Okay I'm going to own up to something Dumb for the last year and a half (at least) I have been paying £8.00 a month towards a service I've never used - and here's how it happened....
I ordered a CD off Amazon or via a facebook advert (or another big retailer, but i'm sure it was them) and I was automatically enrolled into a shoppers discount program without fulling realizing it (i.e that they were GIVEN/PASSED ON my debit card details by the merchant I was buying from - during the after sales process or check out process.
- all I remember is that during the purchasing process there was a little box already ticked blending in which the merchant site saying something like - "this will enroll you into our shopping and savings discount program" - and i just thought it was a freebie coupon / voucher thing where they send you more details and try to flog me something later - what they didn't tell me is they were taking £8.00 a month for this "service"
- they have effectively been "skimming" my account for the last year or two.
The reason I didn't spot it - is well I did kind of spot it but because I make little purchases on-line and have direct debits each month - I actually usually thought to myself this Fee was something to do with my LOVEFILM subscription, kind of grumbled (as i thought LOVEFILM had probably tricked me into a higher subscription package when i signed up with them at a similar time) then forgot about it.
The annoying thing is I pointed out this as a possible mis sell to an ecademy member a few months after i first spotted these showing up on my bill - yet still forgot to cancel my own mis sold subscription to the same service! (update just looked at that post - it was the ecademist that pointed it out to me, I thought he was talking about the dropshipping part!)
Now what this shows me - is that this kind of thing might be rife on the Internet - especially as more and more micro payments (small amounts of money)get spent on membership services.
It proves to me that a consumer can easily sign up / be tricked at check out in to a hidden subscription fee - then they might dismiss it every month or think it is part of another purchase - I've got a feeling I've been sent to this cancel page before too - so maybe I've unsubscribed before and the cancellation has "gone missing" - and I've just thought - cancelled sorted, moved on - when it's still there taking my cash.
As a consumer that never REALLY agreed to this pillaging of my account monthly of 8 quid and all this recession talk - I just thought I'd warn you to check your statements each month that has a minus figure and looks like "shoppers discounts" or "shoppers rewards" hidden amongst their out goings as you may well be signed up - to a discount program that is charging you a monthly FEE - for nothing - as in sweet FA. (okay maybe some kind of postal insurance cover, which as an ebayer i know what is covered, and discounts through their links I'm not a big spender on-line so very unlikely to use any of their discounted links)
The trick may have changed now- but look for "opt out" boxes before you complete purchases at check out they don't tell you the tick is a contract - as this 3rd party company (this shopper discount rewards one) will automatically take money out from your bank each month with any purchase UNLESS you untick the box - and something you could easily over look or misinterpret as a freebie during the checkout process - so BE WARNED
Note I'm not going to add the actual web address of the site as that can lead to people accidentally joining scam sites, this has been proven by psychologists that study shopping habits - people can be fooled by the brain into remembering a warning as a recommendation - if a link is there, a person may book mark it,then forget it is a baddie and sign up.
SO JUST CHECK YOUR BANK STATEMENTS, AND LET ME KNOW I YOU HAVE BEEN SCREWED THIS WAY.
£8.00 is an average weeks worth of electricity in a small flat like mine - and as I've been on-line ages - I already know where to get all the best discounts from - I don't need this kind of club to tell me - their optin form probably makes them ALOT of MONEY so they aren't doing it for love - which is why I have no probs admitting to this boob - I'm useless with cash - always have been - doesn't mean they deserve a pat on the back
- It's also creeper than spyware - like a parasite jumping into an open wound (your wallet)at the check out and hiding in there growing fat - the amount of unauthorized (with a £25.00 charge and interest) overdrafts I've got in the last year can probably be directly related to them on occasions - as an unexpected out going - which puts the price up to £31.00 a month - being sucked off by a "discount" program.
I have cancelled - I've done this post to hopefully remind me to check my statements and make sure they stop taking any more cash off me.
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