Canceling online subscriptions when in contract period Racing UK / Match Etc

johnskydiving16

So many companies trap you in these subscription based contracts and tell you, you can't cancel because your in a contract etc. I first experience this with Racing UK who actually take you to court/sell your debt on if you don't pay. However a lot of people done know under the 14 Day Cooling Off Period for long distance selling regulations there is a section about how these contracts have to be provided in durable form, i.e. they have to send you a copy Ink on Paper. Until you receive this, the 14 Day period is extended and not start until then.

Most of these companies if not all of them don't even bother sending this out, whether its a case of cost or they don't think they need to, or hope you don't realise they have to and can bluff.

By quoting the following i have had a Racing UK subscription canceled, it required a far amount of disgusting on the phone mainly because the people you talk to actually have no experience on contract law, and even supervisors. Between sending a letter and speaking to someone higher up, i was told my membership was canceled. I am now in the process of doing this with another company a dating website called match who like to have auto renewal setup on your subscription and hop to catch you out. The call centre staff are a waste of time so case of writing a letter/email.

Hope this helps

Cancellation period extended for breach of information requirement

31.—(1) This regulation applies if the trader does not provide the consumer with the information on the right to cancel required by paragraph (l) of Schedule 2, in accordance with Part 2.

(2) If the trader provides the consumer with that information in the period of 12 months beginning with the first day of the 14 days mentioned in regulation 30(2) to (6), but otherwise in accordance with Part 2, the cancellation period ends at the end of 14 days after the consumer receives the information.

(3) Otherwise the cancellation period ends at the end of 12 months after the day on which it would have ended under regulation 30.

of

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013

because of the failure to provide terms in a durable form as per

Confirmation of distance contracts

16.—(1) In the case of a distance contract the trader must give the consumer confirmation of the contract on a durable medium.

(2) The confirmation must include all the information referred to in Schedule 2 unless the trader has already provided that information to the consumer on a durable medium prior to the conclusion of the distance contract.

(3) If the contract is for the supply of digital content not on a tangible medium and the consumer has given the consent and acknowledgment referred to in regulation 37(1)(a) and (b), the confirmation must include confirmation of the consent and acknowledgement.

(4) The confirmation must be provided within a reasonable time after the conclusion of the contract, but in any event—

(a)not later than the time of delivery of any goods supplied under the contract, and

(b)before performance begins of any service supplied under the contract.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4), the confirmation is treated as provided as soon as the trader has sent it or done what is necessary to make it available to the consumer.

( also of CCR 2013)

Schedule 2 is

SCHEDULE 2Information relating to distance and off-premises contracts ( legislation DOT gov DOT uk /uksi/2013/3134/schedule/2/made )

The information referred to in regulations 10(1) and 13(1) is (subject to the note at the end of this Schedule)—

(l)where a right to cancel exists, the conditions, time limit and procedures for exercising that right in accordance with regulations 27 to 38;

electic

It doesn't have to be ink on paper, email is fine. 'Durable form' just means something that the company couldn't change after you are given the terms, which is why a link to their website is not sufficient.

unholyangel

While they do have to provide you with certain information and they do need to provide confirmation by durable medium, it does not need to be ink on paper. An email will suffice.

It also is unlikely to apply to renewals as you will have already entered the contract previous to the renewal happening and the renewal will be under the T&C's of the existing contract rather than a new contract.

daytona0

johnskydiving16 wrote: »

I am now in the process of doing this with another company a dating website called match who like to have auto renewal setup on your subscription and hop to catch you out.

As previously advised by unholy, you may find this a bit tougher than your Racing UK subscription If you are talking about an auto-renewal then your contract commenced longer than 1 month ago! (it cannot be within 1 month as you'd simply cancel the auto-renewal before it was taken!).

Comical how you've got into so much hassle with Racing UK of all companies though! Usually gamblers get into money issues through the actual BETTING on the races Plus, you can sooo easily watch Racing UK elsewhere for 'free' - some methods are legal (staking £1 on Skybet gives you access to the race), some are illegal Racing UK has little else going for it other than the live streams

DCFC79

I know for a fact re Match you can cancel if you login.

johnskydiving16

daytona0 wrote: »

As previously advised by unholy, you may find this a bit tougher than your Racing UK subscription If you are talking about an auto-renewal then your contract commenced longer than 1 month ago! (it cannot be within 1 month as you'd simply cancel the auto-renewal before it was taken!).

Regarding the auto subscription, if i find that haven't still received the contract from originally signing up and subscribing not matter how many months in to a recurring subscriptions, i can still cancel under the 14 days, as far as i can tell i've not when going back through my emails, and certainly not via letter.

daytona0 wrote: »

Comical how you've got into so much hassle with Racing UK of all companies though! Usually gamblers get into money issues through the actual BETTING on the races Plus, you can sooo easily watch Racing UK elsewhere for 'free' - some methods are legal (staking £1 on Skybet gives you access to the race), some are illegal Racing UK has little else going for it other than the live streams

Racing UK is very sneaking they offer a 30 day free trail, after which they automatically take payment and you enter into the subscription, if you cancel before the 30 day trial everything is fine, however i forgot and they took the first payment, now my understand is a free trial is just that a free trial, but what they claim is that if you don't cancel before the 30 days, you can't cancel after your payment starts as your 14 day cooling off period is actually the first 14 days of your free trail, and actually they give you a whole month.

The only way i got them to budge was using the above.

daytona0

johnskydiving16 wrote: »

Racing UK is very sneaking they offer a 30 day free trail, after which they automatically take payment and you enter into the subscription, if you cancel before the 30 day trial everything is fine, however i forgot and they took the first payment, now my understand is a free trial is just that a free trial, but what they claim is that if you don't cancel before the 30 days, you can't cancel after your payment starts as your 14 day cooling off period is actually the first 14 days of your free trail, and actually they give you a whole month.

The only way i got them to budge was using the above.

Looking at the registration form I can see that a user must volunteer to submit their bank details and that a promotion code is used to bring the full price down to £0 on the checkout page.

Seems a bit strange that you submit your bank details to them and go through the normal method of purchase (online checkout page) using a promotion code (would you have a contract of sale if it was 50% off for the first month instead of 100%?), yet you do not end up in a contract with them!

Not a law expert but looking at their website I would say that your contract was formed on the very day that you volunteered your bank details to them, ergo RUK are correct. Their Ts and Cs (unchanged since May 2015) state:

http://www.racinguk.com/freetrial_(this_is_a_wayback_machine_copy wrote: »

Full terms and conditions
Free trial period is only available to new residential Racing UK customers who join from Friday, January 22 until 9pm February 6, 2015. Offer is not valid for customers who have previously taken up a free trial in 2015. Offer is not available to cable customers due to data restrictions.
Free trial period duration is from time of sign up for one month. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer and is limited to one per household. There is no monetary alternative.
Please note that customers need to call the Racing UK customer service team on 0344 855 2977 between 9am and 5pm from Monday to Friday no later than 30 days after the free trial commences if they do not wish to continue their Racing UK viewing. A cancellation request must be made via phone, email is not permitted.
The free trial period will automatically revert to the standard full price subscription of £22.98 (UK) / €28.60 (ROI) per month at the end of the free trial period if not cancelled within this timeframe. After the free trial period expires, customers who remain active and who have not cancelled within the timeframe referred to earlier will be subject to a 12-month minimum term.
Please note if you do not cancel, it is possible that payment for the following month may be taken before your free trial expires.
For technical reasons, any changes made to your selected devices after your initial selection may result in your free trial being void and payment being taken.

A few things:

- Phone cancellation requests only. That's a bit naughty
- They are clear in how the subscription works
- The "customers who remain active" part is very interesting! To me it suggests that they'll actually cancel subscriptions if they believe you have no intention to use the service at all. The killer question is, did you continue to access RUK when the paid subscription started?!
- 12 month minimum term is very naughty, but alas it is right there in black and white!
- Taking payment before the monthly sub expires? Also a bit naughty.

So yes, you are right in them being a bit naughty! A few red flags, but you've gotten a favourable result out of them. I'm just not sold on the idea that you've successfully argued a CCR cancellation here, rather that they've just done it to get rid of you!

The most important thing, however, is that you agreed to all of the above when you started the free trial I would have been more sold on you trying to argue unfair terms and conditions personally, but considering that isn't your beef then one can only ask why you did not follow the Ts and Cs...?

wealdroam

daytona0 wrote: »

I'm just not sold on the idea that you've successfully argued a CCR cancellation here, rather that they've just done it to get rid of you!

I agree with that.