MSE guide discussion - shyster sites

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Comments

  • Have just been caught out with a car tax renewal site, taxdisc-direct.co.uk. Looks exactly the same as DVLA but have charged me £40 admin fee!! As it has been less than 24 working hours since I applied for it, I have contacted them for a refund.

    Have also reported them to the CAB as they are breaking e-commerce regulations by not stating a postal address (and there's no phone number).

    IF I get a refund, will come back and post an update.
  • Hi Jenny

    Last week after submitting my daughters passport application in person to my local passport office i needed to contact them to upgrade it. after searching for Peterborough Passport Office on Google i came across the website ( or so i believed) it had all the deatils how to get there and everything about peterborough Passport Office. I clicked on appointments and filled in my daughters details but never signed where it asked to with my mouse. Just ticked a box.
    Next day i received a call from HM Passport Office in relation to my original application and therfore never gave the website i had made appointment on a second thought. I paid for upgrade with HM Passport office and a courier delivered the passport the next day.
    I received a telephone call yesterday from the British Passport Service asking me for £107.00 for my passport, this is where i got confused i rang HM passport and they informed me that this is acopycat site and my details where not send to Peterborough passport Office like i believed i had done.They told me not to make payment as i never had an appointment and if i had it would of been free anyway.
    I kept receiving telephone calls yesterday saying i need to pay or go to court and now i dont know what to do. Itried to ring the company but it has a message saying that you can only email as mail box is full and they do not discuss disputes over the telephone.
    Please advise asap....
  • Last week after submitting my daughters passport application in person to my local passport office i needed to contact them to upgrade it. after searching for Peterborough Passport Office on Google i came across the website ( or so i believed) it had all the deatils how to get there and everything about peterborough Passport Office. I clicked on appointments and filled in my daughters details but never signed where it asked to with my mouse. Just ticked a box.
    Next day i received a call from HM Passport Office in relation to my original application and therfore never gave the website i had made appointment on a second thought. I paid for upgrade with HM Passport office and a courier delivered the passport the next day.

    I received a telephone call yesterday from the British Passport Service asking me for £107.00 for my passport, this is where i got confused i rang HM passport and they informed me that this is acopycat site and my details where not send to Peterborough passport Office like i believed i had done.They told me not to make payment as i never had an appointment and if i had it would of been free anyway.
    I kept receiving telephone calls yesterday saying i need to pay or go to court and now i dont know what to do. Itried to ring the company but it has a message saying that you can only email as mail box is full and they do not discuss disputes over the telephone.
    Please advise asap....
  • dillydilly
    dillydilly Posts: 171 Forumite
    a slightly different angle on what I believe is the same principle, but I get very annoyed by the number of letters sent by Unison to their members prompting them to contact 'Personal Taxation Services' to get a tax rebate. The nature of their members is that many work on a part time basis at relatively low hourly rates, hence a good proportion will not use their whole £10k tax allowance and hence due a rebate. The Unison letter is written in a very high pressured manner ( I suspect by the agency themselves) with plenty of FREE and NO MINIMUM FEE references in bold capitals, yet the small print highlights they will take a whopping 39% of any tax rebate, despite this being free if you just fill out a tax return.
    This annoys me even more than the shyster sites, as people will tend to trust Unison as being on their side, they should know better and strikes me as extreme naivety on behalf of the 'chair of services to members committee'
  • Gutted I got caught out by taxdisc.direct, thought it was the legitimate site and only found out when daughter was charged £117 for a £79.75 tax disc. I have demanded a refund from them and threatened to post all over the internet. Their page was a duplicate for the government site and was so misleading that I got caught out, found out it wasn't real when scrolling through history, worst thing was I actually landed on the government site first so can't understand how it went to this webpage for renewal. I am soo angry and that tips the balance to super debt for me as I am struggling to stay afloat and contacted various companies to delay bills. Bunch of W***s.
  • I was duped by a passport renewal site to the tune of £69 * 3 but had success in obtaining refunds by contacting my credit card company, all attempts to speak with the shyster website failed, as soon as I realised my error. CC company stated that they were unable to do anything as the site had the required statements on display but should I have not received the documents etc within a certain timeframe (4 weeks from initial payment) then to call back. Naturally, the seed had been sown and the documents never arrived through the post !!! CC company sent forms out for me to sign and have just been credited back the full amounts. :j
  • James_Cater
    James_Cater Posts: 20
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    I'm usually very switched on, but managed to Google 'tax disc online' and paid without thinking through taxdisc-online.co.uk.

    I realised my error just as I made payment, so called up Barclaycard Fraud Team, who advised me to contact the site directly to ask for a refund, and lodge a claim through Barclaycard.

    I did this, and immediately went to DVLA (the real one) and bought my tax disc through their site, as I needed it urgently and had to make sure I got it. And I thought Barclaycard may actually offer some protection...

    Anyway, Barclaycard rejected my claim, and closed my case. I called them directly and was told that I had paid for the service, and they had no proof of cancellation. I paid £140 for the tax plus £40 on top for taxdisc-directs rip-off fee - so surely I should at the very least get my £140 back??

    They advised to contact teh scam site again to get a refund... of course I've had no reply yet again.

    I have just called DVLA to check, and the payment they took was from my direct application (matching times etc), so I know taxdisc-direct did NOTHING.

    Are Barclaycard supposed to offer me some protection here?

    Should I call them back and ask to have the case re-opened and escalated and also their complaint forms?

    I don't so much mind losing the £40 fee for my stupidity, but surely not the whole £180?!

    Help!
  • cheeky21
    cheeky21 Posts: 7 Forumite
    I was recently caught out by the website taxdisc-direct.co.uk

    I only realised when an extra £40 went out of my bank. I looked on your site and immediately contacted them demanding my money back. Their initial response said no but I then requested their solicitors details. They have offered to refund less £8 cancellation charge but I have written back saying I won't accept that as I never knew I was using their service in the first place!

    It is also worth noting that since I used it they have COMPLETELY changed the look of their website to make it a lot clearer that they are nothing to with the gov. Guilty conscience? Will let you know if I get full amount back!
  • Hi everyone

    Martin's worked with Trading Standards to create a Youtube video. Please do watch and pass on wherever you can to raise awareness: The Owl and the Copycat.

    Thanks :)
    Could you do with a Money Makeover?


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  • esmerellda
    esmerellda Posts: 2,237 Forumite
    Latest Tax Return copycat site and a nice mention of ML & MSE here As January 31st is fast approaching and everyone frantically realises they must complete their tax returns in time, or risk being hit with an automatic £100 fine, please be aware of what happened this time last year. Scammers are just waiting to take advantage of your panic in many ways such as:- Non HMRC copycat websites Phishing & fake emails containing malware or viruses

    Latest Tax Return copycat site and a nice mention of ML & MSE here http://legalbeagles.info/self-assessment-tax-scams-are-back/
    LegalBeagles
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