Photography magazine rip-off

sarahhj

sarahhj

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Sarah
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I am currently having some problems with one of the digital slr photograhy magazines and was wondering if anyone else has had the same experience.

I received 2 marketing calls offering me 5 issues for £1, as a previous subscriber. On the second call I decided to take the offer. A few weeks later a letter arrived detailing the subscription and saying a DD would be taken the following day for £5. I cancelled immediately as I wasn't that bothered about having the magazine at 500% more than I thought I was paying. I was assured that the money would not leave my account.

The money was taken, and now they are dragging their heals about refunding it. 2 phone calls and so far 3 emails, and still have not resolved the situation fully.

I just wonder if they expect people not to notice that the money has been taken/that it is a different amount to what was agreed? :suspect: I know it's not much but it's the principle... and when I've just made a crazy impulse lens purchase, I need every penny I can get!
 
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If it's the same deal I was offered, it's 5 issues for £1 each!
So they may not have done anything wrong in taking the money?
 
Name and Shame! What mag was it, Sarah? But five issues @ £1 would come to approximately £5, wouldn't it? :thinking:
 
I saw the advert stating five issues for a pound, but when I went to subscribe it had changed to three issues for a pound plus free Lenspen

Did think five for a quid was a bit too generous and so it seems did they
 
I kinda named them in my original post ;)

I understand that it could be taken both ways - but I have taken up similar 3 issues for £1 offers before and it's what it says on the tin - you give them £1 and get 3 issues.

Perhaps they are being sneaky with the wording and hoping people won't notice :shrug:

Either way, I feel I was mis-lead and they are not exactly falling over themselves to sort it out.

My advice would be to repeat the offer back to the salesperson with wording that cannot be interpreted in any other way!
 
sarahhj said:
My advice would be to repeat the offer back to the salesperson with wording that cannot be interpreted in any other way!
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Yes but you would have to record it as well just to be safe otherwise they could easily deny what was said.
 
Rich,

I think we are talking about the same magazine as I have seen that 3 issue offer you talk of. Which further goes to show it was 5 issues for 1 quid total and they have screwed up.
 
If you kind of named them in the first post then I had a years subscription with them and it was troublesome. Issues wouldn't arrive on a regular basis.

To be fair however, when I complained they did send me the issues that were missing, and also gave me an extra 3 months subscription. I also really can't lay the blame on them as I've noticed with other things that international post is not particularly reliable, so hats off to them for going the extra mile in my case.
 
That is interesting Andy... I am glad they made good for you. I have had marketing calls from them before and have to check they aren't 'digital slr user' as the names are just too similar.

I will update if they sort out the refund for me or not in due course.
 
tijuana taxi said:
I saw the advert stating five issues for a pound, but when I went to subscribe it had changed to three issues for a pound plus free Lenspen

Did think five for a quid was a bit too generous and so it seems did they
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I also had a call from them offering 5 issues for £5, when I received the first issue two days ago it included the same offer (5 issues for £5) but with a free lenspen. :(
 
It is the same magazine Sarah and there was a flier in the last issue which I bought in Smiths and it definitely says five for a fiver,

The three for a quid is good value especially if they come good with the Lenspen, hope you get sorted out if you feel misled, sounds like over an over ambitious salesperson

Did find this statement when I was looking at one of their recent offers

Due to abuse of this promotion, online ordering for this offer is currently suspended. If you still wish to purchase a subscription, please contact our customer service department on 0844 844 0053.
 
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If a market trader offered "Five apples for a pound", I'd expect to pay one pound for five apples.
 
Thanks Rich. I am not even interested in them honouring the original deal I was offered - I just want my money back. At the moment they want to send me a cheque which may take up to 28 days (they have already had my money for over a month), which means I have to make a special journey to the bank...
 
A direct debit has to be agreed to by the customer, they shouldn't just set one up and take money from your account without consent. You should report the matter to the bank and tell them to block any further DD without checking with you first, personally I'd be onto the police as well (assuming you haven't given consent) it may well be classed as theft or fraud.
 
Have these magazine offers come from the GMC Group ?
 
swanseamale47 said:
A direct debit has to be agreed to by the customer, they shouldn't just set one up and take money from your account without consent. You should report the matter to the bank and tell them to block any further DD without checking with you first, personally I'd be onto the police as well (assuming you haven't given consent) it may well be classed as theft or fraud.
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...can't imagine the police would be bothered over £5 :bonk:
 
sarahhj said:
.

The money was taken, and now they are dragging their heals about refunding it. 2 phone calls and so far 3 emails, and still have not resolved the situation fully.
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Contact your bank and quote the direct debit guarantee and request a refund from them.

The Direct Debit Guarantee
This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits.

If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit organisation name)will notify you (insert number of) working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request (organisation name) to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.

If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by (organisation name) or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.
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Thank you Dave re the DD guarantee advice. I have quoted this to the magazine, but I guess I need to approach the bank then if necessary.

Furq... it's not the deal which did/did not exist which is the rip off. The lack of refund is the problem. If I let every organisation take a little bit extra from me then it would soon add up. My thoughts were that this might not be limited to just me - hence my post as a heads-up for my fellow photographers.

Dougie... I believe the publisher used to be Halo and is now Dennis?
 
sarahhj said:
Thank you Dave re the DD guarantee advice. I have quoted this to the magazine, but I guess I need to approach the bank then if necessary.

Furq... it's not the deal which did/did not exist which is the rip off. The lack of refund is the problem. If I let every organisation take a little bit extra from me then it would soon add up. My thoughts were that this might not be limited to just me - hence my post as a heads-up for my fellow photographers.

Dougie... I believe the publisher used to be Halo and is now Dennis?
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Thanks Sarah,

I was wondering because the GMC group had purchasers data taken by a hacker last year.
 
Latest twist is that I received a letter today from Digital SLR thanking me for my loyalty and saying "please find enclosed your free gift"

Thanks for the thought, but no gift enclosed and highly unlikely a Lenspen would have fitted in a normal sized windowed envelope.

Rang them and they said they will send out a replacement, not overly confident, but we shall see
 
swanseamale47 said:
A direct debit has to be agreed to by the customer, they shouldn't just set one up and take money from your account without consent. You should report the matter to the bank and tell them to block any further DD without checking with you first, personally I'd be onto the police as well (assuming you haven't given consent) it may well be classed as theft or fraud.
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It's not theft or fraud, it's a simple misunderstanding.
 
A Lenspen arrived today in a padded envelope, no way it would have fitted in the one they sent yesterday with the letter in

All very strange and they could not have posted the Lenspen out so quickly, only called them at about 17.00 last evening
 
All you need to do is request that your bank performs a Direct Debit indemnity, the money will be back in your account within 24/1 working day, it's part of the Direct Debit Guarantee :thumbs:

Matt
MWHCVT
 
tijuana taxi said:
A Lenspen arrived today in a padded envelope, no way it would have fitted in the one they sent yesterday with the letter in

All very strange and they could not have posted the Lenspen out so quickly, only called them at about 17.00 last evening
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Me too! I posted on Monday regarding the lack of this free gift in the original offer I received, then suddenly today a padded envelope arrived with a free lenspen and accompanying letter dated 06/06/12. . . Sorted :)
 
Just a side point and it's one of my pet hates, you can have 500 percent, it's 5 times ;)
 
Blimey, I managed to swerve the grammar and spelling police, even though I failed to spell "photography" correctly in my OP, but got picked up by the maths police. There's more police on the internet than the government allow us to have on the streets!
 
Ha ha sorry Sarah, but its just used so often by the BBC of all people. I suppose its better than the Radio one DJ favourite, saying off of !!!! that is worse :)
 
don't know how they sleep at night conning people out of £5 for 5 mags worth £20.
 
No problem Andy...

Steunited... that would be all well and good, but I haven't had any magazines and they have yet to refund the money after 5+ weeks. So at the moment it's 0 magazines for £5... a bargain! Perhaps you could send me a fiver and i'll tell the publisher not to bother with the refund?

I apologise to anyone I have offended by giving a heads-up on checking direct debits...
 
andyscott said:
Radio one DJ favourite, saying off of !!!! that is worse :)
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I can't stand it when people say that, it sounds so silly! I bought it off of, I got it off of!

When a nice clear and simple I bought it off the internet, I got it off him/her is so much better rolling off the tongue :)
 
Well a cheque has arrived but they made a mistake with my surname... (I think we need a rolling eyes smiley!)
 
sarahhj said:
Well a cheque has arrived but they made a mistake with my surname... (I think we need a rolling eyes smiley!)
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As I've said above Sarah why are you wasting time chasing them all you need to do is get your bank to do a Direct Debit Indemnity, you would then have had your money in 24 hours/1 working day ;)
 
I am going to call my bank tonight as i didn't have a response from emailing Dennis about the incorrect cheque. Not looking forward to the Indian call centre. That's the main reason I have not done it yet!
 
You can do it online if you use that service? Very quick, very easy!
 
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