Driving License Renewal

tiny_manc

Another scam alert...I recently applied for a replacement driving license card after it expired which has cost me £94.00 through a third party...plus I applied for a providoional license through another company for £114.00....totally not aware that these things existed.  I have reported to my credit card company but not sure there is anything I can do about it?  Advice needed....

Sandtree

You paid for a service, if you received the service then your credit card company will say you got what you paid for. They obviously claim to be like the post office's check and send service for passport applications just less official and probably better quality.

Best advice, when searching for a government body like the DVLA don't click on a link thats prefixed Ad and make sure it has a gov.uk domain name

northwalesd

tiny_manc said:

Another scam alert

No matter how many times people post these threads, it still isn't a scam.

tiny_manc

northwalesd said:

tiny_manc said:

Another scam alert

No matter how many times people post these threads, it still isn't a scam.

its hardly very fair though is it

AdrianC

tiny_manc said:

northwalesd said:

tiny_manc said:

Another scam alert

No matter how many times people post these threads, it still isn't a scam.

its hardly very fair though is it

Find whoever promised you life would be fair, and sue them for the distress and inconvenience.

born_again

tiny_manc said:

Another scam alert...I recently applied for a replacement driving license card after it expired which has cost me £94.00 through a third party...plus I applied for a providoional license through another company for £114.00....totally not aware that these things existed.  I have reported to my credit card company but not sure there is anything I can do about it?  Advice needed....

Ask the company who's site you used to refund you...

That is all you can hope for unless they do not deliver the licence. Then you can get your credit car co involved, But expect they will prove they passed the details to the DVLA to provide one. Which is the service you paid for.

Pollycat

northwalesd said:

tiny_manc said:

Another scam alert

No matter how many times people post these threads, it still isn't a scam.

No, it isn't a scam.

Even Martin Lewis says it isn't a scam.

"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 here's Martin's advice:

"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

This was discussed in a MSE article a few weeks ago:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6279210/warning-issued-to-motorists-over-copycat-dvla-websites-that-charge-a-premium-for-services/p1

And there are numerous threads on this board and Consumer Rights and Praise, Vent and Warnings.

Some people have got small refunds but not the full amount of the 'value added' service.

Manxman_in_exile

And if you receive a letter from the DVLA reminding you to renew a licence, they tell you the correct website address to go to.

You type that exact address into the address bar of your browser, and it will take you straight to the correct website.

Whatever you do, do not attempt to do a Google (or other search engine) search as the first results that pop up will be the wrong websites (that have "Ad" next to them).

AdrianC

Manxman_in_exile said:

And if you receive a letter from the DVLA reminding you to renew a licence, they tell you the correct website address to go to.

You type that exact address into the address bar of your browser, and it will take you straight to the correct website.

Whatever you do, do not attempt to do a Google (or other search engine) search as the first results that pop up will be the wrong websites (that have "Ad" next to them).

This is basic "how to use a web browser" stuff, yet it never ceases to amaze me how many people put URLs into a search bar instead of the address bar.

Pollycat

And it's probably worth a mention that if it's anything to do with UK Government, it's best to start on that website:

https://www.gov.uk/

when you start a search.

That applies to all sorts of things like GHIC (global health insurance card) as people will be applying for these.

And passports, driving tests etc.

There are already shyster websites set up for GHIC applications.

They are free from the official source but one website charges a £35.00 admin fee.

It will tell you somewhere on the website that you are not on the official website.

It would have told the OP that he/she was not on the official DVLA website when they completed the application form.

Manxman_in_exile

AdrianC said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

And if you receive a letter from the DVLA reminding you to renew a licence, they tell you the correct website address to go to.

You type that exact address into the address bar of your browser, and it will take you straight to the correct website.

Whatever you do, do not attempt to do a Google (or other search engine) search as the first results that pop up will be the wrong websites (that have "Ad" next to them).

This is basic "how to use a web browser" stuff, yet it never ceases to amaze me how many people put URLs into a search bar instead of the address bar.

I know.  Most tech-savvy people would consider me a very inexpert and even ignorant web-user, but even I understand this basic stuff.  What concerns me for the future is that many people who make these errors are surely so young that they MUST understand this stuff better than I do - but it seems they don't.  I wonder if many younger people have grown up in such close proximity to the internet that they have developed a false sense of security and have to be given the equivalent warning of "Don't accept sweets from strange men in the park"...   (Or maybe I'm suffering from age bias and it's not younger people doing this).

Pollycat said:

...It will tell you somewhere on the website that you are not on the official website.

It would have told the OP that he/she was not on the official DVLA website when they completed the application form.

This I don't understand either - whenever I'm doing any sort of transaction via the internet I double and triple-check everything to make sure I understand exactly what I'm doing...