E-Credit Plus & Choice Freedom

MoneySaverUK

My mother recently passed away and in the process of going through bank statements and the like, I noticed two lots of £14.95 had been going out of her bank each month. These outgoings would be listed as E-Credit Plus Ltd 0808 234 2355, Choice Freedom 0808 234 0338, YESCARD 0808 234 2355.

I decided to call them to let them know that my mum was no longer with us so they could cancel the account. I also asked what their business was and was a little stunned to find out that they're designed to help people raise their credit rating as well as acting like a store card to purchase goods from their online stores. Both accounts were started in September 2014 but my mum had credit cards that were issued before that date so I couldn't work out why she was using their services. The whole set up seems like a scam.

I asked if my mum had purchased anything from their stores and was advised no.

As it stands, there's a shortfall from funeral expenses that still need to be met and it got me thinking, would it be worth me trying to get this money refunded? It's over £350 which would be extremely handy for the funeral costs.

If it is worth a go, how would I go about doing that please?

Thanks for any help.

Apologies if it's in the wrong forum section.

SnowTiger

MoneySaverUK wrote: »

My mother recently passed away and in the process of going through bank statements and the like, I noticed two lots of £14.95 had been going out of her bank each month. These outgoings would be listed as E-Credit Plus Ltd 0808 234 2355, Choice Freedom 0808 234 0338, YESCARD 0808 234 2355.

I decided to call them to let them know that my mum was no longer with us so they could cancel the account. I also asked what their business was and was a little stunned to find out that they're designed to help people raise their credit rating as well as acting like a store card to purchase goods from their online stores. Both accounts were started in September 2014 but my mum had credit cards that were issued before that date so I couldn't work out why she was using their services. The whole set up seems like a scam.

I asked if my mum had purchased anything from their stores and was advised no.

As it stands, there's a shortfall from funeral expenses that still need to be met and it got me thinking, would it be worth me trying to get this money refunded? It's over £350 which would be extremely handy for the funeral costs.

If it is worth a go, how would I go about doing that please?

Thanks for any help.

Apologies if it's in the wrong forum section.

Scammy, but probably stays on the right side of the law not to be an actual scam.

It's a bit like BrightHouse with the addition of a monthly fee.

The fact your Mother paid the membership fee but didn't buy anything probably isn't a good enough reason to demand a refund. We pay for lots of things we don't use: gym membership, thousands of voice minutes and text message on our mobile phone contracts, unwatched channels on Sky and Virgin Media TV packages...

MoneySaverUK

SnowTiger wrote: »

Scammy, but probably stays on the right side of the law not to be an actual scam.

It's a bit like BrightHouse with the addition of a monthly fee.

The fact your Mother paid the membership fee but didn't buy anything probably isn't a good enough reason to demand a refund. We pay for lots of things we don't use: gym membership, thousands of voice minutes and text message on our mobile phone contracts, unwatched channels on Sky and Virgin Media TV packages...

Thanks for the reply SnowTiger. I appreciate your comments about paying for things which aren't used.

I still think it warrants being looked at so I made a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman. It may, or may not result in any action but it's worth a shot.

Thanks again