Match.com - Auto renewal

tiggertop80

Hi,

So I paid for the match.com subscription and when it auto renewed last month I called and said that I wanted to cancel it (on the day they took a £25.00 payment). The guy on the phone during that conversation confirmed that it had been cancelled and no further payments would be taken.

This morning they took a second payment so I rang and said that I had cancelled the month prior and that they shouldn't have taken the money.

The guy on the phone told me that I needed to pay them three monthly instalments for the service and that even though I had called to cancel the month before they would not be refunding today's payment and would be taking another payment the following month. Can they do this? I have cancelled the authorisation on paypal so they won't be taking the last payment but I am furious that they have taken the payment today given they told me that once I had cancelled no further payments would be taken?

Thanks in advance,

Lucy

v_dubbin

I have been with Match since 31/01/13(not by choice I like to add). I signed up when it was on offer last January. They took another payment late June, which I just accepted. Went into Subscribtion management, cancelled it to the point it says auto renewal is off. Guess what, in Jan this year, it went out again. Again, I accepted that it must have been a mistake I had made. Went back into auto renewal, made sure I cancelled it. Hadn't been back into the site since January this year. Received my credit card statement, they've taken the payemnt again. This time I'm really angry. Emailed asking for refund, they said no! Phoned and asked for a refund, they said they would get someone to call me back, they didn't. I phoned up again and demanded a refund, they said, no because I clearly hadn't cancelled it properly myself. I asked to speak to a manager/Supervisor, he simply said no. I rang back and asked to speak to a manager straight away, another guy said we don't have one, I asked what if I needed to complain, he said they don't have a complaints department and that was that. Really annoyed with them. Then I googled it, there's complaint after complaint about exactly the same thing. It appears they make the 'manage you subscription' so complicated, you've got very little chance of getting it right!

v_dubbin

Forgot to add, they will only accept you have cancelled via their website, if you receive an email to say you have cancelled, so if you don't receive that email, assume you will still be charged!

InsideInsurance

tiggertop80 wrote: »

Can they do this? I have cancelled the authorisation on paypal so they won't be taking the last payment but I am furious that they have taken the payment today given they told me that once I had cancelled no further payments would be taken?

If the contract you agreed to included a requirement of 3 months notice to cancel then they are entitled to collect the payments for the following months after you give notice of cancellation.

Many subscription base services/websites reduce the cost of subscription for those who sign up to a longer contract/ minimum notice period. It follows that if you benefit from the reduced rate you need to give the notice period required for it.

There are some arguably underhanded techniques that companies use, defaulting to the longest notice period etc, but really the obligation is on you to understand what you are agreeing to before signing up rather than complaining that its a minimum X month contract after you've decided to cancel.

Theres no obligation for them to remind you of your contractual obligations at the point of you serving your notice however if they explicitly said that no further payments would be taken then there are potential issues if they then go on to take payments. Of cause proving that was said -v- the contract which is in writing that states X months notice period is the issue.

v_dubbin

I think the point though with Match is how ambiguous they make their online subscription. It leads you to believe you have turned off automatic renewal, until you get the next lot of money leave your account. Honestly, I'm relatively good with computers and generally know what I'm doing and twice was convinced I had cancelled it! I almost became convinced that it was me losing the plot until I saw all the other complaints with exactly the same issue.

strawberries1

I've also been charged £78 by match.com today via automatic renewal. My subscription was for 6 months. I don't understand why they must take it upon themselves to automatically renew my subscription. It's as if their assumed status quo is for one to be on Match forever. Which simply means even they don't believe the site works. I feel thoroughly ripped off as not only do I not find the site useful I can't understand why they'll automatically renew a fixed subscription and choose how long for. Even my insurance doesn't automatically renew.

I believe I cancelled the automatic renewal back then but the match rep I spoke to today says cancellation can only be effected if I have an email to that effect. I can't find said email. Found one from June 2013. I didn't get an email from Match to say they'd debited my paypal account or that my subscription had been renewed, nothing at all. I only came to know via Paypal. How can a company debit your account without giving notice nor receipt?

I've also contacted Paypal but it appears they're in cohorts as Paypal maintains match is a recurring membership and there's nothing they can do about it.

Surely there must be a class action going on regarding this practice?

I've read that the small claims route at the county court is always successful regarding this but before I pursue that I'll be most grateful for other pointers re how to get my money back as I need it to settle some bills urgently.

Thank you.

wealdroam

strawberries1 wrote: »

I've also been charged £78 by match.com today via automatic renewal.

<snip the rest>

Strawberries1, how many more times are you going to post this?

Once is enough.

Class action?? Perhaps you need to start one, or is that a US specific thing?

gik

Automatic renewal is clear and obvious in the T&C's which you no doubt read and missed?

strawberries1

Wealdrom, my comments are in response to relevant threads.
Ignore them if irrelevant to you.
Gik, T&C must be fair and in keeping with the law.
Their automatic renewal is a breach of The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCRs). UK Government guidance (OFT) states - section 8 (oft.gov.uk)
8.1 A clause which states how long a contract has to run is likely to be among its most important 'core' terms. If a lesser term in small print can be used, relying on customer inertia, to extend the contract period beyond what the consumer would normally expect, it is not a core term, and is liable to be considered unfair.
8.2 Particular suspicion attaches to a term in a contract for a fixed period which, if early notice to cancel is not given, automatically commits the consumer to a renewed fixed term.
2. They failed to notify me of the impending automatic renewal. Additional detailed government guidance provided by Ofcom (stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/addcharges/faq) states that a term is likely to be deemed unfair where:
> the supplier doesnt promise to send a reminder notice at a reasonable time before the renewal term is to take effect;
> the terms do not provide for a clear and easy to use opt-out mechanism, without unnecessary formal or procedural requirements;
> there is no cost to the supplier and no benefit to the consumer from the renewed obligation the consumer takes on;
> there are other terms which seek to restrict the chance to opt-out or require too long a notice period; and/or
> the charge for terminating the contract early is unfair (or so high that the consumer doesnt effectively have the right to end the contract).
3. Although a contract if formed ‘online’, there is no equivalent membership cancellation button online. This is an unfair term since a supplier has a duty to allow a consumer to cancel a contract in the same way that he/she signed up to it.

Match is doing this to a lot of people and action needs to be taken.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4729057

visidigi

strawberries1 wrote: »

Wealdrom, my comments are in response to relevant threads.
Ignore them if irrelevant to you.

Please read the forum T&C's - multiple posting of the same content in multiple threads isn't allowed.

...and no the irony is not lost on me.

wealdroam

strawberries1 wrote: »

Wealdrom, my comments are in response to relevant threads.

As has already been pointed out to you:

What's spam?

Forum users mustn't post comments more than once on the forum (the only exception is members of the MSE Team; when needed). It's called spamming and most internet forums forbid it.

Oh dear. It is now on six threads.


Also, copy and pasting large swathes of someone else's post and passing it off as your own work really isn't on.
In other situations that is known as plagiarism.