FAREPAK-Patronising

slates

I was a farepak saver and lost £230 from them collapsing.I was saving with them for vouchers for xmas & the new year sales, so i could treat my family and myself.With the collapse i not in bad position just means i cant treat myself or my family to th extras the vouchers would of covered.

My reasons for saving with farepak is that i am terrible saver and saving with them commited me to paying a monthly amount. I found when saving into a normal savings account was that 'oh i'm skint lets dip into my savings' so come xmas i didnt have the amounts i wanted..

So am i stupid for saving with Farepk because thats the census i feel with some report, posts etc..??:mad: :mad:

astonsmummy

No your not, i'm the same i cant save for toffes but at the moment i dont need to spend much on xmas, dont have much to buy and i go to my sis's on xmas day and my nans on boxing day.
I was considering saving for vouvhers for next year until all this happened.

bunking_off

andyrules wrote:

I wonder if those being patronising towards the Farepak victims have ever fallen foul of other financial disasters, such as the endowment crisis which was marketed hard by first rate, high street 'safe' building societies. And they are regulated.

I feel deeply sorry for those people who lost out with Farepak. Similarly, I feel sorry for those pensioners who took government advice, paid for years into their company pension scheme, and now live on the breadline - permanently - because their schemes failed. The issue is that I don't hear government ministers suggesting that we should bail them out...and in this case it was their advice that suggested the money would be safe. Why are those needy currently in the headlines considered more needy than others in equally dire circumstances?

The BBC article was about perceived emtional blackmail to companies to assist in the charity collection. That was a fair argument...everyone should consider whether to contribute, but I agree that no-one should feel any compulsion to do so.

trisontana

Of course we have that master of publicity, Max Clifford to blame for all the hype. He has been pushing the PR campaign from day one.

andyrules

People losing their Christmas savings, people unable to pay their mortgages off, people losing their pensions - all common themes on varying scales of financial disaster, with the latter clearly having the most tragic impact. And the common theme? Innocent and hard working people trying to save honestly for a better future. Makes you wonder.

everythingblogcast

I do feel for the people who lost money, but why should the goverment take money off education and health care. Its there own fault no-one elses. Safety bid is to setup a bank account just for Christmas and the banking code protects you. Why should other people stuffer because of stupided of a xmas club. Health and Education is way more important then people being stupid and losting all their xmas saves.

bethscott1970

I suppose I ought to duck for cover before posting this but here goes anyway.


I've never used a hamper company and preferred to put a bit aside each month towards Christmas and my childrens birthdays (they all fall within 3 weeks), but this year due to my husband being off work sick (possibly for a long while more) and his employer playing sillys sods and trying to get rid of him rather than pay SSP, I've had to dip into those savings to keep a roof over our heads and bills paid. Even after applying for income support we have the grand total of around £80 per week to live on, and pay bills with, for 5 of us (plus paying child support for my stepson which I won't cancel as I don't see why his mum should struggle as well). Christmas in our house is effectively cancelled, the kids luckily are very understanding and know once we are back on our feet they will get some presents but who is the fool now? If I had paid into a hamper scheme then we would be able to get something back, we probably wouldn't have noticed the few extra pounds a week but as it stands there is no comeback for us.

Horasio

I am disgusted at how people have been treated who have been swindled by Farepak. That smug man needs shooting.

I do wonder why people don't invest what they save in these companies in a high interest account (limited access) and take it out for Christmas. Also, these Christmas Club products are far more expensive than bought from Tescos etc. So they are not MS anyway.

andyrules

I do wonder why people don't invest what they save in these companies in a high interest account (limited access) and take it out for Christmas. Also, these Christmas Club products are far more expensive than bought from Tescos etc. So they are not MS anyway.

Agree with you 100% there. Personally I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole; a few years ago a friend showed me her hamper she'd saved for (I dont think it was Farepak) - none of the tins were date stamped so obviously they were off loading goods the supermarkets probably wouldn't touch. And making a good profit.

However, there is clearly a reason why people do save with them - perhaps for some they take away the anxiety about bank accounts. My old mum just can't get her head around the hole in the wall, waited ages in a bank queue for cash only to be told off by the clerk for not using the machine. She did start to try, but then I discovered she'd been drawing cash with a credit card :eek:

For other people, it may just be the inconvenience and difficulty getting to town - let's face it, local branches are closing down in their droves.

There is also the idea that they sound a bit like the old 'friendly' societies - but in reality aren't!

DavidHM

I think there are two clear issues here:

1. Yes, we should feel sorry for people who have lost out with Farepak;

But

2. Feeling sorry for them won't actually achieve very much. Farepak were making money on the hampers (but taking the money and losing it elsewhere) two ways:

i. Interest not paid out to their savers;
ii. Selling the goods at a profit so that the consumer didn't actually have a lot of control over what went in their hampers, etc., at what price.

You're much better off taking the money in a savings account then paying it to a supermarket, etc., and controlling your own spending and those of us who are financially astute and know that owe as much of a duty to point that out as to express their sympathy.