Extracts of Complaints against Local Events Calendar

Below are some original extracts from a Blog that was set up to document complaints against Local Events Calendar LEC in Hove Sussex, also trading as MIYU Ltd.

This blog was removed from the internet by LEC and these extracts are from a PDF that has been passed round the internet.
Some of the wording may be missing but the general gist of the complaints is clear. There were over 60 separate entries on the original blog before they had it removed.


Is anything ever free even if the person that is
advertising that product tells you so?
by danphelps @ 2010-01-03 – 00:34:24
I find it very frustrating these days that so called reputable businesses can get away with
much when it comes to false advertising, customer service and general customer satisfaction.
Being a business person myself I advertise my services all over the internet as I'm sure all
business people do.
I recently received a 'cold call' from an advertising company "www.localeventscalendar.org"
asking me if I wanted to be one of 25 businesses chosen to place a 'free no obligation' advert
on their website as part of their '21 day free trial' campaign.
I was told at the time that I would need to pay an upload fee for the advert (fair enough) and
that my ad would have a guaranteed place on their website. I was talked through the online
form (which of course involved entering my card details) and I was informed that
need to do is cancel my 'subscription' before the end of the free trial if I wasn't happy with
how the ad was performing. All seemed straight forward and fair at this point.
It wasn't until I read their terms and conditions that I noticed that I needed to cancel my ad
within 10 days of my order placement, which didn't really give me a lot of time to actually
test out how successful my ad would be, but to avoid paying a large sum of money
my card details after all) for an advert I had no way of knowing would really work for me at
that time, I decided to cancel my subscription within the time limit to avoid a huge bill.
However, I noticed that as soon as my cancelation request was made my advert was
immediately removed from their website after only being live for two or three days.
As far as I am aware this is what is commonly known as false advertising. And after paying a
so called upload fee for my ad which was only live for literally a couple of days (hardly the 21
days that I was promised) and being later told that there was NO guarantee of my advert
being placed on their website at all I feel well and truly conned!
When I wrote to them to tell them I wasn't happy their response was a very blunt and
unsophisticated "get lost" followed by and equally rude and unprofessional response to my
answering correspondence.
Is this manner of customer care something we should come to expect from all businesses and
business people from now on?
If somebody was unhappy with the service they had received from myself I wouldn't
to apologise, even if I didn't agree with the complaint or comment I would still go out of my
way to keep the customer happy.
Obviously this simple expectation is beyond the likes of www.localeventscalendar.org
Maybe I wouldn't be so angry if I hadn't received such an unprofessional and rude
my initial comments to them.
Create your blog.co.uk danblog Next Blog Search own blog for free
Is anything ever free even if the person that is advertising that product tells you so? - ... Page 1 of 18
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59 Comments to Is anything ever free even if the person
that is advertising that product tells you so?
Hide subcomments
james316 (Visitor)
2010-02-18 @ 12:17:25
i was also scammed by localevetscalendar.org . on the cold call they even said i
need to cancel anything and the credit card details are just for the £3.43 insertion fee.
when they took £458 out of my account 21 days later i demanded a copy of the telephone
conversation tape but suprise suprise they dont record any of their calls.
danphelps
2010-02-18 @ 12:59:56
Terrible! I can't believe that they can get away with something like that. I guess in
comparison I was quite lucky, but it was the way that they dealt with my comments (or
didn't) that prompted me to post this blog.
Have you tried trading standards at all? I guess if you actually had use of the advert you
paid for you may not have much luck, but it's definitely worth a try?
Thanks for your comments, and at least I now know I wasn't the only one.
Email Marketing


Heather (Visitor)
2010-02-23 @ 17:34:19
I'm having a similar issue with these people right now. I cancelled on day 21 of
free trial and they're now saying that it was actually day 22 and I will be charged for a
year's worth of advertising! Did you manage to sort anything out with them james316? I'm
not sure what to do next- my bank won't put a stop on the payment- I have to wait until
it's come out of my account and then fill in a dispute form- no guarentee I'd get any
money back. I'm about to pull my hair out!!!

Jamie Williams (Visitor)
2010-03-24 @ 13:11:31
Hi
My Wife is having a similar same problem.
could you please contact me we intend fighting it.
jwilli1981@yahoo.co.uk
danphelps
2010-02-23 @ 22:27:26
Yes, I noticed that they have changed their terms and conditions since my 'encounter'
with them. It used to be that the subscription had to be cancelled 10 days after the order
was placed. I am honestly shocked by how many people they appear to have scammed.
Have you also tried contacting Trading Standards? Like I said to james316 it could at least
be worth a try?
Thanks for your comments.

Claire Weait (Visitor)
http://www.furryportraits.co.uk
2010-03-17 @ 18:21:50
I have just had exactly the the same awful experience with this terrible company,
Events Calendar. They also offered me a free trial, took a small payment of £
advertising fee. My advert never appeared, I went to cancel they said it was to late and
took £468.82 out of my account. Never once did they say I have to cancel within 21 days.
When I contacted them they had no interest in helping and just stated I should have read
their term and conditions. Its a complete scam and they must be stopped! I have
contacted trading standards and reported them, it needs everyone to do the same.Call
Brighton trading standards 01273 292523 give them the name of the company and
address and we can get them stopped and hopefully our money back!
justice29
2010-03-19 @ 18:33:55

stevie d (Visitor)
2010-03-18 @ 17:31:16
There are many of us affected by this. I have contacted watchdog and urge everyone
affected to do the same. I have also contacted trading standards and with a general
election coming up, then maybe we need to contact sitting MP's and parliamentary
candidates.We must work together for justice

Donna (Visitor)
2010-03-18 @ 22:42:37
Its happened to me too. And Ive had another local lady contact me today who is in
same situation. In our cases we didnt cancel in time, however never intended to
advertise which I told the seller on the telephone. It was sold to us as free and we were
pressurised whilst busy. £468 is alot of money for many of us - this is causing people
hardship and alot of stress. No other company Ihave ever dealt have such unfair business
practices. They have taken our money and have run. Lacing the pockets of some con
man. We have reported to TD and will contact my local MP.

Donna (Visitor)
2010-03-18 @ 22:56:17
Me again. Just checked out the local calendar events website, my advert isnt even
showing. I am so upset as I have been misold a product and the terms and conditions
were not explained, i feel robbed. Nothing is ever free and I should have known that.

Noushlh (Visitor)
2010-03-19 @ 21:15:45
Hi there
Yes, it has happened to me to. As already mentioned I was pressured whilst busy but
categorically told them that I would not be taking out any advertising at the end of the
trial. I gave them my card details for £2.99 (so it seems like we have all paid a different
amount) and then on day 22 they took the money out of my account. I had not contacted
them to cancel but felt that I had recieved no customer service to see how I felt my trial
was going or to tell me that it was almost over. I happened to check my account on day
22 and the money was gone. When I called them they were rude and unhelpful and
kept stating that I was told I had to cancel and that I had agreed to the terms and
conditions which I had not even though I have an email they sent me which has a box
ticked to say I agreed to their ts&C's. I DID NOT.
I have also noticed that my ad only comes up if you type the words local events
and my area into a google search and there it is (on their co.uk address) however, if you
go into their .org site then you cannot find my advert anywhere.
They are total scammers and I am disgusted. I am going to go to trading standards.

Bev (Visitor)
http://portraitsathome.net
2010-03-20 @ 10:54:14
Unfortunately we have been duped by this company too. Having been told a date by
which to cancel I was then told on that day that the cancellation was too late and the
money has been taken from my account. Of course their terms and conditions are clear
but having been given a date I didn't check. What happened to business ethics

Donna (Visitor)
2010-03-21 @ 22:53:35
Hi everyone
I am struggling to see my ad.
When I search local events northamptonshire as the LEC girl has shown me it comes up
with localeventscalendar.org - noones adverts are listing. when I called LEC about
they were disorganised and kept me waiting on the phone. I could over hear them all
shuffling around and sounding really unprofessional.

Bev Perkins (Visitor)
http://www.portraitsathome.net
2010-03-22 @ 13:03:31
Hullo Donna
I have just been to my bank to ask about what can be done and they advise that the only
time they can start proceedings to get your money back, is if in fact, you have not had
the service for which you have paid. I am sure your bank will be the same. I have been
advised to watch for one month, and if no sign of an ad, they can then start proceedings
to recover the money. Although I highly doubt any of us will ever see any money back at
all, I have added my complaint to the local branch of Trading Standards, which is
something we should all do to build a really strong case. It would be nice to see these
people get what they deserve, but it will only happen if enough people speak up! If they
are using the letter of their terms of trading to uphold their argument, then it can quite
easily be turned around and used against them!

Jamie Williams (Visitor)
2010-03-24 @ 13:23:28
Hi Me and My Wife are going to fight this we have been in touch with trading
already. we were on holiday when we were mislead. please contact me
jwilli1981@yahoo.co.uk I am more than happy to go out of my way to make sure everyone
gets the money back. Jamie

Rebecca (Visitor)
2010-03-26 @ 14:47:41
Hi - I'm so glad I looked at your blog.
I took out an ad with these people yesterday, and cancelled today - they have confirmed
that no money will be taken from my account, and to ensure that they can't, I've
cancelled my card - annoys me having to do that, but I won't sleep otherwise. They seem
so professional, but for some reason alarm bells started ringing and thankfully I
across this blog.
Thank you.
Rebecca

Dear Ms Khan,
Please read and reread the countless stories and posts from visitors of this blog.
Many of these people are telling very much the same story and very much feel
victimised by your husbands company.
You will read, time and time again, that people have been, at the very least,
seriously and very dishonestly mislead by the 'cold calls' from your company,
including myself.
Your terms and conditions do indeed state what you have mentioned above, but if a
representative of your company assures the person they are speaking to that a
cancelation isn't necessary, or if they are in any way telling them something that is
not true, that, in my opinion, is a con and I am quite sure that some people, if not
everybody here, would agree with me. If people are not made aware of your terms
and conditions how would they know to check them?
It is not fair to assume that people will automatically got straight to your T &C's just
to check whether or not they have been lied to. Most people are decent and
so would not think to check. What kind of a company would tell lies to people,
convince them to hand over their card details, debit their account without any
verbal warning and only say to them "it states in our terms and conditions that this
would happen"?
If this is the way you plan to conduct yourselves I seriously suggest that you record
all of your telephone conversations so you are aware of just how much everybody
here, including myself, have been lied to. I can predict exactly what your
would be - "prove it". Well if you conducted yourself in a professional way and
recorded all of your cold calls the proof would be there for all to hear and see.
You ask to see evidence of my claim that I was so rudely and bluntly told to 'get lost'.
I will be more than happy to prove this to you. I have kept every single sad little
correspondence from your company.
I was told that my advert would have a 'guaranteed' placement on your website if I
signed up to the free trial. Of course, I have no way of proving that this was said
because as far as I'm aware you don't record your telephone conversations. If you do
have a recording, you will be able to hear exactly what was said. The fact
to pay a so called 'upload fee' for my ad that wasn't even live for three days is totally
wrong.
You say that I have not identified myself - My name will be on the header of this
post. How much more adequately do you need me to identify myself?
If your husband really does care about what people think of his company I am trying
to understand why he isn't the person posting his so called defence.
You claim that Local Events Calendar is not a scam company. Well, there are a lot of
people here who need convincing.

2010-03-30 @ 21:51:23
Hi all, just thought I'd join in as I too am very much part of this and can relate to all
that has been said so far!! Not gonna go into too much detail as its pretty much the
same as everyone else blogging ( except I was told by the telesales that it would be
£200 for a continuous advert!!)and am just as p'd off about it!!!
I would however, like to leave a comment about SKhans (Sandra?) comments regarding
her husbands business.
My partner is a sales manager for an International company and was amazed to see
what can only be described as amateur desperation. A company directors wife
responding to a blog concerning her husbands company!?? -Surely any professional
advertising company that believed they were doing no wrong, and providing a
contracted service, legally, above board and bona fide would not have to justify itself
to several disgruntled customers online.
Most companies in this situation would not rise to the bait

notfair (Visitor)
2010-03-31 @ 13:52:05
Hi everyone. I just wanted to say that the exact same thing has happened to me.
to cancel it and you are told you are out of time and you have to pay(£468). I have never
been treated like this before and I don't understand how people can do it. We have to
keep fighting not only for us but so that it doesn't happen to others. We need to make it
as public as possible. I will inform trading standards, my local MP and anything else I can
think of. It just isn't fair or right.

jodie K (Visitor)
2010-04-09 @ 21:53:36
Hi there,
I'm not sure if this blog trail is still open for comments but I wanted to say thanks so
much Danphelps for starting this blog. I am so relieved to find it as I thought I was the
only one going thru this. I am in dispute with the company for same reasons as above:
they just took £400+ out of my account. I can't go into details here yet as it is awaiting
Trading Standards and Bank investigation but I'm encouraged to hear some of you got
refunds. I am determined to get refunded even if it means going on tv to expose them. I
will join up for the facebook site as soon as the investigation is over and if I get refunded
I will support anyone in going through this. I will do anything to stop companies like this
as I believe they are operating illegally and should be shut down. I will write to my MP
also. This has caused me enormous anxiety and distress and I cannot believe they have
not yet been closed down.
If anyone wants to talk to me in confidence about them feel free to email me

Extracts from Previous Facebook Group for Complaints against Local Events Calendar

Extracts from the Facebook Group: Conned By Local Events Calendar (MIYU LTD)
April 14th 2010

Dave Allen i also have had the same Experience, i had the free trial and cancelled it 4 days before the end of trial period, but they still took £468.00 from my account, i am currently trying to get the money back, i will be informing the trading standards about this company, i will update this page if i have any further developments
March 24 at 11:48pm

Beverley Perkins
I have a similar story. The sales girl told me as long as I cancelled by last Friday it would be fine. When I phoned they told me (very rudely) that I had to cancel in writing and that it was too late anyway as they had my money! They count the days from the date that they make first contact, not necessarily the date that your ad goes live! It is ... See More
March 25 at 5:24pm


Conned By Local Events Calendar (MIYU LTD)
report it to Trading Standards with your local office and ask them to find the other people who have raised the complaint as well I have emailed them asking for someone to take up our case i am awaiting reply one ladys ref number for her case is EM 2820648 ask them to look for that case when you call or email.
March 25 at 11:42am

Itsme ThatsWho Hello, same story for me as Gemmas below. I did complete the advertising form again under a spoof cmpany and hopefully they will contact me for card details etc as they are not responding to any emails or phone calls. Has anyone had any success obtaining a refund? My bank says the payment was not protected so there is ...
See More


Conned By Local Events Calendar (MIYU LTD) I'm going to speak to trading standards today and try to get this sorted as more and more people are saying the same thing. They cant keep doing this!
March 25 at 11:09am

Itsme ThatsWho Just had a call from my bank who will be credting my account with the payment and taking it up with Local Events, I am still contacting Trading Standards about this and will report further. Yesterday I left a spoof request for further details regarding their advertsiing package (completed the online form) and surprise ...
See More
March 26 at 11:08am ·



Vincent Hearn hey guys, glad i found this group! also been conned by the f********kkkkeers and just wondered how you guys got the bank to get the money back? i;ve had to seek legal action but if there is another way id love to know.

Anoushka Lucas-Howells
i spoke to the bank today and it is the banks/credit card companys who are giving the money back and not the company......the banks are insured for these things sometimes although it depends on the bank and the individual case....i am not holding out much hope for mine as although i know for a fact i did not authorise ...
March 30 at 11:22am

Claire Jessica Weait Complete scammers!! I also got done by this so called advertsing company, lost £467 to them, awful experience. We must stop them by keeping on top of trading standards and making they do something!
March 30 at 4:52pm



Vicky Dyer
Hi everyone just had the same thing happen to me they told me i did not cancel in time even though i know i did, they e-mailed me an invoice for 468.00 from sandra cooper accounts luckily i saw the blogg site and stopped my cards so no money has been taken out thanks to you guys i am still going to make some complaints against this awful company.
April 1 at 3:47pm


Sharon Bell
Yes, yet another victim of the shameless sales banter of Local Events Calendar. At the start of february a had one of their telemarketers go through the whole process with me. She even implied that I would only have to contact them at the end of the trial if I intended to continue with the deal. After checking See More

Local Events Calendar in Hove Scam!

Local Events Calendar (LEC) in Hove, Sussex UK have been scamming people for months.
They operate by cold calling and offering a 21 day free trial of an advert for your company on the net. They then remove money from your bank account either before the trial has ended, or never having put your ad on the net at all.

So far there have been over 100 documented complaints against this company (registered under MIYU Ltd., but most have been slyly removed from the net by LEC. A facebook group was set up but LEC have managed to silence it along with other blogs and websites that listed all the distressing complaints against them by innocent people who have lost hundreds of pounds due to their illegal operations.

Consumer Direct (Trading Standards) have been informed of their fraudulent activity, and information is being handed to Watchdog, BBC and the tabloids though this will take time to filter through. The more complaints registered the better so please list your story about Local Events Calendar below!

Another site to complain on is: http://www.canyoutrustthem.com/