Needing help with a payment dispute - desperate!

lucycopp

Hello,
Hopefully someone here will be able to help me!
A while back, I was looking to make a family tree. I started a few trials to see which website would be best to use.
I thought I had cancelled all the trials in time, however there was one website I had forgotten about. I had put my paypal information in, but it wouldn't allow me, at the time, to complete the rest of my profile therefore I never got the chance to use it and forgot all about it.
However, a few weeks ago I then get an email to say that they had taken £60 out of paypal account. They had charged me for an annual membership because I hadn't cancelled my free trial. I wasn't aware that an annual membership would be taken out at the end of the trial at any time.
I cancelled the subscription immediatly and contacted the company. I got a reply a couple of days later saying they were happy to assist and would email soon.
However a week later I hadn't heard anything.
So I emailed again and tried to call. I have had no answer.
I decided to dispute this with paypal however they denied my claim.
I won't be using this service, and haven't used this service. I've not even filled my profile in, searched for a record, anything.
I really can't afford the £60 to be taken at the moment and was wondering what other options I can take to get it back?
Thanks
Lucy

Lemonsqueezer78

I think your options for "forcing" some kind of refund are limited to tell the truth.

Persist with the company in question... unless they are a complete scam, it's unlikely they will completely ignore you. Can you find a telephone contact number for them? Google around for some alternate contact email addresses or numbers.

One question; what kind of "linked" account did this get billed through to in the end? Did it go from your PP account to your bank account or a credit/debit card?

One option is to raise a dispute with your credit card or bank - however it is possible they will simply refer you to paypal - or if they agree to investigate then THEY will go back to Paypal, who will just provide support for the transaction from their side, and you'll be stuck with it again.

I do sympathise, but you may have to chalk this up as an expensive lesson...

lucycopp

Thank you, they took it out of my paypal which is linked to a halifax bank.

Its just annoying because I know so many people who have done this with amazon prime and they got there money back straight away, I just did it with the wrong company

sourcrates

It depends where the company is based, if it's in the UK, most disputes of a financial nature can be taken to the financial ombudsman service to resolve, if they are based abroad, I'm afraid there is no regulation in the uk for companies registered abroad, so if they refuse to play ball, there is very little else you can do.

midnitegremlin

If you actually signed up to the free trial and forgotten, then it's kind of your responsibility though? I'd say just appeal to goodwill. It's a toss up though, because clearly the idea of a free trial is they want you to stay.