Following our item about AW in Scarborough who was sold a “box” to stop nuisance calls which never arrived, a reader from Chepstow tells us her mother faced the opposite problem. REAL Comm Box has sent her five boxes … and she has been charged for them all:
“My 77-year-old mum has dementia and lives on her own in Blackwater, Cornwall. We think she initially said OK to a cold call well over a year ago and received one box, but now has five. They turn up regularly and £99 is taken out of her account every time. Even though we have gone to Lloyds Bank and asked that they do not pay this company, the money is still taken out and mum receives another box!
“It’s difficult to know if mum has accepted a phone call or if they have her details, know she is frail and just keep taking the money. I have tried to contact this company based in Bournemouth, and left messages on the answerphone that cuts in and says they are very busy, no matter what time of the week or day it is.
“I have contacted Bournemouth trading standards to try and find out more, and asked if they had other complaints.” CQ, Chepstow
To add insult to injury, you signed your mother up to the free Telephone Preference Service about five years ago, and she is still registered – so it is a mystery how the company got her phone number in the first place. We suggested you speak again to Lloyds to see if they might consider a refund under “chargeback”, but it told you it cannot carry out instructions from you and other family members unless you have official power of attorney. We would recommend you do this as soon as possible, and urge other readers who have had problems to report it to trading standards in Bournemouth.
Like you, we have been trying – but failing – to speak to anyone at this company to explain what is going on. Miraculously, we got through to an operator on the customer service line and left our details – nobody phoned us back.
We have asked the Lloyds press office to intervene in a bid to recoup some of your money, and will report back.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
