Free Trial Rebill Scam - Chargeback advice/help

tiger.uk

Hi,

Last month a relative recently signed up for a "free" trial of 2x anti-aging creams online after seeing an advert on facebook.

She paid 2x £2.99 postage for the products via credit card (mastercard).

14 days later she was billed £85 twice, she found out about this when the credit card statement came through (there is no company name on the statement, just the product name).

She has no contact details for the company as no confirmation email was sent and there was no details with the package (that came from China). I have tried to search for the webpage on her history but cannot find it. A google search for the product names has yielded nothing.

The relative states that there was no mention of the rebilling on the website (she checked out on a mobile phone so it may have been a slimmed down site) although I suspect it was in the smallprint.

The relative is really upset at losing £190 (it is a lot of money for them to lose). I feel the best course of action is to file a chargeback with the card company and dispute the charge.

I'm wondering what the best grounds to file the chargeback would be? I'm guessing they would need to prove that they have been misled and that the seller has broken UK distance trading regulations somehow although this is difficult without the webpage used to signup.

I'd really appreciate any help/advice on this, have not filed a chargeback before so struggling to advise.

ljonski

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5002912

there are more similar threads on here if you do a search!

found another

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4963577

tiger.uk

Thanks for you reply.

I did come across other threads before posting but they weren't much help - the two you have linked to don't mention how people have got credit card fees refunded.

I really need help with what grounds would be most suitable for filing the chargeback, just want to ensure she has the best chance possible of getting her money back as I can imagine companies such as this are good at fighting chargebacks.

ljonski

The first thing to do is contact the bank and ensure any other payments stop.- if this means cancelling the card- so be it.
i think you will have great difficulty getting monies paid back. The only thing i can think of is make thebank aware (they probably know anyway) of all the people scammed by them and the difficulty in finding the t and c's Hth.

tiger.uk

I think she has definitely done that, so hopefully there will be no more payments taken.

I do still feel like there is a case for a chargeback, irrespective of what was agreed to in the terms the fact that the money was taken 14 days after signing up and the package received after 10 days means only 4 days was effectively given to cancel which is not long enough under UK law. I'm not sure if the second product was even received which may also be grounds for a chargeback as item not received.

Thanks for your help, will definitely advise her to try a chargeback one way or another.

unholyangel

ljonski wrote: »

The first thing to do is contact the bank and ensure any other payments stop.- if this means cancelling the card- so be it.
i think you will have great difficulty getting monies paid back. The only thing i can think of is make thebank aware (they probably know anyway) of all the people scammed by them and the difficulty in finding the t and c's Hth.

Cancelling a card wont necessarily stop payments - there have been many instances of companies holding old/cancelled card details and the consumer finding the charges still being deducted.

What OP's relative wants to do is cancel the CPA (continuous payment authority). There have been some instances of banks telling customers they can only cancel these via the retailer/supplier, this is not the case.

How to cancel a continuous payment authority
In most cases, you should be able to cancel by contacting the company taking the payment and asking it to stop. However, you do have the right to cancel directly with your card issuer. Once you have done this, it must stop payments immediately – it cannot insist that you agree this with the company taking the payment first.

REMEMBER: IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL CONTINUOUS PAYMENT AUTHORITIES DIRECTLY WITH YOUR CARD ISSUER

However, it is recommended you inform both the company taking the payment and your card issuer when cancelling a continuous payment authority.

You may also want to check your next statement to ensure the payment has been cancelled as requested.

Keep in mind that you will still be responsible for paying any money that you owe.

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/continuous-payment-authorities-your-right-to-cancel

tiger.uk

Thanks for that, I will get her to make sure the CPA has cancelled.

Would still welcome feedback on which is the best criteria to file the chargeback. Would also be great to hear from anybody who has managed to win a chargeback for similar rebill scams.