***** - EDreams & FNB
Good Day
I want to complain about - and advise all others - about a *****ulent company called Edreams that operate in the travel and leisure space, seemingly out of Barcelona.
Also, about the shocking incompetence of FNB's ***** division and local Walmer ParK Port Elizabeth branch to manage this matter.
Likewise, Hallopeter’s ‘legal’ e-mail address also failed to assist in any way – they just told me to post this review. Seems like there is just poor service everywhere these days. There is truly no-one that one can turn to.
Here is my story:
On 26 Feb 2026 I booked a discounted flight from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth (on Flysafair) via e-Dreams, assuming they are the same as Bookings.com, on https://secure-web.cisco.com/1ci6j4rLqe-_3nL6g3mHtxUwEy9aHo_gxpSjxXZGt9vKKcEBNHHbycZBtKCdmgDRabRCydhXaqruCBY2Bh2ZtyCn9pZebhkpQ8EajAYD172_xlXsud9foUIQGmmwGxxQNqvzxHNijoWFQacgTvFqjGFz9tABvWf20_JY38HZbhWK9obICFDDpusIJdy3Yh0A4mOKGArItXlXENOgaChszgREEWmMWlxFd5AnSiw8fdx-I0Q6d5HcJU8EfLUexVIQm_DG9A3KLfIAYECnzl9ROJ5ig9V469HbjzSRmNkFg8cd-juFYBZlzqHnCu1lEdYn4fHcaQTJpAh9ukrfY8aI8kA/https%3A%2F%2Fza.edreams.com%2F
The discounted cost of the flight was R748.84, which I paid from my credit card via the FNB banking app. I approved this transaction and amount ONLY and nothing else. I DID NOT SUBSCRIBE TO ANYTHING ELSE.
Then on 13 March 2026 another amount was deducted from my credit card account out of the blue, to which I was alerted via a phone notice from FNB via their banking app. The amount is R229.00. I did not agree to this or authorise this payment via my bank app, nor did I subscribe to anything or agree to debit orders. This was an ******* deduction from my account made without my consent.
I immediately alerted my bank (FNB) about this *****ulent transaction. After much useless toing and froing of emails, FNB told me on 10 April (clearly they know about EDreams and how they commit their *****!):
“Dear valued customer
Please be aware eDreams has a Prime subscription program with two options, Prime and Prime Plus, which give discounts on flights, hotels, and car rentals. When you make your first booking, the subscription is added automatically. There is a 30-day free trial, and if you don’t cancel before it ends, it becomes a paid membership. You can manage your Prime subscription on the eDreams website or in the app under your profile. To cancel, go to the website, and if you have any issues, you can call customer support at +27 21 300 2421.)
Unfortunately, as the debit instruction/agreement is between you and the merchant, it cannot be cancelled by anyone other than yourself directly with the merchant.
Kindly provide us with a dated confirmation of cancellation alternatively please follow the steps to cancel the subscription.
How to Cancel Your eDreams Prime Subscription
1. Log in to your eDreams account on the website or app.
o If you can’t log in, select “Forgot your password?” to reset it.
2. Go to My Account / My Prime under your profile.
3. Select Manage Subscription.
4. Click Cancel and follow the prompts to confirm cancellation
Kind regards
Ntandokazi”
I already by this time, on 20 March and repeatedly thereafter, sent the following e-mail to every EDreams e-mail address I could find online, with no response:
‘On 26 Feb 2026 I booked a discounted flight from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth (SAFAIR, details withheld for security) via e-Dreams on https://secure-web.cisco.com/1ci6j4rLqe-_3nL6g3mHtxUwEy9aHo_gxpSjxXZGt9vKKcEBNHHbycZBtKCdmgDRabRCydhXaqruCBY2Bh2ZtyCn9pZebhkpQ8EajAYD172_xlXsud9foUIQGmmwGxxQNqvzxHNijoWFQacgTvFqjGFz9tABvWf20_JY38HZbhWK9obICFDDpusIJdy3Yh0A4mOKGArItXlXENOgaChszgREEWmMWlxFd5AnSiw8fdx-I0Q6d5HcJU8EfLUexVIQm_DG9A3KLfIAYECnzl9ROJ5ig9V469HbjzSRmNkFg8cd-juFYBZlzqHnCu1lEdYn4fHcaQTJpAh9ukrfY8aI8kA/https%3A%2F%2Fza.edreams.com%2F
The discounted cost of the flight was R748.84, which I paid from my credit card via the FNB banking app. I approved this transaction and amount ONLY and nothing else. I DID NOT SUBSCRIBE TO ANYTHING ELSE, CERTAINLY NOT YOUR SO CALLED ‘PRIME’ SERVICE.
Then on 13 March 2026 another amount was deducted from my account, to which I was alerted via a phone notice from FNB via their banking app. The amount is R229.00. I did not agree to this or authorise this payment via my bank app, nor did I subscribe to anything or agree to debit orders. This is an ******* deduction from my account made without my consent.
I immediately alerted my bank (FNB) about this *****ulent transaction and am now following their instructions to contact you. I instruct you to do the following:
1. I did not consent to the 13 March 2026 R299.00 payment. Reverse the charges.
2. I did not subscribe and do not want to be subscribed to your so-called ‘prime’ service. Confirm that this is reflected on your records.
3. I do not authorise any debit orders or further deductions to be made from my account – not for your ‘prime’ or any other ‘service’. Confirm that this will not happen.
I require you to: (1) confirm in writing that the 13 March 2026 R299.00 charges will be reversed asap, and (2) that you acknowledge that all so-called subscriptions have been voided and that no payments of debit orders will be deducted from me ever again.
Pls respond soonest in writing.
I am copying this message to my bank’s ***** investigation desk (reference number withheld for security reasosn) c/o Allison Brown.’
I also tried to go onto their website to ‘cancel’ the so-called ‘subscription’, which I did not authorise. But there is no way to do this on their website!! There is no way to contact them at all.
I copied all correspondence to FNB ***** division and continued engaging with them, with repeated explicit instructions to cancel the debit order and block the service provider. To no avail - many more e-mails transpired during the next month and lo and behold, despite my direct instructions to both EDreams and FNB, another amount of R229 was *****ulently and without my consent deducted from my FNB credit card. I immediately informed FNB ***** of this, with much of the same runaround nonsense from them. I also logged a dispute. They simply stopped engaging about this matter. Last week I went to my local FNB branch (Walmer Park, Port Elizabeth) threatening to close all my accounts and move all my financial business to another bank. The branch manager and a consultant at FNB Walmer Park then convinced me that all that was necessary was for me to cancel my credit card and order a new one, then all future *****ulent transaction from EDreams will be blocked. This I duly did, thinking this a solution to the problem. I collected my new credit card from by FNB branch, assured that I am now rid of these EDreams *****sters. BUT NO! Just yesterday (19 May) I received a notice via my banking app that ANOTHER R229 has been paid to Edreams – and this from my NEW credit card !!!!!
Please assist and advise me. FNB is useless.
I want the *****ulently deducted amounts to be returned to me and for no further deductions to be made. Simple, you'd think.
Needless to say, that the FNB ***** department does not communicate. I yesterday immediately sent them another message about the new *****ulent deduction.
Interestingly, I repeatedly specifically instructed FNB ***** division on more than one occasion to confirm that they are a human being and not AI, but from the moment I did this, they have gone silent. Surely it is ******* for a bank to have AI do this kind of work without my knowledge and consent, or for a customer services centre to fail to declare upfront whether they are human of AI.
How do I go about complaining to the highest possible body in the country about this?
What do I need to do to open a case against EDreams and FNB with SAPS, as that will be my next step.
What is the best way for me to secure my credit card, credit card account and money now?
How do I ensure that no further *****ulent deductions are made from my credit card account?
What can I do to create as much visibility as possible about these EDreams ****mers, so that other do not unsuspectingly fall for their ******** conduct like I did.
