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

sf4556

my parents have just fallen foul to this. they ordered some space bags from originalspacebag after seeing tv offer. they have clearly passed their credit card details on to this third party company travel time and have took £99.99 from the card. luckily this is being refunded. this is a scam and fraud, surely they cant get away with it

snodgrass

My mother has fell foul of this too, just found out today. She is going to her bank first thing in the morning to sort this all out. THE COMPANY AND ITS COMMERCIAL ON TV SHOULD BE STOPPED.

Mini21

I have had the same thing, just seen bank statement and £99.99 taken. Spoken to Lloyds and they have transferred funds back into my account, cannot fault the bank great service. We never signed up to anything or had any phone calls. This has really scared me .I am just going back through bank statement for last 12 month as our letter received said it was to renew the annual membership :mad: . If I find another transaction from 12 months ago will the bank do this one too??? I am so hoping none else gets scammed. I will contact trading standards as the more complaints they received means surely things will have to get done!!

Mini21

ANON46 wrote: »

first off please don't blame me personally I work for the call centre that deals with freetime and may I put a few of you right in your misconceptions.
what actually happens is that freetime is affiliated to spacebags you buy spacebage then 2 weeks later receive a customer service call asking you if you are happy with your purchase and if you would like to receive information on sister company products.
Now freetime is sent out and the letter states you have a 30 day free trial and if you cancel within 30 days NO money is due if not then the yearly membership is due, because freetime is a SPANISH COMPANY it is not covered under uk trading laws therefore can be passed card details and legally take money from the customers who haven't cancelled.
moral of the story always read your mail carefully even junk mail and follow the instructions and WE ALWAYS refund when requested and cancel the details, no I appreciate people can be upset but PLEASE PLEASE DONOT ABUSE THE PERSON ON THE PHONE THEY ARE THERE TO HELP YOU NOT TO BE ABUSED

You advise that the company always refund, so what number do we call to get refund and how long does this take, as some post on here say they are still waiting for theirs.

Mini21

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?

Lloyds know about the scam as I spoke to them this morning and money back in back this afternoon as unauthorized transaction. Keep on at Natwest I am sure they will be aware just trying to get out of paying you.

claire_1775

i have bought some space bags and have also received the free time stuff what do i need to do to stop them taking my money

hatescams

Hi sorry just seen your post. Did you get things sorted? I bought spacebags then received brochure dated 12 August 2014 but received on 12 September 2014 so 30 day trial period had elapsed. I was so upset and felt really stupid as I am so careful about scams etc and can't believe I was duped. I immediately contacted Barclays, no money had gone out but they are ensuring that it never is. I think we will cancel card anyway in case someone tries to take money out in 12 months. I contacted Spacebags via email and they say, they 'are hired by Free Time to retain all details of those contacted'. I told them it is illegal to pass on credit/debit card details on to a third party without permission from the account holder. I have passed all the details on to Citizens Advice who send the details on to Trading Standards - I was told to do this by Action Fraud which is a Police department. What I can't get my head round is that this company has been using this scam since early 2013 as far as I know and now we are getting towards the end of 2014. How many people are unaware that they have lost £99.99 just because they acted on the Spacebag ad on TV (won't trust TV ads again). How come no-one is doing anything about it.

redkatz

Hi I bought space bags and was telephoned by what appeared to be a customer service call. I actually never received anything from Free Time, but they tried on two occasions to deduct £99.99. This was blocked by my bank. I too have contacted Citizens Advice, Trading Standards and Action Fraud. We all need to as they need to know how widespread this is or it will not reach a priority status!! I joined this site today and will watch with interest.

Doosan

Can I suggest that if you have Norton or any other protection, then report this site to them.

Wiltshire_lass

Same happened to me today - got glossy brochure talking about renewal £99.99!!!! Contacted credit card company who are looking into it - put them on alert not to give them any money as fraudulent Then cancelled "membership" with Free Time and requested refund for funds taken without my authorisation in Jan 14 now waiting to see if refund occurs within next 10 days if not then back to credit card company to raise dispute. Also rang Spacebags to let them know will be face booking what they are up to !