BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz keeps getting phone calls from an 0191 Tyneside number but ignores them. There are even scams going on here where the calls come from a local number.

[Big Kev]

I used the link from a genuine email from tvlicencing, the browser redirected to the licenceplus website. They are a service reseller who charge a fee for what is a free service.

I put it down to my stupidity at the time made even worse by the fact that I do this stuff for a living...

Got hold of the company via email (their telephone number is £1.55 a minute), they are refunding the fee. If I haven't got it back within 5 days I will be opening a 'dispute' through my bank.

Debit card has been cancelled because I don't trust anyone...

[Big Kev]

The image, below, shows just how easy it is if you're not really paying attention...

TV.JPG

[Tripps]

How did you hand over the money? Was it by credit card, bank transfer, or Paypal or what? I guess the bank will say it was voluntary payment. I guess you did it in haste, and whilst very busy? I'd have thought that would ring an alarm bell in time.

I had a look round the website and the Contact Us link gave - another alarm bell.

BBC TV Licensing:
09131 300 222
Calls charged at £1.55 per minute plus your phone provider's access charge, lines open 8am-6pm. Call connection to TV Licensing Authority, this information is available direct at a lower cost from tvlicensing.co.uk, please have a pen & paper ready when calling.

[Big Kev]

How did you hand over the money? Was it by credit card, bank transfer, or Paypal or what? I guess the bank will say it was voluntary payment. I guess you did it in haste, and whilst very busy? I'd have thought that would ring an alarm bell in time.

Paid by card (now cancelled), they have told me by email that I will get a refund. I'm sure distance selling regulations have come into play...

[Tripps]

Well done - sorry I missed stuff you had already said. I'm pleased - I hate this sort of thing.

[Whyperion]

I used the link from a genuine email from tvlicencing, the browser redirected to the licenceplus website. They are a service reseller who charge a fee for what is a free service.

I put it down to my stupidity at the time made even worse by the fact that I do this stuff for a living...

Got hold of the company via email (their telephone number is £1.55 a minute), they are refunding the fee. If I haven't got it back within 5 days I will be opening a 'dispute' through my bank.

Debit card has been cancelled because I don't trust anyone...

Quite simply these for profit passing off websites should be banned by the govt and google etc.

[Stanley]

I have to put a word of sympathy in for Kev. I know all to well how easy it is to get dragged into a clever and convincing scam no matter how savvy you are, in my case it was Firefox that saved me by refusing to open the web address I had been given as a link. If I had done I would have been in deep trouble. None of us is in full defensive mode 24X7. My defence is to never answer any phone call, mobile or landline unless I know the caller or am expecting a call. All emails from unknown addresses are deleted before opening. So far it has worked. If I want information from a provider I contact them direct. (I have never missed an important message....)

[Tizer]

Quite simply these for-profit, passing-off websites should be banned by the govt and google etc.

In an ideal world, yes. The trouble is that you can't easily draw a line between passing off and genuine services, and you can't stop businesses selling a service to help people.

Kev, I can see it would be easy to make that mistake. I nearly made one once when I got a message on my little old mobile phone while on my way to collect Mrs Tiz from a train, under pressure and worried I was going to be late. Just think of all those people less able, less intelligent than you - if you can make the mistake there must be many who will make it even when they're trying to be diligent.

[Stanley]

[Tripps]

With wonderful timing - on the day that the banks re- vamped their overdraft charges to a fairly uniform 40%, I got a letter telling me that the interest on my savings was being reduced from 0.2% to 0.1%.

[chinatyke]

With wonderful timing - on the day that the banks re- vamped their overdraft charges to a fairly uniform 40%, I got a letter telling me that the interest on my savings was being reduced from 0.2% to 0.1%.

Watch for the one saying that you'll be charged on credit balances. I was warned last month by one investment company that if they are charged by banks for holding our money they would pass on the charge to customers in credit. Apparently this is common in Europe.

[Stanley]

You're right China. Bottom line is that the Lords of the Universe are a bunch of greedy crooks out for themselves and bugger everyone else!

[Stanley]

Breaking news that the Post Office has caved in and offered to settle with the postmasters and mistresses pursuing a class action against them and management of their computer programme Horizon. Not clear yet whether they are offering full settlement or, as is par for the course, trimming and obfuscating over the charges. We shall no doubt hear more of this.

[Tizer]

I'm glad this is being sorted at last. When we lived in the village we heard all about it from our postmistress. She was beyond retiring age, had hip problems and difficulty walking and her PO was on a main road where you never know who might come in next. A robbery at gunpoint took place in the next village. She didn't need the hassle of being accused of fraud.

[Stanley]

[Big Kev]

Not the bank out to get me but unscrupulous online retailers. Bought a pair of football boots online, from a company called Pro Direct Soccer. The boots have been received OK but a check of the card transaction showed it as a 'continuous' payment, this would effectively allow the company to take the same payment again and again. I have raised it as a dispute with my bank who have put a block on any future payments.

Always check the small print on your transactions.

It may be a genuine error but...

[Stanley]

Never come across that Kev. Well spotted!

[Tizer]

Breaking news that the Post Office has caved in and offered to settle with the postmasters and mistresses pursuing a class action against them and management of their computer programme Horizon. Not clear yet whether they are offering full settlement or, as is par for the course, trimming and obfuscating over the charges. We shall no doubt hear more of this.

Further information on this terrible business here...
`Jailed Post Office worker: I wanted to kill myself' LINK
`Seema Misra was pregnant with her second child when she was convicted of theft and sent to jail in 2010. "If I hadn't had been pregnant, I definitely would have killed myself," she said. "It was the worst thing. It was so shameful." Seema is one of the hundreds of Post Office workers - mainly sub-postmasters - who were accused of theft after using the Post Office Horizon IT system, which is provided by Fujitsu. The Post Office has agreed to pay nearly £58m to settle with 557 claimants after a long-running dispute over the system. In addition, the Criminal Cases Review Commission is looking into whether a number of the convictions were miscarriages of justice...'.

Wikipedia says: `..the BBC had claimed that a confidential report contained allegations that the Post Office had refused to hand over documents that the accountants felt they needed to investigate properly, that training was not good enough, that equipment was outdated, and that power cuts and communication problems had made things worse. The Post Office has claimed that their system was not at fault. '

`In spite of the court action against its sub-postmasters, which was described by a judge as "aggressive and, literally, dismissive", the Post Office's chief executive Paula Vennells was controversially awarded a CBE in the 2019 New Year Honours for "services to the Post Office and to charity".' LINK

[Big Kev]

Not sure what's going on with the Pro Direct Soccer transaction, the account shows a 'dispute' has been raised and a refund is in progress. I only wanted to remove the 'continuous' status of it, I presume they know what they're doing

[Whyperion]

Not sure what's going on with the Pro Direct Soccer transaction, the account shows a 'dispute' has been raised and a refund is in progress. I only wanted to remove the 'continuous' status of it, I presume they know what they're doing

they probably dont. many on-line systems rely on third party systems, and hope that they are set-up correctly. Easy to have a coding error or flag set wrongly.

[Stanley]

Te worst thing about the PO case is the fact that they have lied and denied for years when everybody agreed it was the Horizon IT system was at fault. And if I'm not mistaken the CEO who was in charge has retired with a pig pay out. Perhaps that was the trigger. The legal costs must be staggering. The whole thing cries out for an Inquiry under Judge's rules and sanctions.
Problem is of course that in the end Public pays...

[Tizer]

The CEO Paula Vennells is now chair of Imperial College Healthcare Trust which runs St Mary's, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte's, Charing Cross and the Western Eye Hospital in north-west London. So the staff there had better watch out or they'll be accused of stealing the funds! She was on £600,000 a year at Royal Mail. There's more here: LINK

[Tripps]

There were three separate court cases in this area and three convictions for Post Office workers. I thought it a bit odd at the time, but this is ridiculous. I recall one case in this village, the lady was said to have made nothing personally, but was just trying to get the accounts in order.

That rang a bell as Mrs T's parents had a sub Post office, and regularly stayed up very late to do the daily reconciliation - with no computer.

Seems a lot of the 'compensation' will be taken by legal charges, and how do you compensate for stress driven suicide? Made worse I'd say by the CEO being a part time vicar ! Incredible.

[Stanley]

Is that right David! Shades of the Co-op Bank.....
PE have been on the case for years and at one point published internal emails warning senior management that Horizon was not to be trusted but they were all ignored.
Gone are the days when the Royal Post Office was a pillar of the state on a par with the Bank of England.