Farepak in administration: What to do? (Merged Thread)

sazzlewhit

I have check my emails and I have one regarding a payment of £800 that I paid online using Debit Card I have telephoned Natwest as I have an Avantage Gold Account I said that I paid for goods and the companies gone bust and Ive not received the items ordered. They lady told to contact their Purchase Protection Team which I did but was closed so will call first thing tomorrow. So I would advise you to call your bank as none of you have anything to lose and guy at work advised my to ring my home insurance incase its covered within that.
I wont rest uptil we've got at least something back.

I am v. shocked that M&S / Debenhams have said Farepak didn't place any orders with them this year I thought that how Farepak made their money ie purchasing vouchers in bulk for retailer for delivery later in the year along with customers interest on payments !!!

max06

burbs wrote:

To be honest i think your post is completly pointless at a time like this for people who have lost money and literally had their Xmas thrown into chaos.

What if they had put the money into savings blah blah blah. All very well with what ifs but at the end of the day these people decided to save for hampers for reasons which are personal to their circumstances and now isnt really the time or place to point out where they should have been putting their money!!

I agree, thank you

Miss_Muffet_2

M&S were the new vouchers to go hand in hand with the choice vouchers this year, thats strange, because I had placed orders for these for a few of my customers this year.

michjoe

james10999 wrote:

I feel sorry for the people this effects, this must come as a total shock and is totallu unpredictable. I hope you all follow some of Martins tips to make christmas more affordable.

however....

Why? Why oh Why put money in this company?! I really can't understand it
Basically you have two options:

Farepack
0% savings scheme, can only be spent on the high street

Savings account
5%+ interest, can be spent anywhere.

The only reason I can think of is that people would be tempted to take the money out, but to be fair, if your tempted to be taking money out you shouldn't be putting as much money into getting vouchers for christmas and thus getting into debt. Seems VERY silly to me this vouchers scheme.

Can anyone who used the scheme explain why they decided to purchase these vouchers as I see no benefit at all and you could have made much more money with a save savings account

Can you explain the bit 'shouldn't be putting as much money into getting vouchers for Christmas and thus getting into debt'??
I saved with Farepak because if I put the savings in my account the temptation would be too much to withdraw them, also I saved with them as I have done for years as it takes the expense out of Christmas (but not this year).

michjoe

Also I saved all year round so I wouldn't struggle at Christmas and go into debt.

Westywoodpecker

I have a friend who has lost a lot of money in this company, not to mention her family too. She's completely destroyed at what has happened. My thoughts are with you all that are involved.

Miss_Muffet_2

That to me was the whole point in having the hampers you knew what you could afford to pay out each week and it took alot of the strain of the xmas worries off you because you knew what you had coming in.

Sugar_Spun_Sister

I'm absolutely gutted for all of you affected by this.

I used to save weekly for vouchers when my kids were younger, and even though it was a struggle some weeks I stuck to it religiously. When someone calls weekly to collect your money I think you're more inclined to budget for it - well it worked for me anyway. I always started the year with good intentions (putting money in a savings account, buying savings stamps at the supermarket etc) but what with one thing and another these intentions fell by the wayside very quickly! Knowing that my friend would be calling every week for the 'hamper money' meant that as soon as I was paid I'd put the money up for her.

I just feel so bad for all of you - those people responsible are evil!!

poppielia

It is of no concern to anyone else why and how people decide to save for crimbo. That is an individuals choice that is based on their own circumstances.


SORRY HAD TO GET THAT OFF MY CHEST!!

I am so very very sorry for everyone who has missed out because of this and i have felt sick to my stomach since finding out about it as i know what it is like to struggle so badly to save for these vouchers through the year just so you can give the kiddies a great crimbo. I also know that when you are on a really tight budget every week it means you cant afford to take the kiddies on holiday or treat them during the year so you try like mad to srimp as much money/vouchers together so that you can make up for it by making sure the kids at least have a fantastic christmas.
I feel very very lucky as my mother and myself have used this company for a few years now but when we got caught out in feb this year with remaining choice vouchers we couldnt use i told my mum i didnt think we should save for christmas in this way again so we didnt. (THANK GOD!)
I am now concerned as i have a part time job and if we hit our targets we recieve love2shop high street vouchers. I know these are not effected by all of this but i do want to know what my employers would do in the event that this should also happen to the company that supplies these vouchers to us.
I will never trust these things again from now on.
Again my best wishes and thoughts go out to all of those effected and i hope the b*S***ds responsible rot in hell.:mad:

max06

sazzlewhit wrote:

I am v. shocked that M&S / Debenhams have said Farepak didn't place any orders with them this year I thought that how Farepak made their money ie purchasing vouchers in bulk for retailer for delivery later in the year along with customers interest on payments !!!

Did M & S and Debenhams not wonder why no orders had been placed, I would have thought that as it would have been a huge order that both companies would have sales people calling farepak and encouraging them to take their vouchers and asking why none had been bought so far.

If this is the case why did they not raise the alarm!