Help! and a warning to others Healthbilling.com

MRG14153

I made a small purchase (9 euros) for some dental equipment on the internet by credit card. Payment went through and that was that.
Or so I thought, my next credit card statement had 2 further withdrawals for $100 from a company called Healthbilling.Com!
Having spoken to my credit card company, they say they’ve had ‘many’ enquiries about similar happenings but they cannot stop these payments going out as there was probably something in the small print where I agreed to sign up to a monthly fee.
Apparently closing the credit card would have no effect either!
The number I have for Healthbilling.Com just returns a number unobtainable tone and they do not answer my emails.
I feel I am now in a situation where Healthbilling.Com can continue to take payments from my account and I can do nothing to stop them.
Can anyone give me some advice on how I can stop these payments going out and if possible recover the lost funds?
Many thanks for your time.

coolesticeking

You will need to contact your card issuer and ask them to complete a chargeback on the transaction in question.

The company taking the money may then take notice that you are being serious and stop taking payments from you.

teffers

Advise the CC you didn't agree to continous billing, it's a fraudulent transaction, you have no further association with the company in question and they are not responding to contact.

If they continue to allow funds to be taken they are then complicit in the action of fraud.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

healthbilling.com just seems to be someone parked on a domain.
healthbilling.net and healthbilling.com.au do seem to be active sites.

meer53

teffers wrote: »

Advise the CC you didn't agree to continous billing, it's a fraudulent transaction, you have no further association with the company in question and they are not responding to contact.

If they continue to allow funds to be taken they are then complicit in the action of fraud.

These transactions can't be treated as fraud as the OP provided their card details to the company. The OP needs to access the original website they used for the purchase and check the t & c's regarding the ongoing payments. Once they've made an attempt to cancel the agreement then the CC issuer can action a chargeback for any further amounts. There are dozens of these companies who offer a "free trial" or "just pay p & p" usually somewhere in their t & c's it explains that you will be sent further goods and billed on a regular basis until you cancel.

Healthbilling.com are just collecting the money, the OP needs to try to get back on to the website they entered their card details on.

abusimbol

I had the same problem today when my credit card statement came 2 amounts of ££62.50 were taken from my account. I could only remember sending for a free trial of Teeth Whitening so I sent them a message and they said that I had agreed to have payments taken out of my account for 2 months. I said that I hadnt and didnt appreciate being taken for a ride. They have just replied and say that they have refunded me £100 back to my account and stopped my subscription. Will have to wait and see when my credit card bill somes in next month.

Let me know what happens with you. My email address is [EMAIL="bassetfan@hotmail.com"]bassetfan@hotmail.com[/EMAIL]

MRG14153 wrote: »

I made a small purchase (9 euros) for some dental equipment on the internet by credit card. Payment went through and that was that.
Or so I thought, my next credit card statement had 2 further withdrawals for $100 from a company called Healthbilling.Com!
Having spoken to my credit card company, they say they’ve had ‘many’ enquiries about similar happenings but they cannot stop these payments going out as there was probably something in the small print where I agreed to sign up to a monthly fee.
Apparently closing the credit card would have no effect either!
The number I have for Healthbilling.Com just returns a number unobtainable tone and they do not answer my emails.
I feel I am now in a situation where Healthbilling.Com can continue to take payments from my account and I can do nothing to stop them.
Can anyone give me some advice on how I can stop these payments going out and if possible recover the lost funds?
Many thanks for your time.

meer53

abusimbol wrote: »

I had the same problem today when my credit card statement came 2 amounts of ££62.50 were taken from my account. I could only remember sending for a free trial of Teeth Whitening so I sent them a message and they said that I had agreed to have payments taken out of my account for 2 months. I said that I hadnt and didnt appreciate being taken for a ride. They have just replied and say that they have refunded me £100 back to my account and stopped my subscription. Will have to wait and see when my credit card bill somes in next month.

Next time before you give anyone your card details, read the Terms and Conditions, they all explain about the monthly billing and further supplies of whatever you've ordered. If you don't accept this, don;t give them your card details.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

abusimbol wrote: »

I could only remember sending for a free trial of Teeth Whitening

Ah. That explains a lot. The internet is full of people complaining about continuous billing for this.

abusimbol wrote: »

My email address is...

Stand by for extra spam.

MRG14153

Thanks for all your helpful replies,
Having managed to track the company down to the following email address support@luminouswhite.com, they seemed VERY reasonable!
I pleaded with them to forgive my stupidity and they've promised a full refund!
I'll let you know if/when it arrives.
:-)

chattychappy

meer53 wrote: »

These transactions can't be treated as fraud as the OP provided their card details to the company. The OP needs to access the original website they used for the purchase and check the t & c's regarding the ongoing payments.

It would be fraud if the OP didn't agree to ongoing payments. But the fraud is principally on the CC not the OP as the OP is not liable for unauthorised transactions.

Different story if the T+Cs made it clear that further transactions were authorised which might well be the case here.

MRG14153 wrote: »

Having spoken to my credit card company, they say they’ve had ‘many’ enquiries about similar happenings but they cannot stop these payments going out as there was probably something in the small print where I agreed to sign up to a monthly fee.

"probably" is all very well, but ultimately if disputed it is for the CC to prove that the transaction(s) was authorised/continuous payment authority given if they wish to pin these on you.

magpiecottage

MRG14153 wrote: »

Having spoken to my credit card company, they say they’ve had ‘many’ enquiries about similar happenings but they cannot stop these payments going out as there was probably something in the small print where I agreed to sign up to a monthly fee.

Unfortunately for your credit card company, FSA Rule BCOBS 5.1.11R says:

"(1)Where a banking customer denies having authorised a payment, it is for the firm to prove that the payment was authorised. (2)Where a payment from a banking customer's account was not authorised by the banking customer, a firm must, within a reasonable period, refund the amount of the unauthorised payment to the banking customer and, where applicable, restore the banking customer's account to the state it would have been in had the unauthorised payment not taken place."

An argument of "probably something in the small print" is not really very persuasive. A gentle reminder of this rule may be all that is needed but if they refuse a complaint, followed, if necessary, by recourse to FOS may be needed.