please help

Pollycat

And take this advice from Martin Lewis:

"When you use the major search engines including Google, you have to always look for the 'ad' label," said Mr Lewis.

"If there's a little box that says 'ad' on the left, the only reason they are where they are is because they have paid to be there. Scroll down below all the ads and find the natural search winner."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56886957

Although to add to Martin's advice, some legitimate websites also appear with 'Ad' next to them.

For example - Tesco and Dr Martens (in my recent experience).

I always scroll down and click on the link that doesn't have 'Ad' next to it.

I think I must be conditioned to ignore 'Ad'.

I work on the principle that any website that I've never used before may be trying to scam me out of money.

Although in the same article Martin Lewis says these aren't scam websites:

"They are not scams, they're shysters," said Martin Lewis, founder of the website Money Saving Expert.

"They're not stealing your money, they're charging you a fee for something that is completely pointless."

And beware they're not there just for driving licences.

Always check you are on the correct website.

And read what you're signing up to.

As Aylesbury Duck says - the information was on the home page.

Aylesbury_Duck

johnny_donnie said:

I spoke to the bank again (a very long call) and although they were sympathetic and receive these calls all too often, they told me absolutely that there was nothing they could do. This was after a previous call asking me to email the company and see if I got a reply. Indeed I did and they pointed out all the wonderful things I was benefiting from (which believe you me was a lot of nonsense) but as a gesture they offered me £16!! I wrote back questioning their morals and yes, again I am aware of my own stupidity in all of this, I was so upset that I thought it best to hold tight on their offer and for me to calm down.  But wait...low and behold, what do I see in my bank this morning, not only the £80 but the £14 credited also!!!!  It just says its from a third party, not the bank or the company but still, it's there. I think it's safe to say I am one of the lucky ones, I'm not going to question it but now move on. I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about my child's birthday tomorrow! Thank you again to everyone x

Make sure you change passwords, etc. and keep an eye on your account.  You've handed over so much security and personal information, which is of much more concern than £94.

JJ_Egan

Always worth using Google/ Bing etc to search the site you are on .

Licence Services

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=Licence+Services

p00hsticks

johnny_donnie said:

I spoke to the bank again (a very long call) and although they were sympathetic and receive these calls all too often, they told me absolutely that there was nothing they could do. This was after a previous call asking me to email the company and see if I got a reply. Indeed I did and they pointed out all the wonderful things I was benefiting from (which believe you me was a lot of nonsense) but as a gesture they offered me £16!! I wrote back questioning their morals and yes, again I am aware of my own stupidity in all of this, I was so upset that I thought it best to hold tight on their offer and for me to calm down.  But wait...low and behold, what do I see in my bank this morning, not only the £80 but the £14 credited also!!!!  It just says its from a third party, not the bank or the company but still, it's there. I think it's safe to say I am one of the lucky ones, I'm not going to question it but now move on. I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about my child's birthday tomorrow! Thank you again to everyone x

Just be wary that - despite saying that there was nothing they could do - it's possible that the bank in fact insitigated a chargeback. If that IS what happened, then they credit your account whilst they send the chargeback to the merchant, but if the merchant comes back and disputes it with evidence that you did in fact authorise the payment, the bank will debit the payment from your account again. So don't be in too much of a hurry to spend it unless you are 100% sure that it's the merchant  and not the bank that's decided to refund you.

And as the refund includes the legitimate £14 fee, I'd also check that the renewal has actually taken place. There is an official gov.uk website that allows you to do that online, but I don't know how long it takes for a successful licence renewal to show up on it. especially given the current backlog that DVLA appear to have currently.

https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence

sheramber

My first thought was does that mean the licence has not been renewed?