Preying on vulnerable individuals

gingamother

My dad has just realised that this company have not only been taking £18.50 per month for their ‘rewards club’ but also taking random money ranging from £30-£79.
He bought something from them once then it seems they have ‘signed him up’ without his knowledge. 

They have taken over £1300 from him. 

He has been in touch with them and they have reimbursed a small amount of it but not all as of yet. Fraud team have had to change his bank card as they have been peeling money off his account willy nilly for the last 18 months. 

Disgusting. 

TadleyBaggie

What company?

born_again

TadleyBaggie said:

What company?

Going to guess Complete Savings 👍

p00hsticks

gingamother said:

. Fraud team have had to change his bank card as they have been peeling money off his account willy nilly for the last 18 months. 

 

Be aware that if he has inadvertently signed up to a Continuous Payment Authority rather than just giving his debit card details, changing bank card may not be sufficient to stop them taking payments, he needs to ask the bank to stop the CPA if he hasn;t already.   

DullGreyGuy

gingamother said:

My dad has just realised that this company have not only been taking £18.50 per month for their ‘rewards club’ but also taking random money ranging from £30-£79

Obviously you haven't mentioned the company but very rarely does a company sign you up without your knowledge... you may blindly click and agree to things without reading what you are agreeing to but that is not the same as signing you up without consent. 

If its EasyLife/ The Reward Club you typically buy something initially and as part of that process (online or on the phone) they advise they'll keep your payment details on file to make future purchases easier which obv most people dont object to etc. Depending how you buy you may then be presented with options to subscribe to various "clubs" each which have different pricing, billing cycles and "benefits". They also do outbound marketing calls to promote various clubs. 

Having worked in outbound call centres in my past... the vast majority operate fully within the law and do honestly give you the information about costs, rights to cancel etc etc however they are good at what they do and lightly touch on these points and then heavily on the benefits... like the book club where you get 8 books a year, you get to keep the first 2 even if you cancel in the cooling off period etc. Which? has previously discussed them concluding they operate legally but maybe not ethically. 

Emmia

The Railcard website does this, offers you a big discount on the Railcard but if you're foolish enough to take it up, it costs you £18 a month, quickly outstripping the discount... A Railcard which costs you £30 for a year.

It's an absolute con, and I've no idea why the official Railcard website is even linked with this.

Pollycat

born_again said:

TadleyBaggie said:

What company?

Going to guess Complete Savings 👍

Or Easylife rewards.
Easylife rewards club - preying on the vulnerable - Page 2 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

born_again

Emmia said:

The Railcard website does this, offers you a big discount on the Railcard but if you're foolish enough to take it up, it costs you £18 a month, quickly outstripping the discount... A Railcard which costs you £30 for a year.

It's an absolute con, and I've no idea why the official Railcard website is even linked with this.

They get a kickback & might also partner with the company.

Complete save are very clear with the T/C of these offers. They also contact you to remind you about it being ongoing monthly payments.
Sadly they often end up in spam/junk folder that people never check, just the same as they see free ££ & not read the T/C 🤷‍♀️

Not defending them here. Just have a lot of experience of dealing with them & how clear it actually is to avoid paying anything to them.