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

trisontana

ashley0611 wrote:

That post isnt exactly helpful to those affected. Also most people used it for vouchers and in that case what you pay is what you get back.

But you don't get any interest on the money and you are restricted to where you can spend the vouchers. Bad value

ashley0611

trisontana wrote:

But you don't get any interest on the money and you are restricted to where you can spend the vouchers. Bad value

I agree with what you are saying but a lot of people saw it as a 'safe' place to put their money away.

trisontana

ashley0611 wrote:

I agree with what you are saying but a lot of people saw it as a 'safe' place to put their money away.

Well lets hope that people won't make the same mistake again and that they avoid similar "savings" schemes. What's the betting that the hamper industry will be non existent bythis time next year? Goodbye to a very dodgy concept.

alwaysbusyMUM

trisontana wrote:

But you don't get any interest on the money and you are restricted to where you can spend the vouchers. Bad value

granted we didnt get interest on the payments, we got a small amount back in commission, which came in a cheque or direct back in our accounts, I used to give mine to our local hospice to help with their fundraising, and has for where we can spend the vouchers, I always ordered the multi store vouchers which is where I always shop anyway, so no we wasnt restricted on where we spent them.

But we won't be doing them again.

trisontana

Did both agents and "ordinary" customers get commission, or just agents?

Regarding the vouchers , although they were multi-store could you spend them in such places as Tesco and other supermarkets?

alwaysbusyMUM

the agents got the commission it was based on your total order value the more you ordered the more you got, a higher % was mainly paid out if you ordered hampers, on my £4000 worht of vouchers I would have got £115, not a lot for all the hassle, but like I said it went to the hospice anyway.
The vouchers could be ordered for Asda or Sainsburys, M & S, Waitrose etc but not Tesco, our local Tesco & Sainsburys is ok for your wkly shop but not a Xmas shop hence why I ordered Asda, the rest where multi store which covered BHS, Argos, woollies, hmv, sports shops the list was endless you could also use them towards days out Meals, holidays.

The ordinary customers had to have an agent to place their order with out one you couldnt order unless you became an agent yourself

alwaysbusyMUM

These are not thoughtless or stupid people -they are careful and responsible.

The one terrific lesson that I have learnt from all this, that Martin has pointed out, and that I hope everyone will take note of, is to use a Credit card or Visa debit card, not a Switch card, for as many payments as possible - even ones which seem to be totally safe, as Farepak payments seemed at the time.

It is terrific to see thousands of people getting their money back through their Visa cards. And heartbreaking to see so many who did not pay this way.[/QUOTE]


Thank you for your points, we have felt stupid espically since it was heard on the grapevine back in April EHR was in trouble.

I for one, once the new year is in and all of my interest free cards are clear will be getting thanks to MArtin's advice a cashback card where all my purchases from food to fuel will be on the card, I'm still waiting to hear about my small claim on my card £250, out of £4k, small drop but it will help. So fingers crossed.

trisontana

The agent set-up is another thing I don't like about these schemes. When the agent is a member of your family or a neighbour I would think that many people would feel almost obliged to sign up to the scheme for fear of causing offence. It's the old British failing of being too polite and not wanting to say "no".

My wife and I saved with one of these hamper companies about 25 years ago. But only once! After we had priced up the contents of the hamper, plus finding that there were things in there that we really didn't like, we said never again. Instead we opened a separate savings account just to pay for Christmas.

emilyj

trisontana wrote:

My wife and I saved with one of these hamper companies about 25 years ago. But only once! After we had priced up the contents of the hamper, plus finding that there were things in there that we really didn't like, we said never again. Instead we opened a separate savings account just to pay for Christmas.

Which is why, as has been said over and over, but you do not seem to have heard it, over 85% of Farepak customers received Vouchers to the same value as their payments, not hampers.

As I said -these are NOT stupid people!!!

trisontana

emilyj wrote:

Which is why, as has been said over and over, but you do not seem to have heard it, over 85% of Farepak customers received Vouchers to the same value as their payments, not hampers.

As I said -these are NOT stupid people!!!

I am aware that most people had vouchers . But, as I have said before, you don't get any interest on your money and, although they are supposed to be multi-store they are not as flexible as cash. You cannot use them in such places as Aldi or Lidl where you can get more for your money. People are not stupid, just a little naive.