shopperdiscount scam and NATIONAL EXPRESS

[Elliebes]

I dont know where to post this thread but has anyone on here had £10 a month from their bank accounts taken by this company?

 

Mine started after I booked with National Express.

 

I have had £80 taken from my bank account.

 

Ok ive been a bit lax and I should have checked my bank account statements....

 

National Express passed my debit card details onto this company.

[dx100uk]

is there a direct debit listed against the co taking the money?

did you get a letter stating such would happen?

 

if neither are true then contact your bank and get them to do a chargeback on the sums.

 

if there is a DD but you have no letter, then get it back under the DD guarantee.

 

dx

[Elliebes]

Hi thanks for your reply Ive filled in no such direct debit. I booked some tickets to see my daughter in Manchester through National Express and there was something about a £15 discount thing. I phoned them today and asked how did they get my bank account details and they were vague about it. But I do know there are at lots of people this has happened to. And even in the US they had action against them for doing this. Shopper discount said they will refund 3 months but they will only CONSIDER the other months that they took my money...so no direct debit. Just my debit card details passed on by National Express by all accounts

 

 

The email to my phone call.

 

This notice confirms that your Membership in Shopper Discounts & Rewards has been cancelled as of 08/06/2011.

 

Your cancel confirmation number is: 31714710.

 

We have issued a refund of your Membership fee. This refund will appear as a credit to your account within the next 10 working days.

 

Please let us know if your request was resolved to your satisfaction. All responses submitted will go to our Customer Service Director for review because your feedback is important to us.

 

And

 

Dear

 

As you requested during a recent contact with our customer service team on 08/06/2011, your membership with Shopper Discounts & Rewards was cancelled and you were provided a refund of your last 3 charges. It is our understanding that you have asked for an additional refund.

 

If you would still like to seek an additional refund we request that you complete the claim form available on our website. Please print out a copy, complete all details and either fax or post it to us :

 

Shopper Discounts & Rewards, PO Box 450, Sevenoaks, TN13 9HN.

 

Fax: 01732 461560

 

To assist you in completing your claim form, your cancellation reference number is: 31714710

 

On receipt of your completed refund request form we will consider your claim and will respond to your refund request by email.

 

If you need any further assistance, please contact our Customer Contact Centre on our free phone number: 0800 731 9935 or by email at [email protected] and we will be happy to help you.

Edited June 8, 2011 by Elliebes

[BankFodder]

I've responded to your email.

 

Please check your spam box if you don't see it.

[dx100uk]

no good...get it all back.

phone your bank and register this as fraudulant.

 

dont let the bank excuse themselves by saying it will take XXX weeks to refund

 

they should do it within 72hrs and investigate afterwards.

 

if you get no joy with the bank person you talk to go to a supervisor and keep going up the chain till its done

 

dont get fobbed off.

 

they have admitted guilt send the bank a copy of their email.

 

dx

[perplexity]

The very act of passing a person's details on the somebody else is indeed tantamount to fraud. Consider, for instance the terms of Section 4 of the Fraud Act 2006.

 

It's an abuse of position; when they do it without you knowing, that is obviously dishonest, and I fail to see what the intention is, except to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss. What is supposed to be for the benefit of a consumer should be for the consumer, not for somebody else to know.

[Elliebes]

I received this email today.

 

Dear customer:

 

Thank you for contacting our Customer Service centre so that they could assist you. As you requested, your Shopper Discounts & Rewards membership has been cancelled and refunds of the three most recent monthly membership charges have been issued. These refund should appear in your account as credits within the next 10 working days depending upon how frequently your credit/debit card issuer posts transactions. You will not be billed again.

 

Please be assured that we are taking your request for a full refund very seriously. However, it is required that you complete the additional refund request form available by clicking here and returning it to us by posting the form to Shopper Discounts & Rewards, P.O. Box 459, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 9HN within 30 days of receiving this email. Alternatively, you can fax the completed form to 01732 461 560. We will review your request immediately and an email with the status of your request will be sent to you.

 

I'd like to take this opportunity to provide you with information on how you joined the Shopper Discounts & Rewards programme. Our records show that on 5 October 2010 after completing a transaction on http://www.nationalexpress.com, you would have seen a banner on the National Express confirmation page which read, "Your purchase is complete. Click here to claim your £10 cash back incentive on your next purchase". By clicking on this banner, you would have been taken to the Shopper Discounts & Rewards offer page. On this page, you were offered the opportunity to join Shopper Discounts & Rewards, which was free for the next 30 days, and you were also offered a £15 cash back voucher towards your next purchase/booking at National Express which you accepted. You agreed to the membership by entering your name, address, credit/debit card information, your email address twice and a personalised password twice and then clicking on the "YES" button on the page. Immediately to the right of the "YES" button the "Offer and Billing Details" that relate to the offer were displayed. The Offer and Billing Details explained that you would be billed to the credit/debit card you had just provided. Immediately above the boxes where you entered your password was the statement:

 

"By entering my password as my electronic signature and clicking "YES", I have read and agree to the Terms Of Service and the Offer and Billing Details and authorise Shopper Discounts & Rewards to use my name, address and credit or debit card information that I provided for billing and benefit processing after my 30 day free trial."

 

Thus by accepting the offer, you agreed that the Shopper Discounts & Rewards programme membership would be billed to the card you had just provided. I've attached a copy of this page for your review. Immediately after clicking the "YES" button, a confirmation page would have appeared welcoming you to the programme. This page welcomed you to Shopper Discounts & Rewards and explained the terms and benefits of the programme.. Shortly after joining, you were sent an email welcoming you again to Shopper Discounts & Rewards and explaining how to access your membership. We sent you eleven more emails from 5 October 2010 through 1 June, 2011 with details of your membership and the programme benefits.

 

I’d like to thank you for trying Shopper Discounts & Rewards and I’m sorry you no longer wish to remain a member. I hope that you feel this matter has been dealt with to your full satisfaction. Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have further queries. Alternatively, you contact the Shopper Discounts & Rewards Customer Service Centre on 0800 731 9935 or via email at [email protected]. Our hours of operation are Monday-Friday 8am-8pm and Saturday 9am-4pm.

 

Regards,

Mary

Shopper Discounts & Rewards

[dx100uk]

me thinks they have had many many complaints like yours to already have the std fob-off reply ready made.

 

as with all these crafty companies that pull the re-ocurring debit trick, they rely on punter not checking monthly statements for a good while.

 

then they offer 30% back or the last 3mts , claiming they are being 'far to the customer'

 

yea ok, but they still pocket the other 70%

 

bet they rub their hands together everytime - hey joe...another sucker fleeced for £70!!

 

dx

[Elliebes]

I agree and its been two days since I complained for them to come up with this.....

[perplexity]

I was going to ask, if there is any sign of others with the same complaint to make.

 

With evidence available to that effect I would think there's a pretty good chance of achieving a conviction because of the The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

 

It is a strict liability criminal offence, for a commercial practice to mislead consumers, to take a transactional decision they would not have taken otherwise, and what is happening here is exactly the sort of thing that the Regulations were designed to put a stop to, a situation where actions and omissions lead a buyer to believe that there is something to be gained while it eventually turns out that a net loss was that much more likely.

 

P.S.

 

Just to be clear, is it the actual fact of the matter that they tell the consumer what there is to gain in pounds and pence but with nothing to declare what there is to lose, except for the mention of "billing"?

 

Once upon a time it was thought to be fair game, to take a fool for a fool but the times have changed.

Edited June 10, 2011 by perplexity
PS.