UK2.net Autorenewal

Robertomac

I had a reseller account with UK2.net which I opened on 17th May last year and paid the full amount of approx. £311 up front. What I did not know was that this was setup on an auto-renewal which was my responsibility to login to my account and switch off.

Anyway, today, 7 days before the end of the current contract, I had an email from them saying they had auto-renewed and debited £311 from my card. I was furious.

I contacted them immediately and demanded that they cancel the contract and refund the money. However, they are refusing to refund the money, saying it is in their T&Cs that as it was setup on an auto-renewal, it was my responsibility to cancel the contract, in writing, 14 days prior to the end of the current contract.

I called the bank to try and stop the payment, but unfortunately, it is on a debit card and the money had already been collected.

Does anyone have any ideas what I can do to get this money back? I am sure, me giving them 7 days notice to cancel the contract is perfectly reasonable, and that their terms of cancellation are not so. If need be, I will take them to the County Court, but I wanted to avoid this if possible. They themselves are being particularly unhelpful. I am reliant on email contact because they do not answer the phone.

rmwebs

Hi Robertomac,

I'm guesing you saw my post made a few minutes before yours. I did some digging. They are putting everyone on auto-renew without telling them, and then charging them without telling them. It also says we have to write to them to request it be turned off/cancelled.

Some really dodgy business going on with UK2 and their billing department ('Stella') have been absolutely awful at dealing with it.

Here's the auto-renew terms if you are interested: uk2[DOT]net/important_information/terms_and_conditions/auto_renewal_policy/

Robertomac

It is a very shady practise in my opinion. Services such as this should be 'opt-in' and not the other way round. If it is the other way round, it should be highlighted in flashing lights that it is your responsibility to cancel.

I am satisfied that me giving them 7 days to cancel a contract is perfectly reasonable. I think these companies fail to understand that just because something is written in their T&Cs, they can hide behind it. 7 days should be perfectly adequate.

I was also unaware they had my debit card details stored for the purpose of this renewal so have to question whether they had my permission.

I am absolutely furious about this though and intend to fight them tooth and nail to get my money back.

rmwebs

I've posted a warning to others on the 'web hosting' forum on WebHostingTalk*com - hopefully it will warn others that they are doing this.

Robertomac

If they still refuse to refund the money, I see the rules for distance (including internet) selling allow for a 7 day right to cancel/cooling off period. So, if need be I will enforce it that way.

I tried calling the billing department several times today but no one answers. The responses in email were particularly unhelpful and just kept pointing me to the autorenewal terms and saying it was my responsibility to cancel.

They said they would cancel but could not offer a refund, but did offer to credit me services to the same value - wow! What an offer! These people really miss the point.

david39

UK2.net are not the only practitioners of this art. It is common practice with much larger and better known companies than them.

Almost all motor insurances and breakdown recovery services auto-renew, as do the larger internet service providers and phone companies and also freebie advertising newspapers who book 12-monthly contracts with tradesmen.

Many people get caught out with this and I sympathise that you feel you have been cheated. You should look at the terms of other term-contracts you may have signed to make sure that they, also, do not contain the same autorenewal clauses. Because it IS in their T&Cs, then it is a legally binding contract and I fear that you will have great difficulty in trying to bring a case against them.

I don't think the distance selling rules apply in this case as you are already receiving the service, so it is not a new one to you.

If you search in these forums you will find many threads on exactly this subject, all of which have never got a satisfactory result as far as the original posters have been concerned.

Robertomac

Hi David,

Thanks for the very helpful reply.

I have had experience of auto-renewal before with insurance companies, but must admit they have a completely different approach. They write to let you know that your policy will renew automatically and give you ample time and instructions on how to cancel. In UK2.net's case, they just went ahead and did it without any warning or reminders which I believe is unfair.

david39

Yes, Robertomac - I think that is unfair not to give some form of reminder.

Maybe you might have a chance based on that premise - sounds like you need a bit of expert legal advice here rather than us MSE "experts"!

I think you can get 15 or 30 minutes free advice from most solicitors these days, so I'm sure one would run his/her eye over it within that length of time and tell you if you have a case.

Robertomac

I've just double checked all the emails I have received from them and there is nothing (except a password reminder) between the point of taking out the contract last May to their renewal notice this morning. So, I would agree, if the other options I was looking at carry no favour, I think this practise would not stand the test of reasonableness if challenged.

Do you have any idea, obviously without scouring their terms, but generally speaking, are they allowed to just debit money from my card?

darkpool

i had the same problem with match.com. speak to your bank and say your account was fraudulently charged and ask for a chargeback

nomoneytoday

darkpool wrote: »

i had the same problem with match.com. speak to your bank and say your account was fraudulently charged and ask for a chargeback

But it's not fraudulent. The T&Cs were agreed to, and created a contract IMHO.
It may be considered an unfair contract by the OP, but that doesn't make it fraud..