Web Hosting Company Not Refunding My Money

PZH

easyhost wrote: »

the OP told the agent to cancel his service, they did this but never cancelleed the billing as he failed to follow their correct procedure, so the above statement means nothing

Sorry - I don't follow your meaning ?

kash_5 wrote: »

The guy I spoke to on the phone said I had to cancel via their online ticket system....

kash_5 wrote: »

3. Cancellations
3.1 You are entitled to cancel the Services by submitting a cancellation request to our support team via the control panel no less than 7 days prior to the anniversary date of the contract term or the relevant service specific terms & conditions pertinent to the Services or Package you have purchased.

I read the thread as the Op asking to cancel, being told it wasn't a problem but being advised to follow the correct route. (Which they didn't)


As for the section from their T&C's - it would suggest to me that, given that the OP has not breached the contract, then a pro-rata payment may be made in the event of cancellation part way through a contract (i.e. they sometimes allow a cancellation to be processed, but charge for time the service has been active so far) ?

easyhost

phoodless wrote: »

Sorry - I don't follow your meaning ?

I read the thread as the Op asking to cancel, being told it wasn't a problem but being advised to follow the correct route. (Which they didn't)


As for the section from their T&C's - it would suggest to me that, given that the OP has not breached the contract, then a pro-rata payment may be made in the event of cancellation part way through a contract (i.e. they sometimes allow a cancellation to be processed, but charge for time the service has been active so far) ?

the OP stated

It expired in 6th April 2011 and at the time I did not wish to renew as I did not need the hosting package so spoke to a customer agent who said it was fine.

Today I checked my credit card and to my shock the company has taken £215 on 5th May 2011 for renewing the website name and hosting package. I called them up today and they have said they cannot refund any of my money as the hosting package is automatically renewed using my stored card details.

which means his annual hosting plan come to a natural end, so he spoke to their customer agent and told him he was not renewing, but he did not follow their cancellation process so their billing dept took payment for the invoice, so the host never canceled the hosting as it his contract ended and per their TOS which i assume he agreed to when he signed up with them they auto renewed his contract. this is the OP fault and not the hosts.

gazfocus

I have to agree with what Easyhost is saying.

Our hosting packages are set to automatically renew, however, our system sends out an email to the customer 2 weeks before renewal, informing them that the account will renew. We also don't take any payments automatically, we send the customer an invoice and it's up to them to pay it.

@OP You should remind your host that the £215 they took was payment for a service that they will not be providing as you have cancelled and would like a pro rata refund. I don't think you could expect a full refund, however they should refund you for the period from when you cancel, to the end of your contract.

easyhost

gazfocus wrote: »

I have to agree with what Easyhost is saying.

Our hosting packages are set to automatically renew, however, our system sends out an email to the customer 2 weeks before renewal, informing them that the account will renew. We also don't take any payments automatically, we send the customer an invoice and it's up to them to pay it.

@OP You should remind your host that the £215 they took was payment for a service that they will not be providing as you have cancelled and would like a pro rata refund. I don't think you could expect a full refund, however they should refund you for the period from when you cancel, to the end of your contract.

reading the OPs post it looks like his annual hosting expired and as he never used their cancellation process the hosting was auto renewed by the host most likely under a subscription set up

kash_5

Hi guys, when I spoke to their customer agent they did not tell me I had to go through an online process. I also think it is highly unfair to only send information of the account renewal and taking money out of my account automatically through ONE email 30 days before about the hosting package, no other reminders whatsoever. Furthermore it states nothing on the email about the cancellation process.

I emailed the company yesterday a nice and humble email asking if they could offer any kind of refund even if part refund. However I have not received anything back from them.... Needless to say I don't expect them to reply, when they want your money they are very active and on other occasions not so willing. I guess this is a lesson learnt, I will not be using them ever again!

easyhost

kash_5 wrote: »

Hi guys, when I spoke to their customer agent they did not tell me I had to go through an online process. I also think it is highly unfair to only send information of the account renewal and taking money out of my account automatically through ONE email 30 days before about the hosting package, no other reminders whatsoever. Furthermore it states nothing on the email about the cancellation process.

I emailed the company yesterday a nice and humble email asking if they could offer any kind of refund even if part refund. However I have not received anything back from them.... Needless to say I don't expect them to reply, when they want your money they are very active and on other occasions not so willing. I guess this is a lesson learnt, I will not be using them ever again!

it was an invoice and not a std email. the cancellation process is within their TOS. the reason most hosts dont accept cancellations by phone call or email is because their is no way of knowing it is the account holder. just imagine you were happy with a host and someone calls them and says they want to cancel, so they cancel and you lose all data, but it was not you who canceled, you would not be happy, so to protect users accounts and the host cancellations are done either through a support ticket or as we do through a set down cancellation process through the clients own clientarea, so it is traceable to the clients own account, which they are responsible for.

the host invoiced you, you failed to cancel correctly, so their system took you payment for the CC details you gave them to hold on file, as it assumed you were continuing. the host has not done anything wrong. they gave you 30 days before the due date, we only give 14 days + a reminder the day before, which we dont need to.

you could try your CC company and explain to them

PZH

easyhost wrote: »

You could try your CC company and explain to them

And again, I would be very sure of this action as it is very clearly covered in the T&C's of Streamline.net.

6. Chargebacks

6.1 If You withdraw any payments made via a bankcard or credit card (a "chargeback") You may be subject to a administration fee of £50, should Streamline.Net deem the chargeback to be unfair. Streamline.Net also reserves its right to defend such chargebacks and recover the original monies from You or the card issuer.

6.2 If a chargeback is made, Streamline.Net reserves the right to interrupt, suspend or cancel the Services. Such interruption, suspension or cancellation does not relieve You from paying the original Prices which are overdue and payable to Streamline.Net.

Not sure how enforceable it is though.

easyhost

phoodless wrote: »

And again, I would be very sure of this action as it is very clearly covered in the T&C's of Streamline.net.



Not sure how enforceable it is though.

don't think it is enforceable, but i dont think a chargeback would be won as streamline will most like show their TOS the user agreed too and the fact he never followed their procedure to cancel the hosting so they still have the users permission to take renewal payments

PZH

kash_5 wrote: »

The guy I spoke to on the phone said I had to cancel via their online ticket system...

kash_5 wrote: »

Hi guys, when I spoke to their customer agent they did not tell me I had to go through an online process.

Op - you are giving conflicting information.

kash_5 wrote:

I emailed the company yesterday a nice and humble email asking if they could offer any kind of refund even if part refund. However I have not received anything back from them.... Needless to say I don't expect them to reply, when they want your money they are very active and on other occasions not so willing. I guess this is a lesson learnt, I will not be using them ever again!

Lessons learnt are always done the hard way, but at least you are now aware to check carefully any cancelation procedures and to ensure that you get written confirmation of cancellation.

Lets hope that they do respond and offer a partial refund.

easyhost

also just checked their cancellation procedure is their on their site

http://www.streamline.net
click support takes you to
http://www.streamline.net/support/
click your account >> Account Features/Services and then you get

How do I cancel my account?

To cancel an account please submit a cancellation request to our support team from your Streamline Control Panel. When logged in simply click Support Tickets from the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Important: Please make sure you submit your cancellation request 7 days prior to the renewal date of the account.

A member of our Customer Care team will contact you within a few days to close the account and discuss any questions you may have.Article details

Category: Your account
Sub-category: Account features/services
Last updated: 5th Aug 2010