Driving License Scam: Guidance for Obtaining a Refund

Pollycat

ossie48 wrote: »

A quick update on this. I had an e mail this morning offering a refund within 3 working days minus an £8 admin charge.

To say I was shocked to get an almost instant reply was an understatement. I have accepted and lesson learnt.

ossie48 wrote: »

Needless to say a refund hasnt been forthcoming, they say they have problems with their payment system ? Clearly they dont have problems taking your money, just refunding you.

I read a similar thread earlier today.

The OP did receive a refund (minus the admin fee) but quite a bit later than the 48-72 hours they promised.

I wonder if they are inundated with refund requests.

DCFC79 asked you if the website you used do say they will refund if you cancel.
Some do, some don't.

I'd say that if the website you used does give refunds, you have a better chance of getting your money back than someone who used a non-refund website.
But don't hold me to that. :cool:

ossie48

Pollycat wrote: »

I read a similar thread earlier today.

The OP did receive a refund (minus the admin fee) but quite a bit later than the 48-72 hours they promised.

I wonder if they are inundated with refund requests.

DCFC79 asked you if the website you used do say they will refund if you cancel.
Some do, some don't.

I'd say that if the website you used does give refunds, you have a better chance of getting your money back than someone who used a non-refund website.
But don't hold me to that. :cool:

Still no refund received (13 days and counting). Regarding refund yes they do state under their terms and conditions that they will issue a refund minus £8 admin fee either before or after they have 'processed' the application. Which is fair enough, cant really moan at that.

They probably have many people who go through the whole process and are actually none the wiser on the DVLA costs and just pay it.

This is the company concerned

https://dvla-driving-licence.co.uk/index.php

bris

They have 30 days to refund.

Pollycat

bris wrote: »

They have 30 days to refund.

Where does the '30 days' come from?
This is what is says in their T&Cs:

Cancellation/Refund Policy

You may cancel your application for our service at any time up until we have processed your application and completed our service.
If you cancel before we have processed your application, we will issue a full refund less £8.00 administration fee. If the application has been processed we will refund our service fee less £8.00 administration charge.
If you wish to exercise your right to cancel, please contact us in writing (email is best), as follows:

We are more than happy to issue a refund, but we can only issue refunds direct to your bank account. Please supply the following information:

Bank Account Number
Sort Code
Order ID

This information MUST be sent by filling the form: Click here to fill the Contact Us - Form
The remittance from dvla-driving-licence.co.uk will be credited to your bank account within 48-72 hours of receipt of your request.

ossie48

Success, I received the refund after 14 days minus the £8 admin fee. As I previously said there is no one to blame for this but myself for simply rushing things and getting slightly confused:)

In their defence they acknowledged my e mails quickly and they refunded me . If I had paid attention, their fees and terms and conditions are all listed on their site, all the fees appear in a small box, with grey writing on a white background - however this box comes and goes as you scroll through their site - (deliberate?) However they do list their prices and the gullible might actually believe these are 'actual' DVLA prices- which of course is the whole point of their website.

They made it clear to me that they are offering a 'service', however I struggle to see exactly who would benefit from this so called service. In my case they simply forwarded my details to DVLA after asking me to check they were correct in an automated e mail.

In short I think they are extremely clever 'scammers' praying on some peoples inability to accurately process information from websites purporting (in part) to be the real thing.

Ive never been 'had' like this before, I simply rushed things and didnt pay attention. Anyway time to move on.

Pollycat

Glad you got your refund.

Be aware that these companies also operate for other 'services'.

Ones I'm aware of are:

Passport application/renewal
EHIC
ESTA
Submitting tax returns
Booking driving tests
Driving test theory
Land Registry

Mention your experience to everyone you meet, word-of-mouth may stop other people getting caught out.

Valli

Pollycat wrote: »

Glad you got your refund.

Be aware that these companies also operate for other 'services'.

Ones I'm aware of are:

Passport application/renewal
EHIC
ESTA
Submitting tax returns
Booking driving tests
Driving test theory
Land Registry

Mention your experience to everyone you meet, word-of-mouth may stop other people getting caught out.

This is being discussed on Radio 4's Moneybox today - advice given re this may be of use to 'victims' of other sites.

There will be a Podcast, one assumes.

Errata

Thwe only useful advice for people is READ the url, READ the website you're accessing.

Pollycat

Valli wrote: »

This is being discussed on Radio 4's Moneybox today - advice given re this may be of use to 'victims' of other sites.

There will be a Podcast, one assumes.

Yes, it was mentioned on BBC News this morning & they had Paul Lewis on talking about it.

tomwakefield

The best thing to do is to add "site:gov.uk" to your searches, when looking for anything like this. This restricts the range of your search to government webpages.