Ziinga website Problems

mark_87

Hi,

I am unsure if this is the correct place to put this thread as new to the site however this is the situation. I encountered a website called Ziinga and won an item on the site for the amount of £2.20 however afterwards luckily enough I called my credit card provider concerning a further transaction to see if it had went through, only to find out that Ziinga had set up a continuous payment method for £60 per month for a platinum membership which I did not agree to.

After speaking to the bank they advised me to email Ziinga and request they cancel the account however all I seem to get is standard responses which led me to check up on the company and find numerous sites about issues with this company. Ziinga have now emailed me again stating that I would have to pay a cancellation fee of £35 however they would knock off the £2.20 I had already paid for the item so in other words I would have to pay another £32.80 for absolutely nothing.

When enquired about cooling off periods I was also advised that all users disclaims their right to a cooling off period even thought I requested to cancel this so called membership within the space of 2 hours from purchase of the item. At this point I am unsure where to go next the bank have apparently raised a request to cancel the continuous payment however I am unsure whether to bite the bullet and pay this cancellation fee and learn from my mistakes or if I dont pay it and cancel my credit card would Ziinga then legally have anything against me to claim this money back or try to take a larger some of money from me as I feel completley mis-led

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks

DevCoder

If its appears to be too good to be true the it is

Why didn't you google them before signing up?

http://www.google.com/search?q=ziinga+terms+and+conditions&rls=com.microsoft:en-GB:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGNI_en-GBJE512#hl=en&tbo=d&rls=com.microsoft:en-GB%3AIE-Address&rlz=1I7GGNI_en-GBJE512&sclient=psy-ab&q=ziinga&oq=ziinga&gs_l=serp.3..0l4.19538.19538.0.19726.1.1.0.0.0.0.100.100.0j1.1.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.vvXUJFSazG0&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=1d6eba063c8c4d39&bpcl=39314241&biw=1920&bih=985

jonesMUFCforever

If you did not authorise the payment then your bank will have to charge it back to the company.
This is part of the new payment regulations and you do not have to contact the company any further.

mark_87

I didn't Google them initially through my own naivety, I will obviously learn this the hard way as mentioned "if it looks to good to be true then it probably isn't"

In terms of the payment I agreed to the transaction of £2.20, however I did not knowingly agree to a platinum membership or a £60 monthly subscription fee.

What I am trying to find out is if I dont pay the cancellation fee and as a result Ziinga don't cancel the account down until march which they are now telling me. Would they be able to take this monthly fee from my credit card if I have instructed my bank not to let it go through ?

dalesrider

I requested to cancel this so called membership within the space of 2 hours from purchase of the item

Wa that before the £60 was authorised? If so then there is a chargback right for cancelled CPA.

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

If you did not authorise the payment then your bank will have to charge it back to the company
This is part of the new payment regulations and you do not have to contact the company any further.

By OP.

I called my credit card provider

Only chageback on this would be unrecognised. There is no chargback for not authorised.
Retailer will simply come back with T/C and cm's agreement to such. So I would not hold out much faith in winning that.

But at least they can take the cancelation date on future payments as the date OP 1st spoke to them. So should they debit again the money can be claimed back.

mark_87

So far the only transaction is £2.20 PENDING from my credit card just now that was for the actual item, they haven't taken the £60 yet however as far as I can tell this is their intention to take this money at some point.

I informed my credit card provider who sent off a request to ensure the continuous payment method was cancelled and to prevent this money from being taken (the £60 sub). However checking up on various forums, lots of other individuals who have fallen for the same trap seem to still have had money taken from their accounts.

The best advice I got from the agent at the bank was to speak to the fraud department however I have to wait until monday to speak to them to find out how best to progress. Also I have been advised simply cancelling the card like suggested on other forums does not actually prevent Ziinga from taking money which seems odd as I would have thought cancelling the credit card would therfore mean that they would not be paid ?

coxy1072

I was also stung by Ziinga because i did not read the terms and conditions, i won an auction for a coffee machine which cost me about £2.50 in the bidding process, postage and packing would have taken it over £10 which i didnt mind at the time because i thought i was getting a quality product for hardly anything.

I then tried to pay for it using my debit card and found that i would have to pay a monthly membership fee which i couldn't afford, i rang to cancel and claimed that there should be a cooling off period but they claimed because i had bid and won a product that i would have to pay the monthly membership fee or £28.00 to be released from the contract. I had no choice but to pay the release fee and ended up lighter in the pocket with nothing to show for it.

I don't agree with the way that they promote their products and bidding process but as long as people keep bidding and signing up for membership and / or paying the release fee they will be profitable all because people don't read the t and c's, as a previous poster stated if something appears to be to good to be true then it often is. Consider yourself lucky that it didn't cost you more money in the long run.

dalesrider

mark_87 wrote: »

So far the only transaction is £2.20 PENDING from my credit card just now that was for the actual item, they haven't taken the £60 yet however as far as I can tell this is their intention to take this money at some point.

Great. So if it debits. Chargeback for cancelled CPA.

mark_87 wrote: »

The best advice I got from the agent at the bank was to speak to the fraud department however I have to wait until monday to speak to them to find out how best to progress.

Well personally this would sit with our disputes department. Then again we do deal with both fraud and disputes.
Lucky lot, as we work 7 days a week.... Fraudsters don't stop at weekends... In fact that is when they try harder.:mad:

mark_87 wrote: »

Also I have been advised simply cancelling the card like suggested on other forums does not actually prevent Ziinga from taking money which seems odd as I would have thought cancelling the credit card would therfore mean that they would not be paid ?

Correct. I hate internet forums where people give such bad advice and cause people inconvience of not having a card for no reason at all.
Retailers processing a CPA, can simply request the new card details direct from Visa/Mastercard.

mark_87

The issue is that I don't feel I should have to pay a cancellation fee for something I didn't knowingly sign up for and also judging by the fact there are so many complaints about Ziinga it amazes me that they are still profiting from what I consider deception.

It seems that the most likely outcome of this situation is I will end up having to pay the cancellation fee, however I will wait to speak to the bank fraud department first just to satisfy myself that I have consulted everyone the can help me make the best decision so that I don't hear from Ziinga again.

I'm also curious to find out what protection I have for this kind of situation from the credit card. I have always been advised to use my credit card when making purchases because it gives me more protection.

dalesrider

mark_87 wrote: »

The issue is that I don't feel I should have to pay a cancellation fee for something I didn't knowingly sign up for

I'm also curious to find out what protection I have for this kind of situation from the credit card. I have always been advised to use my credit card when making purchases because it gives me more protection.

Do not pay the cancellation fee......

They have no right to take it, or the £60 as you have cancelled.

In this case you have no more protection on a credit card than you would with a visa debit card.

meer53

mark_87 wrote: »

The issue is that I don't feel I should have to pay a cancellation fee for something I didn't knowingly sign up for and also judging by the fact there are so many complaints about Ziinga it amazes me that they are still profiting from what I consider deception.

It seems that the most likely outcome of this situation is I will end up having to pay the cancellation fee, however I will wait to speak to the bank fraud department first just to satisfy myself that I have consulted everyone the can help me make the best decision so that I don't hear from Ziinga again.

I'm also curious to find out what protection I have for this kind of situation from the credit card. I have always been advised to use my credit card when making purchases because it gives me more protection.

Here : http://www.ziinga.com/uk

On the very first page you come to, it mentions the membership fee and their cancellation policy in the terms and conditions which you accepted when registering. Did you read them at all ?