Marketsafe UK

[Brian Turner]

Just a quick question - are MarketSafe UK related to ASA Creditsafe.com Ltd at all?

ADDED: We've had complaints about ASA Creditsafe posted here before, namely because of an auto renewal clause in the Terms of the contract (which people complained the sales team never mention on the phone) which has left a number of ASA Creditsafe customers threatened with court action when they sought to cancel the service, and wondered if Marketsafe, being related, do the same?

UPDATE: Appears Marketsafe use the same clause - if you sign up to their services, it auto renews at full price unless you cancel 30 days before the end of the contract.

Reading around, it looks as though there are a number of complaints about Marketsafe's business practices, too.

ALSO: Please note that there are two companies trading under the name of Creditsafe, one of which is "Creditsafe" (www.creditsafe.co.uk), which by all accounts has a good customer record, and "ASA Creditsafe (www.creditsafeuk.com)" which is the company we've received a whole string of complaints about, not least for their taking legal action against their own customers to hold them in a renewal contract.

[Nick Dyer]

Yes they are Brian.
Marketsafe uses the same data for market research as Creditsafe uses for its credit reference reports.

[lee jones]

many people have complained about marketsafe, with this in mind the following may be useful to members....

Defending County Claims / chasing credit notes

If you are involved in the above I can help. Many companies choose not to defend because of the hassle and disproportionate costs of solicitors to carry out all work and representation – the cost of representation is not usually allowed to be claimed back unless certain circumstances can be proved.

Many companies also choose to defend these claims themselves. In my experience this has been unwise.

Having previously been the Legal Case Manager for a multinational business information provider I am very familiar with contract law as applied to specific terms and conditions regarding subscription services.

Having represented my company in various courts throughout the UK, I have so far “lost“ a very small percentage of cases.( out of 400 + )

I can advise how most cases against companies can be withdrawn and in many instances a counterclaim pursued. When the claimant can be proved to have acted “unreasonably” all costs and travel allowances can be claimed.

After free initial consultation to determine the validity / chances of success of claim / defence / total cost to pursue claim, I can provide the following services:-

Advice and help to prevent any court action and to obtain a credit note, before any court action is initiated. All correspondence will be undertaken.

If court proceedings have started or are imminent :-

1. Preparation of all Claim Papers, Particulars of claim, Notices of Issue, Requests for Warrants, Preparation of Witness Statements etc. in accordance with Civil Procedure Rules.

2. Preparation of Defence and Counterclaim.

3. Liase with any solicitors as and when needed.

4. All paperwork and letters germane to claim.

5. Liaison with courts

6. Representation at court.

If this is a service you think can be of use to yourself, please contact me.

Dr. Lee Jones legalclaimservices@yahoo.co.uk 07792 335 836 01656 725406

N.B This is not a “no win – no fee” service.

[geti]

I used Marketsafe last year. I signed up for a package and was told by the sales rep that it was advisable to split my prospects into 3,000 limited and 3,000 non-limited but if I ran out I could easily transfer my prospects from one side to the other. So, not knowing any better, I agreed.

After I ran out of non-limited prospects, I asked for the 3,000 unused limited prospects to be transferred to the non-limited so that I could use them. That is when they told me that there would be a £50 'admin fee' to do this. This fee was never mentioned at the sign-up stage.

After a couple of heated discussions about this and being told by two separate customer service reps that there was nothing that they could do I thought to myself "Stuff 'em! I'm not paying 50 quid for something that I could have avoided in the first place if I had been advised properly at signup" and left it at that with the knowledge that I had wasted my money.

With the rapid approach of the end of the contract term I had a call last month asking if I would like to renew the subscription early to get a better deal. When I explained why I wasn't prepared to sign up again the sales girl swiftly declared that she could transfer the unused prospects free of charge if it would help me to decide to sign up with them again. I said yes it would help, but no, I'm not signing up again - they should have declared any extra charges when they were selling me the package in the first place and so avoiding p*s**ng me off - then I would have renewed.

[bumfluff]

Originally Posted by lee jones

If this is a service you think can be of use to yourself, please contact me.

Dr. Lee Jones legalclaimservices@yahoo.co.uk

N.B This is not a “no win – no fee” service.

The email address and the disclaimer.. they worry me...

[Brian Turner]

geti, did you have any problems getting unsubscribed from the Marketsafe program?

Simply that the reason I raised this thread is because we have a string of complaints on the Platinax forums about business owners unable to unsubscribe from ASA Creditsafe services.

I think Creditsafe are supposed to have made this process easier and clearer, but with Marketsafe mentioned as being related, I wondered if they had similar customer services issues?

I also noticed that Adam from Marketsafe, after joining up and trying to push in a few promos here, is ignoring this thread even though I've twice pointed it out to him.

[geti]

The program I am on is for a timed period of 18 months and runs out at the end of October. I am allowed to download a maximum of 6,000 prospects.

The idea seems quite good but they are sadly lacking in the customer service department to the point of being arrogant and did not declare their hidden charges at the time of signup. Had they have done, I would have been more receptive about continuing with the service.

I don't see any problems with discontinuing the service that I am on, I just said no to their offer - are the people who are complaining on a different service to me?

[geti]

I've just did a search on Marketsafe and found some compaints about them on UK Business forums. There was never any mention of an auto renewal when I started with them, I was told it was for a fixed period - normally 12 months, but because I was a new customer, they would extend it to 18 months.

These people are appearing to be extremely dodgy if what I have just read is true. Come on Adam, what have you got to say for Marketsafe?

[geti]

Just been looking at the terms and conditions for Marketsake UK which, incidently, you can't see as far as I can tell until after you have joined and logged in.

It appears I have to give at least 30 days written notice to cancel, which I shall be doing tomorrow first thing. Also, in clause 9, it appears that after you have cancelled you must delete the information that you have downloaded and paid for and may have to give evidence that you have done so.

Am I reading all this right? Dodgier and dodgier.

[geti]

What a shame that big companies feel it necessary to use deception and smallprint to expand their profits instead of providing good old value for money and customer service to retain customers.