Beware Easylife Group Limited, 'free trial' Easylife Rewards Club membership and Rocket Marketing Group
*This article was first posted in June 2017 and updated in March 2018 again in January 2023 and November 2023. The updates are all in sequence at the end of this post. *
Also beware 241 Hotel Card membership, Gourmet Society membership, Discover Britain Card membership, Easylife Motor Club
Buyers who purchased a household product by telephone from the Easylife Group Ltd (11-13 Kings Terrace London) catalogue are offered a 21 day free trial membership to a club that claims to save you money on high street shopping.
The Easylife Rewards Club is operated by the Rocket Marketing Group based in Brighton.
You're asked to pay £2.99 to cover postage for the free vouchers and membership pack. This payment is taken when you make your purchase of goods from the catalogue. The discounts provided by Easy Rewards Club appear to be many of the same offers you can easily find all over the internet for free.
What may be less clear is that unless you cancel the 'free trial' before the 21 day trial ends your full annual membership will be charged at £69.98 - to the same card you used to buy something from the catalogue.
At that point Easylife Rewards Club (operated by the Rocket Marketing Group in Brighton) will have been passed all your personal data, your name, telephone number, address and payment details.
Cancelling the 'free trial' can prove difficult. Especially for vulnerable elderly customers who may have purchased a health aid - like joint patches - after seeing the Easylife advert in a newspaper. Then they start receiving a regular catalogue. They may not realise they have taken a 'free trial' and may mistake the voucher pack as 'junk mail' and bin it.
That would be an expensive mistake, because unless they cancel the 'free trial' by phoning Easylife, or visiting the website (difficult for many people in their 80s and 90s) the full annual membership will be charged at £69.98. Once the charge is made getting a refund is very difficult.
Here's what happened to my partner's mum when she got involved with Easylife.
She is 96 years old. She's had an astonishing innings, born in 1921, she served in WWII, and still lives alone in her own home. She manages to stay abreast of world events and politics from the TV, but sadly can't always remember what she ate for lunch. She lives 400 miles away from us, but we speak to her every day. My partner visits her every couple of weeks. She's like many vulnerable older people across Britain.
She purchased a product from the Easylife Group Limited in June 2016. She unwittingly agreed to a 'free trial' of the Easylife Rewards Club (operated by the Rocket Marketing Group). In July 2016 I presume a debit of £69.98 appeared on her bank statement. Her vision is poor and then 95 years old she didn't notice. The same fee £69.98 will be debited in June every year until she cancels.
My partner's mum is housebound. She is unable to save money on high street shopping because she cannot go to the high street. For the same reason she cannot use vouchers to gain discounts in restaurants, visitor attractions or hotels.
In September 2016 (and I'm having to make some assumptions here, because my relative has some memory problems and cannot remember any of this) Rocket Marketing Group used her contact details to sell her a Gourmet Society Membership for £19.94.
The T&C state that your Gourmet Society Membership will be debited at the same rate as your original joining fee every year until you cancel (or if you're lucky your payment card expires and they can't process the payment). That's certainly an easylife for someone, they just keep collecting your money year after year.
Then in January 2017 they sold her a 241 Hotel Card membership also for £19.94 which was debited from her bank account. The statement entry is Easylife Rewards call 03448-809200 GB. Again the T&C state that membership is renewed every year until you cancel.
But Rocket Marketing Group weren't finished with my elderly relative yet, not by a long way. Presumably they had her marked down as a cash machine by now with a hotline to her diminishing bank account. She was certainly giving their well paid bosses an 'easylife'.
In April 2017 Easylife Group sold her a second 'free trial' to the easylife Rewards Club when she made another purchase from their catalogue. So now she has 2 memberships both running at the same time.
When the 21 days ended in April 2017 Rocket Marketing debited £69.98 from her bank. Both the memberships to the Easylife Rewards Club, will keep auto-renewing in June and April every year, each costing £69.98 until she cancels.
Remember she's 96 years old. Living alone, housebound, somewhat confused. Her doctor is concerned she's forgetting to take her medication and we're concerned whether she's remembering to eat.
That same month, April 2017, Rocket Marketing Group sold her a Discover Britain Card membership for £19.98. I presume this was also by telephone. This card claims to offer discounts to various attractions throughout the UK. It shows the National Trust logo on the website - even though they do not appear to have any discounts at the National Trust (they say Kew Gardens is operated by the National Trust, it isn't)
In June 2017 my partner begun power of attorney proceedings to look after her mum's affairs. To do this she's gathered up her mum's bank statements. This is when the full horror of Rocket Marketing Group's hotline to her bank account becomes clear. A quick search online and its like pulling at a thread that usually ends at Rocket Marketing Group in Brighton. Look at the T&C on the 241 Hotel card, or the Discover Britain card and there they are lurking like a bad penny (or £19.98, or £69.98 - take your pick)
In February 2012 Rocket Marketing Group were reprimanded by the Direct Marketing Commission for 'inertia selling'. That's when you use one thing to sell another, and another. They promised to mend their ways. It doesn't look like they have.
My partner's mum is unaware she has joined any membership clubs when I ask her (of course becasue If you knew you were a member why would you join again?). So I start trying to unravel the mess, cancel all the direct debits and get her name removed from the mailing lists.
She is already signed up to the Telephone Preference Service. This free service is designed to stop companies cold calling and make it difficult for them to pass customer details to third parties. The rules are enforceable by the Information Commissioner . The ICO is thankfully very powerful and controls the way organisations use and safeguard our personal data. This is especially important to protect us from fraudsters. They can fine companies who break the law up to £500,000.
I email Andy Huggins the CEO of Rocket Marketing Group (Brighton). The Operations Manager Bill Emery responds the same day by phone. He agrees to refund all monies debited from 2016 and 2017 on the basis that my partner's mum was unable to give meaningful consent to any of the sales or use of her data.
He apologises that they sold her 2 overlapping memberships for the Easylife Rewards Club. He cannot explain how this has happened, but agrees it is possible and could have happened to other customers. They will refund £202.69 and confirm in writing that they have cancelled all recurring direct debits for Easylife Rewards Club, the Discover Britain Card membership, the 241 Hotel Card membership and The Gourmet Society. They will remover her details from all mailing lists.
I also email Greg Caplan CEO of Easylife Group. The Easylife Group in London has had 4 complaints about misleading ads upheld by the Adertising Standards Authorty 1 in 2013, 2 in 2014, 1 in 2015 and 15 complaints informally resolved. I don't hear anything immediately but in my complaint I referred specifically to the poor quality of a product my partner's mum purchased. Early the next morning they phoned to offer her some more. She said no, and hung up. Maybe this call was related to my complaint, maybe they were hoping she would want to buy a fresh supply - I've explained that she shouldn't talk to anyone calling themselves Easylife as they have taken a lot of money from her bank account.
I had a very helpful online chat with the Information Commissioner (ICO). They have the authority to investigate companies that break Data Protection law. That includes passing on data, calling people who are registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and gaining meaningful specific consent 'a positive expression of choice'.
The Information Commissioner may take a different view on whether a positive expression of choice has been made by the customer during these phone calls. They may also have concerns about the legality of passing personal data of customers registered with the Telephone Preference Service to third parties (Easylife Group to Rocket to the Gourmet Society for instance) They may also have concerns about the ongoing agreement to continue membership year after year.
It's difficult to imagine how Rocket Marketing Group can be confident meaningful consent has been gained for an ongoing annual membership of the Easylife Rewards Club when the 'free trial' was sold by another company. Meaningful consent certainly wasn't obtained in the case of my partner's mum. Yes Rocket refunded immediately - but only when we noticed what was going on. Also it should have robust data management policy to ensure customers are not enrolled and charged twice for the same club. They locate customers by postcode and name so this should be a no brainer.
The Direct Marketing Commission also has 5 key principles by which members should operate to treat customers honestly, fairly, openly and with transparency to protect the good image of the direct marketing industry. They can uphold complaints, and refer wrong-doers to the regulatory authorities but they cannot issue fines. Rocket Marketing Group is not a member.
If you, or someone you care about has been caught out by Easylife Rewards Club or any of the membership clubs operated by Rocket Marketing Group (Brighton)
- Phone Easylife Rewards Club customer service line 03448 809 200 and explain what has happened. Ask them what records they have for you, and all the items they have ever sold you. If you are unhappy with this ask for a refund, ask them to stop all direct debits and remove your details from their data base.
- If you remain unhappy with the response ask for a senior manager to phone you back. They will agree to this.
- If your complaint is about another club or loyalty scheme operated or sold by Rocket Marketing Group complain to CEO andy.huggins@rocketmarketinggroup.com
Easylife Group Limited (London) operate the catalogue sales for goods. They have a satisfaction guarantee on their website. If you have a problem with the goods they have sold or wish them to remove your data from their lists:
- Phone them on 0303 031 0777 and explain what has happened.
- If you want to ensure they do not pass your data to other companies ask them to remove your details from third party marketing consent.
- If your are offered a 'free trial' to any membership club ensure you understand all the details of the agreement and how to cancel it. If you have any doubts - no matter how tempted you are - let the offer pass.
After you've taken the above steps if you remain unhappy you can complain to:
Update March 2018
Since I wrote this article in June 2017 it has attracted a very large number of google search hits. Reviews on other online consumer sites also suggest that there are plenty of people who discover they, or an elderly relative, have become a member of an 'easylife' club - the latest is the Easylife Motor Club. It appears from some reviews to have sold memberships to people who don't own a car and have never even held a driving licence!
In February 2018 Karen Ford, the Head of Compliance at Easylife left a comment below and I exchanged some emails with her about my relative's story outlined above. Karen apologised and said it should never have happened, and wouldn't happen today with the new compliance systems they have in place. She also confirmed that Rocket Marketing Group do sell memberships on behalf of Easylife Group. Karen offered to help resolve complaints. However it now appears that she has left the company.
In November 2018 The Daily Mail ran an article reporting that Easy Life continues to sell its membership clubs to callers who purchase an item from their catalogues. They do this by offering a 'free trial' that then converts into a paid annual membership. They take the payment from the same method as you purchased the catalogue item. If you paid by credit card your credit card company is jointly liable for any unauthorised transactions on your card - so if Easylife won't refund you - ask your credit card company.
Update January 2023
easylife are still very much alive and kicking according to comments here and elsewhere on the internet. How are they allowed to keep 'selling' subscriptions to elderly customers by phone, signing them up for direct debits in eternity? The only method to prevent them doing this is never buy anything from easylife over the phone, then they won't have your bank account details. If this has happened make sure you ask for your money back - they will refund you, they don't want to be prosecuted. But if you don't ask for a refund they will no doubt state you're another happy customer.
Update November 2023
Skip to the end of this section to find out how to claim a refund for a club membership
You may have read that in October 2022 The Information Commissioner's Office fined easylife £1.41m for mis-using customer data. The sum was made up of 2 separate fines. One (uncontested) fine of £130,000 was for making 1.3 million unsolicited direct marketing calls.
The larger of the two fines was reduced to £250,000 in March 2023 when easylife successfully argued the practice of 'profiling' its customers for sales purposes had ceased.
During 2023 further comments were added to this blog from family members who discovered their elderly relatives have had hundreds of pounds debited from their accounts for membership club 'subscriptions' they were unaware they'd signed up for.
easylife and easyGroup
In October I was surprised to read in the Guardian newspaper (10 Oct 2023) that the brand name 'easylife' is licensed from the easyGroup brand creator and owner Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. The easyGroup donates much of its profits from licensing the 'easy' brand name to the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation (according to its website).
Note - it is important to differentiate licensing and ownership - Sir Stelios is not the owner or operator of 'easylife' the catalogue company. The founder and CEO of 'easylife' the catalogue company is Greg Caplan.
The Guardian newspaper article reported a Leicester pop band has been told to stop using the band's name 'easylife' or face legal action because their on-stage behaviour and their merchandising is damaging to the easylife and easyGroup brand.
EasyGroup owner Sir Stelios is the entrepreneur and founder of easyjet the airline (which also licenses the 'easy' name, but is now a Public Limited Company). I asked Sir Stelios' easyGroup to confirm they are satisfied that the 'easylife' catalogue and subscriptions company meets the brand values of the easyGroup family of companies.
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou personally emailed me within 24 hours assuring me that easylife's lawyers would be in contact to confirm that 'Mr Caplan (easylife CEO) is running his business according to the law and his terms and conditions'.
The next day I received an email from a firm of solicitors assuring me that customers of any of the 7 different reward club memberships sold by Direct Response Marketing Group Limited (the company easylife shares its customer data with) who require a refund should use the contact details on the FAQ page on the easylife website.
The current reward clubs are:
Motor Club
Rewards Club
Gardening Club
Book Club
Perx
Puzzle Book Club
Supercard
*Some of the reward clubs are different to my list in 2017.
Rocket Marketing Group has no connection with any of these clubs.
Easylife's lawyers also drew my attention to the high score of 4.2 easylife has on the Trustpilot review site
You may wish to read these reviews very carefully.
So you can claim a refund for a club membership using the information above.
But if you don't want a refund but you do want easylife and their affiliate company DRMG to stop calling or mailing, then you can use a law that stops companies holding your data. It's called the 'Right to Get Your Data Deleted' also known as 'Right to Erasure'. There are instructions on how to do this on the data regulator's website: click here:
90 comments:
Rocket Marketing have been expelled from DMA due to ongoing compliance failure
The
The call Centre is also not in the UK.It is in Cyprus Larnaca. The staff are forced to offer the rewards scam or lose their jobs. The Company is run in Cyprus by first choice group.The easy life car motoring group is also the same scam. They pray on the elderly.
I purchased items on line from easylife and never had a phone call from anyone to ask me if I wished to become a member of the 'easyliferewards ' but my details were given any way by 'easlife' to them without my knowledge or permission.
Easliferewards took £2.99 and £84.94 from my credit card and after a lot of correspondence back and forth and threatening them that I would take the matter further, they are going to give me a credit.
I will just wait and see if they keep their promise and I will never order from
'easylife' again.It is such a shame because the main customers are either elderly or disabled and find items that would help them.
I worked there for 7 years. It is all a big von in my opinion. It is also likely that when anyone gets a call to offer the membership, it is actually outbound agents from Rocket calling them under the guise of the company....Easylife, Ideal World. All I would say is that if you can't get your money back, order as much as you can which will cost Rocket and not you....like the free flight up to £100.....just don't go! Tea for 2, feery crossing etc....they will soon go bust! If you want more info then contact me....I can spill the beans!
Unknown - Thank you for your contribution about your experience with Easylife / Rocket.
So you seem to suggets that the discount schemes they run - Gourmet Society, 241 Hotel Card etc cost them money if card holders take up any of the benefits? Please do explain further!
It is regrettable that Rocket and Easylife appear immune to all meaningful regulation and yet their activities border on fraud.
No the 241 stuff and Gourmet Society are shipped in at bulk and sent out 21 days after a letter informing you they will be charged is sent. The stuff that costs them are the free euro trip (book it and dont go!) The tea for 2, ferry trip etc. If all the people who had the club booked these they would go bust....quickly....they know it but rely on the fact that people dont check
....any post that looks like junk mail or their bank account statements. They have often had Trading Standards sniffing around but fob them off comparing the amount of tranactions they make against complaints.
Anwen
I am the Head of Compliance at Easylife and am concerned to read this thread, which has just been brought to my attention. We work very closely with trading standards to ensure we do not breach consumer laws so if you wish to contact me regarding your concerns, please email me on karen@easylifegroup.com
That old speel "work closely with trading standards"! No you don't I know for a fact the "truth" has been twisted in the past to keep them happy. Do you send envelopes to each customer?? Hmmm? Only when they ask....
Thank you for this. I have just emailed Karen with my complaint. I'm really shocked that a company can be allowed to operate in this way. I too had no SAE, made no agreement, was not told I was joining a scheme (they were only sending the stuff for me to look at and I could keep a 10 pound shopping voucher whether or not I joined the scheme), and have had my credit card charged. Sainsbury's bank are being helpful and I have written to BBC Watchdog. I returned the Easylife information immediately - the same day.
My elderly father has just been charged £69.95 by easylife. He had a phone call offering him a reward scheme etc etc He said "NO THANK YOU". Anyway the company still insisted on sending out the information. My father phoned back the following day and said he wasn't interested. He was told by a member of staff that he needed to sign the papers and return them so they knew he wasn't joining/interested. He did this immediately and got proof of postage. From the first phone call to my father returning the paperwork was less than a week yet they have still made this charge. We have gone through the bank and they are hopefully sorting the refund and the fraud team are involved. My fathers bank card has also been changed and Easylife are blocked any access to his account.
Picking on the elderly and vulnerable. I hope your proud of your company
Re Anon (25 April) This is terrible. Please do email Karen Ford at Easylife (Head of Compliance) she says this shouldn't happen. Let us all know what she says. Do ask her to compensate your elderly father for his trip to the post office and all your phone calls to the bank. You should also contact your local Trading Standards if possible and alert them to the considerable inconvenience your father and you have faced.
My 80 year old father has had £69.95 taken out of his account for Easylife Supercard.
I cancelled the card within the 14 day trial. The money was taken before the 14 day trial finished.
Easylife are not following their own terms and conditions. Everytime I phone up, i get the same reply someone to phone you back.
Today I have looked at my fathers bank account to find £6.95 has been taken out of his account we don't even know what this is for. All it said on statement is PERX.
I think this company is taking advance of the old.
I will now have to reorder a new bankcard for my father to stop them taking anymore money.
Anon 29 April - This is the third comment about Easylife and their membership clubs being sold to vulnerable customers this week. I would email Karen@easylifegroup.com (Karen Ford is head of compliance) and demand that she refund your costs for the mis-sale. Your reasonable costs will telephone calls, postage and the inconvenience of ordering a new bank card. If she refuses I would report them to Trading Standards.
I have now found out what PERX is. It is a monthly magazine giving leisure discounts. The privilege of having this magazine is £6.95 a month. Again this is something my father didn't ask for. Easylife have taken the money without my fathers agreement. The company keep on breaking their own terms and conditions. How many other people have had this problem? I think it needs to go further now.
This is now stressing out my 80 year old father and myself.
I have also found out we pay for the privilege of phoning Easylife as it a 0844 number.
I'm asking for compensation now.
Easylife has a local cost telephone number (included in mobile calling plans) 0303 031 0777.
This is listed on their website under the tab ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’ and is answered by their customer care team. Do not complain via their 0844 number which as you correctly point out is a premium rate number.
I also had the same issue with finding £69.95 on my elderly fathers account and being very concerned. I contacted Karen using the information provided in this thread and she responded straight away, she also sorted out the refund and cancelled all further communication from EasyLife. She was very helpful, so if you are having any issues I would urge you to contact Karen.
And here we are in May 2018 and still they continue to scam people out of money. They agreed to refund my 90 yr old mother the £69.98 as I on her behalf cancelled the before the 'trial period' -They had already processed the amount. They never refunded and now I am again in an email battle to these charlatans to give her back her money. I have also told them they are to STOP all transactions with her as she is not mentally competent to do anything over the phone - she is too old and has no idea what she is agreeing to - something they know and deliberately continue to target elderly people.
How can I stop them??
Look at all the complaints here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5561255 and here
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.shopgoodideas.com
Right To Reply
Thank you to those of you who have been in touch with me directly regarding the concerns you have about Easylife.
Many of our customers are older adults and because of that we are very careful not to breach their consumer or data protection rights. I understand that when you first learn we have been marketing products/services to one of your relatives and you read the reviews that have been written that you automatically believe we are systematically scamming your loved ones but we are not. We have a very clear Vulnerable Customer Policy, strict training and QA procedures, so straying from our rules is not an option.
We do work closely with trading standards in Camden, with regular dialogue taking place between us and them. They have also reviewed our scripts, paperwork, policies and procedures so I hope you will feel some reassurance that we are doing all we can to support our customers.
So why then do we still get complaints? Despite our policies and procedures, some older adults do not present as vulnerable so we have been unable to detect memory or other cognitive issues when we have been in contact with them, however, as soon as we are put on notice that a customer is at risk, we take immediate action to prevent further transactions taking place and are proactive in addressing concerns raised.
Why do we not stop selling to older adults? We have a very large customer base and in 99.99% of cases, our customers are delighted with our offerings which is why we keep in contact with them. If what we offered was substandard in anyway we would not get so many repeat orders and if we were acting outside of the law, I can assure you that trading standards would intervene without hesitation.
If you come across this post and have concerns that you wish to raise about your relative, or indeed your own interactions with our company, I do welcome you to make direct contact with me: karen@easylifegroup.com
Exactly the same has happened to my 85 year old mother. Regular membership payments are being taken out of her bank account that she didn't realise was happening and is unaware as to what she receives for being a "member". I only discovered this was going on when I was appointed Power of Attorney and now receive her bank statements. I am now in correspondence with Karen Ford, Head of Compliance and Data Protection Officer at Easylife Rewards Club to get the memberships stopped.
Since posting my comment Karen Ford has now contacted me to confirm that the charges for the last 12 months will be refunded and the memberships cancelled. She has dealt with this matter quickly and if you have complaints I suggest you contact her.
I too have been in touch with Karen and she is doing her best to investigate.
I have been in touch with Karen. She said my fathers payment for £69.95 for Easylife Supercard and £6.95 for PERX magazine will be refunded. (Not arrived in the bank yet)!
I have asked her for compensation. She emailed me back and said that she has listened to my fathers coversation with seller and we are not entitled to any compensation as he agreed to have a look.
I said because we cancelled the magazine and card within the cooling off period no money should have been taken. I would not have had the expense of making premium rate phone calls to them and take my father (who is 80) on a 30 mile round trip to get him a new bank card.
If you read the terms and conditions for Easylife Supercard its says
Cooling off period - You have a 14 day cooling off period in which you can use the product prior to annual payment. You may cancel membership at any time and for no reason by contacting us to cancel during cooling off period. THE ONLY PAYMENT PROCESSED DURING THIS TIME IS £2.99 to cover the cost of post and packaging for your welcome letter.
So why are they taking money for the full amount in the cooling off period. Surely the company are breaking their own Terms and Conditions?
I think I'm entitled to compensation for this.
Will be taking this matter further.
I am also in the middle of a battle to get a refund for the motor card which I am supposed to have agreed to in a phone call which I am disputing ever took place I emailed Karen then a few days later had a phone call to say I would be refunded the £59.99 they had taken from my credit card and the refund would take 7 to 10 days. It has now been over 2 weeks and I have not been refunded.I sent Karen another email and had an auto response to say she has left the company and to contact easylife .No idea what is going on but I smell a rat. I will be contacting trading standards and the financial ombudsman and I WONT give up however long it takes
I am also in dispute with them for my in-laws - had a letter from them that looks like something anyone could write, no company information, not even signed! - this company is disgusting they way they prey on people!
I strongly recommend you don’t trust Karen Ford. If you read the follow links it will become clear what sort of people you are dealing with. BEWARE
https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/did-council-high-flyer-gloat-about-scumbags-1-5842967
https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/milton-keynes-council-chief-steps-down-following-facebook-probe-1-5971059
https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/council-scumbag-uproar-chief-gets-new-business-post-1-6363713
I emailed easylife & asked about Karen Ford & was informed that she does not work for them anymore!!!!
In the light of what I have read, I am not really surprised
I have reason to believe Karen is still working for Easylife. Just be warned she cannot be trusted!!!!!
I worked for Easylife fot about a month.. Google Greg Caplan and cgeck his facebook account. To start with he is pro israel with regards to treatment if palestinians. Though thats not relevant it tells u something.
I quit after a month as the company sells crap products.. they use a crap company to deliver and consistently lie to customers and staff and treat everyone equally, with contempt.
I whistleblew to Trading Standards re thr rocket nonsense which is a total scam and the fact that they hold credit card details with all the numbers and with no security.. trading standarss clearly dont care so thats the wider issue
Especially when Karen Ford claims to be a former trading standards officer. If you read the links above you’ll understand that she is clearly a disturbed person, with her links to the trading standards industry, my guess is shes been employed to keep trading standards away.
My advise would be to stay well clear of this company
A few weeks after buying items on-line from Easylife I received a phone
call asking if I wanted a £10 petrol voucher. The caller had a strong
accent and I could only understand about 10% of what she was saying.
After many embarrassing requests to repeat sentences I asked if the
information could be sent in writing by post or e-mail.
I received nothing but later discovered, from bank accounts, that
Easylife had made two withdrawals from my account using the card details
provided for the earlier purchase. The first for £1.99 and second for £59.
These sums have now been repaid but, despite numerous requests, I have
never received invoices explaining what was, allegedly, bought.
I used to work for easylifegroup for over a year, their call centre is based in Cyprus. Unfortunately the scam was still going on while I was there. I used to work in customer services and everyday I would receive phonecalls from customers complaining that they were debited for £59.99 or £69.99 when they had not agreed to or received any form of documentation whatsoever. I was aick to the back teeth at what was going on.
This is nothing more than a big scam to take money from the elderly and vulnerable hoping they won't ask for their money back. Many customers have asked for their details to be removed from the system because they have had enough of EasyLife. The company is losing loyal customers at an extraordinary rate, word is spreading fast through social media at what an awful company this is to deal with.
It sewms that the ombudsman and trading standards are getting involved and it's a matter of time before the company will be brought to it's knees.
Anyone reading this should keep away from the company, it's more hassle than it's worth.
Yes, they are still at it: July thru October. It is a disgrace, and I am astonished that the Regulators have not found a way to clamp down on these people.
This has all been very worrying reading. I have just purchased an item from this company. I will however be changing my card numbers tomorrow.
Just come across www.jklregulatory.org.uk.
It appear to be related to Karen ford who now works for easylife!!
Quite a disturbing read, I’m shocked easylife has decided to associate with such a person
Thank you for putting all this info on the web it has been most helpful. This summer I became incapacitated with a broken hip and ordered some things from Easylife. I received them and then ordered some more. My problem is not with the goods. When I rung up on the landline for the first order I could not understand the man who answered very well and after taking my order talked to me about the Reward Card or what ever it is. I stupidly agreed to it but I have never received any paperwork to do with it so how can I cancel it if I have nothing to cancel. On the statement that came from my credit card , the figures on the entry’s for Easylife were different to how I spent the money and of course they have taken £69. 99 from my account as well. I have E mailed Help @ Easylife and one other site of theirs. I want to cancel the subscription and what nothing more to do with Easylife. I am warning others that I stupidly introduced them to Easylife. I want to do all I can to warn people about this firm. They cannot be trusted.
Elizabeth - Speak to your credit card company about this unauthorised charge on your card. Explain that you did purchase goods, but they have charged you for a club membership you did not agree to. Tell them this was reported in the Daily Mail in November 2018 as a systematic sales trick used on vulnerable consumers. Ask them to investigate. Let us know how you get on. Also beware they will attempt to take a renewal payment after 12 months.
As you say if there is no problem with the goods they sell in their catalogue (although similar items are widely available elsewhere) it is disappointing that they use these items to 'sell' club memberships that have little value to unsuspecting customers.
Further up date from me. I rang my Credit Card company to cancel my current card and they told me that I had been refunded the reward card money for which I am grateful for. I will certainly not be buying from Easylife again and will warn others . I want to see something done to stop this firm . The more I look into it the more muddy the waters seem. Keep up the good work Chief Executive. Oh for some honest srraight forward firms. Thank you for your advice.
I have just had a very bad experience with easylife. Had purchased a pair of items in August and then ordered from same details a further 4 pairs only to fine I was sent 4 single items meaning I had to pay over double for items on second order. Customer services not interested.
Following this I had a phone call offering me a new magazine and a voucher for taking part in this initiative. If I didn't like it I should ring a telephone number given. When I asked what would happen if I did like it, she said I would pay £18.50 a moth for further magazines! As I was saying that I was not interested and she should not send the first magazine as I didn't want to get involved, she put the phone down. I am now nervous about what will happen after reading the previous comments here.
Update on the above comment.
I received a sales email from easy life and tried to unsubscribe but wouldn't let me.
I also received an easy life catalogue so rang the number to cancel. The phone number was actually Perks company and she said indeed there was a quarterly charge for their magazine, which I hadn't received yet!
If you’d like to call Karen Ford direct her number is 07540 647947. Remember you’re dealing with a nasty piece of work so be careful and don’t believe what the act may portray. Underneath the smiles is a VERY devious untrustworthy person!!!!!
Here were are in 2020 and this company is still doing it.
Even with our current situation, just found that two unauthorised payments had gone out of my mum's account!!!
There needs to be better laws in place to protect the consumer, especially the vulnerable or elderly.
Thank you for this article it has been really helpful.
This company are scammers. Don't take my word for it, just do your own Google search. They have a front as a legitimate catalogue company, and they then bombard customers with cold calls for a wide variety of fake products and services. As soon as you give them your credit card details They will take a series of differing amounts of money over a period of time using a number of different company names, hoping that you don't notice them. This is how they make their money by targeting elderly and vulnerable customers.
I urge you strongly not to use this company, and too regularly check your bank statements if you already have. They will sign you up to fake services such as Book Clubs, and Motoring Clubs once you have given them your credit card details. They have just scammed my 89 year old Mother, during the Coronavirus lockdown period when she has been confined to her home and can't get help from her family.
Just search Google, and please for your own sake beware of this company, they will con you or your elderly relatives, it's what they do, all the time and have done so for a period of years
And still their scam continues...
My relative, in his nineties, ordered an item from their catalogue and paid using his debit card.
EasyLife then started debiting his card for unauthorised amounts (which can appear on the bank statement under differing company names).
EasyLife posted my relative a "contract" claiming he had agreed to purchase other services (he hadn't), and that he was legally bound to make continuing payments if he failed to cancel within a fourteen day "cooling-off" period. The date of the alleged agreement was, of course, more than fourteen days earlier than the date the "agreement" was posted to my relative.
The only way forward was to involve the bank.
Do NOT give ANY of your personal details to these scammers !!!
What kind of sleazy low-lives consider it acceptable to make their money by preying on the elderly?
Anon 22 May. Please complain to the Information Commissioner and Trading Standards. This company has been operating this scam for over 20 years. Greg Caplan started the company and still owns it. Their website points out they have positive reviews on Trustpilot. But they don't mention this review site - where many people detail the scam that has just been discovered on an elderly or vulnerable relatives bank account after they bought a substandard item from a legitimate
catalogue.
https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/easylifegroup.com
Please complain. It is the only way eventually it will be stopped.
I worked for easy life for over a year in Cyprus, they bullied me into selling the scam that is the easylife card. Staff was quitting every day as they couldn't handle the scam, they are still going and won't be stopped.
I ordered some face masks from Easylife and eventually they arrived. However, today I received a phonecall from someone claiming she worked for Easylife. She said the call was being recorded (I hope it IS) and offering me membership of what sounded like a holiday rewards club, starting with a complimentary £50 voucher to be used by myself or anyone else in my family towards a holiday and I could also opt for full membership at a cost of ??? The caller rambled on for some considerable time, reading off her crib sheet until she asked if my address was still ... when I said it wasn't she asked for my new address which I declined to give. She then asked where she should send the 'Offer' to and I told her not to send me anything at all. I serious hope that no money is taken from my bank account without my permission because all hell will break loose if I find they have ignored me! Tomorrow i will contact my bank and tell them to block any future payments to Easylife.
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday. It's always helpful to read articles from other authors and use a little something from their web sites.
Following my previous post nothing has been taken from my bank account but I've received another phone call from Easylife with another 'Offer'. I shouted down the phone 'Don't send me anything!' A few days later I received what I think was a catalogue in a white envelope addressed to The Occupier which I returned unopened, marked Unsolicited Mail. Return to Sender.
This is still happening. My mum received a letter in the post 19th December 2020, advising that £18.50 will be deducted from her account in 12th December! My mum is 83 and any ordering I do for her. All correspondence I check and I definitely didn’t sign her up for this ‘Perx’ account. Called them and asked them to cancel her account which they said they will do. But after reading all the previous comments don’t feel confident that they will. But will give it a few days and call them back to ensure it has been cancelled.
Just found a debit of £99.98 taken out in December.
My mum would never in a million yr have taken a membership.
I spoke tot he fraud department of our bank and also a person from Easylife. Who offered to do a refund. But wanted my dads card number.I refused still waiting for someone to ring me back, SHOCKING.
Quite astounding how many years this thread has been going and here in 2021 this has just happened to my parents too. Whilst Easylife rewards card have agreed today to refund I have no evidence of that yet and also they have not acknowledged my request to be forgotten and wipe all information from their system and any associated companies as per current GDPR. I will be taking this further
I was asked to join the Reward Club I kept refusing but he said I could return the card within 2 weeks and it would be cancelled I returned it the same day and I have still been charged £69-50. I would like to have a refund after all I did not give them permission to take the money. It seems a lot of elderly people are targeted I am 80 years old
Unknown 25 May 2021 If they won't refund you ask your bank to make a chargeback and ensure that all requests from this payee are declined. Tell your bank the charge was made fraudulently. Also email trading standards - they probably won't help, but it will help make them aware this company is still active today. You have done everything you could. This is distressing, they do target older people. Thank you for telling others about your experience.
If anyone else is tempted to buy anything from Easylife Group their products are available elsewhere from more reputable retailers.
I don’t think you will have a problem getting a refund, they refunded my parents in March and I also asked for a call recording which they provided and my parents didn’t challenge it but just didn’t understand it and were trying to get off the call as quickly as possibly as they were receiving many calls from easy life. Whereas your call recording will even prove you instructed you did not have it. Their business model appears to rely on people not checking their bank accounts and calling back asking for refunds. Definitely email or call them fir refund it was an easy process and good luck
I received a package of books from the Easy life book club yesterday which I thought was odd as I had only got one a couple of weeks ago! It's supposed to be quarterly. When I checked, they had only gone and signed me up to the book club again! I had no phone call, letter or anything about joining this club, I am already a member so why would I agree to a new membership anyway? They have already charged me the £1.95 postage and £29.99 membership! I have been a member of the bookclub for almost two years.I have tried to contact them by email but apparently the email address given doesn't exist!At the end of last year I apparently agreed to join their Rewards club despite telling the guy on the phone that I wasn't interested in it. He obviously singed me up anyway! I got that sorted.
Email easy life group.co.uk and copy in their ceo greg@easylifegroup.com and ask them to send you the call recording where you agreed to the membership they keep all copies of outbound call recordings, they general refund your membership as well, they just hope for people that don’t notice or don’t know what to do or older generation with no email
I want to cancel my order and now I will not have any further information or order anything else from easylife perx rewards club as the lady who phoned me said that the voucher of £10 shopping voucher was for free she said nothing else I even asked her about it she replied with no you won't be charged for it and it was a free gift so then I received my free gift but there's a clause in it was a £18.50 quarterly charge I am going to my bank Monday and showing them how your trying to trick me out of my money I even have a witness who has also been scammed by you and that was my 80 year old mother I think it's disgusting and I will take it further if I don't get that cancelled at once Carolyn spragg 48 Westminster place Portsmouth PO14LX
Elderly parents had nearly £150 taken from their debit card, we need to find out which payment gateway easylife use to steal money and lean on them, facilitating card fraud should be easy enough to lose them their banking licence.
Nov 2021 - this is still happening - I just posted this on all the Trustpilot sites - and will be complaining to Trading Standards.
*NOTE* - If you are reviewing Easylife, make sure you leave one on their 'official' Trustpilot account, where they currently somehow have a four star rating...
My Easylife Story - not a happy one!
Got a call from my 76 year old dad yesterday. He'd had a letter from 'Rewards Club' telling him he was subscribed to a colouring book club, and if he wanted to end the subscription he needed to contact them by the DAY BEFORE the letter was delivered to cancel! Interesting timing that, eh? He checked his bank account and they'd taken £18.50 for a subscription he knew nothing about.
I quickly googled and found that people who have ordered products from Easylife found themselves signed up to and paying for subscriptions they never knowingly agreed to. Indeed, my parents had ordered some xmas presents from Easylife...
I called the number, talked to Kerry. Jugding from her manner, she was not at all surprised to hear what has happened and was very brusque. At this point I didn't know money had already been taken, so I asked her to check whether they'd been charged already. She said she couldn't check that - laughed and said if I had access to your parents bank account I'd be a millionaire. Right Kerry, so if you had access to my elderly parents bank account, you'd take their money? Sounds about right for the Easylife Ethos.
I've asked for an email so that I could ask for a refund and was given rewardsclubs AT therewardsclub.co.uk - who knows if that's even the right one? There seem to be multiple email address, which in itself is a dubious sign. I emailed and asked them to cancel any and all subscriptions and to refund the money. No response so far. I have advised my parents to block or cancel the card because I cannot trust that the subscription is even cancelled, given the underhand tactics employed by this company.
Honestly, read the other Trustpilot reviews - all awful stories. It's heartbreaking. I actually can't believe this can go on. There are some vulnerable elderly people out there being taken for money for 'products' they have no idea about.
There's also a Which article about them and some threads on Money saving expert, too.
I'm so angry about this kind of thing - do we not value our old people anymore? Are they just there to be milked for money they can't afford to lose? After all, if they're ordering from easy life, they're not exactly rolling in it, are they?
I plan to report this company to trading standards and to repost this review one all social media and anywhere else I can find. I feel like going to the local newspapers. if you have had a similar experience I would advise you to do the same. Sadly, their target audience, older people, don't tend to google companies like the younger end do, and are not on twitter etc, which I presume is how this can keep going on.
But look after your parents and grandparents. And DO NOT give easy life your bank details.
It is still going on. My mum phoned to buy some socks at the end of last year. Paid by credit card. Later discovered numerous monies taken at different times across this year from her credit card. Eventually got all the money refunded but how can a company be able to steal money like this? It has just been fined for data profiling breaches and for calling people on the TPS. But that wrongdoing is just the tip of the iceberg as you can see from the numerous reviews on "Trustpilot Easilife - Broadcast Reviews". The Chief Executive needs to be held to account as this is fraud on an industrial scale!
I am disgusted by this company. I have had three amounts of £59.90 taken from my account at random times. I posted a comment on Trust Pilot and updated it regularly to try to protect other innocent people. They repaid the money in full, they had signed me up for a Happy Motor club. How they ever get a 4 star rating on Trust Pilot I will never know, I can only presume that they employ staff to write fake reviews.
Still going... my issie was with premier offers ... called to say free offer, said not interested, then mobth later letter saying free trial started with £60 fee. Telephone number on letter auto message with 3 options but cuts off with no response. Email on letter bounces back. Ended up finding address linked to several companies including Easy Life ended up calling their number and saying I wanted membership cancelled given I never requested it. Given this seems to be a scam going back years, cannot understand how they are allowed to operate. Stay well clear.
Yes BEWARE this is still happening. They have taken hundreds of pounds from my parents accounts for these fraudulent subscriptions I only found out as my poor mother passed away and I started to sort out the accounts for Dad..they are disgraceful, manipulative evil people who need to be stopped...why has this not been stopped???
I worked for the call centre that easylife outsources it's fraudulent outbound marketing to. ultimately easylife are the ones to debit the cards, but the call centre is in cyprus and yes, despite the ICO fine of 1.5 million last october, the call centre is still operating at 100% and 'selling' scores of these subscription services every day.
I never sold them, but i saw the damage they caused..
Ive approached the uk police who can't do anything as it's not uk/uk.
I have all the call centre paperwork, scripts and tips and tricks, but apparently no one in authority is interested.
Anonymous 13 Feb - thank you for your information. Have you reported your concerns online to the ICO to alert them this is still going on (it clearly is from the dated comments above (October, November, December 2022)? The ICO has the power to impose repeated fines. It sounds as though Easylife group are still data harvesting from catalogue sales and then using that data to 'sell' subscriptions. It is clearly so lucrative that the fine didn't discourage them at all.
chiefexec, you are exactly correct. The orderline, customer services and the rewardsclub customer services are all outsourced to the cyprus call centre, Then there are 2 outbound teams, 1 is the team that filters the order data and contacts the customers based on the products they purchase, they offer them free postage and discounts on the health supplements and products. the other is the subscription selling service. call centre agents like this team as the commission is high and easy. they can sell between 20 and 30 subscription services per day and on a scale would receive around 3.50 euro per sale for that amount of sales.
ICO is difficult to get hold of, their live chat is unavailable (my location?) and there is no email. I have tried to get hold of them since the fine as absolutely nothing has changed in the call centre at all right up until current date, so yes, it is that lucrative that a 1.5 mil fine is worth paying.
Just as a BTW, also what a lot of people don't realise is that all the catalogue companies are essentially under the same 'roof'. So ripped off customers got to Wellform, vedia, eckman, premier offers, personal choice, home shopping selections, good times direct, healthy for life, stauer etc etc etc believing they're not supporting easylife anymore meanwhile their data is going exactly the same route.
Anonymous 13 Feb 2 further comments - my reply to you. Yes the ICO do hide their email and live chat and uk 03 phone may not be available to you. This is an email you might be able to use - make clear you are a 'whistleblower' if that's what you believe you are (inside knowledge, employee, former employee).
This is the email it is hidden under the complaints section:
icocasework@ico.org.uk
You'll be saving a lot of people a lot of heartache and anguish, many of them elderly, confused and taken advantage of by a company who doesn't care about them. Please do it.
Thanks, I'll give it a go.
Just a last comment, 'call guardian' services frustrate the outbound sales teams.
Anonymous - please let us know how it goes with ICO.
Call Guardian services are also called BT Call Protect. You can buy hand sets that block nuisance numbers from amazon, argos and John Lewis among many others. If you are a BT customer they will also activate this service for you. It sounds like it does block easylife group and all its 'brands' from getting through to your loved ones.
But how the outbound team sell the subscription is deceitful as an elderly person doesn’t understand that it is a subscription they told my parents it was a free offer and they just return the slip if they don’t want it. But my parents don’t recall getting the slip as I’m guessing it was in between yet another unwanted magazine and looked like junk Mail
They had my parents card details from a purchase they made a year ago and then just charged it a month later because they had not returned this mystery slip. I emailed CEO Greg Caplan greg@easylifegroup.com and commercial director James Oakenfold james@easylife.co.uk and surprise surprise got my parents money refunded pretty easily and got a copy of the call recording where they spoke to my parents because by law they have to share it on request. However that doesn’t help with all the other poor people victimised and I understand Trading Standards have taken the cases on many times and Easylife seem to have a loop hole they are getting away with !
Oh I also emailed DPO@easylife.co.uk and requested the erasure if my parents details after the refund under the data protection laws of ‘right to be forgotten’. They acknowledged and deleted so they are in line with the law so they do things by the book if asked !
Update:
I contacted the ICO, laid a whistleblower complaint and sent them everything I had.
Turns out the fine they imposed had been reduced to 250K as easylife has assured them it had stopped the fraudulent behaviour.
I told the ICO that the call centre had in fact ramped up operations (presumably to recoup the fine!)
I've had no further contact with the ICO since.
Even if the ICO impose repeated fines I don't believe this will stop until they are shut down completely and unable to simply relaunch themselves under a different name,
Here we are October 2023. I have just discovered that my 97 year old Mother has had money taken from her credit card since February 2021 adding up to hundreds of pounds.
Luckily it is a credit card so I am receiving good support from the credit card Company. I am now going through the process of asking Easylife for all transactions between them and my Mother. I have asked Easylife to provide the documentation that my Mother signed giving them authority to deduct money from her. I have asked for a copy of the terms that my Mother received that complied with current Consumer Protection Regulations. I have been informed by an employee that they only will refund back 6 months. I am hoping the credit card company will go further back they said that it is possible.
I am so incensed that this scam to vulnerable elderly people is still continuing despite the fact that The Which magazine and The Daily Mail have investigated the Company. The Conpany has also been fined over one million for data protection breach.
I am experienced with using the Small Claims Court and I will go all the way to ensure my Mother has a full refund.
Please also send details of your complaint to the ICO. They reduced the 1.4 million fine to 250K as they were assured that the fraudulent behaviour had been ceased. icocasework@ico.org.uk or you can report it online ico.org.uk
Once people get some of their money back they fail to take it further and so it continues.
Also please bear in mind this is not only easylife related. DRMG which comprises a whole host of other catalogues is run from the same call centre and sells to easylife and wellform, jean patrique, sound and vision, personal choice, healthy for life etc etc etc..
I wish you good luck.
An update on my dealings with this company regarding my 97 year old Mother.
I have had copies of her credit card statements appears that they have taken over £450. Two payments taken one in June 2023 and one in September 2023 of £74.95 along with payments of £18.50 per month but one month three payments were taken and some other months two payments were taken. The credit card company informed me that a credit was received recently from Easylife of £185.95 This looks like they have gone back 6 months but not included refunding the June payment of £74.95. They still owe my Mother a few hundred pounds.
Despite sending them a signed and witnessed letter to act on behalf of my Mother every query I raise they say they won't deal with me unless they have a letter. I am have now sent 10 emails to them including the signed letter twice.
They are still are not providing the information requested asking them for documentation that my Mother signed to authorise them to take money from her account along with the consumer protection information and Data protection information that should be provided. The credit card company have sent me forms to fill in to claim all the money back if they are unable to provide proof of goods purchased and documentation requested. I am determined to go all the way with this to ensure my Mother has a full refund either from the credit card company or Easylife. If I have to go to county court to enforce them to provide the requested information I am more than happy to go down this route on principle. I cannot still believe that with all the consumer protection regulations and data protection regulations now in place that elderly people can still be treated in this manner by a British Company. Despite the fact that they have been fined by the I.C.O. How is this continuing? The C.E.O. should be ashamed of himself.
To the last poster
I copied in the CEO Greg.caplan@easylifegroup.com and his U.K. Commercial Director came back to me James Oakenfold on james@easylife.co.uk. He has consent letter from my parents and did deal with me. He also provided the call recording and processed a refund and after I contacted their data protection team with the Right to Forget law to have my parents details removed from their system so they were not bothered again and they have not been since 2021
Hello Anon 15th November 11:42. I updated my blog recently after I was contacted by easylife's lawyers. They assured me eaylife has a no quibble refund policy and if I supplied your specific contact details they would refund all your mother's payments. I was unable to provide your details, but if you give me a reference they will recognise, or a postcode likely to be on their system I will happily pass it to them. My name is Jerry Foulkes.
Here is the extract of their 3 page letter that promises this: "If you provide us with the details of that person then our client will immediately liaise with the Rewards Club Limited and the telesales company to ensure that a full refund is given immediately going back to 2021, consistent with the Rewards Club's instant no quibble cancellation and refund policy."
I also suggest you leave a review for easylife on Trustpilot. Easylife's lawyers point to the high score as evidence of customer satisfaction.
Thank you also to the above comment timed at 12:41 today. It's good to know the 'Right to Forget' law works with easylife. I have added this advice to the blog.
For Jerry Foulkes
It was me that commented about Right to Forget - it would be good to have details to your blog.
The reason Easylife are getting away with this is they are sticking to the laws by responding quickly to complaints , have no quibble policies and stick to the DP laws - but they are targeting the elderly who do not also know how to resolve , or embarrassed to tell family or don’t even notice money coming out if their bank so for the few the resolve their are many more where they are ‘getting away with it ‘. My parents get flustered having to phone somewhere that’s has numbers to select for the department you want. I listened to my parents call recording and they thought they were showing they were not interested in the call but the call handler was clever with words and said shall I send you the offer in the post and they just said yes to get rid of them. I believe it came through the post looking like junk Mail with a brochure when it was actually signing them up and they had to respond to opt out. That ‘yes’ to send through post signed them up. They don’t remember getting anything in the post other than brochures .
Anon 14:51 15th November - hello. I am Jerry, a television producer and writer. I write this as 'The Chief Executive' which I'll explain at the end of this comment. Thank you for your very useful feedback on obtaining the call recording made to your parents by easylife's agents.
It would be really useful if other readers could post similar transcripts of the scripts they use when you're sent the call recordings. We know the scripts are carefully worded. The whistleblower who posted earlier in this thread has testified to that.
A few words about this blog - as you asked. I started writing this in 2008 but there have been no new posts since around 2017, but I have updated some of them. Mostly the articles are based on my own experiences or from helping others.
There have been 3 posts which have continued to gain considerable interest generating thousands of views:
1. Easylife - because although I wrote about them in 2017 they are still going strong and today the complaints are similar.
2. Churchcastle who run wordsearch competitions - also still at it, sometimes known as Wynnington Winners. I wrote about this company in 2011. In 2012 they were fined a record £800,000 by phonepayplus the regulator for premium rate phone lines. The post I wrote about them in 2017 continues to gain comments - apparently now they are advertising on ITV.
3. The Panasonic Bread Machine, one of my favourite investigations - because we love ours. We had an issue that Panasonic fixed and it wasn't any fault of the appliance - it was declining gluten strength in flour. Adding lemon juice to the mix has fixed this for thousands of owners. Panasonic were very helpful.
Others I have written about are The Energy Ombudsman, Domestic and General, The Advertising Standards Authority, doing my mother's probate, cashback websites, Thames Water meters, Tesco mispricing, Independent Inspections loss adjusters for insurance claims, Volkswagen Golf, Dixons, Megabus, TV Licence threatening letters, British Airways, BT, and many others.
I called the blog The Chief Executive because when I first started writing blackberry phones were a new thing and I discovered if you emailed the chief executive in the evening they often replied to the complaint email themselves. Of course that almost never happens today - except Stelios did reply to my very recent email about Easylife. And that neatly gets us back to this thread.
Hi Jerry, I am one annon from my post 15th November 2023. It was regarding my 97 year old Mother and her payments taken by Easylife. Looking further back it looks like she had contact by telephone with Easylife March 2021 some payments taken from her account then. Nothing more until September 2022 so an 18 month
gap the payments taken as listed in my previous post. If it was me that you were asking regarding some more information then at the time my Mother was dealing with Easylife her post code was SA31 1NZ There is something else I would like to discuss with you can I private message can do on Facebook if you are on there and I can find you.
Anon 17 Nov. I'm on FB. Please PM me. Jerry F.
Update post 15th November Mother age 97
My Mother has received some refund even this was all over the place as they made 11 payments but despite the fact I put a stop on them taking money from the credit card they took back two payments of £18.50 and one of £74.95 I have now filled in the complaints form for the credit card company. I could trace statements to March 2021 though I suspect that it went to February 2021 but then a big gap until September 2022. Anyway after putting everything into an excel spreadsheet Easylife still owe my Mother £249.45. They have credited back payments of £409.85. In all they took £659.30. I have written today Document No 12 to Easylife and copied in Greg Caplan and James Oakenfold. I have requested the refund still owed or an explanation of what has been received along with my Mother's authorisation and consumer protection and data protection information provided at the time. I will keep updating when I get a response if I do.
The money has now all been refunded apart obviously from the goods purchased that started the whole thing off. Taking off the goods purchased it was around £550. The money was refunded in dribs and drabs. Despite sending around 8 emails and constantly chasing I did not get a reply to my queries until 29th November. They did not even send an email as they refunded money. I had to rely on the credit card company. When they replied to me they sent a spreadsheet of my Mother's purchases. Her last purchase was 16 /03/21 they started taking money from her account September 2022. I found it quite upsetting listening to the recorded cold call to my Mother she was 96 at the time and hard of hearing on the phone. They offered her a £10 voucher as a loyal customer. My Mother couldn't hear properly and asked a few times if it was free they said yes she said she didn't need anything but they could send her the catalogue.The advisor was very charming and asked my Mother did she live in sheltered accommodation or a private flat they were obviously aware that she was elderly and she was profiled when she purchased some type of opener in March 2021. The worst thing was the advisor slipped in a second rewards club hence the amounts of £18.50 being taken more than monthly. It has been a long hard fight with Easylife and I would advise anyone else in this position to keep going. Make sure if you are acting for an elderly person to get a signed witnessed letter of authority sent off to them as they only replied to me to ask for this even when they had received it so I attached it to all correspondence. I couldn't get an email through to Greg Caplan
as it was blocked his end. I tried James Oakenfold but his mailbox was full so I printed out 2 copies of all the documentation with a covering letter and sent one each to them by post. I have now started the process of complaining to the I.C.O.regarding my Mother having her data breached and profiling her on age and disability. I put a review on the normal Trust pilot site and had a response within hours but they take weeks to respond to emails. Thank you to The Chief for setting up this informative blog. I hope my experience will help others and prevent more elderly people being used this way.
Reply to Anon 2nd Dec - I'm delighted to hear you managed to get back your mother's £500+ after a Herculean struggle. Your story and tips will be invaluable to many other readers.
Readers - take note the email addresses may not work and posting your complaint in the mail may be necessary to get the attention of Easylife.
BEWARE
Update to my blog above regarding 97 year old Mother. I have now received some more documentation from Easylife. Quite concerning to find that an Easylife member of of staff telephoned my Mother in February 2021 offering her a free voucher and managing to sign her up to a 2 rewards clubs. My Mother then contacted Easylife in March 2021 to order some goods. I was shocked to find out that they didn't start taking money from her account until September 2022 various amounts of £18.50, 19 months after the telephone conversation. They also took two sums of £74.95 in June and October 2023, 2.5 years after the telephone conversation. As I have said they have now refunded but I never got an explanation as to the sums of money or any proper account provided. Easylife will assert that the telephone conversation allowed them to take money but the
contract that they set up does not seem to have a start time or limit of when they can start removing money from the account. I will be raising this point with the I.C.O. and Trading standards if I do not receive a satisfactory explanation from Easylife.
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