Match.com

allybee101

I have used Match Affinity (linked to Match.com). When it came to cancelling my account the website informed me that I needed to phone and cancel my auto-renewal. One swift phonecall later (no hard sell to get me to renew, but asked for reason why cancelling) and my auto-renewal was cancelled. Once this was processed I then deleted my account.
I also received an email to confirm this.
I have noted that, similar to Facebook, they don't completely delete your account they just make it dormant and off line.

Not sure how small claims view such cases but without a confirmation letter or email I don't know how you can prove you've cancelled your account.

leereni

Sorry for the delay in answering. Just called match again. I was informed despite calling yesterday and complaining about being charged again the auto renewal was not cancelled. The customer services supervisor, whom I must say was very polite and professional stated she cancelled the auto renewal and I would receive an email. I never received an email and had to point this out to her. She told me it was because my account had been suspended. I then asked for a personal email to be sent which she did for me.

So much for them cancelling the auto renewal and also for the automatic email.....

lshelly

I think it's fair to say that people would expect to be notified if their subscription was about to be renewed and money to be taken from their account. If my car insurance is about to be renewed I get some warning telling me this will take place in a few weeks. Match.com don't do this because they are aware that the automatic renewal procedure will catch people out. This is a form of scam but more accuately it is just plain deceptive.

It may be common business practice these days but not everyone is aware this takes place. Myself included. I'd never heard of automatic renewals without notfication until I lost £77.94 to Match.com recently.

So yes, we live and learn. Make sure you call Match.com up to cancel and, in the words of my Natwest advisor, make sure you keep the email to say you have cancelled your automatic renewal.

That's how they make a lot of money.

meer53

If you're giving a company carte blanche access to your bank account (by giving them your card details in the first place) would you not read EVERY word in their Terms and Conditions ? ESPECIALLY the section regarding how to cancel ?

Maybe if you'd called them in the first place instead of just cancelling your account and assuming they wouldn't charge you again, you wouldn't be in this position ? How are they to know that you've just decided not to use their service any more ?

leereni

Remember me posting this thread several months ago. I got laughed off by several users about taking it up with Watchdog. Well guess what, they are featuring it in tonight's programme .

Pinzy

I've just cancelled, and though it wasn't simple, it was doable even with a snotty and overtired head!

Went to My Account [1], went to the link about hiding/deleting profile [2], Not the "suspend" link. The page came up with a big shiny button saying "SUSPEND NOW!" and in their small text underneath which is meant to look like the general writing is a bit saying if you want to delete click here [3]. Next page told me I couldn't delete until I had cancelled the automatic renewal, opened link to do that in a new tab and it gave a phone number. Called, the guy cancelled the auto-renewal (after asking me why and offering the standard offer of a cheaper 6 months), then I think he said he could delete me on the phone but told me to log out and log in again, go through steps 1-3 again, and this time it said I could delete (again in small writing), which I did, then clicked the middle button of 3 that said I wanted to delete NOW (not still use it till the renewal date / change my mind).
Had 2 confirmation emails, one about the auto-renewal and one saying the account was deleted.

So there you have it, done! Will also go to the bank to cancel the DD as well and that should be that. Of course if they take money out again I'll be back here ranting


While I realise we should all read T&Cs etc. etc., match.com do intentionally make the site misleading if you're looking to do things quickly. I upgraded my account by accident after being to eager and clicking the BIG GREEN BUTTON saying "Go!" instead of the tiny text underneath saying "Continue without upgrading". They are by far the worst site I've encountered for attempting to dazzle you with pretty colours for the upgrades or not deleting it properly (except maybe lovefilm, when the only way to cancel was by sending a letter). It's a shame for a site so big that purports to be professional. It's common business sense - don't try to rip people off, and they'll more likely come back!

Oh and the website's very glitchy which meant I got fed up with it frequently! Joined a free one (the one with the title being about lots of pisceans being available in the sea), had more emails from that in a week than did from match in a month. So, you takes your chances

KiwiEssexGirl

Dear all

some of the responses to this post have been a bit harsh. I posted about the same thing recently and received much more friendly and helpful advice... someone sent me the link the BBC Watchdog programme which highlighted the problem and I think that suggests there is a legitimate problem of confusing their customers.

Firstly for an online servcie to only cancel via the telephone seems a bit counterintuitive. Suspending your profile stops all activity except the renewal payments so as a consumer you think you have cancelled. I certainly did. Logically I don't know how the company can say it thinks you want to keep paying them when you've not been active for several months (as in my case). You need to reactivate your profile by logging in to get the account number to cancel. Without the account number they will do nothing to help you (I was hung up on when I said I had no idea what my number was because as far as I was concerned I'd cancelled and I had no longer had any emails with my login details on because I'd deleted them when I thought I'd cancelled). Once I did get through to someone to cancel the renewal he tried to sell me an ongoing cheaper package.

I have now accpeted I've lost the £77 they took from my account. I doubt you will find anyoen sympathetic enough to refund you either. But I agree with all of your sentiments about the way this company sets things ps to be confusing and maximise their income. But it must be shortsighted because once I have deleted my profile by calling them (couldn't get through yesterday to do this), Match.com will never be a company I choose to visit after my experiences. they will never see another pound of my money and the people who read these threads and see the watchdog programme will also be put off. Why don't they just run a good service and expect to build repeat business? After all, internet dating is very much on the rise.

KiwiEssexGirl

meer53 wrote: »

Maybe if you'd called them in the first place instead of just cancelling your account and assuming they wouldn't charge you again, you wouldn't be in this position ? How are they to know that you've just decided not to use their service any more ?

If 'you've just decided not to use their service anymore' why would the company presume you are happy to continue paying for said service? Are you in the practice of paying for things ad infinitum out of the goodness of your heart that you're not intending to use?

Yes to all the smug responders here - we should all learn the lesson to read carefully the T&Cs when we subscribe to a service. Not sure why you're taking such delight in the fact that many people have been caught out by this practice.:mad:

I thought this was a supportive forum...

leitmotif

I do understand that it's common for some people to be quick to leap on naïvety, but to do so here is a little unfair. The BBC's Watchdog programme did indeed feature this, highlighting how Match.com were being far from clear in their policy for cancellation and stopping payments. True, these are not necessarily the same thing, but it's obvious Match.com were trying to play on such naïvety for their own gain. Personally, I've never used Match.com, but if I were in the market for such services I would now avoid them due to this negative publicity, so they're shooting themselves in the foot.

lambton_cat

I also lost out on this, thankfully just 29.99. Id never even heard of auto-renewal and presumed if you paid for one month you got one month unless you paid again. Payment made today but you have to cancel 48 hours in advance! :mad: In my opinion companies should be forced to let you know if you are about to be charged.

I wouldn't touch them again with a barge pole however with my enforced extra month Im e-mailing as many as I can to warn them about this practise.