I've run my own businesses for 20 years.
This may have been blatantly ripping a lot of people off under the guise of an 'official' business or a business that went wrong, traded insolvent - believing that next month would pull them level/in front and back into making money from their passion. I like yourself will probably never know. I do know one thing.
I know who's fault it isn't and that is Mels. You need to channel that annoyance towards Pure Challenge and not towards people who have contributed to your original post.
The bonus for anyone else caught up in this is that when you type Pure Challenge into a Google search this topic now ranks higher than the company themselves and in this topic is useful info for others left out of pocket.