SCAM! Free Time program through the post any one had this through?

knotty_knitter

I to have received a free time brochure through post without request today,never having heard of them we googled them.my details were passed on through original space bags.I rang citizens advice who were very helpfull.as yet we have not been billed £99.99p Ihavent given them the chance too, have contacted my bank who have issued new cards. if this is helpfull to all of you on your delivery invoice at the bottom left hand side in very small print is where they tell you your information will be shared with third parties.this is very smart as i never noticed this myself untill reading the invoice out to citizens advice.there is no where on their web site that has a box to tick or untick so this how we have all been caught out i reckon.so any one ordering space bags from these people be sure to read your delivery invoice and if possible act on the small print.citizen advice have said they will pass on information to onto trading standards.

nannaroo

I discovered yesterday that £99.99 had been taken from our bank 2 weeks ago by Free Time. The name rang a bell so I rummaged in the recycling box and found the brochure and letter I'd had from them. I had thought it was a scam to get me to ring a premium phone line as I'd not purchased anything from them, as was stated in the letter. After googling the name and being directed to here I realise what a big mistake it was to discard it. Thanks to the 'detectives' here I now know it all started with buying the space bags. I vaguely remember a phone call asking if I was happy with the bags and offering information about other 'deals'. I'm agoraphobic so certainly wouldn't have agreed to a holiday deal but I'm also quite deaf so can't confidently deny that it was mentioned.
I'm so upset at being 'stung' like this. We live on our pensions and can't afford to lose sums of money like this. After reading how others have failed to get a refund we're resigned to write it off. Our bank NW couldn't/wouldn't help, they say that it wasn't fraud as I'd had the 30 days to cancel (although, in fact, it was nearer 7 from the date on the letter to the time of receiving it).
All I've been able to do is cancel my debit card and spread a warning amongst my friends on Face Book. Surely the banks must know of this dubious company by now, you'd think they would red flag it and contact their customers before paying out.
When I get over the upset I'll hopefully become angry enough to think clearer and find a way to expose these people to a far wider community.

SteD

nannaroo You can get a refund although as you've cancelled the original card they may want the new card number. Don't give them the three digit cvc number on the back of the card they won't need that to put money back onto the card. Phone the 0845 number (I think that's still 10p a minute) or phone the call centre direct on 08000 512121 (Freephone).
Be insistent and you will get your money back.
Or carry on hassling your bank get on to the fraud department and direct them to these threads.
Good luck.

zagfles

nannaroo wrote: »

I discovered yesterday that £99.99 had been taken from our bank 2 weeks ago by Free Time. The name rang a bell so I rummaged in the recycling box and found the brochure and letter I'd had from them. I had thought it was a scam to get me to ring a premium phone line as I'd not purchased anything from them, as was stated in the letter. After googling the name and being directed to here I realise what a big mistake it was to discard it. Thanks to the 'detectives' here I now know it all started with buying the space bags. I vaguely remember a phone call asking if I was happy with the bags and offering information about other 'deals'. I'm agoraphobic so certainly wouldn't have agreed to a holiday deal but I'm also quite deaf so can't confidently deny that it was mentioned.
I'm so upset at being 'stung' like this. We live on our pensions and can't afford to lose sums of money like this. After reading how others have failed to get a refund we're resigned to write it off. Our bank NW couldn't/wouldn't help, they say that it wasn't fraud as I'd had the 30 days to cancel (although, in fact, it was nearer 7 from the date on the letter to the time of receiving it).
All I've been able to do is cancel my debit card and spread a warning amongst my friends on Face Book. Surely the banks must know of this dubious company by now, you'd think they would red flag it and contact their customers before paying out.
When I get over the upset I'll hopefully become angry enough to think clearer and find a way to expose these people to a far wider community.

If you want to expose them DO NOT contact them, just report it to your bank as a fraudulent transaction. DO NOT let your bank fob you off by telling you to contact the retailer for a refund, as I said above that's like asking a pickpocket for your money back, you might get it, but there's nothing to stop them carrying on as no-one knows they stole your money.

If you didn't authorise the transaction your bank must refund. The more this happens the more likely they'll get their card handling facilities withdrawn.

ex_employee_of_pressplay

I used to work for this company and can confirm that they are based in Barnstaple and take the card details from space bags (spacesystems)they take the orders for spacebags as well and just transfer the customers details to the freetime database, they are not based in spain and force their staff to lie or be sacked, the whole operation is illegal and immoral any queries please email me

j.rankin

I have had a letter and brochure through the door from free time. After further investigation I found out that they had been passed on my info from Spacebag, who I had made a purchase from at the start of February. The letter states that I signed up for a free holiday trial worth £600 and that they were then going to debit my card (only way they could have this is via Spacebag) £99 annual fee.

I have tried to speak to Spacebag and the parent company Space Solutions Ltd and both times they tried to fob me off with the number for Free Time and said they don't know anything else about it. I have asked for a manager to contact me as they have illegal passed on my payment information, which is a breach of the data protection act.

In the mean time I have contacted my bank and the advised that the best thing to do is block the card and issue a new one. Bit of an inconvenience bit it stops them taking money.

I will post further info once I have spoken to Spacebag them self's.

bluebea

I've just received this booklet/bill thing through the post. I too bought space bags. I had a phonecall, the man said 'can I send you our Freetime leaflet'......and that was all he said. I expected it to be one of those booklets with all sorts of weird junk in. He didn't mention holidays, and he certainly didn't mention £99.99. I phoned my bank, they can't do anything until the payment goes out. I phoned the company on the 0844 number, and the guy at the other end said 'right, that's cancelled then'. It remains to be seen if it is. I expected the phone call to go through to Spain, but the guy was definitely British. I hope that's the end of it. I'm hanging on to the leaflet just in case.
The number I rang was 0844 441 2898........I tried the 08000 number mentioned earlier, and the girl who answered denied all knowledge of everything.

WarfaceUK

We've just fallen victim to this scam too. Last year we bought from Spacebags, and like everyone here, we were signed up to this Freetime Club rubbish after a 30 day period. £99.99 was taken from our bank. We however didn't notice this at the time (we had no letters from these scumbags, & no calls we can remember), but this morning we had a letter thanking us for our custom over the last 12 months, and that they were ready to renew our membership!

However, here's another delicious twist to the scam they have going. The letter states we have 30 days from "the date of the letter" to cancel our subscription. The letter was dated the 5th of April 2014. Todays date is the 2nd of May, 27 days into our "cancellation period".

NatWest have been as much use as a chocolate fireguard, saying that it wasn't a scam because we can't prove we did or didn't sign anything, and refuse to issue a refund for a fraudulent transaction. They also couldn't "go back that far and check the transaction", even though I can see it on my online Natwest account!

We have had to cancel the debit card that was used, and we have asked the bank to stop any payments from this company. We are going to contact Trading Standards about this.

Did anyone ever contact Watchdog or other "consumer protection" type programs?

Pollycat

WarfaceUK wrote: »

We've just fallen victim to this scam too. Last year we bought from Spacebags, and like everyone here, we were signed up to this Freetime Club rubbish after a 30 day period. £99.99 was taken from our bank. We however didn't notice this at the time (we had no letters from these scumbags, & no calls we can remember), but this morning we had a letter thanking us for our custom over the last 12 months, and that they were ready to renew our membership!

However, here's another delicious twist to the scam they have going. The letter states we have 30 days from "the date of the letter" to cancel our subscription. The letter was dated the 5th of April 2014. Todays date is the 2nd of May, 27 days into our "cancellation period".

NatWest have been as much use as a chocolate fireguard, saying that it wasn't a scam because we can't prove we did or didn't sign anything, and refuse to issue a refund for a fraudulent transaction. They also couldn't "go back that far and check the transaction", even though I can see it on my online Natwest account!

We have had to cancel the debit card that was used, and we have asked the bank to stop any payments from this company. We are going to contact Trading Standards about this.

Did anyone ever contact Watchdog or other "consumer protection" type programs?

You can't contact Trading Standards directly, you need to go through CAB:
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/

Doosan

WarfaceUK wrote: »

We've just fallen victim to this scam too. Last year we bought from Spacebags, and like everyone here, we were signed up to this Freetime Club rubbish after a 30 day period. £99.99 was taken from our bank. We however didn't notice this at the time (we had no letters from these scumbags, & no calls we can remember), but this morning we had a letter thanking us for our custom over the last 12 months, and that they were ready to renew our membership!

However, here's another delicious twist to the scam they have going. The letter states we have 30 days from "the date of the letter" to cancel our subscription. The letter was dated the 5th of April 2014. Todays date is the 2nd of May, 27 days into our "cancellation period".

NatWest have been as much use as a chocolate fireguard, saying that it wasn't a scam because we can't prove we did or didn't sign anything, and refuse to issue a refund for a fraudulent transaction. They also couldn't "go back that far and check the transaction", even though I can see it on my online Natwest account!

We have had to cancel the debit card that was used, and we have asked the bank to stop any payments from this company. We are going to contact Trading Standards about this.

Did anyone ever contact Watchdog or other "consumer protection" type programs?

Exactly the same here, I am waiting for a form to fill in from my Credit Card Company, also I have contacted Trading Standards via Citizens Advise who said that they will pass this on and I should here form them sometime in the future.