My 85-year-old mother has had her savings drained after signing up for continuous card payments to mail order companies Easylife and Premier Offers Direct.
Every month £89 and £19.99 were debited for subscriptions to lifestyle magazines. In October, £350 was taken in seven transactions, several on the same day.
My mother fractured her skull two years ago and spent several months in hospital. Keeping on top of her finances is now very difficult. She also has a very limited income.
I emailed Easylife last August, but it was still trying to take money from her account in December.
SM, London
A number of Trustpilot reviews tell stories of customers, some elderly, being signed up to a subscription service after placing an order with these companies.
Easylife, which describes itself as one of the biggest catalogue companies in the UK, is part of the Easy family of brands, which includes easyJet. In 2022 it was twice fined by the Information Commissioner’s Office for breaching customer data.
Easylife fields media inquiries via its solicitor, who tells me the details of customers who do not opt out of marketing offers are passed on to a telesales company which calls them to offer discounts if they subscribe to any of a range of specialist “clubs”, from motoring to puzzle books. The “clubs” are managed by another Easy company, The Rewards Club.
It looks as though your mother was signed up to several of these over the phone after placing an order in February 2022, shortly before her accident.
Meanwhile, an order from a different company catalogue resulted in a telesales call on behalf of Premier Offers Direct, part of the Direct Response Marketing Group.
Easylife and Premier Offers each tell me that they comply with data protection legislation. They say that new members receive a confirmation of their subscription by post, and can cancel at any time.
My overtures to Easylife’s solicitor prompted refunds of all your mother’s payments, totalling £1,000, from both Easylife and Premier Offers. Both state that, since they were satisfied she was signed up legitimately, it was a goodwill gesture in the light of her circumstances.
Many people do not realise that contracts can be sealed over the phone without a signature. Marketing companies may not specifically target older customers, but since it tends to be older customers who order from catalogues, they are likely to be disproportionately subject to cold calls.
Easylife tells me customers are offered the option to opt out of marketing communications when they place an order. More widely, I advise householders to sign up to the Telephone Preference Service to prevent cold calls, and to check the small print when ordering, or agreeing to, anything.
It’s also vital to keep a close eye on bank statements and query any unexpected debits.
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