or services to consumers. However, it is important that consumers know exactly who they are dealing with and on what basis, which means in particular that payment processes must be clear.'

NOTES

1. Undertakings under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002 were given by Adaptive Affinity Ltd and its sole director Andrew Millet. The undertakings relate to contended breaches of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

2. Under the Enterprise Act 2002 if undertakings are breached the OFT can apply to the courts for an injunction.

3. Adaptive Affinity Ltd has a registered office of Cavendish House, 369 Burnt Oak Broadway, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 5AW.

4. Millet Sports trades via .milletsports.co.uk

5. The online discount scheme advertised to consumers who have made a purchase on the Millet Sports website - and previously to consumers who had made a purchase on the Vistaprint website - operates on the basis that consumers authorise the transfer of their payment card details from the host website to Adaptive Affinity Ltd as part of the sign up process. The scheme advertised to consumers who have made a purchase on the Lastminute.com website requires the consumer to re-enter their payment card details as part of the sign up process.

6. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations ('CPRs'), which implement an EC Directive, prohibit unfair commercial practices which distort consumers' decisions. They introduce a general duty not to trade unfairly on businesses dealing with consumers. They prohibit misleading consumers by actions or omissions. They also contain prohibitions against aggressive practices, as well as 31 specific practices that are always considered unfair.

frannyann

Jelliebeen wrote: »

Hello,

I ordered wedding invitations from VP a couple of months ago.

As far as I'm aware, they haven't taken any money for the VPRewards, but when do these payments normally kick in? Immediately or after a few months?

I check my online banking regularly, but a bit worried that I may have accidently fallen into a trap....

I ordered all my wedding invites from VP last September and have only ever paid for what I ordered. Just ordered some more and again only paid for what I ordered. The offer to sign up for 'partner' benefits is an OPT IN not opt out so unless you actually 'clicked' to have the benefits you will be fine.

jacklondon_2

HI ALL!

I do not pretend to be the wiseguy here, but ....... how about a pretty simple and genuinely straight solution.

Get yourself one of the popular top-up cards of MasterCard or Visa (I use Prime - just bought it one day in my local costcutter). They have all the features of a 'credit card' for your online purchase and you keep whatever money balance you want.

I use it for my online shopping (to be able to top up freely you need to register it - card is anonymous - in the system. For most purchases you need it anyway - to give all personal detals)

My advice - get a 'top up' visa or master. Call the infoline, register it on your name. IMPORTANT - don't need to use the same billing addres you do with your bank and actual credit cards - use a diferent one and a different moblie number (never need to use this number really)

so you get yourself new security details and a card - say someone steals those - they will rip you off the odd few pounds you keep there. Before a bigger purchase just top your card up and within the 15 mts from your local store to the computer - is all your risk..... Any scammer after a few failed attempts to rob you will just take your top up card off their list.

cheers
Jack

(any 'pay point' outlet - at least in London - will top it up for you).

rsykes2000

jacklondon wrote: »

HI ALL!

I do not pretend to be the wiseguy here, but ....... how about a pretty simple and genuinely straight solution.

That's a good idea, but an even simpler and more straightforward solution is to :
READ WHAT YOU SIGN UP FOR
The 'rewards' thing is opt-in, you have to sign up for it - most people who use Vistaprint etc do not get 'caught' by these monthly charges as they don't sign up for them. It isn't a scam, it's just failure to acknowledge what you are doing on their website.

KEROUAC

rsykes2000 wrote: »

That's a good idea, but an even simpler and more straightforward solution is to :
READ WHAT YOU SIGN UP FOR
The 'rewards' thing is opt-in, you have to sign up for it - most people who use Vistaprint etc do not get 'caught' by these monthly charges as they don't sign up for them. It isn't a scam, it's just failure to acknowledge what you are doing on their website.

rsykes2000 Vistaprint and the rewards company have been made to change the sign up process by the Office of Fair Trading (see my post above). Before it was operated in a very sneaky fashion which is why so many people were caught out - myself included. (I've been using the web to make purchases since way before it became common place and this is the first time I've been caught out.)

Also I think it used to be an opt out scenario rather than opt in which pop up blockers could sometimes inadvertently hide from the user. I think your comments are a little disrespectful to the many people who have been scammed.

Soontobe

I had exactly the same problem with Vistaprint last year, I did not read all of the terms and conditions and got caught up in the membership thing!!! I rang them on 0800 028 8251 and they were very helpful and it only took two emails to get it stopped but they did stop it and refunded the one in between the emails.

I can honestly say that I still buy products from them without being on the membership and the products are of great quality and always delivered on time.

ASK YOURSELF THIS.... do we really get anything for free in this life? So if they are offering free products how are they going to cover their expense??? Keeping this in mind you should read everything!!

Hope this helps.