SCAM -Shoppersdiscountsandrewards.co.uk

[Angela]

Today I noticed an £8 charge on my credit card that I couldn't account for.

The merchant was SHOPPING DISCOUNTS. A little googling found the above company and further investigations took me to other websites where I could see I wasn't alone in having unwittingly subscribed to a service I don't want -certainly not at £8 a month.

Possibly other Orgers may already be aware of this scam and there may have been threads about it before, but maybe I can save someone else some inconvenience and expense. What happens is that when you make an online purchase, your details- including your credit/debit card details - are passed on by the seller to shoppersdiscountsandrewards, who sign you up to their membership scheme and charge you £8 every month for the dubious privilege.

In my case, I think I made the mistake of clicking on a money off voucher for my next purchase of printer cartridges, without realising that this would also commit me to joining shoppersdiscountsandrewards.

Now I'm trying to get my membership cancelled and my £8 refunded. It's not proving easy! When I called them I was told to key in either my membership number (which I don't have) or my credit card number (as if!)...I can't unsubscribe through their website - I've tried logging in with my email address and then requesting my password, since I don't know what it is, only to get the response that the site doesn't recognise my email.

I've emailed their customer services but unsurprisingly I've had no response so far. My credit card company have asked me to write to their disputes department about the problem.

So this is just a warning to other folk to be cautious about clicking on money off vouchers even when the seller is reputable. I believe Interflora have also been party to this. Although £8 is a small sum, I am absolutely furious to have had my credit card details 'harvested', passed on and used without my explicit consent.

[karia]

£8 may not be a lot of money Angela..but with this scam you are looking at £8/month which is almost £100 a year.

Who of us can afford to lose that sort of money?

Thank you for informing us......it might be useful to pass the details on to Trading Standards and Citizens Advice.


I hope you get some form of justice on this.

[charliangel]

i nearly got conned into this when i placed an online order with interflora, it looked really good to begin with until it asked me for my card details, so quickly declined.

hope you get your money back.

[Welcomefamily]

I dont know if this has come up before, but we noted an £8.00 payment on our credit card towards a shoppers discount scheme, the card has only ever been used for an Interflora order and I have no recollection of joining any scheme. I contacted Interflora who said that because we had clicked on an offer they had going, it automatically allows them to give our card details to this company who give you a 30 days discount scheme offer and then will deduct your card £8.00 a month if you dont cancel. We got our £8.00 returned but if you have ordered flowers from Interflora it might be worth checking.

[lelebo]

I got caught by this too through vistaprint but managed to cancel it today on their website!

[poppett]

Similar thing today for me with Worldpay. I was lucky enough to track down an UK 01 number and the guy was very helpful and assisted me to access the website to unsubscribe via the back door. The company who did not provide the service the discount was for has refused a refund by failing to answer email and snailmail, so the Worldpay chap gave me an ID number so that when the fee appears on the credit card for payment I have a number to dispute it with and the card company should make an immediate refund.

What a kerfuffle.

[badger]

Thanks for the warning, Angela, what a nightmare ! I've never heard of this particular scam but it shows how careful you have to be these days. Hope you get it sorted.

There's some useful advice on here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....html?t=536708 It's obviously been going for a while.

[Katy]

Not sure if this might work but can you try cancelling the direct debit from the bank so they no longer can take the £8 a month from your account? Might be worth a try before they get anymore from you and I am sure they will soon get in contact then too!
Very fly scam I would say!
Hope you get it sorted out
Katy x

[maidenmania]

I got signed up for this when buying Easyjet flights and thought was part of their group. When got email saying would be debiting £8.00 from account send one back and they cancelled straight away.