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Please Help :( Be2.co.uk internet dating site nightmare
Natasha1972
Posts: 7 Forumite
Hello
I have been recommended to come to this site as I have no idea where to turn to. I'm absolutely devastated about a horrible situation that I'm in.
I have fallen prey to Be2.co.uk internet dating site's ridiculously hidden and confusing Terms and Conditions.
I signed up for the one month trial for £5 and didn't see anywhere on the website that clearly stated in the Terms and Conditions that there is a 14 day cancellation period.
Last Sunday night, I decided to cancel my membership as I still had approximately one week left before my membership went on to auto-renewal, and I spent over 3 extremely frustrating hours trying to figure out how to cancel. In the end I gave up and sent an email to Be2 customer services to request cancellation. I received an email a few hours later to say that as I had not cancelled outside of 14 days, they would charge me £149 to stay on the site for a 6 month membership which I do not want.
I feel as though I have been tricked. I have since sent several emails to the customer service dept only to be told that their Terms & Conditions apply equally to all members, and form a binding contract. The contract is governed under Luxembourg law and as I did not cancel within the period specified in the Terms & Conditions, my membership will automatically re-bill for £149.94 on 25.05.2010 - which is the amount I am contractually obligated to pay for the services which I have voluntarily purchased from them, however, these Terms and Conditions are near impossible to find.
I have also Googled them and am shocked by the amount of similar complaints made against this company.
After more rooting around, I found these Ts and Cs on the website
which are written in such unbelievable jargon that even upon reading, they still aren't very clear. The key line says:
(3) Upon expiry of the purchased access period, access to the chargeable option of making contact under item II (5) and the related contractual relationship under item III (3) shall be automatically extended by an access period as selected or indicated (e.g. 3 or 6 months), unless the Client terminates in writing fourteen days before expiry of the access period or, if another termination period was communicated when buying the access period, within this other stated termination period, indicating his/her full name and his/her alias. The termination must be requested using the respective link in “Settings” in “Premium Membership”, if available, or by facsimile. Upon receipt of the confirmation of payment for the first purchase the user shall be informed of the day (date) until which the contract shall firstly run and by what duration the term will be extended unless due notice of termination is given.
(1) Any objections to amounts of debited or charged fees which a Client may have must be raised and substantiated versus be2 in writing at the latest 14 days from debit of the objected fees or from receipt of the objected invoice. If the Client should fail to raise any substantiated objections within said 14 days period, the debited or charged fees shall be deemed to be approved. Any costs or fees incurred due to the delay or default of payment are the responsibility of the Client. In the event of a delay or default of payment, interest will be charged in accordance with prevailing statutory regulations.
So they basically say that unless memberships are cancel outside of 14 days they will charge membership fees but it's not very clear and I don't know how legally binding it is.
Is there anything at all I can do to stop them taking almost £150 without getting a lawsuit against me? If I refuse to pay by stopping my debit card, block their emails and return any post sent to me, will they slap on extra charges and could they damage my credit score etc?
I'm really really scared. I just can't afford to pay £150. If I had know what kind of an awful company they were, I would have steered well clear of them.
Any help would be extremely appreciated.
Thanks
Natasha
I have been recommended to come to this site as I have no idea where to turn to. I'm absolutely devastated about a horrible situation that I'm in.
I have fallen prey to Be2.co.uk internet dating site's ridiculously hidden and confusing Terms and Conditions.
I signed up for the one month trial for £5 and didn't see anywhere on the website that clearly stated in the Terms and Conditions that there is a 14 day cancellation period.
Last Sunday night, I decided to cancel my membership as I still had approximately one week left before my membership went on to auto-renewal, and I spent over 3 extremely frustrating hours trying to figure out how to cancel. In the end I gave up and sent an email to Be2 customer services to request cancellation. I received an email a few hours later to say that as I had not cancelled outside of 14 days, they would charge me £149 to stay on the site for a 6 month membership which I do not want.
I feel as though I have been tricked. I have since sent several emails to the customer service dept only to be told that their Terms & Conditions apply equally to all members, and form a binding contract. The contract is governed under Luxembourg law and as I did not cancel within the period specified in the Terms & Conditions, my membership will automatically re-bill for £149.94 on 25.05.2010 - which is the amount I am contractually obligated to pay for the services which I have voluntarily purchased from them, however, these Terms and Conditions are near impossible to find.
I have also Googled them and am shocked by the amount of similar complaints made against this company.
After more rooting around, I found these Ts and Cs on the website
which are written in such unbelievable jargon that even upon reading, they still aren't very clear. The key line says:
(3) Upon expiry of the purchased access period, access to the chargeable option of making contact under item II (5) and the related contractual relationship under item III (3) shall be automatically extended by an access period as selected or indicated (e.g. 3 or 6 months), unless the Client terminates in writing fourteen days before expiry of the access period or, if another termination period was communicated when buying the access period, within this other stated termination period, indicating his/her full name and his/her alias. The termination must be requested using the respective link in “Settings” in “Premium Membership”, if available, or by facsimile. Upon receipt of the confirmation of payment for the first purchase the user shall be informed of the day (date) until which the contract shall firstly run and by what duration the term will be extended unless due notice of termination is given.
(1) Any objections to amounts of debited or charged fees which a Client may have must be raised and substantiated versus be2 in writing at the latest 14 days from debit of the objected fees or from receipt of the objected invoice. If the Client should fail to raise any substantiated objections within said 14 days period, the debited or charged fees shall be deemed to be approved. Any costs or fees incurred due to the delay or default of payment are the responsibility of the Client. In the event of a delay or default of payment, interest will be charged in accordance with prevailing statutory regulations.
So they basically say that unless memberships are cancel outside of 14 days they will charge membership fees but it's not very clear and I don't know how legally binding it is.
Is there anything at all I can do to stop them taking almost £150 without getting a lawsuit against me? If I refuse to pay by stopping my debit card, block their emails and return any post sent to me, will they slap on extra charges and could they damage my credit score etc?
I'm really really scared. I just can't afford to pay £150. If I had know what kind of an awful company they were, I would have steered well clear of them.
Any help would be extremely appreciated.
Thanks
Natasha
0
Comments
-
hiya chick, i cant help you with the contract just wanted to say good luck and hope things turn out ok xxx
im sure if you still wanted to carry on with the internet dating have a good look at this site..im pretty sure there are some free sites out there xx no catch xx0 -
gemmy26wales wrote: »hiya chick,
Jeez... don't you make a load of pointless posts???Beware of imitations e.g. Robert Sterling0 -
Hi, just wondering if I had posted this in the correct section?:embarasse0
-
Well you have posted it elsewhere too.Natasha1972 wrote: »Hi, just wondering if I had posted this in the correct section?:embarasse
Did you get anything useful from the other posts on that thread?0 -
R0bert_Sterling wrote: »Jeez... don't you make a load of pointless posts???
You and gemmy are like chalk and cheese Robert. I wish I was as interesting as you.0 -
-
Well you have posted it 'elsewhere' too.
Did you get anything useful from the other posts on that thread?
You can tell I'm a newbie!
Would you be able to kindly tell me where is the best place to post my thread?
No, I haven't received any replies yet.
Your help would be massively appreciated.
Thanks
Natasha0 -
Natasha , perhaps a call to Consumer Advice in the morning may provide you with some constructive help?0
-
Natasha , perhaps a call to Consumer Advice in the morning may provide you with some constructive help?
Hi MyRubyRed,
Thanks for the reply.
I telephoned Consumer Advice, but because the Terms and Conditions are under Luxembourg Law, they were unable to advise. They signposted me to European Consumer Advice but they seemed to also be flummoxed and didn't know where to direct me. It's puzzling and very worrying.
If you have any other suggestions I'd be so grateful.
Thanks
Natasha0 -
I would raise a dispute with the credit card company. Tell them you tried to cancel within the period but the firm wouldn't let you. No guarantees depends on how your credit card company look at it.
If that doesn't work then I fear you will have to accept losing the first payment but you can ensure you don't get a recurring payment by reporting your card lost. The credit card company will send you all new account details.
Dont worry about this dating site taking you to court you have more chance of winning the lottery.
Expensive lesson I fear."The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
Bertrand Russell. British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)0
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