1&1 Domain debtor collectors!!

pshsurfer

Hi,
Im a victim of the 'auto renewal' and am now being pursued for money by Arvarto collection agency. I've followed the thread, and dont seem to have a leg to stand on. I agreed to the clause 4.4 in the 1&1 contract in 2008. I refused to pay the recent demand because I assumed it was an erroneous request. This came after several emails asking me to update my card details - which I ignored. Am I doomed to receive the bailiffs?

Any suggestions welcomed!!


see the recent email from 1&1...

Customers always have the option of visiting our on-line cancellation site - or calling into our office -- 0800-917-6273. I don't see that you ever spoke to a support agent in regards to this.

Again, we apologize for any confusion caused here.

Unfortunately, non-payment is not a form of cancellation. The service will perpetually renew unless proactively cancelled. More than an industry standard, this is a very important convenience for our existing and prospective customers. Customers cannot be forced to contact us every time they need a service renewal. This would cause unwanted website downtime, loss of resources, and an assortment of other issues for a large majority of our customers.

From a customer service standpoint, we want to do all that we can. We do understand that perhaps this service was somehow forgot about, incorrectly cancelled, or there was some kind of misunderstanding along the way. We do sympathize with your plight in this current situation.

This is why we pointed out that, should you pay the collection agency within the 30-day mark, they will remove you from any credit-affecting list. We send out letters to remind customers of their outstanding balance through the mail, send out numerous emails, and we make telephone calls as well.

Please further resolve this matter with AFS.
----

Contrary to what Im being told, I'm concerned that this unfair contractual 'agreement' is a cynical way to obtain money from people without their consent...a bit like theft.

Any ideas?

MauiJim

DaveMacD wrote: »

And, without a touch of irony, they emailed me the link to their customer satisfaction survey

Have emailed complaints, so I'll see how it goes. Never thought to add the bit about reporting them, I might save that for the next one...

Unreal this is exactly what is happening to me!

I am not paying!

MauiJim

pshsurfer wrote: »

Hi,
Im a victim of the 'auto renewal' and am now being pursued for money by Arvarto collection agency. I've followed the thread, and dont seem to have a leg to stand on. I agreed to the clause 4.4 in the 1&1 contract in 2008. I refused to pay the recent demand because I assumed it was an erroneous request. This came after several emails asking me to update my card details - which I ignored. Am I doomed to receive the bailiffs?

They would need to take you to court, obtain a judgement etc before they could send bailiffs. It seems to me that these clowns are just trying get money from people who fear the court and know little about consumer law.

How much do you owe them?

I cancelled twice with them using their own specific procedure but they claim I didn't cancel..TWICE! Strange how I cancelled my DD at the same time...ONCE..and that is why these clowns can't steal my money!

I have read elsewhere their contracts are based on German law but I cannot be certain of that. I also believe they contravene Nominet rules.

I sent an e-mail to this guy andreas.gauger@1and1.co.uk who is pretty high up the food chain! I suggest you do the same!

Saeed

I have the same problem. This is my case:-

I signed up for a domain name for another person and paid via paypal.
I registered the domain in this other persons name and address (which shows in WHOIS).
I cancelled the paypal agreement and left it at that. I do not have contact with the person I registered the domain name to.
I have now started receiving letters from Arvato IN MY NAME about the renewal debt..
I did not know about this auto renewal thing and the domain is not in my name.

I have just ignored the 3 or 4 letters from Arvato. Recently I received a letter from HL Legal (solicitors). I phoned HL Legal who told me that Arvato use the HL Legal signage for their letter which I found misleading. The letter says it may proceed to court action. The debt was originally around £7, now it is £25.

What I want to know is, has anyone ever been taken to the county court by Arvato/HL Legal for outstanding 1&1 accounts?

gollum007

Three years on, and I'm still ignoring them
They *will not* take you to court, or do anything else. File all letters in the bin.

Same scam as the parking companies, nothing more. Just because something is in their T&Cs doesn't mean it's legal, valid or anything more than toilet paper.

-Gollum

Saeed

Cheers, I'll carry on ignoring them.

flashylightsmeow

Hi guys,

Im in a slightly different dispute with 1&1, I went through with a purchase for a domain name, the card payment didn't go through, so when they told me this I asked them to cancel the order. To which they simply responded that I still had to pay and couldn't cancel. SO it's escalated to a letter from HL Legal threatening a CCJ, any advice as to what I should do?
Also with all the complaints against them, surely there should be a class action lawsuit against them?

skyblue1987

Similar situation to many of you...

Domain purchased in Dec2009 for a period of 2 years.
I had no need for it in Dec 2011 and as my Credit Card had expired, payment could not be made.
The "debt" was subsequently sold to Arvato & this morning I had a letter from "HL Legal"

I have told them a number of times that the alleged debt is unenforceable and they are in breach of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999

I have sent a complaint to Nominet & also contacted East Riding Trading Standards (I think they already have a big file on Arvato).

Will let you know how I get on ...

Owen34

My sister has problems with this so called company.

She used there 30 day free trial and paid £20 for bulk purchase of domains, before the 30 days were up we closed the trial hosting from the panel.
Then 2 months later they started sending invoices for £97 and phoning here, unknown to me she paid the invoice to stop them hounding here, she paid by CC and they added the full details into the account profile without consent

Now the next month they have sent another invoice for £97 :mad: i have made her reverse the 1st £97 CC transaction and sent them a mail.

They seem to operate by offering a 30 day trial and then saying you didn't cancel it, this is highly illegal and they should be shut down.

I have started a transfer to namecheap for the .com domain, and after reading here i need to contact them to stop auto renewal of the other tld's

I wonder what they try next.

arcon5

skyblue1987 wrote: »

Similar situation to many of you...

Domain purchased in Dec2009 for a period of 2 years.
I had no need for it in Dec 2011 and as my Credit Card had expired, payment could not be made.
The "debt" was subsequently sold to Arvato & this morning I had a letter from "HL Legal"

I have told them a number of times that the alleged debt is unenforceable and they are in breach of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999

I have sent a complaint to Nominet & also contacted East Riding Trading Standards (I think they already have a big file on Arvato).

Will let you know how I get on ...

Whys it unfair? Did you disable the auto renew.