On the 26th October 2014 I did an online survey from one of those pop-up ads that annoyingly comes up on your browser. I was given an options of different prizes I choose the Samsung Galaxy phone. They told me that I only need to pay the postage and I will get this phone sent to me. I paid the R24 postage with my credit card, received an invoice from them saying that I had successfully paid for the item and that I would be receiving it shortly.

Receipt
Dear Cynthia Taylor,

You have successfully paid for a product at dandybids.com!

IP Address used for this transaction: 41.242.80.2

The charge to your card will appear as
ASK-DANDYBIDS.COM +441216677303 .

Your product delivery is pending. Average delivery time is 1-3 weeks.

Below are the details of your transaction.
Item Name:
Samsung Galaxy Y
Total Cost:
ZAR 24
Transaction ID:
142621
Date:
2014-10-26
Payment Method:
Credit Card (VISA)
Order Status:
PAID
The charge from dandybids.com may appear separately on your credit card statement in the following amounts:

Item Cost: USD 2 – ASK-DANDYBIDS.COM +441216677303

If you have any problems with transactions on dandybids.com or have questions, please contact us through:

EMAIL: info@dandybids.com
PHONE: +44 1216677303
WEB: http://www.dandybids.com/za/contact

The dandybids.com support team is at your service 7am to 3pm GMT – Monday to Friday.

Keep up to date with changes on our website by visiting our “Terms and Conditions” page. If you need assistance on how our service works, please read the short, easy guide located here. Should you experience any difficulty or feel that something is unclear, please do not hesitate to write us an e-mail at info@dandybids.com and we will respond to you within 24 hours.

Once again, thank you very much!

Best Regards,
dandybids.com

I have been waiting for this item to be delivered, meanwhile I received a shock notification on my phone that an amount on my credit card was unsuccessful as there was insufficient funds. When I checked with my bank I was shocked to find that Dandybids was attempting to take an amount of R1127.26 off my Credit Card on the 30th October 2014. When I queried this with Dandybids I got a reply that:

Dear Cynthia Taylor,

Thank you for contacting the Customer Support.

The product item that you won (Samsung Galaxy Y ) is a part of a promotional campaign that offers the winner a chance to avail the exclusive Platinum  membership.

Platinum  membership comes with a flat membership fee of USD 99.99 every month. All paying members enjoy value added benefits:

Extra bids for bid package purchases
Free shipping
Free bid
Bid-for-Free auctions
Should you have any further inquiries, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best Regards,
Jade
Customer Support

At no time did I agree to this platinum membership nor did I sign to pay $99 (R1127.26) a month if I had been offered I would have refused and turned down the phone, I contacted Dandybids immediately and asked them to desist from attempting to collect this money from my Credit Card. It took them 5 days five emails asking them to stop. On the 5th day they canceled the membership. I have told Dandybids I do not want the phone and asked them to refund me my Rr4 plus the fees of R7.50 incurred (total R61.50) each day they attempted to take money off my credit card.

Various correspondence from them is there attitude tuff your loss as evidenced in this last email from them.

Dear Cynthia Taylor,

Thank you for responding.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.

However, we will not be held liable for any transactions not included Dandybids.com.

Should you have any further inquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best Regards,
Jade
Customer Support

Please note that at not time did I know about this premium membership , and also note the wording:

“The product item that you won (Samsung Galaxy Y ) is a part of a promotional campaign that offers the winner a chance to avail the exclusive Platinum  membership.”

This does not say that the prize is incumbent on joining this membership. It says it OFFERS the winner a CHANCE to avail the exclusive Platinum membership!!

Other words I have a choice to join or not that was not offered to me to accept or decline !

So I’m down R61.50 no Phone delivered or anything to show for my loss of money with this company. They not even refunding me the postage I had to pay!!!

This is an international company that operates in many countries to get money out of people under false pretenses. A totally unscrupulous practice to hook people on a monthly commitment. Fortunately I did not have sufficient funds else I would have been a lot more out of pocket as a result of this survey.

I feel the public should be made aware of this company and its unethical practices to take money from unsuspecting people. Learn from my experience and please be wary of taking surveys online. There is usually a hidden agenda to this!!

An aside I have not been told that his item has been dispatched to me, no tracking number has been given to me, they said 1-3 weeks for delivery but I wont hold my breath that I shall receive it, I did tell them to cancel and to refund my postage.

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