BOGUS PASSPORT checking website got me - HELP!!

[theITtechnician]

Rather than start a new thread,

i thought id ask a question on the back of this one.

 

My sister too has also done the same thing as the thread starter,

however i realised at the 12th hour,

so asked her to send an immediate email to the company that she has changed her mind

and for them to provide a refund,

in addition to calling them advising that she would like a refund,

where she left many messages for them to call her back.

I would have presumed she would be entitled to a refund if she cancelled under the Distance Selling Regulations,

however the company hasnt got back to her other than an automated reply

saying that someone will be intouch in the next 14 days,

which is above and beyond that cooling off period.

 

Reading the Terms and conditions on their website,

I am baffled,

it almost seem to be me that they have waived her right to cancel under the 7 day cooling off period,

if they have then i belive they should make it clear when the application is submitted for payment,

and for her to agree to those terms by using a check box method,

rather than hide it under their terms and conditions.

 

She has tried to do a chargeback, but the 'worlds local bank' wouldnt have any of it

as they are saying that she has agreed to pay the amount in question.

 

Would she be able to reject the paperwork and send it back,

based on the fact that she sent them an immediate email to say that she cancelled her order,

but they have failed to get back to her.

Where do you think she would stand on this matter,

given that she has tried to get intouch with the company immediately

and they have failed to reply and as of today she now been sent the paperwork.

My understanding is that the trader should have contacted her to advise her that she has waived the right

to any cancellation under the DSR, by providing her a written confirmation of this via email

or before the transaction was completed, am i right in thinking this ?

What do you make of the terms and conditions are they fair and/or reasonable?

 

 

Section 10: Termination and Cancellation Source:passport-uk website

1. Either IQ or you may terminate your Account. If IQ terminates your Account, you will be notified by email and an explanation for the termination will be provided. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right to terminate without giving reasons.
   
2. If IQ terminates your Account, any current or pending orders or payments on your Account will not be cancelled and provision of Services will commence.
   
3. IQ reserves the right to cancel orders or payments without stating reasons, for any reason prior to processing payment or commencing Services provision.
   
4. You have the right to cancel your order for services within a statutory 7 working day cooling-off period except where the provision of such services commences within the cooling-off period. In these circumstances your right to cancel under this provision shall end as the said service will have deemed to have been provided.
   
5. If you are contracting as a consumer, you may have a statutory right to cancel a Contract at any time within seven working days of making your order under the Distance Selling Regulations. However, due to the nature of the Service which we provide, we will begin to provide the Service to you much before the end of this seven working day period.
   
6. By making your order with us and completing the Application form you are therefore providing your authority to us to begin providing our service straight away which means that you will not have the right to cancel your contract with us once you have made your order.
   
7. You will not be entitled to any refund of the money you have paid to us in accordance with condition ‘f’ unless we have been unable to deliver the Service to you, in which case we may refund all or part of the money paid at our absolute discretion.
   
8. This provision does not affect your other statutory rights as a consumer.
   
9. If orders or payments are cancelled for any reason prior to commencement of Services provision you will be refunded any monies paid in relation to those purchases.
   
10. If you terminate your Account any non-completed orders or payments will be cancelled and you will be refunded any monies paid in relation to those orders.
    
11. We offer a comprehensive UK appointment arrangement service. This service is deemed to have been provided as soon as your order is placed. You will not be entitled to any refund of the money you have paid to us unless we have been unable to deliver this service to you, in which case we may refund all or part of the money paid at our absolute discretion. We will arrange a re-appointment or cancel a confirmed appointment on your behalf, for no additional charge.
    

Many Thanks for your assistance and also any welcome messages.

[dx100uk]

demand a chargeback DO NOT GET OFF THE PHONE till you get.

 

these sites are well known to the bank and the authorities as are the DVLA sites too.

 

dx

[theITtechnician]

Many thanks for your reply on this DX100uk, much appreciated ...

[theITtechnician]

whats happened to my original post, it seems to have disappeared

[theITtechnician]

thanks for the info on that dx, i will pass that onto the litte sis just realised where my post has gone to -- D'Oh

[dx100uk]

ah the redirect link didn't work

 

I made a sep thread to publicise this deceptive practice more than once.

dx

[topcat1802]

The wording is incredible

- if I read this correctly!

 

If they cancel the order then you get nothing back,

if you cancel the order you get nothing back,

if there was a problem processing your order and they cant process it you may get something back but probably not!

[RhydKid]

Unfortunately I was caught with the same [problem] earlier this month

unfortunately there appears to be very little anyone can do to recoup their loss

it’s time the Government stepped up to the plate and took some serious action!

 

Action Fraud, ASA, and Trading Standards and the Banks simply don’t want to know.

As a last resort I have sent the following to my MP.

 

If someone was to knock at my door and show me an official looking ID from the “Water Company”, a

nd I allowed him into the house and was subsequently robbed would a crime have been committed?

 

Geoffrey Laffoley-Lane was fined £175,000 back in 2009 when he was operating Plaza Telecom a premium rate phone [problem].

He is currently diddling people (operating IQ Channels LTD who are trading as passport-uk and estavisas.

 

The Advertising Standards Authority adjudicated on both trading companies on the 4th and 18th December 2013

and all the complaints were upheld.

 

Why has this LOW LIFE been able to get away with these [problem]s for so long?

 

IQ Channels latest accounts:

- Net Worth £3,047,671, Cash £315,340, Assets £405,463, Liabilities £357,792.

 

When a company can accumulate a Net Worth of over Three Million Pounds in such a short timescale

some sort of crime must have been committed.

 

Perhaps a “Distraction Burglary” of my bank account!

[topcat1802]

Its not just passports, so far it also includes:

 

 

1. Provisional Driving Licenses

2. Changing address or name on driving licenses

3. Replacing Lost/Stolen Driving Licenses

4. Booking driving tests both theory and practical

5. SORN you vehicle

 

And probably many others.

 

When you go to the websites,

they use the same colours and fonts as the www.gov.uk websites,

they have a disclaimer in a very small font at the foot of the page that is easy to miss.

 

Just remember in future to go to www.gov.uk and start from there.

 

Ignore what google comes up with as these bogus websites have paid for google adverts so they come first on the list of stes found.

[andydd]

Its not just passports, so far it also includes:

 

 

1. Provisional Driving Licenses

2. Changing address or name on driving licenses

3. Replacing Lost/Stolen Driving Licenses

4. Booking driving tests both theory and practical

5. SORN you vehicle

 

And probably many others.

 

When you go to the websites,

they use the same colours and fonts as the www.gov.uk websites,

they have a disclaimer in a very small font at the foot of the page that is easy to miss.

 

Just remember in future to go to www.gov.uk and start from there.

 

Ignore what google comes up with as these bogus websites have paid for google adverts so they come first on the list of stes found.

 

Yep..you missed the Europe Health cover card (EHC1), many get caught out by that too, including a colleague of mine, we both work in IT !

[Alfie Black]

Hi - this is very interesting,

 

I have stupidly done the same thing this morning for 3 renewal passports at £69 each.

 

Once I realized that it was not the gov website

 

I tried to get my credit card company to intervene to no avail.

 

I too discovered the ASA web info on this company also this morning and

 

also passport uk.co.uk's circular cancellation policy

 

which means a refund is impossible to get.

 

My research also pointed to Mr G. L - Lane who seems to have connections to numerous companies.

 

I feel pretty sad and slightly stupid at making this costly mistake

 

but I am so sure that the intention of this kind of website is to extract cash for very little service

 

whilst protecting themselves with clever contractual small print.

 

I have emailed them asking for a refund but don't expect to hear back.

 

I just know that this kind of thing is morally reprehensible and clearly the company is using legal speak to absolve itself of responsibility.

 

I will of course be particularly careful in future.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Alfie Black
problem word

[dx100uk]

why wont [CCC] they do a section 75?

 

dx

[Alfie Black]

How do I make a claim?

 

This is what they say:

 

 

 

If you make a purchase for goods or services that fail to materialise, are faulty, are poor quality or are inadequate in some other way you have the option to place a claim with your credit card provider right away. However, it is usually best to first approach the retailer or service provider directly (where possible) and ask for a refund.

Read from a: money.co.uk article ( can't post link as I am newbie

 

I think that the passport uk co.uk position is that as soon as a customer click on the pay now tab, the payment is processed and the customer immediatly get an email saying "Your payment has been received and your application is being processed." This then covers them as it means that the the product is on it's way. The product itself, I assume when it arrives will just be a copy of the details I have input , so whilst very expensive since I could have got that far for free, it is I guess technically correct and not faulty. It is frustrating as they have quite obviously thought this through very carefully to avoid the dreaded refund.

[topcat1802]

Perhaps we should start an ePetition, making such practices illegal!

[Alfie Black]

My credid card company said that if the "product" failed to materialize in 10 working days then I should get back to them with copies of any emails or letters I sent and any responses from the company then they may have grounds to investigate further. They also said that they were getting daily contact from people in similar situations as myself.

[Alfie Black]

Yes I like the idea of creating some momentum on this kind of thing. In the end I have to work to raise the £200 that I have just wasted, and the likes of these people are getting money for less than old rope - to coin a phrase. It just seems so wrong that a company can (in my opinion) go out with the intention to mislead and then captalise on customers good intentions whilst delivering very little.

[Alfie Black]

Anybody know how to crowd source disgruntled victims of this kind of things and create some viral momentum to get these kinds of operations permanently shut down and outlawed.

[RhydKid]

Google David Davies MP and Copycat Websites, Extract:-

 

COMMENT: Shame on Google for turning a blind eye

Copycat Government websites are not illegal – but they exist to dupe consumers into thinking they are official. The result, as our special report confirms, is that thousands of people every month are paying over the odds for a range of Government services.

In most cases they are unable to get redress once they realise they’ve used a fee-charging unofficial website rather than the official Government agency. Action is necessary on many fronts to curb the antics of these copycat websites.

 

It’s heartening that the Advertising Standards Authority is looking at how consumers can be made better aware of the difference between commercial and Government agency websites. And it’s great that Conservative MP David Davis will be raising the issue in the House of Commons.

 

But more needs to be done, especially by internet search engines. It’s frankly unacceptable that the likes of Google are allowing copycat websites to pay for the privilege of appearing before the official websites, in the process earning the search engines lucrative – and undisclosed – amounts of income.

The internet is a consumer- empowering tool. But it’s also full of traps. Copycat websites need to be policed more vigilantly.

[Alfie Black]

Hi Yes I just read this from Mr Davies, clearly it is wrong for these sites to be operating but is there any real way of policing them? The research I have done today seems to suggest that there are huge sums of cash to be made and that these characters can, with the aid of large bank balances and expert legal minds operate with impunity.

[topcat1802]

Google don't care about the legalities or otherwise, all they are interested in is that the advertisers pay them money for the privilege of being the first site returned for web search.

 

 

I actually complained to Google but it made no difference!

[Alfie Black]

Interestingly enough Mr G Laffeley-Lane is director of

IQ Channels Ltd t/a passport-uk.co.uk

 

111 Buckingham Palace Road

London

SW1W 0SR

 

If you Google this company you will find that they do search engine optimization as a specialty. The website say:

As search engine's evolve and develop new algorithms, marketers and businesses also need to evolve. Having an adaptable optimisation strategy that is well planned and implemented will ensure your business stays ahead of the game. So it is no wonder then that Passport-uk .co.uk achieves its high ranking. Anyway perhaps one of the reasons these kind of set ups carry on with impunity is that customers who get caught overpaying for zero product give up complaining because of the time consuming nature of the process. So far I have seen a daily mail article on this company, a guardian thread and the MP David Davies' view. Also the ASA recommendations. I am going to persevere a little longer on this. I have Trading standards calling me Monday. I may even try and get IQ Channels to design me a website warning people of this kind of thing and ask them to ensure it sits above Passport-uk.co.uk in Google rankings! The last point was a light hearted attempt at telling myself that throwing away £200 doesn't really matter.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Alfie Black
typo

[topcat1802]

Another article about these rip-off merchants.

 

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2549818/Were-ripped-tax-return-sharks-Copycat-sites-bill-people-thousands-phoney-government-services.html

[dave-octavia]

I too became an idiot parting with 138.00 - cancelled within 6 minutes to be sent a e mail that the service had started - (not bad for a Sunday afternoon) sent a recorded delivery letter - nine E mails and five phone messages left and still no response ! just goes to show their professionalism - spoke to HMPO -asa - all aware but unable to do a lot - suggest credit card companies stop allowing them to use the facility - that would slow them down ! meanwhile it took 12 days to receive one incorrectly completed form and just today 32 days on the second incorrectly completed form ? l have meanwhile been to the post office - filled in the easy to do application - sent it off and got back our new passports ! went onto facebook IQ channels - commented on one of the pictures ( Chinese lady crying ) so you' ve paid passport uk too have you ? it did not stay on very long - and yes your dead right they have barred me ! but at least l had a little satisfaction - next step for me is a county court order (small claims ) l have not received a good service so may be a little different to some but l can tell you all "they don't like county court judgements" just keep pounding away at them ! and the other thing is lets do what our good ladies tell us hey ? "read the instructions next time

[andydd]

A word of advice.. when you google for dvla/ehc1,passport etc..the first few results will have a slight yellow background and will be the private rip off' sites, the official sites will end in gov.uk.

[RhydKid]

Interestingly enough Mr G Laffeley-Lane is director of

IQ Channels Ltd t/a passport-uk.co.uk

 

111 Buckingham Palace Road

London

SW1W 0SR

 

If you Google this company you will find that they do search engine optimization as a specialty. The website say:

As search engine's evolve and develop new algorithms, marketers and businesses also need to evolve. Having an adaptable optimisation strategy that is well planned and implemented will ensure your business stays ahead of the game. So it is no wonder then that Passport-uk .co.uk achieves its high ranking. Anyway perhaps one of the reasons these kind of set ups carry on with impunity is that customers who get caught overpaying for zero product give up complaining because of the time consuming nature of the process. So far I have seen a daily mail article on this company, a guardian thread and the MP David Davies' view. Also the ASA recommendations. I am going to persevere a little longer on this. I have Trading standards calling me Monday. I may even try and get IQ Channels to design me a website warning people of this kind of thing and ask them to ensure it sits above Passport-uk.co.uk in Google rankings! The last point was a light hearted attempt at telling myself that throwing away £200 doesn't really matter.

 

Did This Low Life Have to Resort to [problem]ming For a Living?

[PROBLEM If It looks Like a Duck, Quacks Like a Duck IT'S A DUCK]

 

DUKERIES MAN NETS A FORTUNE

Published on the

06 February 2001

00:00

 

A FORMER pupil of the Dukeries Centre at Ollerton has raked in £8m from the sale of his internet firm.

 

Geoff Laffoley-Lane (33) set up web-hosting company FDD with business partner Joe Kelly in 1997.

 

The company hosts a number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which allow companies and individuals to run websites.

 

Its customers include the Daily Telegraph, Eastman-Kodak and Siemens and last week it was sold in an all-cash deal to pan-European giant ISP Netscalibur, which has already acquired ISP providers in Italy and Germany.

 

Geoff, originally from Wellow and whose parents still live in the area, said FDD would eventually lose its name under the ownership of Netscalibur.

 

But he recalled how his time at the Dukeries saw the start of his interest in information technology.

 

I remember doing computer studies there when we first got the old BBC computers, he said. The sale was quite exciting. It’s not just the fact that we sold it, but that we sold it to a pan-European company.

 

Geoff s story could act as inspiration for other would-be entrepreneurs, as he believes it was the quality of service alone which saw the company grow.

 

We started three years ago with absolutely nothing, he added. We only had 500 and we couldn’t t get bank finance either. We didn’t t have any investment.

 

Geoff, who attended university in Portsmouth, now lives on the South Coast but also spends time in Oxfordshire, where FDD is based, as well as London and Nottinghamshire.