18 February (Part 1) - Scammed
It wasn’t a New Year’s resolution as such but it was around the turn of the year
that I decided that I was spending far too much time at the keyboard or doing
much the same on the smart phone and I should try to behave more like a normal
human being. I contemplated buying a TV licence but paying the BBC seemed to be
a step too far, instead I started ordering DVDs and wasting my time watching films.
It started with the new James Bond which I enjoyed and before long more films
arrived from Amazon, HMV and Zavvi. Not many from HMV because I really can’t get
on with their website but on 19th January I made my third order from Zavvi.
A
neighbour, no not that one, told me that Zavvi were bad news; unreliable and
useless if something went wrong but all my discs arrived in perfect condition
and in good time but while acknowledging that third order they linked me to a
page to say that I qualified for a special offer. I looked at it and instantly
decided it was not for me; something about joining a discount club. I don’t even
have a store card; can’t be bothered. I simply closed the web page and forgot
about it.
At 06:27 on 7th February I received an email from a company called Complete Savings which
told me that on the 13th of every month they were going to debit my credit card
with £15 as a member of their club. I knew the source was Zavvi because with my
first order I set up a unique email address for them only,
zavvi@mydomain.co.uk. Complete Scammings had used that email address.
Complete Savings is a Swiss company. Swizz company?
As invited above I responded at 07:58 the same day to tell them where they could go.
On 13th February my credit card was debited, fraudulently in my opinion, and I
phoned the credit card company, MBNA, expecting the worst. I was wrong. Once I had
identified myself and their lady was able to look at my account she guessed what I
was going to complain about. Complete Savings is well known at MBNA for wrongly
helping itself to their customers’ money. It was all very easy, especially as I
had refused Complete Savings’s offer within 90 minutes of them making it, and I can
expect a refund within two or three days.
The MBNA lady was kind enough to give me the full contact details for the Swiss scammers and
recommended I phone them to reinforce my email message. That did not go well. I
was asked for my membership number and as I had never joined I didn’t have one.
How I was supposed to take advantage of the discount offer without the number I have no idea.
So there you are, it’s a wicked world out there. Zavvi get no more orders, the unique email address is now
cancelled, Complete Savings is exposed as an unprincipled foreign company but MBNA as Credit Card provider come up smelling of roses.
For the record I really liked the new James Bond film although I know two people
who hated it. I am still avoiding TV but instead managed to get YouTube on to it and
having made my first amplifier from valves and things in 1957 I am currently
fascinated by videos of old Hi-Fi equipment. I have learned that the turntable I may have paid £19 for more than 60 years ago now changes hands for
more than £3,000. And mine is still in its original box up in the roof! (£19 was more than two week’s pay.)
I will be careful climbing the ladder
to retrieve the turntable and you should be very wary of the two words Complete Savings.