Gourmet society - [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

karenx

I applied ages ago for a free trail of the gourmet society card. When I got the brochure through there was absolutly no restuarants where I live that I would go to. Was all run down places. So I just threw the card out.
This was about 3 months ago. Upon checking my bank I have realised they have taken out £39.95 yesterday, I emailed them to ask about it and was told as I didnt return the card I have been charged for another year of the card. I said I wasnt told when money would come out my bank and if I had known I would of stopped it. I was then told under no terms would I get my money back and the email ended with "enjoy using your card" Ummm the card went in the bin long ago!

What can I do about this?

gordikin

How did they manage to get your card details for a free trial? Did they have a list of participating restaurants on their website? Did you read their T&C's?

dmg24

I did the trial at the same time as you, and it was very clear that you would be charged if you did not return the card. You could ask your card provider to do a chargeback, but strictly speaking you would not be eligible, as you agreed to the charge.

karenx

Yeah I kinda thought that would be the case But I was just hoping there might of been a get out clause as they didnt inform me when they were going to take money out of my bank?

rsykes2000

karenx wrote: »

Yeah I kinda thought that would be the case But I was just hoping there might of been a get out clause as they didnt inform me when they were going to take money out of my bank?

When you signed up, they let you know they were going to take money if you didn't cancel, I don't think they had to remind you or tell you exactly when.

Browntoa

simon , you need to approach [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL] for company permission to post

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK

simonmaxwell wrote: »

Hi Hippychick,

I work on customer service at The Gourmet Society and I am afraid we do not say to members what you have alleged. We are very up front about trial memberships - if it is a trial that you have provided credit card details to us directly for, we state before you have entered any of your details that you will have to cancel it otherwise you will be charged. When you receive your memebrship pack the welcome letter clearly states that you must return your membership card to us before the end of the trial. (this is in bold large letters on the welcome letter)
We are a small company and make no apologies for only having 3 people in a dedicated customer service team. We don't receive many complaint calls and when we do we discuss the call to see how we can improve what we are doing. You called yesterday, and spoke to our manager, and claimed that you had spoken to a girl previously who had said you didn't need to do anything - we simply do not say that to people. We ALWAYS tell customers that they must return a trial card before the end of the trial in order not to be charged and we also advise people to send it by Recorded Delivery. Lots of people do return trials to us within the trial period and are never charged - it would simply be unfair on these people who have bothered to follow the rules for us to alter the rules for you.

I am sorry you are unhappy, but we never do what you have claimed.

Simon

No refund then?

2 separate posters with a similar problem.

I for one would not take out your card from reading this thread...................

wealdroam

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK wrote: »

No refund then?

Why would they?

The company has done nothing wrong.
Neither of the two complainants have returned the cards.
The company does not know whether those cards are in circulation or not.
I imagine people could get a refund and continue to get the benefits.

sawan82

I applied for a free trial through o2 last year, and it was stated very obviously that if you do not want your credit card to be charged (details submitted when applying for free trial) the card and book must be returned before the end of the trial.

I'm sorry but I don't think The Gourmet Society are scammers (sp?). I was happy with my card, kept it, was charged my £39.95 and have saved that without a doubt. There are places I can't use my tastelondon card in London (and definitely out of London), and I can use this card. We went away Easter weekend, and saved quite a bit with the card.

My basic point is, always read the details (small or large) before you apply for trials, especially those which require payment details. I don't bother applying for free trials if at the end of day I know I'm not interested in the product/service, because I know me being me, I'll forget to return things or cancel or whatever before the trial ends and be charged for something I don't want.

And for anyone else who's interested in The Gourmet Society, I do recommend it, just check out their restaurant & offer listing online before you sign up to a free trial!

HTH

drsquirrel

sawan82 wrote: »

I'm sorry but I don't think The Gourmet Society are scammers (sp?). I was happy with my card, kept it, was charged my £39.95 and have saved that without a doubt. There are places I can't use my tastelondon card in London (and definitely out of London), and I can use this card. We went away Easter weekend, and saved quite a bit with the card.

I doubt they are scammers - but they know exactly what they are doing

And I am pretty sure that OP isn't the only one that has probably "forgotten" they need to return the card or even knew they had to in the first place.

If this happens often, GS could know their rights very well - which doesn't bode well for OP.

heretolearn_2

Free trials like this are not a scam, they are a perfectly respectable marketing technique - as long as the cancellation terms are made clear, which it seems that they are in this case.