Usenext and unfair charges

ZebsLC

I had an account with a company called UseNext a number of years ago mostly for old radio shows and out of copyright ancient arcade roms. I haven't used them for a number of years but they kept renewing my account with no refunds possible.

A year ago, my bank changed my credit card and unbeknown to me, they tried to take out a subscription. The first I knew there was a problem was when they sent me a letter with an attached fine which I refused to pay.

Looking into my account, I discovered that they had changed from emailing me notice that my account was due for renewal to only using their internal mail (which since I hadn't logged in I didn't see). This change in communication method was done without any notice. Sales emails are still sent to me by them so it is not as if they are getting spam filtered. I have proof of this change with emails before that time warning that my subscription was about to be renewed and then nothing after a certain point (other than sales emails). They made no other attempt to contact me before issuing a large administration fine.

I have now made absolutely sure that their account is cancelled.

After contesting the unfair charge they sent it very quickly to a German debt collection company called tesch-inkasso. I have corresponded with them for the last year and from the start have stated that the debt is in dispute. I am disputing the unfair charge, the change in communication method, the fact it is a pre-payment so they have not actually provided a service which in conjunction with them having monthly download limits that were not renewed anyway due to me refusing to pay their fine means they have not actually lost anything.

Finally, I am complaining about the service. The service is almost entirely illegal files with very few legitimate ones available. The debt collection company informed me that their client was just a gateway but their clients own site boasts of 1000 day retention on their servers of all the files

I have yet to receive an exact copy of the terms and conditions that I agreed to despite asking and their entire defence seems to rest on one sentence within it. I offered a non-prejudicial amount of 10 euros to cover administration charges given that no service had been provided but this was ignored.

They are now threatening to send it to a “legal partner” in the Uk for “further legal processing”. Given that it is still in dispute are they allowed to transfer it to another debt collection company?

I have asked on a number of occasions that this be taken to the small claims court where I will quite happily abide by any judgement and pay up where necessary.

Is it true that I would have 14 days to pay in the unlikely event of losing the case without any effect on my credit rating (which is currently perfect).

I would also like to claim back the previous 2 years where they silently renewed as I neither wanted nor needed their service and consider these were fraudulently taken given the change in communication methods.

I don’t want to give in to these people but am I in the wrong to be fighting them as the total amount it approximately £130?

Thanks for you help...

sourcrates

Hi,
For such a small amount of money, it is unlikely this will end up in court, however, stranger things have happened.

If it went to a judgement, you would have 28 days in which to pay, without the judgement been registered, so you could avoid the CCJ, however, you could defend the claim, and have a reasonable chance of success, i suggest you write and tell this German DCA that.

I am not familiar with the kind of agreement you describe, but it sounds like a pretty shady way to do business, and easily open to abuse by them.

ZebsLC

The agreement in question was one of those terms and conditions with several hundred pages that you "agree to" when starting an application.

I have frequently informed them that I would quite happily go to court and put it in front of a judge but for some reason they don't seem to be willing to let it go or take up the offer.

Is it true they can't transfer an in dispute debt to another debt company without resolving it ? really don't want to spend another year dealing with people who won't listen or have no real idea about their client.

Thanks again for your help!

:-)

sourcrates

Debts are not supposed to be sold on whilst a dispute exists, but it happens, regulation is not all it should be within the industry.

FireWyrm

They cant 'fine' you anything, only a court has that authority. What they have done is advance billed you for a service you did not use and did not require. They have not provided the service in any case.

The fact that their business is almost entirely illegal in the UK makes it quite unlikely that they will actually show their faces in court and much less for a 'debt' of £130. It would cost them £80+ to even lodge a small claim in which case, you can dispute it at the time. This charge is not a fine and they cannot levy one against you.

If you lose at court, you pay the £130 and tell them to shove off. At this point in time, I would simply ignore them. I doubt very much they will really attempt to pursue it.

afly

I had an account with a company called UseNext a number of years ago mostly for old radio shows and out of copyright ancient arcade roms.

riiiiiigggghhhtttt!

That's like saying you were on pornhub looking for funny cat videos

pmartin86

afly wrote: »

riiiiiigggghhhtttt!

That's like saying you were on pornhub looking for funny cat videos

There is probably some dodgy fetish site somewhere that you can find a mix of both...

judywoody

just saw this and thought I drop a line. First of all, this company is all over german forum boards classed as well dodgy,especially when it comes to collecting money for subscriptions. Technically, the debt collection agency could try and enforce the money but it's unlikely they would ever do it as it's not worth it . It won't ever affect your credit file in the UK either. One more advice : Stay away from share filing sites unless you want a lovely virus on your computer.

ZebsLC

thanks for all your comments. I have not touched them for a number of years (except whilst gathering evidence of the change in email policy).. This was an old account that kept renewing because of their crooked notification change.

Time to send another cease and desist email....

Anyway, now I can get my kitten fix from mewwtube...

:-D

oje75

Hi ZebsLC,

Did they take you to court or did they give up? I'm in the letter tennis game at the moment and wondering how far they go.

Automatically renewing without fair notice seems to me to be unfair terms and conditions - especially with that change in communication method you mentioned, I hadn't noticed that but I too did not receive a 'you are about to be charged' email like I have in previous years. Plus no service has been provided of course so it'd be nice to see what a court has to say.

Has anyone else ever been taken to court by them?

Thanks

StormyWolf1981

I have just received one of these claim letters for an amount outstanding.

I had previously spoke to someone over a year ago when they took a payment that I wanted it cancelled at the end of the year (and also stopped the payments from being able to come out again myself)

Now they're saying they have no record of me cancelling, they haven't took a payment, I haven't used/logged in since well before the contract was meant to end and they're insisting on payment for me to use the service up until 2016. Which I don't want!

I just sent the legal company a very long and strongly worded email and CC'd usenext in!

We'll see what happens next!