WARNING

A question about : WARNING

Guys, a word of warning on the above subject.

Mrs GunJack ordered flowers from Interflora via the web and paid with credit card. The following month she had a transaction for Ј8 appear on her statement from shopdisc.co.uk.

We'd never heard of them, let alone bought anything from them. To cut a long story short, it appears that when you buy from Interflora, you are AUTOMATICALLY signing up for this tele-marketing company's subscription services. This was direct from the company's rep on the phone.

We could not see any options on Interflora's site or checkout pages referring to this at the time of the order, but thought we'd warn the MSE community of this (as I see it) scam.

Best answers:

• Have you found out what the £8 was for though? My hubby has ordered from interflora online before and not had this? What subscription is it for?
• It was for a discount club type thing, Ј8 per month for discounts for stuff you would never buy !! Prefer to do my own bargain-hunting anyway, but it was the sheer cheek of it...
• Is it stated in their terms and conditions then? Can you not ask them to cancel it as you didn't ask for it and get the money refunded? Long shot but worth a try, I know it's only Ј8 but I would be the same, you didn't ask for it so why pay for it?
• I have ordered from interlora online loads of times before and never been charged Ј8 or any amount afterwards...hope they dont charge me next time !
• This is something I have came across
  As far as I have been told in cases interflora are denying it and referring customers to the banks although it does seem apparent the source is interflora
  Its quite a strange one, you should just call your bank and let them deal with it as interflora wont be admitting it as they would be majorly in the wrong and I very much doubt you will get a formal admission of guilt
• If you have a look at Interflora's Privacy Policy at https://www.interflora.co.uk/page.xml...privacy_policy -
  under 'Direct Marketing' you will get a clue as to how this came about.
  It must be as bad a so-called 'Privacy Policy' as I have come across.
• barak - glad you found something. We couldn't, and mrs GunJack certainly wouldn't have ticked a box to say she wanted this service. Once our bank gave us their phone number, shopPERdisc, as they are actuall called, were happy to cancel and refund. My point is, though, that we shouldn't have had to.
• I too have been caught with 2 payments from my credit card without permission, Ј8 each. I have contacted the credit card company and they have taken details, and I have e-mailed Interflora to request the monies back.....will let all know how I get on.
• JDR - call shopperdisc directly - your card issuer should be a ble to give you the number. We wrote it down, but it's all packed up with our other stuff 'coz we're in the middle of moving house !!
• In fact, here's the url of their website, with full contact details in there
  https://www.shopperdiscountsandrewards.co.uk/
• I too have fallen victim of this scam. After I bought flowers at Interflora, they offered me a £10 discount for the next purchase, which I used. I have then been charged £8 for the next two months. I reported it to the VISA Help Dispute and they gave me the Shopperdiscount UK number (08082341539) to 'cancel my subscription'. I obviously was not aware that, by accepting the discount, I automatically subscribed to Shopperdiscount. Most likely, these things are written in some terms and conditions, but the way the discount and the phantom subscription were advertised was clearly devious and nontransparent (especially the latter).
  After calling them, Shopperdiscount has sent me an email where they confirmed that my 'membership' has been cancelled and they have issued a refund of my membership fee within the next 3-5 business days. We'll see.
• it gets worse i am Ј140 down vista print have done the same to me but they sign you up to two companys vprewards and clubprem they take Ј9.95 a month each both have been taking money from my card since i ordered cards from vista print in march i have contacted tescos who i had also taken out card protection from thay say i wont get my money back!!! they also say that lots more companys are doing this and it is legal another case of the little people loosing out
• Is this legal?
  I have just heard about this 'scam' from a friend of mine who is now writing to the Marketing Director at Interflora to see why such a reputable global brand has linked themselves with a company that, as far as I know, has so many people complaining of what they are doing.
  If illegal shouldn't Trading Standards be informed?
• I have just written to interflora too, will let you know if I receive a reply.
• I just got this reply:-
  Dear Anne
  Thank you for your email enquiry to Interflora.
  I can confirm that we have checked and you have not registered with shopper discounts and rewards.
  
  Here at Interflora we strive to ensure that all our customers receive the best in choice, value and service. To this end, I am disappointed to hear that you felt that the terms & conditions, surrounding our “Shopper Discount & Reward Scheme” were not made clear.
  Interflora prides itself in offering high quality products at affordable prices, across our website, telesales and network of highly skilled florists. At times we like to offer exclusive benefits, which many people join, in an attempt to provide a unique shopping experience.
  I have detailed below the main benefits of this scheme, in an attempt to address your comments:
  - Online discount scheme operated by Webloyalty. Essentially, customers can take up membership to gain access to a range of discounts which can be redeemed at a large number of UK online retailers.
  - When joining, the customer agrees to free membership for 30 days, therein a monthly charged will be applied and collected automatically from the customer. This charge is currently Ј8.00 per month and is taken by Webloyalty and not Interflora.
  - The customer is incentivised to join the scheme with a Ј10 chequeback from their next order placed with interflora.co.uk.
  - No additional discounts, from Interflora, can be used in conjunction with the “Shopper & Reward Scheme” promotion.
  In closing, may I thank you for your comments, and trust that this will not deter you from using Interflora in the near future.
  Yours sincerely,
  Nigel Duncan
  Head of Customer services
  
• twiglet,
  As a matter of interest, you say that you have ordered flowers from Interflora loads of times, did you get the Ј10 chequeback on any of those orders?
  BTW I don't think much of the reply from the customer service guy. He is obvioulsy naive enough to think that his answer will be enough for you to remain a loyal customer of theirs. Now let me see, who else is there that provides flowers on the internet? M&S, Waitrose, Tesco............
• Hello
  I received my Asda Credit Card statement today...with Ј8 deducted...and the telephone number of shopdisc.co.uk. I rang Asda and said I had no recollection of this purchase....and then Shopdisc who confirmed it was all signed up for via Interflora....I ahve asked them to cancel anything that they have for me and to refund my account.
  Can the person who wrote to Interflora let me have their address and marketing director's name.
  To cap it all the flowers when delivered were not what I ordered !!
  regards
  Sandpiper
• Does this address this help?
  Interflora
  Interflora House
  Watergate
  Sleaford
  Lincolnshire
  NG34 7TB
  (01529) 304141/301430