Am I being scammed here?

elvenmunky

Well I bought a 3 day and 1 month subcription from a website the other week. The three day was for 9.95 USD and the 1 month 19.95 USD. Okay fair enough. But now I get an email saying this -

Dear Sirs:

As agreed on we tried to charge your account the due amount for the web service you used. Your bank informed us that we were not able to charge the amount you owe us to your account. The principal amount as well as administration fees of you bank and fees of the bank clearing were debited to our account.

The above mentioned merchant/principal ordered us to collect the owed amount because there was no payment from you until today. To avoid further difficulties and higher costs for you, we require you to pay the total amount of 25,49 GBP by 22.06.2011 - receipt of payment - solely to the below mentioned bank account.

Principal amount 12,99 GBP
Bank fees 8,50 GBP
Collection service fees 4,00 GBP

---

Total 25,49 GBP


Account owner: Webbilling.com Ltd.
Bank Account Number: XXXXXXX
Sort Code: XX-XX-XX
Commerzbank AG, London Branch

Do not forget to put this into the bank transfer remark: TRANSIDXXXXXXXX

We would like to point out to you, that online contracts are ruled by the same laws as all other legal transactions and that they are legally binding. If you do not pay the above mentioned total by the due date, we will have to transfer this claim along with your IP-address and your email- address and phone number to a law office/collection service. This will result in higher costs for you.

Sincerely,

Webbilling.com
Legal Department


... and another one saying this -

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Dear Sirs:

As agreed on we tried to charge your account the due amount for the web service you used. Your bank informed us that we were not able to charge the amount you owe us to your account. The principal amount as well as administration fees of you bank and fees of the bank clearing were debited to our account.

The above mentioned merchant/principal ordered us to collect the owed amount because there was no payment from you until today. To avoid further difficulties and higher costs for you, we require you to pay the total amount of 19,49 GBP by 23.06.2011 - receipt of payment - solely to the below mentioned bank account.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Principal amount[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]6,99 GBP[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bank fees[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]8,50 GBP[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Collection service fees[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4,00 GBP[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Total[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]19,49 GBP[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Account owner: Webbilling.com Ltd.
Bank Account Number: XXXXXXX
Sort Code: XX-XX-XX
Commerzbank AG, London Branch

Do not forget to put this into the bank transfer remark: TRANXXXXXXXX

We would like to point out to you, that online contracts are ruled by the same laws as all other legal transactions and that they are legally binding. If you do not pay the above mentioned total by the due date, we will have to transfer this claim along with your IP-address and your email- address and phone number to a law office/collection service. This will result in higher costs for you.

Sincerely,

Webbilling.com
Legal Department

[/FONT]What the hell is going on here? I have never experienced anything like this before in my life? What can I do?

nomoneytoday

Did you purchase the service and check the T&Cs?

kizkiz

What was the website and is this definitely from them?

elvenmunky

I did purchase the service under the impression that the final costs were 9.95 USD and 19.95 USD as stated. I did not know they were going to charge me extra and it did not say anywhere that this was going to happen. I did not read the T&Cs. The websites are Ticketsclub and Verotel.

Here is what it states -

Select your ticket

3 days trial access, membership renews automatically at $19.95 every 1 month until canceled 3 days for 9.95 USD and then 19.95 USD for every 1 month

1 month membership, membership renews automatically at $19.95 every 1 month until canceled. 1 month for 29.95 USD and then 19.95 USD for every 1 month

1 month membership. This is a one time subscription with no rebills. 1 month for 39.95 USD (one-time)

6 months membership. 30% Discount! One time subscription with no rebills. 6 months for 89.95 USD (one-time)

Forwandert

When you initially purchased whatever it is, did the money leave your account?

Forwandert

elvenmunky wrote: »

I did purchase the service under the impression that the final costs were 9.95 USD and 19.95 USD as stated. I did not know they were going to charge me extra and it did not say anywhere that this was going to happen. I did not read the T&Cs. The websites are Ticketsclub and Verotel.

Did you funds available for the purchases? The extra fees are because the companies are saying they couldn't get the funds from your bank.

PZH

It does sound as if there are/were payment difficulties. And the principle amounts in GBP do tally roughly with the equivalent values in USD after currency exchange.

Have you spoken to the actual company concerned? Have you spoken to your bank/card company to see if they have blocked payment (Suspected fraud, etc) ?

elvenmunky

I had enough money in my account and I am pretty sure I gave the right bank card information. I have contacted the bank and they said they cant see anything on thier systems as regards to fraud. I cannot find the contact number for ticketsclub or verotel so I have emailed them.

elvenmunky

They replied with this -

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your email.

The payment could not be completed and is now listed as a reversal. If you check your statements you will find no money was deducted. This due to banking details not being correct.

Kind regards,

PJ Maka
Verotel Merchant Services B.V. / Ticketsclub B.V.

Flyboy152

elvenmunky wrote: »

Well I bought a 3 day and 1 month subcription from a website the other week. The three day was for 9.95 USD and the 1 month 19.95 USD. Okay fair enough. But now I get an email saying this -

Dear Sirs:

As agreed on we tried to charge your account the due amount for the web service you used. Your bank informed us that we were not able to charge the amount you owe us to your account. The principal amount as well as administration fees of you bank and fees of the bank clearing were debited to our account.

The above mentioned merchant/principal ordered us to collect the owed amount because there was no payment from you until today. To avoid further difficulties and higher costs for you, we require you to pay the total amount of 25,49 GBP by 22.06.2011 - receipt of payment - solely to the below mentioned bank account.

Principal amount 12,99 GBP
Bank fees 8,50 GBP
Collection service fees 4,00 GBP

---

Total 25,49 GBP


Account owner: Webbilling.com Ltd.
Bank Account Number: XXXXXXX
Sort Code: XX-XX-XX
Commerzbank AG, London Branch

Do not forget to put this into the bank transfer remark: TRANSIDXXXXXXXX

We would like to point out to you, that online contracts are ruled by the same laws as all other legal transactions and that they are legally binding. If you do not pay the above mentioned total by the due date, we will have to transfer this claim along with your IP-address and your email- address and phone number to a law office/collection service. This will result in higher costs for you.

Sincerely,

Webbilling.com
Legal Department


... and another one saying this -

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Dear Sirs: [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As agreed on we tried to charge your account the due amount for the web service you used. Your bank informed us that we were not able to charge the amount you owe us to your account. The principal amount as well as administration fees of you bank and fees of the bank clearing were debited to our account.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The above mentioned merchant/principal ordered us to collect the owed amount because there was no payment from you until today. To avoid further difficulties and higher costs for you, we require you to pay the total amount of 19,49 GBP by 23.06.2011 - receipt of payment - solely to the below mentioned bank account.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Principal amount[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]6,99 GBP[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bank fees[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]8,50 GBP[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Collection service fees[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4,00 GBP[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Total[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]19,49 GBP[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Account owner: Webbilling.com Ltd. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bank Account Number: XXXXXXX [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sort Code: XX-XX-XX [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Commerzbank AG, London Branch [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Do not forget to put this into the bank transfer remark: TRANXXXXXXXX [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We would like to point out to you, that online contracts are ruled by the same laws as all other legal transactions and that they are legally binding. If you do not pay the above mentioned total by the due date, we will have to transfer this claim along with your IP-address and your email- address and phone number to a law office/collection service. This will result in higher costs for you. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sincerely, [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Webbilling.com [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Legal Department [/FONT]

What the hell is going on here? I have never experienced anything like this before in my life? What can I do?

Maybe they are trying to collect in dollars, from a sterling account.

PZH

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Maybe they are trying to collect in dollars, from a sterling account.

Wouldn't the bank simply apply their current exchange rate ? (And fees)