Very very.co.uk - Is this a scam?

Wistful_2

Out of the blue I got a letter offering 10% discount at Very. I do not have an account with Very (in fact I'd never heard of them) and I do not know how they got my address. I rang them (I used their Freephone number 0800 180000) and spent 15 minutes, at their expense!!!, trying to get them to remove me from their mailing list. They said they could only remove me if I gave my date of birth!!!

Obviously I didn't give them my DOB, but wondered if this is some sort of scam or whether they just want DOBs so they can send more targetted junk mail in the future?

Has anyone else had a "£10 off at Very" letter?

I hope this is the right board for this thread.

EycplUK

Wistful wrote: »

Out of the blue I got a letter offering 10% discount at Very. I do not have an account with Very (in fact I'd never heard of them) and I do not know how they got my address.
I rang them (I used their Freephone number 0800 180000) and spent 15 minutes, at their expense!!!, trying to get them to remove me from their mailing list. They said they could only remove me if I gave my date of birth!!!
Obviously I didn't give them my DOB, but wondered if this is some sort of scam or whether they just want DOBs so they can send more targetted junk mail in the future?
Has anyone else had a "£10 off at Very" letter?

I hope this is the right board for this thread.

They bought it from a mailing list seller ! never heard of Very ?
You live in a monastery ?

Why would you not give them your dob ? you must have already give them your name , address etc .....

Not a scam just a marketing ploy used by all the big ( and small ) companies !

Has anyone else had a "£10 off at Very" letter?

About half the UK i should think along with the 10% off from Isme , Kays , Littlewoods et al

InsideInsurance

They are a massive mail order company, used to be Kays, Great Universal Stores, Littlewoods. Now they have Woolworths, Very, IsMe, BrandQuarter to name but a few in their stable of brands.

If you dont want to receive direct marketing then register with the mail preference service. A company like Very buy a lot of mailing lists from lots of places and then remove people form the MPS from it before sending their DM

Wistful_2

EycplUK wrote: »

never heard of Very ?
You live in a monastery ?

Thanks, and thanks to InsideInsurance.

I don't live in a monastery but I have never heard of Very. Obviously I need to get out less and start shopping by mail order.
.

custardy

Wistful wrote: »

Out of the blue I got a letter offering 10% discount at Very. I do not have an account with Very (in fact I'd never heard of them) and I do not know how they got my address. I rang them (I used their Freephone number 0800 180000) and spent 15 minutes, at their expense!!!, trying to get them to remove me from their mailing list. They said they could only remove me if I gave my date of birth!!!

Obviously I didn't give them my DOB, but wondered if this is some sort of scam or whether they just want DOBs so they can send more targetted junk mail in the future?

Has anyone else had a "£10 off at Very" letter?

I hope this is the right board for this thread.

do you spend 15 minutes chasing up all copanies that send you marketing?
whats the problem? If you didnt want the offer,then bin/recycle the letter

Wistful_2

custardy wrote: »

do you spend 15 minutes chasing up all copanies that send you marketing?

No - it usually takes just one email. But they emailed back asking for DOB so I rang them.

Sorry for cutting down your ex-colleagues' livelihood, ex-postie.

custardy

Wistful wrote: »

No - it usually takes just one email. But they emailed back asking for DOB so I rang them.

Sorry for cutting down your ex-colleagues' livelihood, ex-postie.

great comeback
its obviously a trauma for you
have you joined the mail preference scheme
or do you spend your days maligning your post?

I see you are active on the Freebie board,then wonder why you get marketing mail.........

Wistful_2

I posted on here because I wondered if this was some sort of scam to get hold of people's personal details. If it was, I wanted to help other people by bringing it to everyone's attention.

It seems this isn't a scam - thank you for making that clear.

Perhaps we can now let this thread fade gracefully away.

Very.co.uk_company_representative

Hi Wistful,

Sorry to hear that you have received unwanted mailings from us. Please email us at [EMAIL="Network@VeryHQ.co.uk"]Network@VeryHQ.co.uk[/EMAIL] and we would be happy to remove you from our mailing lists. With regards to the request you had previously for your date of birth before you could be removed - that is to ensure that we do remove the correct person from our database.

Hope this helps.

Dave
Very Network Team

Wistful_2

Very.co.uk_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Wistful,

Sorry to hear that you have received unwanted mailings from us. Please email us at [EMAIL="Network@VeryHQ.co.uk"]Network@VeryHQ.co.uk[/EMAIL] and we would be happy to remove you from our mailing lists. With regards to the request you had previously for your date of birth before you could be removed - that is to ensure that we do remove the correct person from our database.

Hope this helps.

Dave
Very Network Team

Hmmm. Since I didn't have an account with you you can't have had my DOB on your database. The person I spoke to confirmed that I did not have an account but still insisted that I give my DOB before she would remove me from your mailing list.

To go back to the beginning... My original action was to email your customer services team to ask them to remove my name and address from your mailing list. I expected that 30 seconds of effort to be the end of it. But oh no.

Your customer services people emailed back asking for account number and DOB. I replied I didn't have an account and wasn't going to give my DOB.

A different person then replied to that saying "If you do not want to receive emails from Very, or selected third parties, please write to:
Data Protection Unit
Very
Sandringham House
Sandringham Avenue
Chelmsford
CM92 1LQ"

I emailed back pointing out my original request was to be removed from your hardcopy mailing list, not your email list. I await a reply.

Absolute shower.

Wistful_2

PS By the way, it's absurd that you ask people to write a letter to your Data Protection Unit if they want to be removed from your emailing list!

Absolute shower.