Dating site - cancellation/charges

nesbitt

Joined dating site BE2.ie in June 09. This company is based in Luxembourg as far as I can now make out.

Signed up for 1 month trial for 10 euro or so I thought. Paid by Credit Card and gave my home address and contact details as part of the registration process. After the 1st month was up 120euro was taken from my credit card and it appeared that I signed up for 3months thereafter once I had availed of the 1 month trial.

Just put this down to crafty marketing and decided to cancel membership at end of July. Did not use the site really because it is not suitable as most people are UK based....

Emailed customer services for their procedure as I could not find any clearcut cancellation facility on their website. I could de-activate my profile and delete my photo but not cancel my membership fully. So I did this on site in July. I was instructed to fax a letter to Luxembourg number to cancel my membership. I did not do this just de-activated my profile on line. I can join on-line but cannot cancel on-line!!

So in Sept BE2.ie tried to take another 120euro from my credit card for service I am not using and my profile is de-activated since July 09. I subsequently cancelled my Credit Card and so they are blocked from getting any more money from me.

I am receiving emails from BE2.ie that I entered into a conract with them and owe them for my membership and they will pass debt to collection agency and that my credit rating will be effected.

I have simply ignored emails and have not entered into any dialogue since July other than an email asking for their Cancellation procedure as I could not cancel properly on their website.

What is the best course of action:

a. ignore them and their collection agency.

b. get my solicitor to write to company and state that my profile was de-activated and this should cease any contract, bear in mind I signed up on-line so why can't I cancel on-line.

c. get into email dialogue and state that the account was de-activated in July and that they provide no on-line cancellation facility. They already know this surely and still want to take money from my Credit Card. However that card is now cancelled... effectively blocking them.

Just think I have got involved in a faustian situation where you have to cancel by fax and they say they have not got the fax etc.

All advice appreciated. Thanks

jeckle

I notice on the FAQ section of the site that it says

How can I delete my profile?
You can delete your profile by choosing "Settings" and "Profile Settings." Please be aware of the that you cannot delete your profile unless you cancel your Premium Membership first. You can do so by using the respective link in "Settings" and "Premium Membership."

Did you do this? Or did you just make your profile inactive?

Also, in this section it states

Your Premium Membership is renewed automatically after the time period chosen by you. However, you can cancel the automatic renewal any time you like; the cancellation period is 14 days.

Where can I find information about my Premium Membership status?
If you are a Premium Member, go to your member homepage and click onto "Personal Profile/Settings". Here you will find a box providing you information of your Premium Membership and how long it is valid.

I’d say that by merely de-activating your profile this just means that your profile is not being shown to others, until you reactivate it, presumably for times when you would be away or whatever, but you are still actually a premium member of the site. Or were you able to actually delete your profile? If so, it could be claimed that you shouldn't have been able to do so without first cancelling your premium membership, & it was a computer/site error. But by what you posted it looks as if you only de-activated it?

Unfortunately, it looks to me as if you didn’t actually go through the proper cancellation procedures.

Maybe you should either write of fax to Luxembourg, & explain the situation to them, but as far as I can make out you do owe them the money. Make sure that your account & premium membership are now fully closed/cancelled!


Btw, did they actually get the Sept payment, or had you changed your credit card number by that stage?

Nody

You where told how to cancel it and yet you did not bother to go through with it and now complain that you have to pay for a service you did not cancel? Sorry but what part of the cancellation process was unclear to you?

Now I've gone through something similar with another site (you could cancel your premium membership online (i.e. right to actually send a mail), remove your profile and have the account listted as normal member and still continue be charged for no service what so ever and only way to cancel it was to call the US phone number linked to a third party company that showed up on the CC bill which I only got through Google).

Your best bet by far is to speak with them to try to get it sorted and in the future actually follow the instructions on how to cancel a service instead of thinking your way to cancel is accepted by the company. Of course they will make it difficult to cancel a service, that goes for most such websites out there but most sites are reasonble, esp. if you mention charge back for a service not provided.

nesbitt

Thanks for the detailed replies guys. Their site seems as if you can cancel membership but when you follow the instructions there is no facility to cancel the membership on line. You just go around in circles.

Fact is I have not used their service since mid-July as I did manage to de-activate my profile and delete my photos etc. My profile is dormant so to speak so they could not say they have provided any service not have I used any since July.

The cancellation procedure with this company is contrived, ie. you must fax a signed letter to cancel, yet you can join on-line.

Just an aside comment I do not have access to a fax! surely they must allow me to cancel using another communication media?

No they cannot get any more money from me because I cancelled my card during the summer and got a new one.... They are blocked.

I am the sort of person who pays my bills and is responsible and do not want to get out of paying what I owe but really I have not used any service from this company since July.

Think I will have a chat with my solicitor about this and get her to write to them to get lost....

Mr E

So you'll pay your solicitor €120 instead of the dating site? You might get the result, but you'll still be out of pocket.

Be polite with them, and explain in simple terms what happened and what you are trying to do. Alot of stationery shops have a fax service. Type up a letter, sign it, send it off, and move on.

slimjimmc

nesbitt wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed replies guys. Their site seems as if you can cancel membership but when you follow the instructions there is no facility to cancel the membership on line. You just go around in circles.

Fact is I have not used their service since mid-July as I did manage to de-activate my profile and delete my photos etc. My profile is dormant so to speak so they could not say they have provided any service not have I used any since July.

They can indeed say they have provided the service, and probably still are unless it's cancelled. It's up to you whether or not you actually make use of it. For example, if you've subscribed to UPC/Sky you still have to pay the monthly fee even if you later decided to gave up watching TV and didn't formally cancel the service, why do you think BE2.ie should be any different?

The cancellation procedure with this company is contrived, ie. you must fax a signed letter to cancel, yet you can join on-line.

Just an aside comment I do not have access to a fax! surely they must allow me to cancel using another communication media?

While it would be convenient to have on-line cancellation it's not particularily difficult to send a fax. Many office supply shops, secretarial services, etc provide faxing services, or you could ask a friend who does have access (many offices have them). Did you not ask customer service for alternative methods, even a postal address?
[/quote]

No they cannot get any more money from me because I cancelled my card during the summer and got a new one.... They are blocked.

I am the sort of person who pays my bills and is responsible and do not want to get out of paying what I owe but really I have not used any service from this company since July.

As per TV analogy above, until it has been formally cancelled by either party the service is still being provided. It's just you're choosing not to make use of it. You are therefore still liable for the subscription charges and they are entitled to pursue you if they want.

Think I will have a chat with my solicitor about this and get her to write to them to get lost....

He'll probably tell you the same but you can try.



Mr E's advice is good. Talk to them nicely and they might reciprocate.

AlwaysAmber

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Your account probably auto renews until you cancel it, but you wouldn't have a fixed term contract with them. If your September payment didn't go through, then they should just block your account and then delete it if payment isn't received within a month or so.

Asking you to fax your cancellation request to them is a bit much.

nesbitt

AlwaysAmber wrote: »

Asking you to fax your cancellation request to them is a bit much.

That is my point entirely. I know that I can send a fax from stationers etc. but if they accept your membership on line without a signature why the requirement for a faxed cancellation letter. I will probably be told they did not get the fax...

Anyway I sent a note to customer services stating that as far as I understand I cancelled my membership and have not signed on since July 09 and that they can check that. I stated that I do not owe 120 euro for service not required from Sep 09 to Nov 09 they are billing in advance. Thanks and all that!

I will fax if I absolutely must but this is a load of cxap.

I am absolutely not paying this Company 120 euro and yes if it comes down to it I would rather pay my nice solicitor to fax them a get lost letter! She wont charge me anyway for a letter, she has been peachy about other items over the years so:)

Nody

Sorry but requiring the cancellation in writing is not something unique, BT etc. have been known to require it as well and you can sign up for them online with out problem.

nesbitt

Thanks Nody, I am living and learning as I go. Kinda annoyed at myself for getting involved with BE2 and giving my CC details etc in the first place. I know that my credit rating could be effected by this company also so I will sort this one way or another. I have not received a response from their customer services as yet. I imagine they will expect me to cancel by fax (I will make sure I get a printed sending receipt) and take the hit for a further 120euro. Jeez I so don't need this as I am not working at present. :)

slimjimmc

nesbitt wrote: »

Thanks Nody, I am living and learning as I go. Kinda annoyed at myself for getting involved with BE2 and giving my CC details etc in the first place. I know that my credit rating could be effected by this company also so I will sort this one way or another. I have not received a response from their customer services as yet. I imagine they will expect me to cancel by fax (I will make sure I get a printed sending receipt) and take the hit for a further 120euro. Jeez I so don't need this as I am not working at present. :)

The Irish Credit Bureau is the main credit reference in Ireland and only its members (specific banks, credit card issuers, credit unions, finance houses and local authorities) can affect it. There are other credit-reference companies but ICB is the main one so it is unlikely your credit rating in Ireland will be affected.

If you're afraid a debt collection agency can blacklist you then you should read case study 7/99 from the Data Protection Commissioner in which he explicitly states that a debt collector is not allowed to use your details to create a blacklist.

It was pointed out that the agency had no entitlement to retain personal details regarding the hospital’s patients, and that it certainly had no entitlement to use these details to create a credit reference "blacklist".

nesbitt

Thanks very much for letting me know about what can effect my credit rating. This was really getting to me, just think I've been an ejitt to get involved with this site as their cancellation policy is geared up to be very hard to get away from them.... I will deal with this and will demand a communication from them that my membership is CANCELLED.

BTW I have used Irish run dating site over the last year and cancelled and rejoined twice no hassle at all. So as I said you live and learn. Did note the other poster who had to Google a third party Company (details gleaned from his/her CC statement) to eventually get closure with USA site.

Be wary folks...

Thanks all for excellent replies, feel far better equipped to deal with this now.