Refund for subscription service I never subscribed to?

gjchester

Tirian wrote: »

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).

While you will get your SCC fee back, and you should get interest, you may not get any more expenses unless you can prove they were actually incurred.


You may also need to be careful that the judges do not consider your claim excessive, especially if you claimed expenses significantly exceed your actual loss (£15)

Buzby

As for the legality of entering into a contract of service without knowledge - it is very common. It's how Private Parking Companies base their business model - that fact you may not have seen any sign or agreed to its terms are an irrelevance. As for winning in the SC court, not a slam dunk by any means. They can prove the date, time and location where the request for service(s) initiated along with the serial number of your handset. YOU may never have personally sent the relevant data but whether it was a family member or friend (without your knowledge) it is covered by your T&Cs that mean you remain responsible for all charges incurrend - as OFCOM have to certify billing systems for accuracy, it is the consumer tho is on the back-foot.

Tirian

To be honest, I don't especially care if I win or lose. It will cost them more to deal with the case than to just refund me.

As for the parking comparision - whether or not you see a notice, or t&c, you can't accidentally park in a private car park. You have to deliberately drive in and park there - and you have clearly received something, i.e. your car has been parked somewhere.

I'm not saying I think that private parking companies are angels (and in fact, the high success rate in challenging their tickets does not exactly discourage me anyway) - but I don't think that it is comparable.

No-one else used my phone, I can absolutely guarantee that. In which case, if a subscription was activated it can only have been via an accidental press on a touchscreen. I seriously doubt that they have any legal basis on which to stand in that respect.

Not to mention, I have not received anything for the money they have charged me. So they can go whistle. I would relish the opportunity to put them to the legal test.

Tirian

As for expenses, again I'm not that fussed if they are upheld.

The principle is that I should not have to be wasting my time pursuing them for money they should never have taken from me.

It's not difficult to add a verification step to online subscriptions - type in your name/activate only when you respond to a text etc. If they haven't taken even basic steps to verify that they are signing up people who genuinely want their 'service' then the onus should most definitely not be on those people to prove that they didn't.

If I asked a lawyer to deal with this, they would charge me their hourly rate at minimum 15 minutes per activity (email/letter/phone call etc.). I don't see that it would be unreasonable for me to work out my hourly rate based on salary and do the same.

mobilejunkie

The last part is pure rubbish. What is reasonable to YOU will have the opposite effect in court. Your time is worthless in there.

The only costs you might obtain would be for those actually incurred - i.e. postage, telephone calls etc. You may be able to claim for loss of earnings for attending the hearing only if you are not self-employed and can prove the amount. Basically, it would be peanuts (though worth having if you can present it well). Abandon any idea of your time equated to paying a professional. It will just show that you are a complete amateur.

Had you paid a solicitor you wouldn't have got their cost back either.

keepitlegal

Tirian wrote: »

As for expenses, again I'm not that fussed if they are upheld.

The principle is that I should not have to be wasting my time pursuing them for money they should never have taken from me.

It's not difficult to add a verification step to online subscriptions - type in your name/activate only when you respond to a text etc. If they haven't taken even basic steps to verify that they are signing up people who genuinely want their 'service' then the onus should most definitely not be on those people to prove that they didn't.

If I asked a lawyer to deal with this, they would charge me their hourly rate at minimum 15 minutes per activity (email/letter/phone call etc.). I don't see that it would be unreasonable for me to work out my hourly rate based on salary and do the same.

I agree you should have every penny they have taken refunded. If it goes to court you will need to read and fully understand the practice directions, but be warned, it will take up your time, which you will not be able to claim for, and I doubt you will get interest charged at 8% either, if you want help preparing for court action ask for advice here,

http://swarblaw.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=20

The advice you will recieve is from LIP's and solicitors, more importantly it's free.

Keepitlegal

grumbler

mobilejunkie wrote: »

... Abandon any idea of your time equated to paying a professional.

It's not what he actually said:

Tirian wrote: »

...to work out my hourly rate based on salary ...

mobilejunkie

It still won't be recouped - except for court attendance.

Tirian

Whether any amount is "peanuts" or not is very subjective!

Anyhow, all good to know assuming that you know what you are talking about. If I had to take an morning off work to attend a court hearing, I would use annual leave to do so. That is certainly quantifiable as I can purchase additional leave through my flexible benefits at work.

It would also certainly be more than peanuts to me (and to B!Games, I would imagine, given the sum in dispute that we are talking about here).

Tirian

I've looked at the Practice Directions now, so thanks for that. They do not appear difficult to comprehend.

Max of £95 per day costs can be awarded for time taken to attend court, and my cost of leave will easily max that out. Better than nothing though.