Small print
A HEXUS reader recently notified us that they'd been paying £10 to a company called Shopper Discounts and Rewards without realising it.
At some time in the past this reader had apparently inadvertently agreed to a regular payment to this company and was only made aware of it when they checked their bank statement.
This phenomenon is nothing new. A quick browse of the Interweb reveals a Guardian piece from 2007 and an ongoing expose of such "online scams" in the Mirror.
The standard way in which these situations arise, it seems, is when you buy something online and, while paying, accept a promotion that offers you some money off your next purchase. The acceptance of this offer signs you up to a programme and activates some kind of direct debit that automatically debits your card until you cancel it.
We have to assume this practice is legal as it has been carrying on for some time and many well-known and respected companies use the Shopper Discounts and Rewards scheme, but it can't be right if people are having money taken from them without their knowledge. The website of the scheme lists many of its retail partners as well as the "member benefits".
For it to be legal we again have to assume the details of the new agreement were included in the terms and conditions of the original electronic transaction. But it's not reasonable to expect people to read all of these often very lengthy Ts and Cs and something as important as commencing a new direct debit arrangement should be made a lot more conspicuous than that.