Me vs MyGeekBox vs The Hut Group

mindbox

Back in March I decided to take out a subscription to mygeekbox.co.uk and when I say subscription it was under the terms and advertising that stated you could just sign up for 3 months with no recurring subscription.

This went on for a total of 6-months as I signed up for another 3 months when the previous one expired. I can't pinpoint the date but at some point the original website I used to make the payment was replaced by a website hosted by The Hut Group. When I use the new website it has no orders under my name or payment details saved.

However, This month, yesterday in fact I recieved an email stating that my card had been charged for another 3-month subscription. I contacted via the website at first to request a refund and an explanation because for starters they should even have had my card details and being web and tech savvy I would never had saved them anyhow.

I never authorised this and never purchased another subscription, it took me 24hour just to get a response and naturally now being the Hut Group they also have no phone numbers.

What are my rights in this situation?

Here's the response:

Sent by: My Geek Box. 02 October 2015, 10:35

Hello Damian,

Thank you for getting in touch about your charges

We do have a rolling subscription service with My Geek Box, so unless you send us a request to cancel 72 hours prior to payment being taken we cant cancel or refund you. I can however cancel your subscription now and you will not be charged again.

If there is anything else that we can do, then please do not hesitate to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help.

Kind regards,



My Geek Box Customer Service Team

cono1717

Is it possible the Terms of service changed when you signed up for the 2nd box?

unholyangel

From their website:

You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving reason.

The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires physical possession of the goods.

To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. by selecting the appropriate option in your account or a letter sent by post). You may use the example model cancellation form below, but it is not obligatory.

Please ensure that the items you are returning are unopened and in any original packaging. Unwanted goods need to be in pristine condition with any retail seals unbroken.

I presume you haven't received the box yet. So why wont they let you cancel under their policy above?

mindbox

Thanks for your reply.

Yes I'm still waiting on an answer to that. Seems that they weren't joking when the customer service automated email reply states 24-48 hour response time.

mindbox

cono1717 wrote: »

Is it possible the Terms of service changed when you signed up for the 2nd box?

I guess that could well be the case, but the old website is down now and I don't have anything in my original emails to back it up either.

unholyangel

mindbox wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

Yes I'm still waiting on an answer to that. Seems that they weren't joking when the customer service automated email reply states 24-48 hour response time.

Providing you've sent the cancellation on a durable medium (a method which can be stored and reproduced in its original unedited form - such as letter, email, fax), it really doesn't matter when they receive it.

(5) Where the consumer informs the trader under paragraph (2) by sending a communication, the consumer is to be treated as having cancelled the contract in the cancellation period if the communication is sent before the end of the period.

mindbox

Yes I followed their cancellation policy and even copied the format they dictated on their website.

I received a message from them 11 days ago now stating that they would refund the money with 5-10 days, However there is still no sign of the refund and they messaged me yesterday they would now contact their finance department to find out why.

What is even worse is that depsite them taking the money there is nothing showing the account page, no order and no saved card details either. I will update later today.

DevCoder

You can see previous versions of their website here

http://web.archive.org/web/*/mygeekbox.co.uk

mindbox

krisdorey wrote: »

You can see previous versions of their website here

http://web.archive.org/web/*/mygeekbox.co.uk

Many thanks for that, I can see the Hut Group is nowhere to be seen on the time I took out the first subscription and is present on the second one, The terms and conditions also changed to mention the Hut Group, and the small print I missed that by making a single purchase I gave them my card details to be saved for future purchases. I certainly wouldn't have bothered if I had read that when the terms changed.