BFS Finance + 1and1 Hosting *UPDATED*

cmc_entertainment

Hi all. Hope i could get some advice before i contact them again but not on the phone but email them[ = proof of whats said;) ].

Right; from the beginning.

I was on 1and1 business hosting @ £10.56/month with a ssl certificate until i decided at the end of june to switch to my new provider.

At this time I owed 1and1 1 months hosting as my billing date was on the 13th of june - fair enough - in which time i had recived an invoice for6 months worth [they take it in advance].

On 2/5/06 - I cancelled the ssl cert.
On 12/5/06 - i cancelled my hosting with my 2 domains as well

on the same day i transferred all my domains to my new hosting provider.

[I have all confirmation emails and need to confir emails to proove i done this.]

Then on the 13/05/06 I received an email asking for 3 months payment for the SSL Cert i already cancelled! :mad:

Right - BFS Finance.

Last Monday [12 June] i received the letter below :mad: :



On tuesday I indeed contacted them and asked why i had the letter and the amount persumably owed.
They said that basically i have to pay no matter what - even though i only owe them one months service - THEN they will refund me the difference and that the quicker i pay; the more i would get back.

I suggested to pay over 8 weeks; but retracted that statement and told them that i would get back to them. I have left it at that.

The thing is that i can pay them for the service i used - ie one months @ £10.56; but i cannot afford to pay the whole lot for them to refund me 90% of it back!.

I hope someone would point me in a direction and i have indeed thought of the CAB; will go there tomorrow after work.

lynzpower

Nah thats ridiculous.

Why should you have to pay something to be refunded.

Sounds like scammery to me

Ask your local trading standards dept to look into it. It may not be legal

CLAPTON

what do the terms and conditions say about cancelling the contract?

cmc_entertainment

1and1 general terms 8-11

8. TERMINATION
8.1

Either party may at any time by giving notice in a written and signed summary document, terminate this agreement without compensation to the other party if the other party shall become bankrupt, or if a body corporate pass a resolution or the court shall make an order that one party be wound up, otherwise than by way of amalgamation or reconstruction, or if a receiver or manager on behalf of a creditor shall be appointed, or if circumstances shall arise which entitles the court to make a winding up order.
8.2

The Company shall have the right to terminate this Agreement without reason upon giving 14 days written notice to the Customer and termination shall occur at the expiry of the notice period. The Customer shall have the right to terminate this Agreement any time giving written notice to the Company. Termination shall occur at the reception time of the notice.
8.3

Termination or expiry of this Agreement for whatever reason shall not prejudice or affect any right of action or remedy which shall have occurred or shall accrue thereafter to either of the parties.
8.4

The Company reserves the right to terminate this Agreement without notice upon any of the following events:- (a) the Charges and/or Additional Charges are outstanding for more than 20 calendar days; (b) the Customer is in breach of his obligations as set out in Clause 6.1.4, 6.1.5, 6.1.7, 6.1.9, 6.2.2, 6.2.3, 6.2.4, 6.2.5, 6.2.6, 6.2.7, 6.2.8 and 12; (c) the Customer fails, despite prior warning to remedy a breach of Clause 6.2.7.
8.5

Should the customer not receive email confirmation of their termination within 14 days of their request date the customer is responsible for contacting the company to ensure the termination has been received.
9. Effect of Termination
9.1

On termination or expiry of this Agreement for whatever reason the following provisions shall apply:- (a) the Equipment and all copies thereof, which is the subject matter of this Agreement will be returned to the Company in good condition if required under Clause 12.6, and in any event in no worse condition than at the commencement of this Agreement; (b) in the event that the Equipment is not returned by the Customer to the Company in good condition, the Company shall be entitled to compensation equal to the value of the cost of repairing the Equipment or if such Equipment cannot be repaired the cost of replacing the Equipment; (c) the non-exclusive licence pursuant to Clause 12 granted to the Customer in respect of the Equipment by the Company shall be revoked with immediate effect; (d) the Customer shall pay immediately all Charges and/or Additional Charges outstanding under this Agreement to the Company within 14 Working Days. (e) the Customer shall pay all amounts (if any) as and when such amounts shall fall due under the indemnity given in Clause 7.4; (f) the Customer shall be responsible for renewing the Registration of his domain name(s) and finding a new host for the respective domain name(s); (g) the Company shall without prior notice cease hosting a domain name(s) 30 days from and including the expiry date of notice to terminate given under Clause 8.2 or 30 days from the date of termination if earlier notwithstanding that the Customer has not found an alternative host for the respective domain name(s).
10. CONSUMER'S CANCELLATION RIGHTS
10.1

Any Customer buying as a consumer has the unreserved right to cancel this Agreement at no cost and without any reason within 7 days from either:- (a) the date the contract is formed; or (b) the date that confirmation that the contract is formed is received from the Company whichever is the later.
10.2

The Customer may exercise the right of cancellation by notifying the Company in writing at the Company's address shown in Clause 1.1 by sending a fax to the Company at 01753 490444.
10.3

The Customer will no longer have this right once the Company has commenced provision of the Services with the Customer's consent. The Customer shall be deemed to have given such consent by accepting these Terms and Conditions.
11. LIMITATION OF SERVICE
11.1

The Company shall be entitled to suspend such access to the Services as it deems necessary by the Customer or any third party to all or any party of the Services if the Customer is in breach of any of Clauses: 5, 6.1.4, 6.1.5, 6.1.7, 6.1.9, 6.2.2, 6.2.3, 6.2.4, 6.2.5, 6.2.6 and 12. This Clause shall not be construed in any way as limiting the termination rights of the Company as provided by Clause 8.
11.2

In the case of Clause 6.2.6 the Company's right to suspend access to the Services in accordance with Clause 11.1 also applies if the Customer reaches the relevant data transfer volume but does not exceed it.
11.3

If access to the Services is suspended as a result of downtime caused by routine or emergency maintenance by the Customer the Services shall be reconnected as quickly as practicable after, in the opinion of the Company, such circumstances giving rise to the need to suspend have ceased to exist.
11.4

Following the suspension of Services (other than for the reasons referred to in Clause 11.3) the Customer shall be obliged to apply for reconnection of access to the Services but the Company shall not be obliged to reconnect access to the Services. On receipt of an application to reconnect the Company may do one of the following:- (a) reconnect as soon as reasonably practicable subject to payment of all Charges and/or Additional Charges and any amounts due under Clause 7.5; (b) specify additional reasonable terms required by the Company prior to agreeing access to the Services; (c) refuse to allow access to the Services on the basis that the breach or instruction or event which led to the suspension of access is unremedied or still remains as the case may be.
11.5

The Customer will pay any Additional Charges as may be required from time to time by the Company for reconnection to the Services.
11.6

If the breach or instruction or event which led to the suspension of Services remains or the Customer refuses to accept the additional terms referred to in Clause 11.4(b), the Company shall be entitled to terminate without notice;- (a) in the case of non payment of any Charges or Additional Charges, if such amounts remain outstanding for more than 20 calendar days; or (b) in the case of any other event leading to suspension of access to the Services, if it remains unremedied or additional terms are not accepted within 14 days of the suspension.
11.7

The Company does not give any warranties in connection with the provision of goods supplied by a third party for the provision of the Services but shall, if applicable, assign to the Customer the benefit of any licence, warranty, guarantee or indemnity given by the third party supplying any Equipment to the Company.

cmc_entertainment

lynzpower wrote:

Nah thats ridiculous.

Why should you have to pay something to be refunded.

Sounds like scammery to me

Ask your local trading standards dept to look into it. It may not be legal

Chelmsford is my local one - will email them after i see the CAB tomorrow - as calling them wont help as they wont have a copy f the letter that im gonna discuss.

thanks

amosworks

It's always worth trying to speak to a people person in the organisation first that maybe can help understand your concerns a bit better?

Typically, techies aren't the most agreeable of people. Maybe someone more customer services focused might be worth a try to get some sympathy for them to resolve the issue?

cmc_entertainment

Have just been to the very helpful local CAB.

Told them the situation of me having to pay all of the costs then getting refunded. They [she] said to just pay what i owe [£10.56] with a letter stating why i have paid this amount; then see what happens.

They also gave me a card for Consumer Direct - will give them a call later on; so any tips on writing the letter? :rolleyes:

Kevicho

Did you make the request for cancellation in writing

I know Plusnet were swines for this, being the rip off merchants they are

cmc_entertainment

its for https://www.1and1.co.uk - hwebsite hosting not internet service


BTW - i cancelled throught their own cancellation page!

Kevicho

Sorry, my point wasnt the company, just making sure that you were covered, and commenting on how companies like this operate and the depths they will go to screw money out of you

Brassic

This sounds soooo familiar :rolleyes:

I was with them for a while, and had all sorts of problems when I wanted to close my account at the end of term.

It went to BFS, and they reckoned I owed various charges for letters, interest etc, on a years services I hadn't had and didn't want. After ammassing around 150 pounds of charges whilst undergoing fruitless corresponence with 1and1, I wrote to both of them enclosing a cheque for the original amount (which was 12 quid but it was the principle of the thing) and told them that was all they were getting. I haven't heard another peep out of them since.

Hope you get it sorted - sounds very dodgy wanting money only to give it straight back - keep us updated and sorry I can't be of any help.