Credit card debited without permission

Bebop

I signed up for a 1-month trial on a family history website using my credit card, I just used it for a week or two before discarding it but now I find that they are charging me €10 per month, this was not made clear at the outset and I did not tick any box allowing them to continue debiting my CC, I have emailed them but so far they have not replied;

What are my rights? can they retain my credit card details (including the CVV apparently) and make further charges without my approval?
so far they have made 3 further charges following my initial purchase

cml387

Normally a trial will imply a continued subscription unless you explicitly cancel it.
Did you cancel the subscription?

homer911

Go back to the website and check the terms and conditions.

Have you formally cancelled the contract with them?

If this is a big deal, how did it go three months before taking action, or have they continued to take payments after you cancelled the contract? If its the latter, then you should contact your credit card company for advice

Intifada

I've had stuff like this happen before. I tried to sign up for a credit check with Experia only to find I had to submit some details I didn't have to hand, so I gave up. 2-3 months later I find they've still been charging me a monthly fee. I sent them a pretty aggressive email and they backed down and refunded me.

Few other similar incidents. Sometimes they'll even try and charge you fees to cancel etc. They prey on people, they know a lot of people will just accept their reasoning but they'll often back down fairly quickly themselves when challenged.

You wouldn't let a business owner steal money from your pocket in a shop, don't let them just because it's online.

Bebop

cml387 wrote: »

Normally a trial will imply a continued subscription unless you explicitly cancel it.
Did you cancel the subscription?

A normal trial would make this clear from the start; I am also sure I would need to opt-in by ticking a box, there is also the matter of retaining my card details, I sure it says all this in the long list of T&C's but I dont think you can bury this is the small print, offer, consideration & Acceptance are the legal basis for any transaction

Jim2007

Bebop wrote: »

A normal trial would make this clear from the start; I am also sure I would need to opt-in by ticking a box, there is also the matter of retaining my card details, I sure it says all this in the long list of T&C's but I dont think you can bury this is the small print, offer, consideration & Acceptance are the legal basis for any transaction

It is absolutely normal and if you choose not to read the T&C then that is your problem. I expect the charges will continue to apply until you cancel the contract.

cml387

Bebop wrote: »

A normal trial would make this clear from the start; I am also sure I would need to opt-in by ticking a box, there is also the matter of retaining my card details, I sure it says all this in the long list of T&C's but I dont think you can bury this is the small print, offer, consideration & Acceptance are the legal basis for any transaction

I would (being of suspicious nature) assume a subscription is implied. ICompanies usually don't offer free trials without some suggestion of a susbscription. That to me would be a "normal" trial.

Bebop

Jim2007 wrote: »

It is absolutely normal and if you choose not to read the T&C then that is your problem. I expect the charges will continue to apply until you cancel the contract.

No, Jim2007 I did not have the time to scroll through all the screens of fine print, but I did today and sure enough it says that the Trial is "Continuous" under the personal details section, obviously you read all the fine print everytime you make a transaction

What about the credit card issue? can a vendor hold my CC details and make charges for as long as they wish? how would that work?
I know a hotel or car hire firm can do this but they have a special authorisation for this purpose and state this upfront but an ordinary vendor can't do this unless the customer expressly authorises it, it cannot be the default option

When I used my credit card to buy the trial subscription I believed that it was a one-off charge, nothing I read on the webpage lead me suspect that it would be a rolling charge,

I would say that probably my best option is to claim a charge back from Mastercard, but I am still no wiser as to how a vendor can setup a rolling charge without a customers knowledge or consent

ukoda

Bebop wrote: »

I would say that probably my best option is to claim a charge back from Mastercard, but I am still no wiser as to how a vendor can setup a rolling charge without a customers knowledge or consent

nope, look its your fault at the end of the day and its not up to the credit card comapny to fix it, cancel the subscription and chalk it down to bad experience. you''ll be wiser in the future and not make the same mistake. any trail where they ask for your CC is going to keep billing you, and as you've already said, its in the T&C's that you didnt read, and by ticking that box to accept the T&C's you gave them permission to charge you monthly for a subcription, so the company is covered. youre gonna have to live with the loss, you havent a leg to stand on for a charge back or complaint to the company

Digital Society

Why did you think they where asking for your CC details?

smcgiff

Bebop wrote: »

No, Jim2007 I did not have the time to scroll through all the screens of fine print

AND that's how they legally make money.

cml387

In fact they may even include a clause that requires you to surrender your first-born for all eternity.

BazzaDP

It's fairly common and I normally think people should take personal responsibility in things, but I personally disagree for this. We shouldn't depend on people having been caught out before, or to know "that's how it works".

I would question how legally enforceable this sort of thing is. Consumer Protection is actually quite strong in things like this and burying something like this in the middle of a long list of Ts&Cs arguably doesn't really cut it. That's why many companies back down and refund when pressed. Just depends if you can be bothered chasing it through - usually it's not worth the hassle no matter how annoying or wrong it seems.

You'll also notice the more reputable the company, the more honest and up front they are about this sort of thing.

ukoda

BazzaDP wrote: »

It's fairly common and I normally think people should take personal responsibility in things, but I personally disagree for this. We shouldn't depend on people having been caught out before, or to know "that's how it works".

I would question how legally enforceable this sort of thing is. Consumer Protection is actually quite strong in things like this and burying something like this in the middle of a long list of Ts&Cs arguably doesn't really cut it. That's why many companies back down and refund when pressed. Just depends if you can be bothered chasing it through - usually it's not worth the hassle no matter how annoying or wrong it seems.

You'll also notice the more reputable the company, the more honest and up front they are about this sort of thing.

I think you'll find tho that most people will claim "they didn't see it anywhere" even if it's plastered everywhere.

there's nearly always a line that says "after your free trial period has ended your membership will be automatically renew at €X per month until you cancel"

Bottom line is, if you are giving your CC to a subscription based service. Be prepared to pay the subscription or be alert enough to cancel before the free period ends

Any chance we could know the website in question? Id hazard a guess it's probably written clearly on the free trial sign up page and not just buried in the T&C's

BazzaDP

True. Free trial which requires Credit Card info is a big glaring sign.

I'm more talking about the sneaker ones that ask for one payment and then take multiple ones when you might not realise you're signing up to a continuous service.

Bebop

BazzaDP wrote: »

True. Free trial which requires Credit Card info is a big glaring sign.

I'm more talking about the sneaker ones that ask for one payment and then take multiple ones when you might not realise you're signing up to a continuous service.

How true,
I managed to resolve the issue by emailing my complaint to the company, I pointed out that I only authorised one payment and had not expressly given my permission for further debits, they have refunded all the subsequent payments and apologised for the misunderstanding