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I worked for MeMagazine in February.. Easy money (£7.20 an hour, starting rate) all seemed perfect, untill I realised it was a scam. The managers/supervisors know it is a scam, and openly laugh/joke about it. They also run 'Easy Life', another scam, amongst several others! BEWARE!

I fell for this a month ago, as soon as I put the phone down I realised so cancelled my bank card immediately. Today I had a call from the same number asking if I had been the victim of fraud and how this company could help keep my details safe. I told the man I would never discuss anything again over the phone and I was putting the phone down at which point he got quite aggressive.
Pond life

The best way to deal with these despicable scammers is to check the letter they sent to you with their useless magazine and the date and then cancel the subscription IMMEDIATELY (if you can ever get hold of them); they will say a refund is on the way but it never is.  I spoke to my bank who have refunded the money to my account and will take matters up with the scammers Bank.   THIS WILL TAKE 60 DAYS. The message is, never give your bank details to anyone over the 'phone and always read THE SMALL PRINT and cancel straight away, that was your bank may be able to intercede on your behalf.  Good luck everyone.

In response to these issues posted on this site, ME would like to make the following points clear:

1) This is not a scam.  We work closely with three separate cancer charities and donate monthly to them.  Our aim is to provide coverage and  donations to each charity and we are currently expanding our charity list to cover more areas.  ME magazine was only launched 10 months ago and so the charity list we support is young and maturing.

2) We have had our scripts checked by trading standards as to their validity and also the method of our delivery and cooling off periods.  All have been approved and we continually work with them as to the evolvement of the product and distribution.

3) We have made mistakes and we are sorry if people feel wronged by our actions. We have had times where the demand for ME has been larger than expected and our customer service has not been able to cope. We have also had times where certain sales agents have not fully disclosed how the product or billing works and therefore the customer is not aware of the subscription charge.  In both cases, we unreservedly apologise to any customers effected.  We have realised that these issues are not acceptable and have made strict measures to ensure that they do not continue and that our service level is appropriate to handle demand.

4) ME is completely independent from all of the charities that we support and the issues we have experienced should not reflect on the fantastic work that the charities do.

5) Our managers, board of directors and owners do not promote this as a scam as a 'previous employee' has suggested.  We are a legitimate business run within the laws of England and Wales and provide some good in our donations whilst also being commercially viable.  May I suggest that the post entered in February by a previous employee (entered anonymously) is on the basis that they were asked to leave the company for the suggested mis-selling of the product and they no longer have the opportunity to earn the "easy money" that they stated in their entry.

6) We offer a no-quibble refund if somebody is not happy with our product or service.  If anybody on this blog feels that they have an unresolved issue please call the number 029 2036 4220 and we will do our utmost to resolve immediately. We have introduced new customer service initiatives in March this year and hope any ongoing issues have been dealt with.

If you need to contact us you can also email our PRIORITY CUSTOMER SERVICE INBOX  cs@me-magazine.co.uk. Our ME website will be unavailable until April 2012 due to a makeover.

Once again, we can only apologise for any issues customers may have experienced in the past and ensure that we are working to make sure that we eradicate all areas that have effected customers in the past.  ME was launched after personal experiences of cancer and the unbelievable work carried out by hospitals, oncologists and researchers.  We have learned so much in the past 10 months about the disease and it's treatment that we wanted to do something positive and also try and change the perception of what it is to have cancer and overcome it.  

If we have made mistakes it is through naivety not through an attempt to defraud or mis-sell. To those who still subscribe to ME or those who are trying it for the first time, thank you for your continued support.  

Thank you,

ME Magazine

I also    paid £1 to charity 7days later they took out of my account £65 I have been in touch with my bank & also trading standard

scam company do not fall for this

have nothing to do with this number they are fraudsters and have cost me £66  half my pension gone!!!

never go with them  like  a lot of people i recived me magazine they sent the letter without putting a stamp on it,took £65.00 well befor the 14 day cooling off perod, i have concated them several times and all they say is they will reissue the  paymen or you cant get through to there customer service department

STAY AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE  they are scams

like alot of people i also become a victim of these people MEmagazine ..........i had money taken out of my account 5 months later after cancelling the subscription back in november last year they took 2 x 65.00 on the same day .... i tried contacting them by phone but just got answer phone and i also emailed them but have not heard a thing from them . contacted bank and cancelled my card now i have to wait to see if my bank can help me claim it back from these bad people

I too have been scammed by ME Magazine, initially paying the £1 and then cancelling the subscription 7 days later to find they took £65 that day.  I was one of the lucky ones and got my £65 back but they have passed my details onto another company and trade under ME Finance too.  I have e mailed Mark Harrison Bird at Me Group International and have threatened to go to the police if my details are forwarded again or any more money taken from my account. Yes I have been stupid giving my details in the first place but in a time where money is tight none of us deserve to lose out to scum like this. It needs closing down and the owner prosecuting.

ME Magazine have taken £65 from my bank account even though I have phoned twice to say I did not wish to subscribe, this was well within the 14 day period of the conversation I had with them,  so how can ME Magazine post their letter to say they are not a scam? Will I ever get my money back? Perhaps we should all complain to watchdog?

hi i applied for ME magazine i did the 3days training then they decide to phone me up and say they no longer wanted me there as i wasnt makin 9 sales a day which was fine by me as i wasnt happy working there just was a job till i was able to find something else. in my time there i noticed more and more complaints of people as i spoke to them then realised ME is a scammin company £7.40 an hour and as iv waited two weeks to be paid and several phone calls the woman who is in charge of payroll finally bothered to ring me back to say they wont be paying me and tried fobbin me off not only did i contact trading standards i went up to the office and threw the working act law in her face 5mins later they then turn around and say they can pay me oh well what a surprise!!! dont buy of them they will take more then what they agree of u and they are a horrid company ruinin the name of cancer charities across the uk it would make people more doubtful about actually giving to real charities!!!

hi i applied for ME magazine i did the 3days training then they decide to phone me up and say they no longer wanted me there as i wasnt makin 9 sales a day which was fine by me as i wasnt happy working there just was a job till i was able to find something else. in my time there i noticed more and more complaints of people as i spoke to them then realised ME is a scammin company £7.40 an hour and as iv waited two weeks to be paid and several phone calls the woman who is in charge of payroll finally bothered to ring me back to say they wont be paying me and tried fobbin me off not only did i contact trading standards i went up to the office and threw the working act law in her face 5mins later they then turn around and say they can pay me oh well what a surprise!!! dont buy of them they will take more then what they agree of u and they are a horrid company ruinin the name of cancer charities across the uk it would make people more doubtful about actually giving to real charities!!!

I fell victim to this aswell and have just noticed that the money has been taken out of my account funny thing is I have not received the stupid magazine so never had any corresponance from them.  I have contacted my bank today and unlike most on here cant seem to get any further t getting my money back.  Does anyone have n e ideas??

If the company was only launched 10 months ago then why are there complaints on here dating back to 2010???

I spoke to my bank and they gave me a disputed transaction claim form, I was advised to produce as much evidence to back up my claim as possible. I phoned ME magazine back the same day after I had given them my details after reading the messages on here but they still took £65 from my account. I then phoned them twice to complain but did not get a reply however all my calls have been logged so I can give these to my bank. Please be aware that you may get a call from someone saying they are calling from Lets Go and that they are sending you free vouchers normally valued at £8.95 but to you they are free. I checked the Tel number they called from, they were calling from ME Magazine. Now I have received a membership card that I have to cancel again or they will take £7.99 from my account. Guess what their reference is, ME Finance!!!!!!!!!! I phoned Lets Go but they denied any knowledge of ME Magazine yet when I asked where they got my details from they told me it was indeed ME Magazine. It may be the only way to stop them helping themselves to your money is to cancel your card or change bank accounts . I am amazed that this company are not being investigated.

I too have been taken for a ride from this me magazine initially the £1 then before the 14 day period £65 was taken out of our account. I have rung the freephone number several times with no joy to cancel my subscription before the 14 days was up but no response. Sent an e-mail to the address in magazine,no reply. Contacted my bank to cancel payment say they can't put me onto retail disputes no joy there.Have sent letter to me magazine confirming cancellation and want acknowledgement of this plus my money refunded,surprise surprise no response here either. Am considering goint to premises as am in Cardiff next week to see if a visit in person has any affect on these people who are giving charities a bad name.

Me too!! The easiest way to tell all is to post a copy of email I have sent to C Burgess at Me Group International this evening, it is a bit long winded but I was fuming!!!!! here it is :-

I have no intention of addressing any of you by Sir or Madam as you do not deserve the privilege,

After having sent the below email to yourselves previously I can now update:
Sent 27 May 2012 - CANCELLATION OF ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION to ME MAGAZINE
(I do hope I have the correct email address, I will send a copy of this to the other address I have, being cs@me-magazine.co.uk
After being bombarded with calls from your number I answered a call from one of your representatives called Lauren on the at 10.30 am on the 18th May 2012, after a conversation (could not fault your young lady on politeness) which unfortunately was extremely marred by my three year old daughter yelling/screaming ‘Mummy’ in the background,(listen to your recording if you did record it) I agreed to hand over my card details over the phone (which is a definite NO NO normally) so that you could take £1 for postage costs for the delivery to myself of your new Me Magazine for a trial period. Then to ring 0800 669 6480 after looking through said magazine and give you my thoughts and confirm or cancel said subscription. It was said to me that you would only take the annual subscription of £65 if I only wished to continue in receiving said magazine and the cooling off period was 14 days.
Anyway after my hectic morning, consulting my husband and realising that your magazine would be costing us £5.50 per month (we do not purchase any mags ourselves at this time of austerity!) plus delving onto Google, I was shocked to read such awful reports on your dealings with the public! although I must concur that on a specific website (Made for Mums) your company had made a well intended reply and there was an email address also stating that your website would up and running in April, which I found.
Besides all this we decided that it would be in our best interests to cancel said subscription immediately, that evening I left a message on a telephone number Lauren gave me 08006696480, being an ansafone, (which is was not a company sounding one ’leave your message’)to state that I did NOT wish to continue with the subscription and to cancel. Also have contacted my bank and informed them of this decision.
I have noted that the said £1 has been debited from our account, fair enough I gave permission for that (anyway have still NOT received any magazine when told I would receive it within 3-day's!!). The 14 day cooling off period is nearly up, so to state this as plainly as possible and written here in black and white I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION for any further payment of any kind to be taken from my account and the annual subscription is cancelled, also I do NOT give permission for my details be sold or passed on even for free to any other person or persons known or unknown. I really do hope that I do not find that money has been taken from my account unlawfully.
I have noticed from recent phone records that you have been trying to contact me from your number 0844 5670460, (which doesn’t receive incoming calls) I will answer this call if I am in the next time your company calls and I can then repeat this email in person)
THIS BIT WAS THE NEW EMAIL: -
On the 30th May I called your 0800 number again and spoke to someone with no name! gave my details and told him under no circumstances was £65 to be taken from my bank account in the future as this would be unauthorised and a fraud, I was told that no further money would be taken out (you had taken the £1 for postage, no magazine received so this was for nothing!!)and lo and behold today the 6th of June you or Safe Services whom you had authorised had the audacity to take £65 from my account, so I am afraid this is fraud, it has been reported to my bank who in turn will be contacting the police.  
I like hundreds of others have had to have the worry of this for the last three weeks, numerous calls/emails to any number or address I could find and an hour on the phone to my own bank.  I have now cancelled my card so there upon as of now I have even more stress in having to inform certain parties of this.

This is outrageous behaviour for being part of a large group being Me Group International and especially as on this companies website you state on your Mission Statement as: -
TAKEN FROM THEIR WEBSITE: -
(Me Group International aims to treat clients and customers as individuals. In a world where generalisation is used to explain, understand and service direct marketing operations, Me Group International believe that by treating each action and reaction individually we can provide our clients and our customers with a satisfying and unique experience.

Each service, whether through customer acquisition, customer service or product fulfilment has it’s own unique niches, constraints and opportunities. We aim to service our clients by honing into those unique qualities and provide a service that is purely bespoke to the given campaign. Me Group International look at each client as an individual organisation with objectives exclusive to their own mission statement. Therefore, when we work with clients we also work with their mission statement to understand and fulfil their business as well as we can.

Me Group International believe that each customer we deal with should have a positive experience when we communicate with them. With simple core values such as good manners, politeness and positive objectivity we ensure that we listen and understand each customer that we deal with. With corporate values such as efficiency, cost-effectiveness and concise communication we aim to satisfy moral and commercial obligations to all our clients.

Me Group International put the individual at the forefront of mass marketing. In doing this we make sure Me is looking after You.)

What utter  rubbish, you take money from people who cannot afford and make their lives a complete misery, you could not even be bothered to reply to my last email,  a copy was sent to
cs@me-magazine.co.uk. and no reply from them either.

I thought maybe someone did care about their business reputation but Me Group International obviously DO NOT.

Most enraged

I received a call  from a company so called  Me magazine last week. I spoke to a male called Harry he told me I won a competition and I was entitled to 100 pound voucher I always complete surveys now and then so assumed he got my details from their. To my knowledge this was a perfectly legitimate call he said they would send my voucher through the post for just a pound he did not mention anything about a subscription to find my account being debited within 5 days of 65.00 after taking my card details he decided to hang up the phone where I was unable to contact the so called company me magazine. Please beware of this company I have had no luck getting through to the company which are based in southwales. However I am going to take this further and see a local fraud and prevention team to assist me with the refund of this mis sold so called entitlement I suggest if  you receive a call from Harry or so call me magazine stay well away !! Unless you want to be 66.00 out of pocket

I also had this then started to notice other money coming out of my account for other services I had no idea about - ring your bank and change your details.  My bank managed to get all my cash back but it took a while.  Keep an eye on your acount cos one of their services is aimed at preventing fraud!!!  But it seems they all get the details from this welsh company and they don't answer or return any calls! Good luck