This morning I noticed a pending transaction on my bank account for £15 and couldn’t work out what I had bought. When I searched I found I had paid £15 for the past three months.
I thought it might be fraudulent, so I typed the account name into Google and found that it was related to a website called Shopper Discounts and Rewards. I called customer service and was told that I had been paying this company since December 2014. I was in shock that I unwittingly paid for something for seven years. I had never even heard of this company until today.
Apparently the company had sent me emails that would have gone into my spam folder and been automatically deleted. The customer service agent said I’d signed up when I bought something from iwantoneofthose.com. I don’t remember ever signing up.
I had a baby in June 2014, have been sleep deprived and was on antidepressants, which may be partly to blame for why I hadn’t realised this had happened. When the agent asked what I wanted to do, I said I wanted immediately to cancel my subscription. She said she would refund the three months, but I’m worried I might not get the rest of my money back.
Alexandra, address supplied
Troubleshooter says
Shopping discount firms have a reputation for using sneaky tactics to get new customers. They partner up with retailers so that when you buy something online you are asked if you want to sign up for discounts and cashback. The particular company that you signed up to offers 10 per cent cashback on spending with 1,000 retail partners.
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Many discount firms have cleaned up their act and improved communication to make sure people are aware that they are signing up to a subscription service.
Shopper Discounts and Rewards, now called Complete Savings, said that members join through a clear, three-step process. “After completing an online purchase with one of our partner companies, customers will be offered the opportunity to visit our sign-up page to view our offer,” it said.
It offers a 30-day free trial before taking any payments, so it’s easy to see why you might not have realised you were being charged. I can also see how £15 a month might go unnoticed, but those small payments amounted to £1,200 over seven years, which goes to show why you should get in the habit of regularly checking your transactions.
It would be good if these firms had a system automatically to flag up any members that were not using any rewards — surely a hint that they had not meant to sign up in the first place?
It took an entire month of me calling and emailing Complete Savings before it finally agreed to investigate. While it said you had consented to the subscription, it agreed to refund you £1,245 as a gesture of goodwill. And you will be pleased to hear that you don’t have to go through the usual process of filling out a form to get your money back.
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The main lesson here is that the sooner you query a transaction the easier it is to recoup the money.
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SSE owes mum a fortune
In August 2020 I was appointed by the Court of Protection as a deputy for my mother who is 91 and has dementia. She now lives in a nursing home, but still owns a flat in Horsham, West Sussex. In June last year I visited the flat, 150 miles from where I live, and took gas and electricity meter readings. I emailed the energy supplier SSE with the details and advised it that my mother was unwell and that the flat was vacant pending sale.
I supplied a copy of the court order listing me as a deputy. I asked SSE to provide an updated bill and to recalculate the balance on the account. My mum is still paying SSE £79 a month by direct debit and I estimate that her account is at least £800 in credit, given that the property has been empty for two years. This is money that is needed to pay the escalating nursing home fees.
In September SSE requested pictures of the meter as it was unable to validate the readings I had provided. I travelled back to Horsham to take pictures, which I sent to SSE. In October I had an email from SSE that was a duplicate of the email in September. It did not acknowledge the pictures I had sent, but pointed out that because my mother didn’t have a smart meter I had to supply monthly meter readings to coincide with their billing cycle. In November the company responded suggesting that I obtain a power of attorney to obtain full authority on the account, despite the fact that I have been authorised by the court to manage my mother’s affairs.
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Is this really how SSE should do business with a vulnerable customer and her family?
David Floyd, Bristol
Troubleshooter says
The Court of Protection authorised you as your mother’s deputy because she wasn’t able to make this decision herself and so could not grant you lasting power of attorney, which is where you appoint someone to manage your affairs in case you lose mental capacity in the future.
Once I had intervened SSE very quickly agreed to reduce the direct debit to £20 to cover standing charges. Your mother’s account was a whopping £1,693 in credit, which SSE has now refunded.
The supplier apologised and gave you a goodwill gesture of £150, which you said you will donate to Cancer Research UK.
You said the fact that SSE resolved the matter within a day or so of me intervening was bittersweet. Why can companies not improve their treatment of vulnerable customers?
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If you would like us to investigate a consumer problem, write to Troubleshooter, Times Money, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF or troubleshooter@thetimes.co.uk. Please include a phone number
