1 & 1 madness

TwentyPercentCooler

I've received a very strange letter today from Arvato Finance. When I first saw the company name and a rather bland envelope I thought it was just another piece of junk mail and felt like throwing it away but I opened it anyway only to find that I owed 1 & 1 Internet £12.18 (£7.18 + £5.00 "charge for late payment".)

Now this is very strange as I didn't even know who 1 & 1 Internet was until I Googled it. It turns out it's a web hosting company, but I haven't registered any domain names for a site (which I never really started anyway) since (if I remember correctly) 2005! No wonder I couldn't remember the name of the company.

I did some research via Google to find out who Avarto Finance are (well debt collectors obviously, but I wanted to learn a bit more) and then I figured I'd search for Arvato and 1 & 1 together. It seems these two companies have been sending letters like this out for some time now and they most likely have no right to my money.

Since I can't remember my login details for 1 & 1, the e-mail address I've used since then has changed (I can't find 1 & 1 anywhere inside my current e-mail account) and my credit card has certainly changed since then I don't know how to cancel my account with them. Anyway aren't recurring fees like this just supposed to cancel automatically unless I explicitly ask they be renewed (especially if a credit card is no longer valid)? Why are they chasing after me for a few pounds payment after all these years?

Does anybody know what I should do and say to AF and 1 & 1?

arcon5

TwentyPercentCooler wrote: »

Since I can't remember my login details for 1 & 1, the e-mail address I've used since then has changed (I can't find 1 & 1 anywhere inside my current e-mail account) and my credit card has certainly changed since then I don't know how to cancel my account with them. Anyway aren't recurring fees like this just supposed to cancel automatically unless I explicitly ask they be renewed (especially if a credit card is no longer valid)? Why are they chasing after me for a few pounds payment after all these years?

Does anybody know what I should do and say to AF and 1 & 1?

No. Especially with webhosting accounts, I don't want to every month have to email my server provider telling them I wish to renew for the next month and I doubt any other website owner does either.
The fact your card expired simply means they have no means of receiving the money, it doesn't mean your no longer liable for the fees i'm afraid.

Since you say you can't remember your login details rather than you have never signed up for them I assume the fact you owe the money is correct? If this is the case then pay the money and move on.

If you genuinely don't know if the bill is legit, phone them and ask them to locate your account and verify whether you owe them money or not. If you don't then tell the collection agency you dispute the invoice and to provide evidence -- although I doubt such a small amount would go to court.

The fact their are many people on the web also receiving this letter doesn't really mean anything tbh. 1&1 are a huge huge company and these people will account for a very small percentage of customers.

TwentyPercentCooler

Well when I said "renewed automatically" I thought one of the standards of web hosting was that a domain name automatically expired after one year and was available to the public again unless the person paid? That could be a mistake of mine as I've never started a website before apart from registering that one domain many years ago so I'm probably wrong there.

As for other times when a service company has tried to charge me for a service using an invalid credit card they simply withhold the service, it's very strange to come after me demanding the money rather than simply not supplying the service and such a small amount after such a long time seems weird.

Anyway it looks like I'm going to have a lot of fun with 1&1 as I've sent an e-mail telling them I can't remember my login details and can they cancel my account now I've given them my home address. They've sent an e-mail back saying sure, all I have to do is log into my account. *facepalm* I've sent the same e-mail back again (I can't login in because I lost the login details years ago.) Fingers crossed they'll actually read it this time.

arcon5

Oh I see..

Domain names do automatically expire.. however, many webhosts have their own auto-renew features.

TwentyPercentCooler wrote: »

Anyway it looks like I'm going to have a lot of fun with 1&1 as I've sent an e-mail telling them I can't remember my login details and can they cancel my account now I've given them my home address. They've sent an e-mail back saying sure, all I have to do is log into my account. *facepalm* I've sent the same e-mail back again (I can't login in because I lost the login details years ago.) Fingers crossed they'll actually read it this time.

:rotfl:

deary me...

TwentyPercentCooler

I also mentioned the auto renewal policy because people on this forum (and other sites that I can't link to) have claimed that it may be illegal - such as charging for a service when they don't have access to a valid credit card.

TwentyPercentCooler

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting us.

We are allowed to divulge your email address on file or any details on your account for security purposes only.
If you wish to cancel your account, please contact our Cancellation Department for further assistance on it.
The contact number is 0800-917-6273. They are open from Monday to Friday at 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Thank you for bearing with us.

And so the fun begins.

It's almost 10PM here, I'll wait till tomorrow to ring them now.