08712242255

Further to my previous note, did you spot page 114 on Ceefax on 26.2.2011 - "Send us e-mail scams, says agency."?   "Millions of Britons who receive scam letters & e-mails are being urged to forward them to the National Fraud Authority.   The agency has launched a new operation to track down the fraudsters behind the multi-million pound industry in scam mail, but needs public input.   It wants people to forward e-mails to:
email@actionfraud.org.uk   for analysis (altho' I'd like to have seen "& ACTION" added!).
Whilst this is very welcome, a small fault seems to be the reference to sending letters & emails but they didn't give an address & I've been unable to find one - probably because as a self-taught wrinkly I'm not familiar with these new machines & I certainly wasn't taught about them at school in the 1930s-40s!   So I sent an email instead of a copy of the letter from our philanthropic fiends (sorry, friends), at free&easy.
I've also written to my MP, which together with the millions of Britons being urged to forward letters & emails to the National Fraud Authority, may at last reduce the scams & possibly even lead to fines and/or prison (but reimbursement is probably too much to hope for).
More power to your elbow.

Have rec,d the brochuree today after a phone call the other day .Told them i wasnt interested but still got the brochure. Will be calling to cancel tom. Having worked in a bank i know once they have your debit card details its hard to get the payment refunded and there is no way the bank will check for the debit. Beware always pay by credit card you have more protection with refunds.

If you get a letter from free&easy Lifestyle, whether or not you ignored it, write to your MP.   I did, & he promptly replied that he's referred the matter to the Office of Fair Trading.   Also report it to Consumer Direct, altho' unfortunately they are so busy that they apparently won't be able to let you know if they have a result.   And if you use their helpfully provided blank email, you won't have any record that you informed them.   And on 26.2.2011, Ceefax reported that millions of Britons who receive scam letters &  e-mails are being urged to forward them to the National Fraud Authority.   The agency has launched a new operation to track down the fraudsters behind the multi-million pound industry in scam mail, but needs public input.   It wants people to forward e-mails to:
email@actionfraud.org.uk
ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK!

I recently ndiscovered the sum of £99.99 had been taken without my authority from my bank account by this company.I recall receiving a call in January saying that I had bought Spacebags last year and they wondered if they could send me their Free and Easy Holiday cluib brochure.I have never received the brochure and rang them to query the debit.After stressing to them that they did not have any authority to take my money they asked me whether I would like the arrnagement cancelled and my money returned.I confirm that  was extractly what I wanted and was told that it would take 7-14 days for this to happen.When I queried the reimbursement period they said that  this was due to administration processes, though it usually happened sooner.Seven days have now passed but no money has been credited to my account. Has anyone received a refund?

i got one of these free and easy catalogues and nearly threw it away without really reading it. luckily my husband read it and realised it was a con.  i rang them and cancelled and also informed my bank.
i am going to change my bank account though as who else has got my details ?
the only thing i have ever bought on line was from cotton traders, so this must be where they got my details.  there must be something that can be done to stop these b******s

I have just called my bank and have been advised that there isn't anything i can do other than cancel all of my accounts as im not sure what account they will be taking the money from.  Im not sure if it would be worth calling the number on the letter.

If you've only just received the brochure from them then phone the number ( I think its a max of 10p a minute) it goes through to Devon. Ask for the last four numbers of the card details they have or demand they phone you back with the details of where they got your details from. It will probably be Spacebags, Winning Deals, Craft 4, Simply Home Entertainment or maybe another company you ordered from through Newspaper or Internet.
When you know which card it is they have ask your bank for a new card because they may try again in a few months!

PS

Ignore anything they say about being in Spain it's all run from the UK

Pressplay Call Centre Ltd,
Benning Court,
Pottington Business Park,
Barnstaple, Devon,
EX31 1QN

I have recieved a letter from this company offering 30 days free membership & then £99.99 will be taken from my account. I have written stating I neither asked for this nor want it & Not to debit my account - NO REPLY as yet.

Have informed my bank not to submit to any requests from this company, still feel a bit vulnerable!!

Where did they get my details?? have recently used an online holiday company??

Pleased to say my money was finally returned after 10 days. My suspicion is that they place this on money market fixed for 10 days.When their dposit matures return the funds to those that have requested refuds, roll the balance for another 10 days. Not a bad , just about legal scam. I have noticed that they react when you mention that the funds were taken without your permission ;- stolen. Would seem that they retained my card details from the spacebag purchase and put the debit through just as my old debit card expired for validity.I think they run a spreadsheet containing the details of the cards used for spacebag purchases. I do believe they are not entiteled to do this unless I have consented. Will check the t& c's on the Spacebag  purchase. Maybe hidden somewhere or maybe not, either way the only thing for sure that's Free & Easy is making money from this sharp practice.
Have to say bank weren't really interested in getting  involved and said they hadn't had any other complaints about this outfit.

I have also received a letter out of the blue, I contacted my credit card company and they have put a note on the a/c not to pay, unfortunately my bank cannot do anything until they take payment.  I will not phone the premium number as refuse to line their pockets with a hefty tel bill.

I have just received my bank statement today and found that £99 has been paid to Free & Easy at the beginning of March - I have had absolutely no contact with them whatsoever, had no phone call from them but they have still managed to take the money from my account.  Can someone please stop these crooks?

Just got a phone call from my bank to say that Free and easy tried TWICE to take £99.99 from my bank account today. Thankfully the bank have not allowed the payment to go through. It all started when I bought some craft stuff from a newspaper advert. Some months went by and I got a phone call, supposedly from the craft company, asking if I would like a Free and Easy catalogue. I had no idea what it was all about but as the craft company were legitimate and had delivered my order perfectly, I had no reason to refuse the offer of a catalogue. So I said ok as long as I'm not obliged to order from it. When I got the catalogue, I just flicked through it. It was full of holidays abroad and I had no interest in it so I binned it. There is no way that I have given this company my bank details, it could only have come from the craft company. I cannot remember the name of the craft company but you can be sure when I see their advert again that I will be giving them hell!!!

Hi Sassie,
the craft company was Craft 4 but don't waste your time giving them hell, the company also belongs to Pressplay Shopping so your grievance wont go any further. It may be better to write to the paper the advert was in. read back through thie forum you'll see its all run from Devon and Essex!

Same happened to me last year with an outfit called Break4Free. Had a letter this week from Free & Easy, alluding to phone call which I never had. However the address for both is very similar.
I sent details to my local Trading Standards section, and would urge all who have been stung by this scam to do likewise.
Called and cancelled "membersip" same day!

The same has happened to me they have taken out £99.99 from my account and I have never heard of them managed to contact them and they said I had agreed wich is untrue and that they were given my bank details via a 3rd party.
Am so angry does anyone know who to report this to?

I bought some items over the phone and later had a call asking if I would be interested in their catelogue of similar items I fell foor it and then got the brochure on the holidays ,I read the small print and realised my details must have been passed to this company in Spain.I immediately rang Barclaycard fraud dept. and cancelled my card, they however said they had not heard about this scamso the more of us who make it known the better.I am going to phone the Daily Telegraph where I saw the original advert and tell them what is going on.

Me too.   I had a transaction on my bank account for Free & Easy £99.99.    After looking at this web site I had bought Space bags a few months ago and I vaguely remember them ringing me to see if I was satisfied with the goods.  I dont recall them asking me about the magazine and subscription. I telephoned my bank and they said they could do nothing about it as I had freely given this company my card details.   However, I have now cancelled my card and am waiting for a new one.  I then telephoned Free & Easy on the number given above (my many thanks to that person for delving into it).   The girl at the end of the phone was quite nice and said that the person who rang me should have explained about the magazine and subscription after 30 days.   I said I don't recall this and anyway I would never have accepted this over the phone.   I dont recall receiving a magazine, but if I did I would have binned it straight away along with the rest of the junk mail.  She said she would cancel this and reimburse me my money within next 7-10 days.  So I will be checking my account to make sure this is done.  OK, so now everything has been sorted but it is the annoying hours of trouble making phone calls to do  this and the inconvenience of cancelling the card and waiting for a new one.

Hi there, it is not true that barclaycard don't know about this scam I had the same happen to me last year and I insisted that barclaycard treated it as a fraudulent transaction they prefer you to call free & easy and cancel because it saves them a lot of work but I refused to give free & easy my money via their premium phone call. I also reported it to the action fraud bureau and they gave me a crime report number which might be useful if you have to take it further they like people to report this to them then they can build up a case against free & easy but they need lots of people to contact them 0300 123 2040 low cost call it's a government organisation I also contacted Devon trading standards to complain because the call centre is in Barnstaple very much a tourist destination which is getting a bad reputation as a place where SCAMS are allowed to take place.
Good luck CHASE THE CARD COMPANIES TO RESOLVE IT THEN THEY MIGHT PUT FREE 7 EASY ON A BLACK LIST

Hello, It is also a good idea to tell everyone you know or meet, not to buy goods from the Space bag company I was also called and asked if I was happy with the product ( which incidentally I was ) that was how they got me involved with their Scam obviously a lot of people fall for it otherwise they wouldn't do it so warn as many people as you can