Refund for subscription service I never subscribed to?

grumbler

Tirian wrote: »

...Would a bank be allowed to get away with that as justification for setting up a new direct debit on my account? No - they would have to show that they had received a mandate from me to do it. So should O2.

Nowadays an electronic 'mandate' is worth no more than a text message that O2 keep charging you for and keeping their lion share for assisting the theft. However unlike for this mobile daytime robbery blessed by our beloved mobile regulator(s), for DDs there is a reliable DD Guarantee in place to protect you from abuse.

Silk

Tirian wrote: »

Everything is simple to simpletons.

For your information, my phone is encrypted and uses a strong password which I have not given to anybody. Nor does anyone else use my phone.

I did not sign up for this or any other 'service' on my phone and to this day I don't even know what the 'service' I am supposedly receiving is.

I think what simax meant was it was done on your phone by accident.
A common problem are malicious apps that have adverts and when you close them down you touch the wrong part by accident and end up subscribed to some subscription service. Flashlight was bad for that long before the latest versions of rooting libraries

grumbler

Silk wrote: »

A common problem are malicious apps that have adverts and when you close them down you touch the wrong part by accident and end up subscribed to some subscription service.

Have such simplified 'subscriptions' not been banned long time ago?
IIRC, there has to be some staged process with confirmation(s) in place.

Silk

grumbler wrote: »

Have such simplified 'subscriptions' not been banned long time ago?
IIRC, there has to be some staged process with confirmation(s) in place.

I'm not sure TBH, it used to be you click on it and they sent you a text to confirm you had subscribed.
Not sure if that still stands though.

Tirian

Whatever 'mandate' they might think they have, it is a fundamental precept of contract law that a person cannot "accidentally" enter into a contract. There has to be intent, from both parties - and indeed, all parties must think that they are agreeing to the same thing ("consensus ad idem").

Absolutely not the case here. I had no intention to request or receive any service from them - and accidentally clicking a link on a touchscreen phone (if that is what happened) simply cannot be regarded as intent.

Even if so, there is demonstrably no "consensus ad idem" - since I did not, and still do not, have any idea what their 'service' is.

Anyway, I have now received a text from Buongiorno telling me that I have been "unsubscribed" and "willno longer be charged".

I have in turn requested that they confirm to me how and when they will refund the charges to date.

Tirian

Received an offer to refund the fees charged "up to when the first reminder text" was sent.

Rejected offer and demanded full refund. No way am I accepting anything less. Perhaps I should send them a message informing them that they have signed up to my consumer information service and I shall be billing them £25 a week for the privilige. What a crooked enterprise.

Still don't know what their damn "service" is.

Tirian

They have upped their offer by £1.50 to a massive £7.50.

Refused again. Full £15 back or they will get Small Claims Court to deal with - and all the additional fees that entails added on (interest at statutory 8%, £25 Small Claim Court fee, and administrative fees for the emails and paperwork I have had to undertake).

Almost hoping they don't refund me now, as I would rather hit them for the time they've wasted me too.

JBrum

Hiya,


Just wondering how this has progressed for you? I have had a very similar experience today when looking at my dad's phone bills and all in all he has been charged over £200 for a service that he doesn't ever remember signing up to. Have contacted the service provider and they were dismissive about getting the money back saying he has signed up for it by entering a competition back in August last year. Obviously with it being such a long time ago, my dad can't remember what this competition was but he definitely would never have signed up for a service costing him around £4 a week - why would he?
Really stuck now and in need of some help.

grumbler

JBrum wrote: »

... he definitely would never have signed up for a service costing him around £4 a week - why would he?...

Because he failed to notice and read the T&C attached? It's not that I am saying that he really signed up.

MSE article:Beware costly subscriptions when shopping - Money Saving Expert

It's not the same, but similar.

Tirian

First off, I've seen the Shopper Discounts scheme before - even used it. It's *relatively* clear - they offer you a £10 voucher for various sites if you sign up to their discount scheme which gives discounts on a number of online and offline shopping sites. You have to enter your details to sign up, and part of the T&C is that if you don't cancel within 28 days you are signed up to a monthly subscription. I signed up, took the voucher, and cancelled my subscription the next day, which is a decent way to get £10 for nothing - as long as you realise you're signing up for a subscription and cancel it in time.

That's not what I have experienced from Buongiorno, who I still don't know what 'service' they allege that I have signed up for.

The situation so far is that they made an offer to refund a small amount of the subscription fee that they have charged me. I have refused and requested the full refund. They have then made a second offer of an additional £1.50(!!) which I have also refused.

If they do not refund in full by Monday (tomorrow) I will open a Small Claims Court action to recover the full amount plus additional charges for my time and costs.

https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim-online