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The HfP chat thread – Monday 12th April

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Comments (299)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • CarolineJL says:
    12 Apr12 April 12:50

    The Virgin Red 15,000 points offer for opening a current account is still showing on the website. I thought this deal had expired?

    If still showing on the website I’m guessing would have a good argument to get the points even if expired? Thanks

    https://www.virgin.com/virgin-red/earn-virgin-points/295602

    • Rob says:
      12 Apr12 April 13:02

      It went away for a while whilst they rebranded it as the ‘M’ account, and then relaunched.

  • CarolineJL says:
    12 Apr12 April 13:09

    Hi, I’ve had a look online but can’t see anything. However just to check, is anyone aware of any refer a friend offers at the moment to refer someone to join either Virgin Flying Club and/or Red? Thanks

  • Symon says:
    12 Apr12 April 13:26

    Any news on whether Amex will charge UK plat holders to use the Centurion lounges?

    • Andrew says:
      12 Apr12 April 13:30

      They don’t currently, free to enter throughout the world – the whole point of the lounges is to provide Platinum and Centurion Cardmembers with lounge access.

      • BuildBackBetter says:
        12 Apr12 April 13:42

        Symon was referring to recent restrictions on US Plat holders

    • Sean says:
      12 Apr12 April 13:38

      believe that will only be for guests and from early 2023.

  • Andrew says:
    12 Apr12 April 13:31

    Are there are signup/referral offers for the Free Now taxi app?

    • Rhys says:
      12 Apr12 April 13:48

      Use my code – rhys.jon – to get £4 (used to be £5 but less now it seems…)

      • Andrew says:
        12 Apr12 April 14:15

        Cheers Rhys, will do, signing up now and will combine with the Amex offer when I need to take a cab.

      • kitten says:
        12 Apr12 April 14:56

        If you sign up but don’t use it for a while they seem to send a cycle of 5-journey discount offers.

        Had a few rounds of these because every time I’ve wanted to go anywhere there’s been a Covid restriction. Hang on for the 50% or something that works out as good for you.

  • Reney says:
    12 Apr12 April 13:36

    I’m curious which cards did people who face tracking issues used for the purchases?

  • Andrew says:
    12 Apr12 April 13:40

    Barclaycard have just written to me offering a £100 Prezzee Gift Card for £90.

    “You can get all the big brands on one eGift Card, making the UK Prezzee Smart eGift Card the ultimate swap card. Swap your UK Prezzee Smart eGift Card into one or more gift cards from over 80 top brands listed on Prezzee.uk – including Marks & Spencer, Asda, John Lewis, Primark and many more. It’s the ultimate shopping spree wrapped up in one great eGift Card.”

    • 747_Brat says:
      12 Apr12 April 13:52

      Received the same email.
      I wonder if it is possible to ‘swap’ the Prezzee Gift Card for more than one gift cards of choice. For e.g. if I buy a Prezzee Gift Card worth £100, will I be able to split it up into £50 worth of JL and another £50 worth of M&S gift cards?

    • Andrew says:
      12 Apr12 April 14:16

      Got this too, seems decent enough, hopefully it’s not to admin heavy all this swapping the gift code for a gift card etc.

      • Toaster says:
        12 Apr12 April 14:51

        I swapped mine already and you can redeem/swap for multiple retailers.

        Was easy for me and added retailer gift card to google pay.

    • Rui N. says:
      12 Apr12 April 14:55

      You can also use it for Amazon! Also confirming you can select multiple retailers. From Start to finish took me less than 5 min to save £10, could have done worst!

  • Jody says:
    12 Apr12 April 13:40

    Does anyone have any advice I can pass on to my son please? He has just been caught out by one of these dodgy sites that charge you a fee for changing the address on his driving licence, and it has cost him £80. Won’t put the site, but if you google licence support online you’ll find it. He is gutted, he has emailed them straight away after ringing me and me confirming to him it should have been free, no response so far of course. Paid on his debit card, bank said the payment was still pending so couldn’t do anything, but have said if the payment comes out contact them and he might get refunded.

    Frustrating, as I sent him the correct DVLA link a few weeks ago. In his defense he is severely dyslexic and admin has never been something he’s been great at (I’ve done the majority of it for him, but he moved out in October so is obviously trying to do it himself). Really really wish he’d phoned me before he hit the submit button!

    £80 is a lot of money to him, he’s really kicking himself.

    • Andrew says:
      12 Apr12 April 13:55

      So frustrating.

      For all the hand-wringing about “Taxing Google”, the first thing that should be done is to require companies hosting advertisments to authenticate the seller and provide a guarantee along the lines of the old Newspaper “MOPS” scheme.

      So if Google or Facebook were to host a fraudulent ad or link, they’d be on the hook for a refund.

      • Jody says:
        12 Apr12 April 14:06

        I agree Andrew. I think naivety of youth combined with his dyslexia and lack of admin skills meant that he trusted google, and when it came up at the top he just assumed it was the correct link. I’m on some Orlando groups on FB and frequently read about people being caught out in the same way when applying for their ESTAs.

        • Rhys says:
          12 Apr12 April 14:27

          Frankly I think Google should be banned from advertising dodgy commercial sites like that. Top result for ESTAs is ‘www.esta-org-gov.com’ – shockingly deceptive.

      • Rob says:
        12 Apr12 April 15:01

        Where’s the fraud? He has paid for a service, the service has been provided.

        • GaryC says:
          12 Apr12 April 16:49

          Semantics can be argued, but by any reasonable person’s measure, such sites are designed to deceive. It’s a bit like advertisements for gaming consoles on Ebay, where the small print says the auction is for a “link” to where the console can be purchased.

    • Jay says:
      12 Apr12 April 14:15

      Wait for it to process and then immediately dispute. Be very very careful what dispute reference you use and what dispute code your bank lodges. For example if you say it is fraud, but in fact it’s not fraudulent, they will find in the merchants favour. Check the terms and conditions of the website and look for an issue with those and then use that as the mechanism to dispute i.e. cooling off period, compliant t&c’s etc. Keep a chronology of all requests / emails to the website. Is it the website that has a gmail email address associated with it.?

      • ChrisC says:
        12 Apr12 April 14:36

        Hate to say this but they provided a service and charged for that service.

        That you can get this service for free on an official website is neither here nor there whether it’s a driving licence, ESTA or EHIC card.

        These sites say things like “we are a checking service and will forward your data on …”

        I’m just looking at an esta one and they even say

        “ There is no requirement to apply for ESTA through a third party company, so you can submit your own application yourself.”

        And that’s their get out.

        • ChrisC says:
          12 Apr12 April 14:40

          Now if they put the DVLA logo on their page in a prominent place then he might have a case of “reasonable person might think it’s the official site” but they tend not to do that these days.

          • The uncivil servant says:
            12 Apr12 April 16:43

            They are not allowed to use official logo’s Chris, now what do you think of Brentford’s chances of promotion out of the Championship this year?

        • Lady London says:
          12 Apr12 April 15:06

          be quick and use the cooling-off period then

          I am really surprised we in the UK haven’t either just passed something to put digital and TV ‘publishers’ – or whatever existing legislation calls newspapers- in the same category as newspapers when it comes to protective legislation governing them. Or at least some case law would be nice if some barrister could argue well enough that the existing legislation catches them as the functions are the same.

          After all, our government spent 4 years not sorting out Brexit, so what else were they doing? (I’ll give them 1 year off for Covid.)

          • Rob says:
            12 Apr12 April 15:19

            Under what grounds should this service be banned? It isn’t passing itself off as an official Government website. It is offering to submit a form on your behalf in return for a payment. There are no legal grounds to ban it unless it using offical logos without permission or claiming that it is an official Government website.

          • Jody says:
            12 Apr12 April 15:22

            There is no cooling off period mentioned in their terms and conditions, but I have mentioned that there should be in the email I drafted for him to send them.

            There was 6 minutes between them sending him an email confirming his payment and him sending an email to cancel.

          • Chris Heyes says:
            13 Apr13 April 08:32

            LL Unfortunatly I have to agree with Rob there is no grounds for any services like this to be banned.
            Although going forward there is grounds for sites like this to be clearer that it is a service and not free.
            The POST OFFICE offers the same service to check Passports should that be banned because you can do it yourself ?

      • Jody says:
        12 Apr12 April 14:43

        No, it isn’t that one. The website is licence-supportonline (dot co dot uk), I’ll assume this will be removed if now allowed.

        The terms and conditions on there are shocking, and there is only an email address to contact them, no phone number.

        • Genghis says:
          12 Apr12 April 15:00

          I’m an arm chair lawyer. Did a law module as part as part of my ACA exams. However, what it’d do is write an email to them NOW rescinding your offer for them to perform services.

          The T&Cs note, “Upon submitting the Order, which constitutes an offer by you, we shall debit your bank account by the Quoted Price using the card details provided to us in your Order (“Payment”). If the Payment fails, we will continue to try to debit the Quoted Price from the same bank account until the Payment is made and the Quoted Price has been transferred from your bank account to ours in cleared funds. Payment clearing with the Quoted Price received by us shall be deemed as our acceptance of your offer and the Contract shall form.”

          Whilst the payment is in pending, your offer for services has not been accepted. As such, email them rescinding said offer. I think you’ve then support for any future refund with bank if they are mucking you around.

        • Lady London says:
          12 Apr12 April 21:01

          cooling off period is statutory @Jody. This means it doesn’t have to be on the website. As A statute it overrides contractual level condition/terms. So far as I know it applies to almost all purchases online. Be as quick as you can though – I forget if it’s 7 or 14 days. MSE will have info don’t delay.

          I’d send an email immediately revoking the sale if that’s the only contact address provided then check MSE for what to do or if you can get through to them try calling CAB for advice. Which? covers this sort of thing – your library prob has a way of accessing. Pretty sure MSE will have enough though.

      • Jonathan says:
        12 Apr12 April 18:40

        No offence has been committed but it’s very easy for the affluent, educated, middle class to sit here & say it’s a learning experience & his own fault etc but are you really saying we should allow the more vulnerable to be exploited like this?

        There’s no value add & the price is extortionate. It’s impossible to argue that anyone would engage their services if they were aware of the alternative.

        One of the porters at my hospital was duped in the exact same scenario last week. It’s a days wages for him & realistically will involve making genuine sacrifices. He was crestfallen. I do remember seeing something in the T&C’s about a right to cancel if the license hadn’t been processed so I drafted an e-mail for him. Not seen him since to learn the outcome.

    • Kay says:
      12 Apr12 April 15:09

      Advise would be to visit Gov.uk and not google for DVLA services

      • Jody says:
        12 Apr12 April 15:20

        I agree, however doesn’t help him now! Dyslexia combined with lack of common sense sometimes and actually just a basic lack of knowledge about how google works means that he has made an assumption he was on the correct site. I’m frustrated he didn’t contact me first to check but he is 23, lives in his own place and obviously needs to take responsibility for doing his own admin as I’m not instantly on hand to help.

        It’s an expensive life lesson for him, but as someone with very poor reading skills (and a reluctance to ask other people for help because it makes him feel stupid), I can imagine that it will happen again at some point in his life unfortunately. He’s already been caught out a few times ordering things from websites that he didn’t realise were abroad and ending up having to pay import fees etc.

        Thanks for the advice so far from everyone, I’ve drafted an email for him (unfortunately before reading what Genghis put) and he has sent it off.

        And Rob, I’m well aware it’s not fraud, but companies like this pray on people who aren’t too aware of what they’re doing for many reasons, and the fact they come up at the top of google searches means that people who aren’t necessarily in the know trust them.

        • Rupert says:
          12 Apr12 April 16:02

          I’m not sure it isn’t a fraud. The registered address is a brass plate. The domain name is registered in San Francisco. They are offering services that they cannot possibly do, driving licence protection etc.

          • Rupert says:
            12 Apr12 April 16:20

            Oh, and do a Data Protection subject access request from the company that holds your sons data. It’s in the website.

          • Anna says:
            12 Apr12 April 17:38

            I don’t understand how a private company can make changes to an official document like a driving licence TBH (not one I ever dealt with in my time), but if they can, then it’s not fraud, Also if it originates abroad it’s virtually impossible to do anything about. It shouldn’t be allowed though, IMO as what’s to actually stop them providing you with a complete, fake driving licence if they decided that was a better way of making money?

          • ChrisC says:
            12 Apr12 April 19:17

            How can it be fraud if they provide the service they say they are providing i.e a checking service before they submit your details to the DVLA on your behalf and nothing else. If they then use that info for ilicit purposed then that is a crime but these people are clever and don’t do that.

            It’s not very nice what has happened but it’s not fraud.

            And they can provide the ‘service’ because you give them all the info they need to submit to have your address changed by the DVLA.

            The DVLA website says “Provide your driving licence number, National Insurance number and passport number if you know them.” so these companies ask for that information from you to be able to give it to the DVLA to update your licence.

            I’m not sure what use a subject access request would get you.

        • TomG says:
          12 Apr12 April 17:01

          I wouldn’t get involved. He’s 23. If mam steps back and lets him take the hit it’s a mistake he will never make again I can assure you! That’s how I learned how to ‘adult’ and I made a few expensive mistakes, even lost my passport being an idiot on a night out but boy did I learn and fast!

          • Harry T says:
            12 Apr12 April 17:12

            He’s a grown man who paid for a service that has been provided, so I don’t think this is really an example of fraud. It’s hopefully a useful learning experience.

      • James says:
        12 Apr12 April 21:15

        Really helpful, Kay.

    • Mike says:
      12 Apr12 April 21:08

      Jody – really sorry to hear that but the website does say on the yop of page 1 “This is a third party check and send service with an added service fee from £43, this is additional to any fees from the DVLA, which in some cases can be free. Applications can be made directly on gov.uk without any service fee.” Put it down to a £80 life lesson

      • James says:
        12 Apr12 April 21:19

        Let’s hope you don’t have to do any HR, line management or consider reasonable adjustments for staff in the work you do. Have you not read the difficulties the lad has?

        • Rupert says:
          12 Apr12 April 21:47

          +1 we always forget about the victim of crime and the effect it has, looking for loopholes not to deal with something and making immediate opinions. Do you think this lad will have confidence to do anything now online. I have looked at the Companies House entries and there is certainly enough to have a chat with the Directors.

          • HughM says:
            13 Apr13 April 10:34

            I was caught out by a similar ‘top of search’ website when renewing my EHIC card (the good old days). I was surprised it allowed me to pay with Amex. Site was in USA, naturally refused my cancellation. Amex gave me a refund. I felt so stupid.

  • Pete M says:
    12 Apr12 April 13:49

    “Vaccines ‘due to be rolled out to the over-40s this week’, NHS chief says”

    Those of you in that category and not jabbed yet – suggest checking the NHS booking website daily (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/), as you can often book appointments before the formal announcement is made in the media.

    • Sussex bantam says:
      12 Apr12 April 19:51

      I tried this earlier today without success but it did just work a few minutes ago. I’m 49 in may. Jab booked for Saturday. Happy days

    • Chris says:
      12 Apr12 April 20:31

      TY; 45 and booked. Though my sister 41 was rejected.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        12 Apr12 April 20:44

        They seem to reduce the year over the days so it’s worth trying every day

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