[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] "Shopper Discount & Rewards"

Sandybl

I am another one to have been caught out and only just realised that shopperdisc have been taking £10.00 a month from my account over 26 months. I have called them and cancelled the subscription I hadn't realised I signed up for when ordering flowers from Interflora and asked for a full refund. Stupid me for not realising or checking my bank statements! They told me I had been receiving emails but have not and do not have a spam filter (so not lost in spam mail that the customer services guy i spoke to said they would be), so they did not even confirm the sign up! This would have alerted me sooner.
I accept my own stupidity but feel this is a form of scam but why has nothing been done about this as there are so many of us that this has happened to?
These companies know they are in the wrong. About time we stopped being ripped off! I am so furious!!! Oh and also called Interflora and told them I won't be using them again and asked them to take me off their mailing list etc. I will be so much more careful and hope more people read theses reviews.

Heather_Taylor-Nicholson

I'm another chump who has looked back through her statements to find this has been taken out of my bank account via my visa debit card from June 2011. I can only think that it might have something to do with my booking trains and accomodation before a trip to Canada a month later. I'll need the details from them on who, what, where when, why as I do NOT clearly remember signing up with them at all, in particular for a service where you are likely to pay more than any discount you might receive!

I cannot believe how on earth I missed this! Usually I am very careful as I am on a budget having had to retire early from work on medical grounds, so will make sure my eyes are tested and will comb thorugh my bank statements very carefully in future, even though I already thought I had. An email has already been sent to a customer rep called Mary who seems to be handling a lot of the complaints over on their site and will be backing this up with a call Tomorrow. I read with horror though this has been going on since at least 2008! Can anyone advise me whether this agreement can be stopped anyway through a debit card?

stemcgoo

NonGeographicalMan wrote: »

Consumer Focus (see www.consumerfocus.org.uk for those not aware who Consumer Focus are or what they are meant to be doing with government money on the consumer's behalf along with their even more useless New Labour created sidekicks Consumer Direct, who removed the public's right to directly contact the far more effecting trading standards departments run by local councils) it is simply not good enough that you and the OFT allow SD & R and Adaptive Affinity to continue to run this lonstanding scam when their methods quite clearly involve a large number of violations of trading standards law and ASA advertising regulations. There is clearly massive consumer detriment given both the hundreds of thousands of consumers involved, the amount of money being lost per consumer and the most basic point that the services that these people claim to offer essentially don't exist and are worthless. So sleepy are the ASA, Consumer Focus and the OFT collective over this issue that Adaptive Affinity even managed to start running television advertisements for their fellow scam brand Credit Rating Matters on UK daytime television for several months (especially on the more minor Freeview and Freesat channels where the cost per ad is much cheaper).

The basic method used by Adaptive Affinity of saying "don't miss out on £15 cashback off this purchase" on the website of an apparently reputable company (Ryanair clearly excepted since surely nobody now believes they trade fairly or honestly or that Michael O'Leary would not stoop to almost any despicable trading practice to increase his profits) and then these websites (not Adaptive Affinity itself) sending further emails to customers who don't sign up on the website when they make the initial purchase saying don't miss your £15 back on your last purchase are truly shocking and basically totally dishonest. If you do give in to their blandishments to sign up and they grab your card details you never hear from Rewards First (the main Adapative Affinity scam brand) again. In particular no welcome email with your membership number which you are required to have in order to meet the terms and conditions of the £15 cashback where you have to send in proof of your purchased within 30 days. Indeed no further communication ever again from them while they silently taking your money (no monthly email before each payment etc is sent) for something you are supposed to be a member of and that is allegedly providing a service!

There is something very wrong with the OFT and Consumer Focus if they spend most of their time worrying about cartels on high fashion designer sunglasses prices or private school fees paid by the relatively well off but they don't aggressively deal with old fashioned basic confidence trickery of this kind. Adapative Affinity and S D & R are completely shameless and incorrigible and will only desist at the point of criminal charges or a major civil group action but the ASA, OFT and Consumer Focus should be able to stop the scam by targeting their mainly more reputable business partners running large well known and apparently reputable websites where they manage to harvest most of their victims.

Consumer Focus it is not good enough for you to make a minor effort here (only three years too late) to help more rights aware customers go through all the hassle of getting their money back. Instead you, the OFT and the ASA should be taking active and aggressive steps to stop this major consumer detriment from happening.

The total consumer harm of this scam to legitimate internet businesses cannot be overestimated. For instance I learned more recently that my mother also fell victim to this scam some while ago as a result of which she will not believe me that sites such as www.topcashback.co.uk and www.quidco.com are reputable and do offer the service that they claim to offer. So the business of other reputable cashback firms is being actively harmed by these deliberately unscrupulous toerags who would undoubtedly quite happily be selling cocaine and heroine instead to earn a living if it was not currently a serious criminal offence. :eek::mad::mad::mad:

Sorry I don't want to get into a big arguement over the methods Webloyalty use - I for instance actually read all the small print as I was signing up for their offer so I knew what I was agreeing to - but I do think your complaint is inaccurate specifically with your comment -

"and the most basic point that the services that these people claim to offer essentially don't exist and are worthless"

I have been a SD&R member since January 2011, and since then I have saved over £400 on online shopping always saving more than the Quidco rates, usually at least 10%. I get my cheques promptly and regularly every month, and I even benefit from additional savings such as Price promise (which credit cards are happily removing as benefits - I got a cheque for £50 cashback on a new LED TV recently), Extended warranty and also recently started buying Currys vouchers with a massive 20% discount. Every month I can buy leading retailer vouchers, up to £100 per month, paying only £80 including delivery. And yes, the vouchers are real, they have been accepted at Currys, Debenhams, HMV etc.

Just my two peneths really, yes there are a lot of people unhappy with what they see as a scam, but dare I say also many readily accept that they didnt read the small print. It is a shame because I think if Webloyalty actually tidied their act up with the methods to securing subscriptions and made more effort to make everything crystal english I am sure many customers would actually be very satisfied with them.

But to suggest there is actually no value or the savings don't exist is actually a lie.

stemcgoo

jrme wrote: »

BTW

In case anyone is wondering what they actually get for their £10 per month.........."up to 10% discount at over 800 online stores". You would need to spend at least £100 per month on Internet shopping to get your money back each month!!!! RIDICULOUS and OUTRAGEOUS Grrrrrrrrrr. :mad::mad::mad::mad:

No you're wrong. I get my £10 bonus payment every month for 1 visit at Pizza Hut with the kids. All the online shopping at 10% cashback is then a bonus.

Also I save £20 per month on £100 of shopping vouchers I can buy such as Currys, TK Max, B&Q, Argos or SayShopping.

Steve_xx

stemcgoo wrote: »

Sorry I don't want to get into a big arguement over the methods Webloyalty use - I for instance actually read all the small print as I was signing up for their offer so I knew what I was agreeing to - but I do think your complaint is inaccurate specifically with your comment -

"and the most basic point that the services that these people claim to offer essentially don't exist and are worthless"

I have been a SD&R member since January 2011, and since then I have saved over £400 on online shopping always saving more than the Quidco rates, usually at least 10%. I get my cheques promptly and regularly every month, and I even benefit from additional savings such as Price promise (which credit cards are happily removing as benefits - I got a cheque for £50 cashback on a new LED TV recently), Extended warranty and also recently started buying Currys vouchers with a massive 20% discount. Every month I can buy leading retailer vouchers, up to £100 per month, paying only £80 including delivery. And yes, the vouchers are real, they have been accepted at Currys, Debenhams, HMV etc.

Just my two peneths really, yes there are a lot of people unhappy with what they see as a scam, but dare I say also many readily accept that they didnt read the small print. It is a shame because I think if Webloyalty actually tidied their act up with the methods to securing subscriptions and made more effort to make everything crystal english I am sure many customers would actually be very satisfied with them.

But to suggest there is actually no value or the savings don't exist is actually a lie.

I don't for a minute doubt that you have made savings as you describe.

The problem is that people are being inadvertently subscribed to a service without realising it. Had they realised then they probably would not want to take advantage of it.

It simply cannot be right that when you buy something from a online supplier and with the mere click of a button that your debit/credit card details are passed on to a thrird party without you properly realising it. If this was flagged up in large red letters at the point that the offer was made, then the majority of people would not opt to subscribe to it.

Last night I made a purchase from eBay and at the end of the transaction was offered £20 of the next purchase, but yes, I would have been subscribing to one of these schemes and so I did not take up the offer. The point is that it is so easy to say "yes" and the marketing style is absolutely aimed to decieve the unsuspecting. Those companies whose websites feature such offers are receiving a kickback for their referral and therefore these companies too are in my view sailing close to the wind. It is distatsteful to say the least.

Steve_xx

stemcgoo wrote: »

No you're wrong. I get my £10 bonus payment every month for 1 visit at Pizza Hut with the kids. All the online shopping at 10% cashback is then a bonus.

Also I save £20 per month on £100 of shopping vouchers I can buy such as Currys, TK Max, B&Q, Argos or SayShopping.

Clearly, for you this works and you are happy with it and that's perfectly reasonable.

Most people on here, unlike you, have not been able to take advantage of the offers available becuase in the first place they did not know that they were subscribed to it.

marleyboy

CFI wrote: »

For all those people who have been unwittingly paying the £10 per month to Shopper Discounts and Rewards (trading name of Webloyalty International Limited); if you have never made use of the discounts or rewards and did not realise that you had in fact signed up to the scheme, please reclaim your payments.

You can do this by calling their Customer Service Centre on 0800 731 9935 (free phone number for Shopper Discounts & Rewards). They will refund up to 3 months immediately and if you have paid more than that, you will have to complete and return the form which they will send out to you.

If you run into any problems, please contact us at Consumer Focus on [EMAIL="investigations@consumerfocus.org.uk"]investigations@consumerfocus.org.uk[/EMAIL].

Thanks

Bumped this post for those affected. Feel free to e-mail them with your situation.

ichachaching

Dear Muggins,

Thank you for contacting Shopper Discounts & Rewards.
Our records show that you or someone with access to your credit/debit card completed an online transaction with ryanair.com.
After your transaction, you were offered the opportunity to join the Shopper Discounts & Rewards programme with a £15 cash back voucher and a 30 day free trial.
Immediately next to the offer, the Offer and Billing Details were displayed. By entering your name, postal code, selecting the relevant postal address from the drop down list, inserting your credit or debit card details and then clicking on the 'yes' button to accept the offer, you authorised us to charge the monthly membership fee of £10 to the credit card or debit card that was provided after your free trial period ended.

This membership has been cancelled as of the 08/03/2012 and we have issued 3 refunds of £10 for the membership fees charged. Your refund will be credited to your credit card or debit card account within the next 10 working days. An email will follow with details on claiming any further refunds. Your cancel confirmation number is: 3******9

If you require further assistance, please contact our Customer Contact Centre on our free phone number: 0800 731 9935 Monday-Friday 8am-8pm and Saturday 9am-4pm.

Sincerely,

Emma Allen
The Shopper Discounts & Rewards Team
customerservice@shopperdiscountsandrewards.co.uk
0800 731 9935

.....they've also agreed to repay the other £210 they liberated from my account.....brilliant !! It's like a no-interest savings account really and will come in handy when we go to France. Can't believe it went on for so long.

kriptich

So after a 2 week wait I have had an email from adaptive affinity (rewards first and credit rating matters are 2 of the front schemes that they run) telling me that there is no more refund.

They say :-
"Could you please kindly explain which part of our advertisement and Terms & Conditions is unclear to you? (We have attached a visual representation of the option form that was completed to our previous correspondence).

We operate a clear and transparent sign up process making a number of disclosures on the sign up pages as well as in our follow up communications. Adaptive Affinity Limited and its respective programmes comply with industry best practice and its legal obligations, setting out all the necessary information needed for consumers to make a decision before they join the programme.

In light of the above, our decision on this matter is that we shall not be offering a further refund."

So I have replied teling them they never showed us their screens, we never signed up, we never ever heard from them, we never used their schemes and we are still asking for a full refund. We have promised to publicise their actions, tell our MP (done) and keep complaining.

Next step is the small claims court I guess. Is there any report od needing to go this far??

People affected by the SD&R scam seem to find it a bit easier to get money back - tough luck we were stung by adaptive affinity.

Will keep you posted

K

Steve_xx

kriptich wrote: »

So after a 2 week wait I have had an email from adaptive affinity (rewards first and credit rating matters are 2 of the front schemes that they run) telling me that there is no more refund.

They say :-
"Could you please kindly explain which part of our advertisement and Terms & Conditions is unclear to you? (We have attached a visual representation of the option form that was completed to our previous correspondence).

We operate a clear and transparent sign up process making a number of disclosures on the sign up pages as well as in our follow up communications. Adaptive Affinity Limited and its respective programmes comply with industry best practice and its legal obligations, setting out all the necessary information needed for consumers to make a decision before they join the programme.

In light of the above, our decision on this matter is that we shall not be offering a further refund."

So I have replied teling them they never showed us their screens, we never signed up, we never ever heard from them, we never used their schemes and we are still asking for a full refund. We have promised to publicise their actions, tell our MP (done) and keep complaining.

Next step is the small claims court I guess. Is there any report od needing to go this far??

People affected by the SD&R scam seem to find it a bit easier to get money back - tough luck we were stung by adaptive affinity.

Will keep you posted

K

See my post #1244 for what to do next. Then let us know how you go on.

They seemed to me to be readily providing refunds when they were pressed. I wonder if it is the case that a lot of people are starting to press harder for refunds, perhaps as a result of reading forums like these, and that as a result they are now dragging their heels?