'The difference between 'free' and free' blog discussion

MSE_Martin · 2 December 2011 at 7:04PM

To answer "does MSE always read the t&cs"

Part of our process is for the team to go through all the conditions, not just the ones published but where possible and practicable (it isn't always) we try and speak with the company and ask questions to get clarifications and double check we're on the right track.

This is more so if its in the email as the email compilation process has its own extra checks (usually I rewrite the email at least twice on a tuesday and two members of my senior team go through it as well).

While of course mistakes do happen on occassion with the deals team (hugely rare considering the vast number) this is why we believe there's a big difference between being able to trust our deals and some other places, as we don't just "put it up there" we go through a process first.

However that is MSE as in MAIN SITE AND EMAIL obviously the forum is a social network with user generated content.

Hope this helps

Martin

goodz · 2 December 2011 at 8:01PM

Well done for trying to be so aware of everything and making this distinction. You and your team and this site are that rare thing, sincere.

Another one like this that is highlighted a lot on your forum here and on many others around the net are the "free" offers that require you to sign up with your credit card or debit card. Then often they just help themselves to your money and totally rip you off. Even if the supposed "free" offer didn't even require you to sign up to a monthly charge and the need for the card was supposedly just to verify your identity. What a con. I'm wise to this utter con so I don't bother. But loads of people get caught out all the time, everywhere. It's a very common very successful scam. Criminals everywhere are making tens of thousands going on millions out of this.

Then, similar, there's all the free offers that require you to sign up to a subscription but you're supposed to be allowed to cancel it in the first week or fortnight or month or whenever. So you cancel - but they just ignore you and rip you right off. And help themselves to your money. For as long as they can get away with it.

Or they make it impossible or very difficult to cancel. Then enrich themselves by helping themselves to your money. This scam is also frequently exposed here on your forum, hundreds of times by victims of hundreds of companies doing it. It's also frequently exposed on lots of other forums on the net and in the newspaper consumer columns.

But the government, police, justice system and supposedly regulatory bodies continue to fail to do anything about it. They just let the con artists get away with it everywhere all the time. It's a big earner for huge numbers of criminals all the time.