Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

[ZED]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

Just to reiterate, the situation with regard to "recurring payment authority" (this is the means by which DS Marketing Ltd extract money from people's bank/credit card accounts) ... A recurring payment authority (also known as a continuous payment) is not the same as a direct debit. Most banks tell you that it can only be stopped by the company you set it up with. And if you can't contact that company to negotiate a cancellation, it can simply carry on accessing your money via your card details. This is INCORRECT. Since 2009, when the Payment Services Regulations came into being, bank customers can now go direct to their card company and ask them to cancel. See: Payment Services Regulations (Article 67) Here's a scenario from the article in The Guardian (my underlining) ... What if I accidentally signed up for a repeat transaction on my card because it wasn't clear what I was signing up to? Card scheme rules require businesses to be clear in their dealings with customers when it comes to repeat transactions, but in reality this is difficult to enforce, says the UK Cards Association. However, it adds: "If this happens to you, you will be able to get money refunded by your credit card company (be prepared to provide details) as it is not an authorised transaction unless the nature of the commitment was made clear to you." The reason why I underlined ... the FSA adjudication against DS Marketing states that the terms of the extortionately expensive "autorefill programme" were not made clear to the consumers who responded to the "free trial" advert. (Apologies ... for some bizarre I.T reason I'm not able to make paragraphs today ?!!!)

[TUTTSI]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

I 100% absolutely agree with you ZED.... I was going to suggest that to you all, that adjudication from the advertising Standards authority was very important as it definately was not clear in the advertising that this was a continuous payment and together it had unfair contract terms in as much as that you had to return the samples to a PO box in Israel which means that you could never be sure if someone there receives the return goods or not therefore, I believe that you should all take a copy of that adjudication and send it to your banks immediately for them to refund you in full for any monies that DS Marketing have taken.

Should this not work may I respectfully suggest that you all write to the CEO's of each of your banks sending a copy of that adjudication and request the intervention of the CEO.

If this does not work... which I actually believe it will work then a letter from each of you to the FSA and OFT and possibly your MP is who you should be addressing complaints too.

Furthermore, I would also, write again to the ASA complaining that DS Marketing have not adhered to their adjudication given on ......... (they will not deal on one complaint so therefore several of you must do this to get something done)

Just to reiterate, the situation with regard to "recurring payment authority" (this is the means by which DS Marketing Ltd extract money from people's bank/credit card accounts) ... A recurring payment authority (also known as a continuous payment) is not the same as a direct debit. Most banks tell you that it can only be stopped by the company you set it up with. And if you can't contact that company to negotiate a cancellation, it can simply carry on accessing your money via your card details. This is INCORRECT. Since 2009, when the Payment Services Regulations came into being, bank customers can now go direct to their card company and ask them to cancel. See: Payment Services Regulations (Article 67) Here's a scenario from the article in The Guardian (my underlining) ... What if I accidentally signed up for a repeat transaction on my card because it wasn't clear what I was signing up to? Card scheme rules require businesses to be clear in their dealings with customers when it comes to repeat transactions, but in reality this is difficult to enforce, says the UK Cards Association. However, it adds: "If this happens to you, you will be able to get money refunded by your credit card company (be prepared to provide details) as it is not an authorised transaction unless the nature of the commitment was made clear to you." The reason why I underlined ... the FSA adjudication against DS Marketing states that the terms of the extortionately expensive "autorefill programme" were not made clear to the consumers who responded to the "free trial" advert. (Apologies ... for some bizarre I.T reason I'm not able to make paragraphs today ?!!!)

[ZED]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

I'm still keen to pursue the 'product labelling' aspect of this scam.

This is an interesting/relevant document: http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore...de-to-cpsr.pdf

It’s quite lengthy, but covers absolutely everything. I particularly like this bit ... (NB: my underlining)

"The enforcement powers available for all these responsibilities are contained in the Consumer Protection Act 1987. If there are reasonable grounds to suspect an offence, the officer of the competent authority (normally a Local Authority Trading Standards Officer) has the power to require companies or individuals to produce any records relating to their business and to seize and detain goods or records which the Officer has reasonable grounds for believing may be required as evidence in court proceedings.

Similar powers are available to Local Authority Trading Standards Officers (Department of Economic Development in Northern Ireland) in relation to false or misleading product claims. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 makes it an offence to either apply a false trade description to goods, or to supply goods which are falsely described. Claims about both the product composition (for example, preservative free) and function (for example, wrinkle reducing) will be covered by consumer protection law. Competent authorities can request to view the PI held to prove the claimed effect.

Penalties
Penalties for contravention of the Regulations 16, 17 and 19 are, on summary conviction, imprisonment for not more than 6 months or a fine not exceeding £5000, or both. For Regulations 10, 11, 14 and 16 (1) (i), the maximum fine is the same, but imprisonment cannot exceed 3 months."

It’s just a darned shame that Trading Standards Officers are the only people with the legal power to stop the activities of these crooks!

[bertie30]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

I've just emailed Warwickshire Trading Standards myself. Gave full details of the Fulfilment Store, the Dutch director, the fact that the company is registered in UK and my suspicions about contravening HMC&E regs, stating false origin of the products, referencing the ASA judgement and data etc. and making the conditions of the deal (ie insisting the product is sent back to Israel) completely impossible to follow.

[ZED]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

I've just emailed Warwickshire Trading Standards myself. Gave full details of the Fulfilment Store, the Dutch director, the fact that the company is registered in UK and my suspicions about contravening HMC&E regs, stating false origin of the products, referencing the ASA judgement and data etc. and making the conditions of the deal (ie insisting the product is sent back to Israel) completely impossible to follow.

.
I shall do likewise ... In fact, please join in, everyone!
.
Contact details: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards

·Address

Warwickshire County Council
Shire Hall
Warwick
CV34 4RL

·Telephone

01926 410410
Mon-Fri: 8am-8pm
Sat: 9am-4pm
.

[ZED]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

Incidentally, does anyone know why I can't make paragraphs on this website? I'm having to type everything into 'word' and make paragraphs containing a single full-stop in order for the layout to resemble something 'normal' when I cut & paste to here!

[CleverClogs]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

Incidentally, does anyone know why I can't make paragraphs on this website?

Put a mirror beside the screen so you may easily check that you are holding your mouth sufficiently straight.

[bertie30]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

I've also emailed boots with as many details as I can muster, as they were using the Boots UK recommends banner on FB.

I've also found their ISP, IP address and associated domain names....

[scubakay]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

Hi all,

i returned my tubs of goo to the address in Rugby, within the 30 days, under the terms of their 100% guarantee. Initially I had an email stating that the products should be unused. I replied stating their terms and conditions made no reference to the products being unused.

I have, rather surprisingly, received an email stating that they are going to refund my money. It is not as yet in my bank account, but I will make an allowance for the Bank Holidays.

My point being that I didn't need to return the products to Israel, and therefore they could easily refute the assertion of needing to do so and demonstrate that it is OK to return to a UK address.

I think the Trading Standards would be far more interested in the blatant misselling using photos of the same person for different products, and the ridiculous disclaimers at the bottom. The auto updates on the supposed genuine comments have also got to be misrepresenting the position.

I am in the process of putting together all of the screen prints I have.

[bertie30]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

Hi all,

i returned my tubs of goo to the address in Rugby, within the 30 days, under the terms of their 100% guarantee. Initially I had an email stating that the products should be unused. I replied stating their terms and conditions made no reference to the products being unused.

I have, rather surprisingly, received an email stating that they are going to refund my money. It is not as yet in my bank account, but I will make an allowance for the Bank Holidays.

My point being that I didn't need to return the products to Israel, and therefore they could easily refute the assertion of needing to do so and demonstrate that it is OK to return to a UK address.

I think the Trading Standards would be far more interested in the blatant misselling using photos of the same person for different products, and the ridiculous disclaimers at the bottom. The auto updates on the supposed genuine comments have also got to be misrepresenting the position.

I am in the process of putting together all of the screen prints I have.

You are the only person who seems to have been allowed to 'get away with' sending the goods to Rugby instead of Israel. I hope this means that we can all do this. Although, to send them back you'll need to have received them and despite an email on Thurs night around 9.45 stating that the product had been sent, I haven't received anything.

I wrote to them on Weds, 20 mins after the deal, stating I did not wish to proceed. They have just emailed me saying only 'we aim to send the product immediately..'. My eye, they sent it mere minutes after the deal.

[bertie30]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

They are sending me emails thick and fast now! This latest stating that the product must be sent back to Israel otherwise no refund will be given.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

They are sending me emails thick and fast now! This latest stating that the product must be sent back to Israel otherwise no refund will be given.

Which is, of course, utter twaddle.

Look at regulation 17 of the The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (link)

[TUTTSI]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

Zed, I will send you a PM with my email address, please can you get together for me any documentation that I need to send to my cousin in Israel to delve into this unscrupulous company. I spoke to her again to day and she said she will be back at work on Wednesday and will do anything she can to help. Perhaps a copy of the form that you completed - obviously without your personal details.

Please note for anyone reading this thread I have not been duped or scammed by them, I just purely want to help you all get to the bottom of how this company is operating and the PO box address in Israel and possibly who is behind this international scam. So far we have the UK, Holland and Israel and goodness knows how many other countries are involved. Someone for sure knows their way around the banking system enough to set up this scam and target unsuspecting people to fall for it.

[ZED]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

They even state that the goods can be returned to their address in Rugby in their own Terms & Conditions (what follows has been cut & pasted from their website):
.
Deadseakit.com / DS Marketing Limited Terms and Conditions
.
https://www.deadseaset.com/promo/terms.html
.
7. Return and Refund Policies:
As part of our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, if you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, for any reason, you can return the product up to 30 days after delivery of your order for a full refund of the initial purchase price (less any applicable shipping and handling charges for our customers located outside of the European Union member states).
If you wish to return the Products you have purchased, please send them here:
United Kingdom:
DS Marketing Ltd.
C/O TFS
Pretorian Way
Glebe Farm Industrial Estate
Rugby
Warwickshire
CV21 1Rh
.

[scubakay]

Re: Duped by Deadseakit.com*LONDON

Bertie30

The people replying to the emails don't know the terms and conditions. (And seem to have a different name everytime they write.) And they don't know the law.

https://www.deadseaset.com/promo/terms.html

Section 7 is clear as to where to return products. When I got an email from them that contradicted the terms, I copied and pasted the terms into my reply. Keep challenging what they say. I would go as far as saying that given you cancelled the order within 20 minutes, and as that is more than adequate time for them to cancel the shipment, should they choose to ship after this cancellation, you expect them to pay any return postage.

The 'cooling off' period you refer to comes under The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000. There is a whole lot of stuff in the Regs that this company is not complying with. Again, we should be referring this failure to Trading Standards. Dead Sea seem to think that they can write their own terms and conditions, but they can't exclude what is law in the UK. You have seven days to legitimately cancel the contract. I think though under this provision you need to return the goods unused in original condition.


I know it is really worrying that they may still take the money, I have spoken to my bank three times to be reassured that no further payments will go out of my account. I would suggest that you contact your bank again and make it clear to them that you have cancelled the contract, and get reassurance that no matter what they won't make any further payments to these people.

Also ask Dead Sea to confirm that your account is closed.