Grumble Thread

[Old Grumpy]

I have now followed this up with my credit card provider. That was a very tedious phone call, but it seems that there aren't (IMO) enough safeguards against problems like this.

If a merchant has details which are valid, but a new card is issued by the CC company, the details remain valid as there isn't a check done against the date of the CC card.
It seems that if a card is reported as Lost or Stolen then the details are changed and any roll over subscription payments will then be blocked.

Logically, therefore, as I tried to explain to the agent, anyone who wants to be sure that unexpected and continuing payments will not happen should report their card as lost or stolen - maybe at least once or year. However the agent did say she had not said that, but I just pointed out that my statement was a logical consequence of the information which she had given to me - that otherwise payments would not be blocked.

Further, if there are ongoing payments to a merchant/supplier they can be blocked by the CC card company on request - but apparently "only if the CC account holder has made attempts to contact the merchant/supplier directly to cancel any future payments." Why that should be a requirement I cannot imagine. Given that so many transactions are now done on line, that transactions may be with overseas suppliers, and that in some cases payments may be made and not noticed until later, the CC card companies are ducking out of any responsibility for issues like that.

This also happened with another company - medici.tv - which I believe is based in France. I asked for a refund for the subscription which I do not believe they should have taken, but clearly the banking mechanisms did not prevent them from taking payment, nor do they force the company to issue refunds.

I have never had good service from medici.tv, and the recent emails I have had from them are the first I can recall. In the past I have complained about the glitches in transmission, and the service level - issues which were never resolved. So it's only in the case that I have a complaint over subscriptions that they have responded, and the only answer they have provided so far is that they won't take a subscription next year. This is completely unsatisfactory to me and I feel that others should be warned.

Horses, stable doors, bolted. Terrible customer service.

Yes, also a victim. I did not renew my Avast subscription and was informed that my credit card had expired. It was autorenewed anyway.

I have now cancelled it and got a refund.

[Serial_Apologist]

A related matter on banking cards cold be coming the way of many - namely, what if the postal service has not been restored when they expire? Mine are due to at the end of February. It is possible the bank may use couriers to get replacement cards to customers; as a safeguard, nevertheless, I shall probably be making quite a few visits to my nearest (free) ATM during the week leading up to February 28.

[oddoneout]

The postal disruption is just another twist in the tale of my attempts to get a credit card. I made a successful application last Friday and had an email to say the card was being generated and should arrive within 7 days. As it hasn't I've just phoned, and been told it was generated on the 12th, not the 9th(due to weekend) and the fact that I've not had the Pin yet either isn't hopeful. I did remonstrate gently that the email should have made that clear. Oh well, I've already had to wait several weeks I can manage a bit longer. Perhaps tomorrow will be my lucky day - to make up for having to miss out on yet another of my Christmas activities due to illness - carol singing in town.

[Dave2002]

Yes, also a victim. I did not renew my Avast subscription and was informed that my credit card had expired. It was autorenewed anyway.

I have now cancelled it and got a refund.

At least you got a refund. Medici.tv are trying to stonewall and wriggle out of any responsibility, so I'm escalating to my MP - next step. Maybe R4 Moneybox or You and Yours would like to do an item on this kind of thing. Also perhaps Martin Lewis?

[Mal]

I hardly do any printing these days but I needed an amazon return label recently, and didn't want catch covid at the library, so I bought myself a cheap Brother monochrome laser. But I had difficulty getting it to work wireless with my chromebox - I was going to return it but needed it to print the return label! So I decided to get it working if it killed me. I eventually found an excellent video that you might find useful if you find yourself stuck trying to use a wireless brother:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ige6tc1RuPA

The printer is: Brother HL-L2375DW Mono Laser Printer - Single Function, Wireless/USB 2.0, 2 Sided Printing, A4 Printer, Small Office/Home Office...

... bought In September and it is still on discount...

P.S. This thread is a lot more interesting than Radio 3 at the moment - naff French music hall songs & and endless carol competitions. Who are they trying to please? Do they have any listeners left?

[oddoneout]

P.S. This thread is a lot more interesting than Radio 3 at the moment - naff French music hall songs & and endless carol competitions. Who are they trying to please? Do they have any listeners left?

It's Saturday Breakfast, hence the French Music Hall, which some like. The carol competition is an annual blight that is visited upon us as punishment for wanting R3's continued existence. At least, being seasonal, it will pass before too long. I do think, given its "simplified" requirements these days, that it should be put on Songs of Praise to give many more folk access to the opportunity to share their talents.
In answer to your questions -a) they aren't trying to please anyone, just tick boxes and b) in RAJAR terms possibly yes, but genuine R3 listeners - fewer and fewer, and not just through natural wastage.
I have a suspicion that the Saturday programming is seen as something praiseworthy in the bigger scheme of things whereas for a good few of us it is a non-day as far as listening is concerned.

[oddoneout]

Confirms what a lot of us have suspected?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/16/self-checkout-us-retail-walmart

It makes a change to see the cost of the machines mentioned - something which seems to get overlooked. When a town centre shopping development was finished in my home town about 15 years ago, the associated car park had machines to issue tickets for parking. There was no charge but the ticket showed time of entry so a jobsworth could see if you'd overstayed your welcome. The machines themselves had some inbuilt design faults so finding one that worked was tiresome. Despite the fact no money was involved they were regularly attacked in search of substance funding on a Saturday night, thus putting them out of action for lengthy periods. One day when I was chatting to the chap who looked after the site(litter, maintenance etc) he mentioned that it cost £900 each time a unit had to be replaced - and as even some of the simple faults weren't designed to be fixed in situ that started to add up even before the vandalised ones were included. Eventually they were taken out and for a while a traffic warden approach was in place, and then the now standard camera/number plate recognition system was installed. The only reason the units had been installed to begin with(not I believe the developer's idea) was to save the cost of a human patrolling the area to prevent long stay/non-shopping parking...

[Dave2002]

At least you got a refund. Medici.tv are trying to stonewall and wriggle out of any responsibility, so I'm escalating to my MP - next step. Maybe R4 Moneybox or You and Yours would like to do an item on this kind of thing. Also perhaps Martin Lewis?

It occurred to me today that some sellers - such as Apple and Amazon are stricter about how they deal with cards with dates which have expired. In the case of medici.tv that company was well aware that the card it knew about was about to expire, as it sent me an email reminding me beforehand. However Apple and Amazon, AFAIK, not only do that, but also require me to reconfim the card details before they would authorise any new transactions to that card. Giff Gaff, another company which seems to have circumvented any date check demonstrates another potential problem, as it is a mobile phone company. As many second factor authorisation approaches rely on mobile phone access and responses, I'm not quite sure how Giff Gaff should have updated its own databases - though it appears that it might have just carried out the same unauthorised procedure as medici.tv. Just because credit card companies are lax in their handling of date authorisation - seemingly - doesn't mean that transactions carried out by a company based on out of date data should be considered as valid. So some companies seem more responsible than others.

[cloughie]

Each Christmas and Easter I treat myself to a box of Coco Shreddies - this years seem less chocolaty than previously and so a little less of a treat - I hope this is not because there is less cocoa but I suppose there could be less sugar which is probably a good thing.

[Frances_iom]

...- this years seem less chocolaty than previously and so a little less of a treat ....

or your taste buds are ageing + taste memory is always fallible though it may well be the case that the more expensive ingredient is reduced as this seems to be common in processed stuff - the other dodge used by many shops selling relatively cheap commodities such as Oats is to stop selling the larger sizes of packed items - this can give a significant uplift to profits.

[cloughie]

or your taste buds are ageing + taste memory is always fallible though it may well be the case that the more expensive ingredient is reduced as this seems to be common in processed stuff - the other dodge used by many shops selling relatively cheap commodities such as Oats is to stop selling the larger sizes of packed items - this can give a significant uplift to profits.

My guess is less sugar and less cocoa solids.

[Dave2002]

I have hired cars several times during the last year or two. Now the hire companies are getting pickier and pickier about what "data" they want to see. OK - Driving Licence - Check. Photo ID - probably passport. Proof of address within the last three months ...

Given that we have been exhorted to "go paperless" how are many people supposed to prove their address? I actually have consistently refused to go paperless for some of my accounts, so that the companies concerned will send me statements on their official paper.

However, now it seems that some companies are not always putting addresses on all the correspondence. Right now I can just about comply if I have to show such proof today, but do I really want to show letters with all my most recent banking transactions on - which might just be the only ones which fall within the specifications "required" by the car hire companies?

Is this just another example of lack of joined up thinking by companies?

[RichardB]

I have hired cars several times during the last year or two. Now the hire companies are getting pickier and pickier about what "data" they want to see. OK - Driving Licence - Check. Photo ID - probably passport. Proof of address within the last three months ...

I've seen that on car rental websites, and then turned up to collect the car to find they don't need this information after all. I have the feeling it applies in some countries but not others, but they keep the same information on their websites in all countries.

[Frances_iom]

...Is this just another example of lack of joined up thinking by companies?

No just another step to forcing an identity card onto the UK population - would also ease illegal immigration as "Your papers please "would soon be a common request at workplaces.

[RichardB]

No just another step to forcing an identity card onto the UK population - would also ease illegal immigration as "Your papers please "would soon be a common request at workplaces.

I find it really weird that the question of ID cards is such a taboo in the UK and other English speaking countries, as if it's immediately going to bring about a 1984-like police state - most countries in the world issue ID cards, including the entire EU, within which an ID card is all that's required for travel, for example; and of course you're never asked to use things like bank statements or utility bills or driving licences for ID.