Martin Lewis has a warning for anyone thinking about buying an experience voucher for Christmas

Anyone thinking about buying an experience voucher as a Christmas present has been urged to double check what they are really buying.

Finance guru Martin Lewis has advised people to check the small print after he uncovered a subscription charge being automatically added to purchases at one popular experience website.

Staff writing on Money Saving Expert, the consumer website founded by Martin Lewis, discovered that customers buying gifts from Virgin Experience Days were actually being signed up to a paid membership without necessarily realising it.

With experience vouchers often proving a popular Christmas present for people who are difficult to buy for, shoppers could find themselves paying more than they bargained for when checking out.

MoneySavingExpert found that Virgin Experience Days was automatically adding its 'Memory Makers+' membership to customers' online baskets through a pre-ticked box. The subscription costs £9.99 a year and automatically renews, meaning customers could continue being charged unless they remembered to cancel it.

The membership offers perks including discounts on purchases and free greeting cards, but shoppers may be being signed up for it without actively choosing to pay for it.

MoneySavingExpert discovered the issue when checking out on the Virgin Experience Days website on Friday October 30. It subsequently raised concerns with the company and reported the matter to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

According to MoneySavingExpert, automatically adding paid extras to an order using a pre-ticked box is not permitted under consumer protection rules. The CMA's guidance states that businesses must directly gain customers' consent before charging them for optional extras, and asking ccustomers to untick a box to avoid a charge does not count as giving consent.

Following MoneySavingExpert's intervention, Virgin Experience Days has since updated its website so that the Memory Makers+ sign-up box is no longer ticked by default. This means customers now have to actively choose whether they want to take out the membership when they are making a purchase through the website.

However, anyone who previously bought a voucher and believes they may have been signed up without their knowledge could be entitled to claim their money back.

If you've recently purchased an experience voucher from Virgin Experience Days, it's worth checking your emails to see whether you've been signed up to Memory Makers+.

MoneySavingExpert recommends searching your inbox, including your junk and spam folders, for an 'account activation' email. This should have been sent immediately after your purchase if the membership was added to your order.

If you discover that you've been signed up and didn't know you were choosing to do so, you can contact Virgin Experience Days to cancel the membership and request a refund. Customers are advised to email [email protected] to ask for their money back.

Virgin Experience Days told MoneySavingExpert that it operates seven-day-a-week customer support and that queries are handled within 24 hours.

So, while an experience voucher might seem like a thoughtful Christmas present, shoppers should always check their basket carefully before paying. If you've already bought one from Virgin Experience Days, it could be worth checking your bank statements and emails to make sure you haven't been paying for an extra membership you never intended to buy.

• Please note that some extra charges, such as delivery costs, may apply when buying experience vouchers.