As I鈥檓 sure many have heard, there are hundreds of people around the country who have unfortunately lost all of their money, which they saved with a company called Farepak, which went bankrupt. Farepak was holding their money so that these people had money for Christmas presents.
The thing is, what exactly did Farepak do when it was still operating?? Did it invest peoples money? Did it offer interest?
Why didn鈥檛 the people using Farepak instead open a high interest savings account, which fully insures your money (pluis gives you interest)?
If this is the case (and if Farepak did not give interest) then are the people partly to blame for being idiots with their money, or have I missed the point?
Comments and suggestions??|||I dont think your being insensitive at all, I think its a fair question.
Even for people who have a poor credit rating as such and cant get credit, they could still get a basic savings account with any bank or building society.
I think its a terrible thing to happen to all those people, but i agree with you. Why not just put a few quid a week into a savings account.
What possible benefits does saving with these types of companies give??|||I used Park..so I don't really care! SORRY!|||its quite insensitive of you to say this about people who's xmas's are virtually ruined.
alot of people's know someone at work who runs a hamper scheme... its nice to just give your friend a couple of pound a week and know that you will get a big hamper at xmas... it the same for gift vouchers and things...
i think you should either delete your question... or adress an apology.|||i totaly agree.ive been raving on about this too since i first heard about it.ive also noticed how some of these people have thousands, some 拢3000 to 拢4000, which they are sugesting that they have lost.WHY WOULDNT YOU PUT THAT IN THE BANK.
It doesnt add up.
and as removed as i am from this whole issue id like to think that its easy to see how some people are trying to make the most of this situation.i mean, i ask you, almost all the people you see being interviewed about their money "loss" on the news dont look like they've got a spare 拢10 let alone be able to afford a 拢3000 christmas.
Dont get me wrong im sure that there will be literally thousands of christmas days ruined by this fiasco but JEEZ its 2006, Use the BLOO*Y bank.|||I think the kind of people who use these schemes are the sort who don't know too much about investments and the like. The idea is a kind of savings club, usually used by working class folk who might otherwise be tempted to use that fiver a week for an extra pint of beer or pack of fags. They know their faults and are trying to do something to make sure they can do right by their families come Christmas.
It's unrealistic to expect these people to know how to check out a company's financial standing and investment portfolio - nobody has ever taught them and they don't have the kind of money that warrants an interest in serious investment.
Interestingly, I heard a comical piec on the radio the other day that said if you had invested 拢1000 a year ago in various companies like 1Tel and a few others I can't remember, you'd have lost most of your money, however, if you'd spent the money on cans of beer, saved all the cans and turned the alluminium in for recycling today, you'd have made about 拢250 back!|||what i dont understand is, why are other companies now being slated for not helping the victims of farepak?, they are not the ones who caused this and so why should they foot the bill.
another thing i dont get is, tesco provide stamp saving schemes that you can save all year, for 拢1 each, even if you spent 拢4 a week on them you would have a very nice amount to spend at xmas, and surely they were paying more than that a week, considering most have lost at least 拢1000. also i have always farepack etc, are quite a rip off, you pay 拢50 for a basket of food of which half wont be eaten because you cant choose whats in it, and you could probably get the same stuff in the basket in tesco or another superstore for half the price!!!!|||A friend just told me she had lost 拢400 with Farepak. I asked her the same question - why in the world didn't you put it in a bank account? At least then you would be paid interest and wouldn't risk the cash!
She said that if it was in an account she knew she would draw it out and spend it!|||The majority of the people who open Christmas Club type savings accounts are of poor credit rating and therefore unable to access 'normal' bank services.
You have to feel for the people who lost everything with Farepak.
You also have to question the activities of Farepak who still took regular monthly or weekly 'savings' from people whilst knowingly trading as technically insolvent.. A case for more closer scrutiny by investors being allowed by such companies.|||This saving system is a throwback to the old style "Christmas Clubs"that were operated by local shops in the days before most working people had bank accounts.
I really don't understand why in this day and age ,anyone would want to lodge their money with an outfit like Farepak when there are Building Societies and Credit Unions available which pay interest on savings.
And why should Farepak customers be considered any more favourably than any other folk who lose money to companies that go bust?|||They save with companies like Farepak because they know they will be able to buy all the things they need for Christmas. If they just put the money in the bank, then if an unexpected bill came or they fancied a holiday the money would be taken out. Also a lot of these people are on benefits or on very low wages. If they put the money into a savings account for Christmas, the social would view this as savings and they could suffer a reduction in their entitlement. Its a mockery, because if they smoked and drank the money they get the full entitlement, if they save it they get penalised.|||hi, the reason people use xmas schemes such as farepak is to ensure that they have some money aside for xmas. savings accounts are not an option for a lot of people on low income because the money is accessable. its easy to say dont spend it, but if you have a bill that needs paying then the money is spent!also, people who are on benefits are restricted about how much money they can have before benefits are affected and money paid to farepak would not be classed as savings..if you are financially secure and always have been, then its hard to relate to not being able to afford basic things, but this is the reality for a lot of people, the rest should count themselves lucky.|||You have read my mind - what exactly was the point of 'saving' money with this company and what incentive did you get for using it. It doesn't seem a good use of people's money to get vouchers in return for cash. I don't understand what the facts of this are in amongst the general blame culture that typifies the debate in Parliament and the reporting of it in the media.
When are we going to get some rational explanation of what the scheme was, why people would want to use it and where exactly the money went in terms of their banking arrangements with the HBOS group.|||The reason that people use hamper schemes instead of putting the money in an account is this:
If you really fancy re-decorating your bathroom or something half way through the year you will take that money out of the account an use it. You will mean to replace but will never get round to it and come Christmas there will be nothing in the account.
If you are giving it to a rep (usually a family member or friend) then they are not going to give it back to you until Christmas and then only in the form of vouchers to use for Christmas presents. if you are on a tight budget it would be easier to do this and I can totaly see it.
It is the same as those saving stamps that you get at supermarkets, it's easier to put a little by each week rather than trying to run an account.|||I lost 拢960 with Farepak and i work and so does my husband.
We have no debts and no credit cards.
If we had put the money into a bank we both know that the temptation would be there constantly to take it back out.
We took out vouchers with Farepak last year and decided to do the same this year to help with getting gifts for my two children.
There's nothing wrong with what we have done and to put people down for doing so and not using a bank is very childish.
If that's the case why don't you have a moan at people who use credit cards and catalogues.
People who were saving with Farepak did not have to get into debt to do so,ie credit cards,loans and catalogues.
What we payed in is what we got back,so wheres the harm in that?|||I understand your question as I wondered it myself. Asking around, the following things came up, some of which have been mentioned already:
* You can't touch the money. Most low money savings accounts are instant access
* Whatever you may say, some people ARE still refused bank accounts (I used to work in a bank, it happened more often than I would have thought)
* A savings account wouldn't give much interest - you need to invest 拢000's to get decent interest
* One of my friends said you get vouchers to spend in certain shops worth more than you paid in - not sure about this at all though as it seems that shops would lose money!!
* It is a throwback, as someone said, to the old Christmas clubs. You can take it even further back than that to Victorian times, and perhaps before, with benevolent funds etc and people saving a penny a week for their Christmas goose otherwise they wouldn't have one at Christmas.
* So, in some families, it's tradition. That's what they've always done.
Moreover, as this sort of thing hasn't really happened before, I don't think it would occur to anyone that they wouldn't get their money back.|||Invest in a bank and it has to repay you in money. A hamper company, by contrast, repays you in clearly defined Christmas stuff - of which it buys a great deal. It could hence use its purchasing power to buy smoked salmon (say) at a far lower price than an individual Farepak member could. Hence Farepak in theory could benefit the member twice - first by investing the money well and then by spending it well. In this case that clearly did not happen. With such clubs there is also the issue of self-restraint - in that the money put aside for Christmas cannot be squandered in the meantime - though it seems odd that people with the discipline to save 拢100s per month don't have the discipline to use a savings account. Having said that, it may not be the savers themselves who lack self-restraint, but a family member with a drink or gambling problem, say.|||People liked the informal way of paying
People liked being locked into a savings plan till Xmas
People liked the friendly local feeling, see below about Agents
People liked their Agent getting a bit of commission - haven't you noticed how the Agents were all relatives or close friends of their customers?
Banks etc are not going to do all of the above. However, credit unions can and do offer the infromal friendly set up, with the difference that they are safe and regulated by the FSA. JUST LIKE BANKS. so the answer is not to switch to a pub savers club or another hamper company as I have seen many Farepak customers state - out of the frying pan into the fire ! The answer is to ask their local credit union for a Xmas club that locks the money away all year, try Yellow Pages under 'credit union' or phone 0161 832 3694
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