Fashion firm forcing me to go on a £910 buying spree

I WAS recently made aware I had paid £35 to online fashion store JustFab after receiving emails from the company saying I had credit to spend.

I called to cancel this, but was told I had to spend £35 on something in its catalogue.

I checked my PayPal account and saw I had been paying this amount every month for three years, totalling £1,260. I did not realise I had signed up to a subscription service.

I have been told I can only get £350 back. The remaining £910 has to be spent, but I do not need £910 worth of shoes or clothes. I should have noticed these payments sooner, but I wonder how many other people fall for this.

J. S., Wirral, Merseyside.

JUSTFAB is refusing to cooperate. Four emails from me were returned with four different responses. the first was unable to grasp the idea that Money Mail was contacting the firm on your behalf. the second and third said it could not discuss the matter with anyone but yourself due to data protection, despite the waiver provided by your correspondence.

The final email said refunds could not be issued via email and suggested I phoned the firm, but my call was met with another obstinate response.

Two JustFab ads were banned by the advertising standards authority in 2017, after it said it was not ‘sufficiently clear’ that VIP members would be enrolling into a subscription contract.

It is disappointing the firm has not returned all your payments. It should perhaps take note of amazon, who often refunds those who unwittingly subscribe to Prime. Your letter is a reminder of how vital it is to keep an eye on your accounts.

BEFORE Christmas, I received a text from Barclays about a suspicious transaction. I rang the bank after Googling the number the text came from.

I was told someone had spent £40 on Deliveroo and my card would be cancelled. Later, I received a call from the bank regarding other payments I didn’t recognise — £1,000 on Airbnb and £1,200 on Booking. com — and a £1,600 loan.

I was suspicious, as I had just spoken to Barclays. I asked the man to prove he was from the bank and he reeled off some genuine recent payments.

He told me that as my account had been compromised I’d need to move my money to a ‘safe account’ he would set up in my name. I’d already moved £730 to my secondary Monzo account, which held £13, after the first call, as well as the £1,600 loan money that had appeared in my account.

So I moved the money again to the account he told me of. When he hung up I felt uneasy and knew I had been scammed. Monzo has refused to refund the cash I lost.

A. B., London.

MONZO said you did not take enough steps to check who you were paying, and therefore it would not refund you.

under a code of conduct launched in May 2019, banks must refund victims of bank transfer fraud if they have taken the required levels of care. I argued the conman was not only convincing, he also knew specific details of your account. shortly after, Monzo refunded the £2,363 stolen, which you moved to your barclays account.

but barclays has also refunded your £730 savings and wrote off the loan, so you are now in profit. I advised you to move the extra money to your Monzo account, so it can recover the funds.

AN ENGINEER visited my home in April to switch my landline to TalkTalk. He told me there was a problem and he would tell the firm to fix it, but my line was left dead.

I am 90 and have no computer, so my friend contacted TalkTalk online. But this got us nowhere. Two months later, I wrote to cancel my contract and stopped my direct debit. TalkTalk sent a £66.40 bill.

R. G., St Albans, Herts.

WHEN your friend contacted talktalk it did tests but needed to speak to you. It usually texts but, as you had no mobile, it waited for you to call and closed the case when you didn’t.

Openreach sent an engineer to the area, who fixed a local cable issue, and talktalk assumed the problem had been solved.

After I passed on your new mobile number, talktalk rang you and an engineer was sent to your home. there was a problem with your wiring. the supplier covered the £65 repair cost, waived the £66.40 bill and gave you £25 as a goodwill gesture.

÷ WE LOVE hearing from our loyal readers, so ask that during this challenging time you write to us by email where possible, as we will not pick up letters sent to our postal address as regularly as usual. You can write to:

asktony@dailymail.co.uk or, if you prefer, Ask Tony, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT — please include your daytime phone number, postal address and a separate note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Tony Hazell. We regret we cannot reply to individual letters. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.