Statement update 15th June 2023

Hello crafters, hopefully, you are aware from our previous communications that we have recently suffered a serious and embarrassing glitch when implementing new software, which runs our automated Flexi Buy Payment system. This resulted in some customers being charged money we were not entitled to. We are so sorry for this error on our part and are devastated that we have caused you upset and concern.

This is our mistake for which we can only apologise. This should not have happened, and we have taken immediate steps to rectify the situation. To this end, we have attempted to contact all customers that have been affected and can tell you we believe this error has been rectified, refunds have been made and we are taking steps to ensure will not happen again.

We understand that this has been an extremely trying situation for many of you - and for that, we can only give our sincere apologies. We are in the process of discussing measures of recompense for those impacted by the error and doing everything that we can to make this right.

Once again, from the entire team at Create and Craft, we are sincerely sorry that this happened. By no means are we taking this lightly, or treating this stage of the process as the end – we know that we need to keep working to honour the trust you place in us, not only as your chosen retailer, but as the community of arts and crafts that you have invested time, money, and efforts in.

We will continue to work and communicate openly, honestly, and tirelessly to ensure we are doing everything we can to restore that trust.

If you have any further queries, or outstanding issues, please contact us immediately on 01733 602000 (select option 5), or by emailing us at: [email protected] - attaching all necessary information.

From all of us at Create and Craft, we thank you for your continued patience and understanding.

Paul Wright and the Create and Craft Senior Leadership Team

12th June 2023

Dear crafters, we wanted to update you on the situation that’s affecting some customers’ automatic payments. As some of you will be aware, this weekend we encountered an issue with the software that calculates and manages scheduled Flexi-Buy payments between ourselves and banking systems to take automatic payments on specific dates as part of a Flexi-Buy plan. To be clear, this error has only occurred within the system used to schedule payments, not how payment details are recorded or handled, and as such your data is not at risk.

After further investigation, we have found the cause of the issue which has resulted in cases of payments being taken in error. To that end, we’ve temporarily turned off Flexi-Buy as an option for all products, as well as new Club Membership sign ups until this issue is resolved and we’re confident we can move forward without incident.

For those customers due to pay a Flexi instalment over the next 48 hours, these have been paused until further notice. Anyone using Clearpay or PayPal to order will not have been affected, nor will any order where the full sum is paid in full at checkout. As this system is also used to schedule renewal fees for Club and Freedom membership, some members may have also noticed their loyalty plan has not been renewed temporarily.

We want to reassure you that this issue has the full focus of the business, and we aim to rectify it as soon as possible - everyone who has been affected by this will be fully compensated the for any charges or fees that may have been incurred from your bank, as well as any payments taken in error. For anyone who may wish to contact us to enquire about this issue, please e-mail us here, filling in your account or order numbers and attaching screenshots of any bank charges you’ve erroneously accrued.

We appreciate that this message will come as little solace to those of you most affected by the glitch. Our Customer Service team is working diligently to communicate to those who’ve been impacted, working alongside the banks involved to get refunds cleared as soon as possible. Our technical team have been working non-stop since the issue was first identified over the weekend to better give us an understanding of the full impact, all while liaising with our partners in the financial sector to get a resolution in place, which we’re closer to today.

Simply put, we know this isn’t good enough and that no apology can make it right. We hope that by explaining the steps we’re taking to investigate, rectify, and refund and by communicating as often and as honestly as we can, that you’re reassured how seriously we’re taking this issue.

We’re committed to keeping you informed every step of the way until this is resolved and cannot thank you enough for your continued patience and understanding.

With sincere thanks,

The Create and Craft Team