Over the past few months, I've received 100s of emails and letters from people demanding an £8 refund following an unknown transaction on their bank statements. If this includes yourself, please read the following;
WHY ARE YOU BEING CHARGED £8
Firstly the £8 charge is in no way related to this website!
This scam is related to a website that runs by the name of ShopDisc.co.uk or ShopperDisc.co.uk. This scam was first mentioned in September 2007 when the Guardian wrote an article (read it here).
It appears that when making certain purchases online, you are automatically agreeing to join a rewards website, that charge you £8 per month membership fees. Interflora is one of these websites that if you don't read all the small print, you are likely to miss and in theory, agree to join the £8 per month membership.
These issues have been raised with BBC Watchdog, and the more people who complain or write to them, the more likely we can get this stopped. With Valentines a popular time for online flower sales, the number of sales handled by Interflora is likely to increase dramatically meaning more people will be affected by this.
HOW DO I CLAIM MY MONEY BACK?
To claim your money back you can contact Shopper Discount and Rewards Customer Service Department on;
WHAT SHOULD I DO IN THE FUTURE?
There are number of things you can do to ensure this doesn't happen again, and to ensure that there is nothing being held against you;
Keeping up to date with credit history is particularly relevent in todays economic climate with the current state of borrowing and the number of identity fraud cases increasing. Credit Expert offer you free online access to your credit file!
Don't buy flowers from Interflora which is where you probably got scammed. Buy your flowers from Bunches.co.uk who do not associate themselves with this scam and provide you with a free box of chocolates with every order!
Don't leave it up to others, please contact BBC Watchdog and ask them investigate. The more people who complain about this scam, the more chance a stop can be put to it quickly.