What is Synergy Savings??

Melsypop

Has anyone ever heard of Synergy Savings? I haven’t got a clue who they are or what they do but I’ve been charged £29.95 by something called Synergy Savings which I’m assuming is some form of subscription?? I googled them and found a website so I clicked on CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION entered my email address and got a message on screen telling me to follow cancellation instructions in an email I would receive. 

Checked my emails and got a reply from them stating it could not be cancelled because there is no account associated with the email address I entered? 

So I went back and did the same process using my other 2 email addresses. The same thing happened. 

I tried to login on their site and chose FORGOT MY PASSWORD, entered my email address (the first one I tried that was rejected) and strangely got an email with the CHANGE PASSWORD LINK. So clearly that email address IS connected to some sort of account or subscription with them. 

Changed password and logged in. 

Tried again to cancel my subscription a different way through my account but it wouldn’t work. Came up with an ERROR message saying it would not work. I’m going crazy! The helpline isn’t open until Monday now. I have no idea what this is about or how I have ended up paying for whatever it is??
I’ve sent an online message via their website, called the out of hours helpline which gave an email address to write to and I’ve looked for them on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook but they don’t seem to exist other than on their website?

Please can anyone enlighten me? I will call the number on Monday morning and hope I get my money back. I doubt that will happen because these sorts of companies only have a short cooling off window to cancel and get a refund. 

I’m betting they have charged me outside of the cooling off period so I’m unable to get any of the money back??

El_Torro

Your best bet might be to get the money back from your bank rather than the company directly. 

If you do give Synergy Savings a ring when they’re open on Monday make sure you don’t give them sensitive information about yourself.

masonic

A quick google search reveals:

https://synergysavings.co.uk/

https://account.synergysavings.co.uk/deactivate

The company running the service does have a record at Companies House: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12649350

Trustpilot is full of reviews from people in a similar position, I note some continued being charged even after they thought they cancelled: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/synergysavings.co.uk

So you, or someone else using your card details, has signed up to this subscription service to receive discount vouchers. If the cancellation link about is not working for you using the email address you think was used to sign up, and you didn't authorise the transaction, then I suggest you contact your bank and tell them you believe your card is being used fraudulently, get it blocked and ask them to charge back the transaction. Important that you talk to them about cancelling the Continuous Payment Authority that would have been set up. You may be able to freeze the card now in your banking app if you cannot get through to the fraud team right away. If you believe your card details have been used fraudulently, more transactions could be made using it.

Perhaps it is time to have a think about who might have access to your card, or if you have entered the details anywhere risky.

Edit: Also, I think you are correct about the email address used to sign up. If you try to reset a password using a random disposable email address you just get an error saying account not found, and if you try to use the cancellation link above you get the following email in response:

Seems odd, then, that you'd not have received any emails from them prior to this. Raises the possibility it is not just your card details that have been compromised.

tomla

Also search your emails for Synergy Savings, maybe you have signed up for something with a company that is a trading name of Synergy savings and the company name might be in the footer of that email.

Call your bank, not Synergy Savings. Let Synergy Savings contact you to explain what they are charging you for once you have your money back from your bank.

Linton

A bit more on synergy savings..

Google Earth shows their impressive international HQ. See the website for the location, it matches the address in masonic’s companies house link.

I agree with the others that you should talk to your bank’s department who deal with such matters.  Synergy savings busy customer support team may not be very helpful. They probably aren’t happy with their working conditions.

csgohan4

consider changing your card as well

Tony_McDonald

Synergy Savings  (excerpt from Financial Conduct Authority) - 

I can confirm that we have no entries on our Register for a firm called Synergy Savings. This means that they’re not authorised or regulated by us and therefore shouldn’t be providing any regulated financial products or services within the UK. From reviewing the firms website, it doesn't appear that the firm are carrying out any regulated activities.

Tony_McDonald

Sorry, we were unable to deliver your message to the following address.

<complaints@synergysavings.co.uk>

550: No such person at this address

Steer well clear - totally unregulated company.

eskbanker

Tony_McDonald said:

Synergy Savings  (excerpt from Financial Conduct Authority) - 

I can confirm that we have no entries on our Register for a firm called Synergy Savings. This means that they’re not authorised or regulated by us and therefore shouldn’t be providing any regulated financial products or services within the UK. From reviewing the firms website, it doesn't appear that the firm are carrying out any regulated activities.

Tony_McDonald said:

Sorry, we were unable to deliver your message to the following address.

<complaints@synergysavings.co.uk>

550: No such person at this address

Steer well clear - totally unregulated company.

If you visit their site, you'll see that their proposition is essentially to offer retailer discounts (that sort of 'saving', rather than 'savings accounts' as such), which to the best of my knowledge isn't a regulated financial activity, so there's no reason for the FCA to have any interest in them....

Alexland

These kind of companies often try and sign up new customer subscriptions offering discounts as part of a retail partner's checkout process so it's worth thinking about any recent online shopping events that might have started the subscription.