More clients win their money back!

Every year banks reject hundreds of thousands for claims for mis-sold products and services, mainly those that are made directly from the customer. Few members of the public will have enough knowledge of how banks operate and what they require, in order to take the complaint further and be able to have a successful outcome. Banks are very good at arguing against customer complaints and if a claim is not argued correctly, the bank will reject it. And why wouldn’t they? There are thousands of products and services which are unfair and were mis-sold.

The team here at Mis-sold Claims Assist deal with many types of consumer mis-selling claims. Whether it be a holiday product, a bank dispute or a financial service that was mis-handled, our team are experts at arguing cases to get a successful claim for our clients. That is exactly what we did for our latest clients who were the victims of a fraudulent holiday package scheme back in 2017.

Our clients were approached by a company, who on the face of it seemed legitimate, they even had a professional looking website and advertised regularly. They were asked to attend a meeting about a holiday points product that would offer them huge discounts, something that was exclusive to them and not available anywhere else. As way of an incentive to attend they were offered a free night in a luxury hotel for their trouble. Like the many millions of other people who attend such sales presentations they agreed in good faith, reassured that it was just a short presentation, and they would not be forced into signing up to anything.

They attended the meeting and, again like many other clients we hear from, were forced to sit through a 5-hour presentation on the holiday points scheme this company were selling. The sales representative showed them examples of the savings they could make over the next few years on holidays, flights, and other heavily discounted items if they agreed to pay the £10,000 price tag. Our clients explained that they did not have this sort of cash to spend and tried to end the meeting. The salesperson continued on and offered them the same package at a discounted price of £6,500 After hours and hours being held in these offices, in an unfamiliar environment, our clients agreed to sign up and paid a large deposit using their credit card.

It was not until sometime later, when they attempted to use their new holiday package that they found it nearly impossible to use. The discounts they were promised were cheaper elsewhere and when they attempted to book anything, they found they could not access any of the offers they were promised. Eventually they got in touch with the team here at Mis-Sold Claims Assist and thankfully for our clients we have been able to claim their money back through the finance provider, however there are many other companies and individuals to take their place and people continue to be taken advantage of with similar fraudulent schemes. If you or anyone you know has fallen victim to such a fraud, get in touch with us today. We have great success in arguing these types of claims and could help win you your money back.

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Another successful claim

Our team at Mis-sold Claims Assist deal with many types of consumer mis-selling claims. Whether it be a holiday product, a bank dispute or a financial service that was mis-handled, our team are experts at arguing cases to get a successful claim for our clients. It comes with many years of experience to argue a successful claim, that is why it is so important to choose the correct people to work on your behalf.

Our claim today was for another ‘Concierge and Lifestyle’ package that was sold to our clients in 2016 after they were cold-called and asked to attend a short presentation. They attended the meeting and were kept there for hours whilst the salesperson explained the benefits of signing up to their package. What they were selling was a so called ‘Concierge and Lifestyle’ package which would provide them with discounted holidays, flights, accommodation, and other benefits. The package was being sold for £10,000 which our clients felt was too expensive, which they explained to the salesperson. However, the salesperson had an answer for every objection to making a purchase they made. It was quite clear they did not want to spend this amount of money, but the salesperson persisted and eventually offered them a discounted price of £7,800. Feeling worn down by the relentless sales pitch, they decided to sign up there and then. They paid half the money on their credit card and half via a bank transfer.

It was not until a few months later when they came to use the online booking system that they discovered it was incredibly difficult to book anything they felt suited their needs. In fact, when they investigated it further, they found they could book similar holidays online for much lower prices. They also could not access any of the other discounts that were promised to them, such as discounted telephone contracts and utility bills. At this point they started to worry and contacted the company. Shockingly they discovered that the company had ceased trading and could not get hold of anyone at the offices. After searching for the company online they learnt that the company had been forced to close and in fact the company director had been arrested in relation to charges of fraud.

Fearing they had lost their money all together, they finally reached out to our team at Mis-Sold Claims Assist and after listening to everything that happened with this company we put together an argument and presented it to the credit card company. Luckily for our clients this was a clear case of fraud and misrepresentation by this scam company and we have been able to re-coup all their money plus interest. The owners of the company were later convicted in court and sentenced.

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Success for our clients

Mis-sold Claims Assist are experts in consumer mis-selling claims. Because we are experts, we have a high level of success in arguing claims for products and services that are mis-sold to consumers.  Our expert team understand that the most important part of our jobs is listening to our clients and making sure we are providing them with the best possible service. This ensures we have all the relevant information to put forward a successful argument in order to claim back your money. We are experts in presenting claims, something that comes with many years of experience. A perfectly reasonable and legitimate claim can be ruined if it is incorrectly pleaded. If a claim has been presented badly it could compromise the opportunity to make a successful claim in the future.

Our recent success story involves some clients who fell victim to a timeshare termination scam after their resort refused to relinquish their contract. In 2016, our clients were persuaded to attend a sales presentation with a company claiming to be able to terminate their timeshare. They were made to believe this would be a short meeting, instead they were kept there for a half day. During this meeting, the sales representatives were trying to persuade our clients to sign up to a concierge and lifestyle package which would provide them with exclusive vouchers and discounts to a number of purchases, specifically holidays, flights and accommodation. They explained that the savings they would make using this package would save enough money that eventually the £15,000 price tag would pay for itself.

After hours of hard selling our clients agreed to pay £14,000 for this package and signed up on the day on the understanding that the offers they would receive were exclusive and they would have discounts on a number of products including holidays and flights. Needless to say, that following the purchase, our clients found it nearly impossible to use this concierge and lifestyle package in anyway whatsoever. In fact, when our clients were directed to Mis-sold Claims Assist, our team undertook some investigation and discovered that some of these exclusive offers were completely fictitious. One such offer was for a break to Tenerife, the company offered this break for £205 per night, we discovered that the same hotel for the exact dates was being advertised online for a mere £33 a night. Not only was this company vastly mis-representing their product, but they were overcharging for accommodation. This was just one of the discoveries we made when investigating this company’s actions. We also learned that the company went into liquidation, ceased trading and the directors were being investigated by Trading Standards for fraud. Thankfully for our clients we have been able to claim their money back through the finance provider, however there are many other companies and individuals to take their place and people continue to be taken advantage of with similar fraudulent schemes. If you or anyone you know has fallen victim to such a fraud, get in touch with us today. We have great success in arguing these types of claims and could help win you your money back.

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Warning: Scammers posing as HMRC again!

HM Revenue and Customs are warning that scammers are targeting people filing their tax returns in new scam.

Criminals are yet again posing as HMRC in another scam sending out realistic looking text messages to people completing their tax returns. Every year the government department issues thousands of SMS messages and emails as part of its annual reminder to those who are self-employed. The annual tax return deadline is January 31, 2021, and HMRC are reporting a sharp increase in people being contacted by fraudsters.

Fraudsters are using realistic looking emails and texts to contact those who are self-employed, making it very difficult for people to tell the difference. Once they have obtained personal information, they are calling people up and claiming they are eligible for a ‘tax rebate’, once they have their bank information, they can steal money from victims accounts.

HMRC say that over the last 12 months they have received 846,000 complaints from members of the public about suspicious emails and texts and this is believed to be the tip of the iceberg. Most scams send emails or texts out informing customers that they are owed a fake rebate or a tax refund. Fraudsters lure people in and convince them to hand over personal information like bank account details, name, address and even National Insurance numbers. They will then attempt to steal money from people’s accounts. In addition to these fraudsters create what is known as ‘sucker lists’ which supplies personal information of potential victims which is then sold amongst criminals on the dark web. Once a victim has been targeted it is likely they will then be targeted multiple times once their name has made its way onto a sucker list.

HMRC’s Interim Director General for Customer Services, Karl Khan, said:

“We know that criminals take advantage of the Self-Assessment deadline to panic customers into sharing their personal or financial details and even paying bogus ‘tax due’. If someone calls, emails or texts claiming to be from HMRC, offering financial help or asking for money, it might be a scam. Please take a moment to think before parting with any private information or money.”

Ways to spot a tax scam

It could be a scam if it:

  • is unexpected
  • offers a refund, tax rebate or grant
  • asks for personal information like bank details
  • is threatening
  • tells you to transfer money.

Self-Assessment customers can complete their tax return online and help and support is available on GOV.UK.

To protect against identity fraud customers must verify their identity when accessing HMRC’s online services. They must have two sources of information including:

  • credit reference agency data
  • tax credits
  • P60/payslip
  • UK Passport
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Successful Claim

Mis-sold Claims Assist were instructed to act on behalf of a family who were victims of a timeshare exit scam. Our clients who like many timeshare owners, found themselves desperate to relinquish their contract and had approached the resort to ask for a reasonable end to their timeshare burden. They felt their request was fair as the resort had not met their expectations of what was promised to them in the initial sales presentation and after a few years they felt the maintenance fee increases were too high and not representing good value for money any longer.

However, they found themselves in a similar position to many timeshare owners and although they were up to date with their maintenance fees, the resort refused to relinquish the contract or offer any suitable solution. They simply offered to sell them other holiday packages, which would cost more money and the maintenance fees would still be charged annually. It was because of the resorts unwillingness to help our clients that they sought out an alternative means to end their contract and after making some enquiries were approached by a timeshare exit company.

The company in question convinced our clients to visit them for a short presentation, explaining that they would be able to relinquish their contract legally and permanently. Feeling as though they had nothing to lose at this point, they agreed to attend the sales office. What they did not expect was a full day of intense pressure selling in what felt like another timeshare presentation. They thought they were attending a meeting about their legal options; however, they were actually being convinced into purchasing a lifestyle and concierge package which would cost them over £15,000. In exchange for this huge fee they would receive a legal relinquishment of their timeshare contract, discounted holidays, flights, and accommodation and eventually they would save enough money through this that the package would “pay for itself”. The company explained that these discounts were only available to them and their customers so the deals they would be getting were exclusive and would save them money on holidays they would not be able to get elsewhere. Our clients were so desperate to be free from their timeshare burden and after a full day of being convinced of the positive benefits this package would offer them, they eventually gave in and signed up to the deal.

Following the purchase and after several attempts, our clients were unable to use their ‘Lifestyle and Concierge’ product in any way whatsoever. As part of the product our clients were promised a client login so they could access their exclusive offers over the company’s website. During the length of their contract our clients were unable to use their client portal and access any of the rewards they were promised. In fact, on further investigation, we learned that most of the so called ‘exclusive offers’ we could find cheaper online elsewhere and that these deals were available to anyone who could conduct a simple internet search. Incredibly, we even discovered that we could find cheaper flights and accommodation than the company was offering online, this was a clear breach of the Consumer Credit Act and our clients were entitled to their money back for a product that was mis-sold to them. Eventually we also learned that the company had ceased trading altogether and the directors of the company had been arrested and were being investigated for fraud. Mis-sold were able to argue successfully to our client’s credit provider and we have now been able to recover all their money.

Timeshare owners are more at risk to fraud.

Unfortunately, due to the trusting nature of most timeshare owners, this can make them especially vulnerable to timeshare exit fraud scams. Timeshare related fraud is always distressing, but many owners will find themselves targets of fraudsters who prey on people’s desperation to be free from the financial burden it comes with. Always be extremely cautious of any company cold calling you out of the blue to talk to you about your timeshare and asking for money. No legitimate company would ask you to pay for services upfront without completing any work for you, however this is common in the timeshare industry. Here are some things to look out for when being cold called and how to spot a scammer when they call:

• Always check that the details of the organisation or company contacting you, such as the website, address, and phone number, are correct as the fraudsters may be posing as a legitimate
organisation.
• Be aware of recovery fraud if you have fallen victim to fraud in the past. Challenge or ignore any calls, letters, or emails from people you do not know or companies you have never
contacted yourself.
• Ask where they got your contact information from.
• Challenge any calls, letters, or emails from people you do not know or companies you have never contacted and if you’re asked to pay, or give your bank account details, end all
contact.

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Monster Rewards SL in Liquidation

MONSTER REWARDS SL IN LIQUIDATION, FACT OR FAKE?

We have recently been made aware of several of our clients, who were members of Monster Rewards, having received a rather concerning letter.

The letter is purporting to be from an appointed liquidator by the name J Flynn.  The letter is printed on blank paper. It bears no details of J Flynn’s company or indeed his professional body.This is very unusual behaviour from an appointed liquidator to announce his appointment by not giving the people he is writing to any information about his practice or a telephone contact number. 

The only contact details supplied are an email address of liquidator@monster-rewards.com.We are very concerned as to what is happening here and having seen several of these letters and emails. We have made further enquiries with the limited information we have about J Flynn’s appointment. 

It would appear that there is nothing logged with the Spanish authorities and, in particular, the Spanish equivalent to the UK Companies House.

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