Marketsafe UK

[tamecrow]

Wow, this seems pretty dodgy. At least their underhand practices are getting some negative publicity here!

[Brian Turner]

Perfectly legal, but sharp, and more of a reason why you need to check the terms your signing up for when companies such as Creditsafe, Marketsafe, etc, slip the autorenewal clause in.

They certainly aren't the only companies involved in this sort of practice, but I think it is pretty poor customer relations strategy to push on cold call sales which don't let sign-ups know about the autorenewal, and then threaten legal action against those who refuse to pay up.

[Dante1418]

Ok guys. My name is Ian, and I work for marketsafe. I've worked for marketsafe since February this year, I left briefly but was asked to return. And I did, gladly, I didn't find anything out there I enjoyed quite so much. I have a great deal of passion for my work and my colleagues.

I just want to point out I approach this with all due respect though. I'm really trying to avoid slipping up, saying something I shouldn't, offending anyone... you get the jist... you see, I am a young gent of sorts, 'untainted' by negative views or opinions relating to my work, but very much in love with my job and my company anyway.

I'm in the process of joining some business forums, not to sell but to learn more. I had to join this one as I seen this thread and saw that reference was made to our company and to Adam not replying. In his defence one of the reasons that could be is that our company is very much a close knit family and Adam is very popular and succesful , you can definatley read about Adam elsewhere, but he is a fantastic committed sales person, and somebody who has taught me well and that I would say is a brilliant, friendly personality.
With things like this, we find that a lot of companies suffer complaints and such. People like myself or Adam aren't really in a position to answer questions or complaints or be involved in such threads as these. I do feel like i am skating on thin ice and hope I don't push the wrong buttons. But I'm afraid we can't offer any other input into this subject.

More information on the two companies is available the the Safe Information Group website though. It will explain the history and the different parts of the group.

I really hope that despite some of the views, that I can still become involved in these forums and learn new things. To be fair I haven't really seen what's on offer here, so I'll have to take a rain check (as it's half 2 in the morning) and come back later this week to check the place out.

All the best though. And I hope the Christmas period goes well for you. I should be moving into my first house shortly, let's also hope it snows.

[Peter Bowen]

Originally Posted by Dante1418

People like myself or Adam aren't really in a position to answer questions or complaints or be involved in such threads as these.

Read a book called The Cluetrain Manifesto - the company you work for is taking a beating here and needs an ear to hear what's going on and a voice to speak for it.

I guess the directors might not know the power of the internet but you might well find that negative comments such as being expressed on this forum appear before the company's own pages in search results.

[Brian Turner]

Originally Posted by Dante1418

In his defence one of the reasons that could be is that our company is very much a close knit family and Adam is very popular and succesful , you can definatley read about Adam elsewhere, but he is a fantastic committed sales person, and somebody who has taught me well and that I would say is a brilliant, friendly personality.

Adam gave every impression that the only reason he joined Platinax was to push for sales from here. When interest and criticism was raised about the company's methods, he disappeared.

Whether he's really friendly and a great salesperson doesn't really enter into the equation - the bottom line is that Marketsafe and ASA Creditsafe.co.uk Ltd have sharp sales practices which gives them a bad reputation, and rather than try to address that issue, we still see the companies pushing on sales, and not addressing the customer care issues they have been roundly criticised for.

I mean, seriously, do either Marketsafe or Creditsafe believe suing customers is the only way to ensure repeat business?

And do their telesales team actually make it clear to new customers that they are being signed into a recurring contract?

Also - just to give you some context - ASA Creditsafe.co.uk Ltd threatened Platinax with legal action 2 years ago, in order to have customer complaints about their company removed.

I'll ensure discussion about the company now remain on the legal side (ie, no quietioning the company's motivations), but that doesn't mean to say I can kill valid criticisms of the company method.

After all, the sharp business practices of the Safe Group sees those complaints continue to come in.

[lee jones]

If anybody is having problems with MSUKs court action and they try and send out approx 50 per week......) please contact me. I've helped many companies sort this out and counterclaim against the claimant, with fees / time /costs etc recovered.

regards

Dr. Lee M jones

[Dante1418]

Yikes. I see perhaps I have misread into the discussion going on here. It's probably due to the late hour I was up. But I was doing a Google search on ourselves as it happens to locate some media information relating to recent surveys we had done.

I am a very small fish looking up to sharks, though, and I don't understand the legal side of things either to be fair, which is why I keep it hush hush. But I will raise the issue at work because everthing that affects my company and it's image affects a part of me too.

shall be in touch.

[russell_kitch]

Originally Posted by lee jones

If anybody is having problems with MSUKs court action and they try and send out approx 50 per week......) please contact me. I've helped many companies sort this out and counterclaim against the claimant, with fees / time /costs etc recovered.

regards

Dr. Lee M jones

It would be great if you could contact us. We currently have creditsafe threatening to take us to court in relation to their auto renewal service that we werer never informed about!
Russ

[SteveHillier]

Very interested by this thread as I am having issues with Marketsafe and Creditsafe.
We indicated by phone prior to the renewal date that we would not be renewing the contract and yet the contract was renewed because written confirmation was not received. We now have a call saying judgement has been made against us but we had no knowledge that there was a case pending.
It appears that even though we have been taken to court on both these issues for non payment, even now if we do not send written termination the contract will still be renewed.
Me, if someone doesn't pay me I stop doing business with them, this crew seem to believe once you have signed a contract you must pay them regardless of your circumstances or will.
At best it would seem that at best the way these organisation work could be described as sharp practice. At worst theft.
I intend to pass all correspondence on this to a Member of Parliament.
Thanks for making know I am not alone!

[Dreamofmadness]

I've seen quite an interesting thread on another forum about this exact same topic (in fact thats where I found the link to this forum):
If you go to mouneysaving.com and search creditsafe you will find the thread there - sorry I havent posted enough to be able to post links here.

I am still trying to find someone who has succesfully defended themselves or knows of a succesful case, that I might be able to use as precedence in my defence. I cannot afford the amount they are asking for and should I lose the case it will mean I will almoist certainly have to close my business, which means terminating the contracts of all four of my staff and ending a valuable local service.

Anyone who can help me further either with specific laws, case references or otherwise then please get in contact with me.

Thank you to Plaintax and other forums for your efforts to keep these topics live and to help champion the small businesses out there who otherwise would be even more vulnerable to such questionable business practices.