Problems with LoveFilm taking money after cancellation

gettingthere12

I phoned LoveFilm to cancel my account in July / August last year. (Can't remember exactly but was summer). They said the cancellation would apply to my next bill as I had just paid. I returned the discs I had and assumed that was that. Until they sent another set (apparently at the end of September). I immediately returned these unwatched.
As I received no more discs I presumed the cancellation had taken effect.
Then I was looking at bank statements at the start of May and realised they had continued to take my monthly payment each month. I emailed them and explained that there must have been an error (pretty much said the above) and that I hoped they would refund me the money they had taken in error.
They replied saying I hadn't returned the discs they'd sent after my cancellation so the cancellation hadn't been applied. I had returned them so this was a bit odd. I replied and said I had definitely returned them and that there must have been a problem with the post or their system and i expected a refund and no further payments to be taken.
Imagine my surprise when another £8.14 was taken at the end of May.
I then discovered an email in my junk mail (that was obviously bad luck for both of us - have no idea how it ended up ther) from them saying:
We can confirm to you that you have an active account registered under
the e-mail address XXXXXXX, as we have not received any
cancellation requests from you yet on this account. Therefore, the
account status is 'Active' and you are being charged according to our
Terms and Conditions.Err I requested the cancellation last summer!
I was furious about this. I replied and had an almost identical email back saying they have removed the two discs from my account as a "goodwill gesture" and cancelled the account.

I am still furious. They have taken a lot of money from my account and show no understanding of my position.

Basically they can say that you didn't return the discs or they can say you didn't even cancel.

I should have noticed the payments sooner but I feel like they've stolen from me.

Do I have any rights to get my money back?

meer53

You might have done if you'd spoken to them before now, don't think you'll have much luck now, you might feel as though they've stolen from you but it was up to you to monitor your statements and emails. Sorry !

wealdroam

Just send them a copy of your Certificate of Posting from when you sent the last DVDs back.

They should then refund you from then.

vuvuzela

Lovefilm CS - you need permission to post as a company. See http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/forum-faqs#response

squeaky

Hi

As has been mentioned - you need to have permission from MSE before posting on the Forum. I'll copy the most relevant section of the Forum Rules below for you...

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.

Oliver14

Lovefilm are a bit of an arse to cancel. I also cancelled and sent discs back. Luckily I cancelled the DD with my bank as well. Months later I had a debt collection agency after me for £20 for the cost of the discs I returned. Had lots of hassle with lovefilm luckily I kept on at them and they finally gave in.

wealdroam wrote:

Just send them a copy of your Certificate of Posting from when you sent the last DVDs back.

They should then refund you from then.

Not really as all that will prove is that it was sent. It is not evidence that they received it.

Pearla*Merle

Thought I'd boost this up again, as I've had a similar sort of problem with Lovefilm and wanted to warn others about their underhand tricks.

My situation is that I phoned up to cancel my account. I used to adore Lovefilm, and intended to return to them in the future but absolutely no way will I go back to them after this! I asked at least three times if my account was completely cancelled and wouldn't be charged anything again, that I didn't want my account to be on holiday, I wanted it completely cancelled and the guy said yes, it was. Then today I received an email saying my account was only on holiday and was about to reactivate and they would resume billing me. So once again I had to phone them to cancel it. Luckily I caught the email literally just in time before they charged me for a service I thought was already cancelled! (Though I can't help but wonder if they'll sneakily take some sort of payment from me... you can't help but get that impression!).

So - beware. Make sure you FORCE them to cancel it, and to send you an email/letter confirming that it's cancelled! You might have to keep phoning them until they do.

I wanted to ask - does anyone know if there's an ombudsman I can complain to about them? Because I can't see how what they're doing is allowed? If I say I want to cancel something they should surely cancel it?!

fluffnutter

I managed to easily cancel. But, jeez, they don't half spam you afterwards! They've written to me three times already and I've only just cancelled.

fred7777

gettingthere12 wrote: »

Do I have any rights to get my money back?

Yes you do, if you can find anything to back this up.

I had similar problems cancelling Ilovefilm. They continued to charge without sending out any DVDs for two months. When I complained they told me that although I had cancelled I had not "completely cancelled" and I wouldn't get my money back as per their "terms and conditions" When I asked them to point out where in their T&C's this was stated they refunded me!

Do you have any records of cancellation? Although they ask you to phone to cancel it's always useful to email as well so their is a record. Also do I love film email to say they have received discs back and do you still have those emails?

vicmorrow

It's easy to cancel Lovefilm online and the confirmation of cancellation is emailed to you.

unholyangel

fred7777 wrote: »

Yes you do, if you can find anything to back this up.

I had similar problems cancelling Ilovefilm. They continued to charge without sending out any DVDs for two months. When I complained they told me that although I had cancelled I had not "completely cancelled" and I wouldn't get my money back as per their "terms and conditions" When I asked them to point out where in their T&C's this was stated they refunded me!

Do you have any records of cancellation? Although they ask you to phone to cancel it's always useful to email as well so their is a record. Also do I love film email to say they have received discs back and do you still have those emails?

The OP is 6 months old It was someone else who bumped the thread by adding to it today