OH answered the phone this morning to a call (supposedly) from a company called Domestic & General (D&G) with whom we have a guarantee on our washing machine. (We don't usually do this type of warranty, but there was a reason at the time why it seemed a good idea. To be fair, we have claimed and they have been very good.)
Anyway, the pleasant young lady was telling us that the company is offering what amounts to a 'free' year of cover, ie three years for the price of two, if we paid the lump sum up front, and as our renewal was due at the end of this month, would we be interested.
The machine is now 7 years old, so I suggested OH actually cancelled it as next time it goes wrong, we'll probably have to get a new machine anyway. The young lady said that wasn't a problem as they always replace with a machine equal to or better than the specification of the old one.
We were still hesitant. We asked what would happen if D&G ceased to exist before the 3 years were up. She assured us that that wouldn't happen - she has obviously never heard of the bank crashes of 2008, or of the demise of some of our High Street big-name shops. She went on to say all she needed to do was to check our credit card number - she knew it began with a 4 and there we were, all safe and sorted.
OH asked what bank account number was was charged to. The number she gave was correct - it's an account we use purely for paying household bills - but not the account we pay our credit card from.
By then, the rats were getting very smelly, and OH said he'd call her back. "That's fine" she assured us. "Oh, we have a new call centre number". I suggested OH used the old call centre number and ask for her. Needless to say, the call centre hadn't got a new number, and they referred us straight to their fraud department.
OH mentioned that we hadn't had a letter from them about the renewal, and they said that the letter was produced in March, although it may not have been sent out until some time later.
What we think has happened is that an (ex?) employee has used the renewal letters to contact customers trying to get £200 out of each one. As we were saying in another thread these scams can sound very plausible, and I'm sure many people have thought this was a good offer and possibly taken advantage of it. It's only when the monthly payments continue to go out of their account that they realise something's wrong. Provided of course, that they check their bank and credit card statements carefully.
Anyway, the pleasant young lady was telling us that the company is offering what amounts to a 'free' year of cover, ie three years for the price of two, if we paid the lump sum up front, and as our renewal was due at the end of this month, would we be interested.
The machine is now 7 years old, so I suggested OH actually cancelled it as next time it goes wrong, we'll probably have to get a new machine anyway. The young lady said that wasn't a problem as they always replace with a machine equal to or better than the specification of the old one.
We were still hesitant. We asked what would happen if D&G ceased to exist before the 3 years were up. She assured us that that wouldn't happen - she has obviously never heard of the bank crashes of 2008, or of the demise of some of our High Street big-name shops. She went on to say all she needed to do was to check our credit card number - she knew it began with a 4 and there we were, all safe and sorted.
OH asked what bank account number was was charged to. The number she gave was correct - it's an account we use purely for paying household bills - but not the account we pay our credit card from.
By then, the rats were getting very smelly, and OH said he'd call her back. "That's fine" she assured us. "Oh, we have a new call centre number". I suggested OH used the old call centre number and ask for her. Needless to say, the call centre hadn't got a new number, and they referred us straight to their fraud department.
OH mentioned that we hadn't had a letter from them about the renewal, and they said that the letter was produced in March, although it may not have been sent out until some time later.
What we think has happened is that an (ex?) employee has used the renewal letters to contact customers trying to get £200 out of each one. As we were saying in another thread these scams can sound very plausible, and I'm sure many people have thought this was a good offer and possibly taken advantage of it. It's only when the monthly payments continue to go out of their account that they realise something's wrong. Provided of course, that they check their bank and credit card statements carefully.
Comment