Unwanted Breakdown Cover Renewal

DoaM

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

You couldn't bother to reply to their email.

KidDynamo didn't even see the email, so how could they respond?

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

And you couldn't even bother to cancel the Direct Debit.

Immediately cancelling a DD (or CPA if it was taken from a card) shouldn't be necessary.

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

I'm surprised you can bother to complain about what is plainly your fault.

Why wouldn't they complain?

poppasmurf_bewdley

DoaM wrote: »

KidDynamo didn't even see the email, so how could they respond?

gnovakov wrote: »

They sent me an email saying they will renew unless I click a link to tell them not to, which I ignored.

Also, I would think it a sensible move to cancel any Direct Debit that an account holder no longer wishes to use. Hardly an onerous task!

KidDynamo

You do realise that there are two different people complaining about this company in this thread, poppasmurf? I'm sorry if it's confusing for you.

Sending an email and assuming consent if no reply is received is legally very weak indeed. As unholyangel has pointed out, there are legal precedents against this kind of thing (Felthouse v Bindley).

In my experience, companies generally back down right away when you call them about an unwanted transaction under a Continuous Payment Authority - and without asking for a cancellation fee. This particular company seems to have a bit of a reputation for hanging on to people's money even when they object to the auto-renewal and the CPA. Their Trustpilot ratings are appalling.

A CPA on a credit or debit card isn't a Direct Debit either. The procedures to be followed for the former are quite different to the latter. So thanks for the opinion, but I think both the OP and I would prefer advice from people who actually understand consumer law and the financial sector. If either of us want the "man in the pub" view from someone who plainly doesn't know what they are talking about, we'll be sure to ask. Have a nice evening.

poppasmurf_bewdley

KidDynamo wrote: »

You do realise that there are two different people complaining about this company in this thread, poppasmurf? I'm sorry if it's confusing for you.

Sending an email and assuming consent if no reply is received is legally very weak indeed. As unholyangel has pointed out, there are legal precedents against this kind of thing (Felthouse v Bindley).

In my experience, companies generally back down right away when you call them about an unwanted transaction under a Continuous Payment Authority - and without asking for a cancellation fee. This particular company seems to have a bit of a reputation for hanging on to people's money even when they object to the auto-renewal and the CPA. Their Trustpilot ratings are appalling.

A CPA on a credit or debit card isn't a Direct Debit either. The procedures to be followed for the former are quite different to the latter. So thanks for the opinion, but I think both the OP and I would prefer advice from people who actually understand consumer law and the financial sector. If either of us want the "man in the pub" view from someone who plainly doesn't know what they are talking about, we'll be sure to ask. Have a nice evening.

Yes, I did realise there were two different people making a complaint. I was responding to the Original Poster.

And thank you for your informative detail about the difference between a Direct Debit and a CPA. Unfortunately, the OP did not mention that he had a CPA rather than a DD. And I didn't have my mind reading glasses on today. I pay my breakdown cover via a Direct Debit, so maybe it's my faulty for assuming the OP was too!

If you are after expert knowledge, then you should realise that most of us on this forum belong to the 'man in the pub' bracket, who have all learnt a considerable amount from talking to each other.

But we welcome you, as it seems we're going to get the benefit of all your wonderful knowledge, and that you will put us right when we err in the future. It is so reassuring to know you will be there for us.

I hope you have a nice evening too.

KidDynamo

I spoke to Dynamo Cover Ltd again today to give them another opportunity to resolve things amicably. They have offered to do a cancellation request, so I asked what the implications of that would be if I accepted (without prejudice to my contention that the auto-renewal was never authorised by me in the first place).

He said they would stop the cover but I would not be refunded and their £6.99 would be in addition to the £29.90 I had already paid (rather than me getting the £29.90 back minus their £6.99 cancellation fee)! He also claimed that the "cooling off" period was 14 days starting from the date of their email (which had been tucked away in a Gmail "Promotions" folder). Surely that can't be right either? Surely a cooling off period must start from the commencement of the cover or at least from the date they took my money?

I am still awaiting the response of the company's director to my formal letter of complaint and from Capital One's disputes team before deciding on my next move. If Capital One agree to issue a chargeback on the disputed transaction, then Dynamo Cover's Customer Sales Manager has already claimed that the company will try to recover this money from me by other means even though I have made it abundantly clear ahead of this "cover" starting that I never authorised this cover and do not want it.

I did also raise the matter with CAB over the phone and they say a Trading Standards case has been opened for me. I don't think there's much else I can do for now but sit tight until I hear back from people. If Dynamo Cover Ltd continue to play silly games, then I think my main options are going to the FOS or issuing a small claim in the county court.

AdrianC

KidDynamo wrote: »

He also claimed that the "cooling off" period was 14 days starting from the date of their email (which had been tucked away in a Gmail "Promotions" folder).

Are you suggesting that your mail provider's filtering (which you can adjust) is somehow their responsibility?

KidDynamo

What I'm saying is that "we sent you one email saying we were going to take this money out of your account unless you told us within a few days not to" is utterly feeble and a blatant scam. Even if the email had been read, it's a form of inertia selling, i.e. sending goods or services that someone didn't order and then demanding payment.

There was nothing in their original documentation to indicate anything of the sort would happen, there was no reason to expect it, and there was no communication to say they had altered their T&Cs in March 2018 to grant themselves the power to "auto renew" policies either.

Besides that, the "we've got your credit card details so we can take whatever money we like from your account whenever we like" is precisely the racket that the Financial Conduct Authority clamped down on in June 2013. It had in fact been the case since 1 November 2009 but many banks and credit card companies had been giving out false advice until the FCA stepped in.

Take a look at the company's Trustpilot ratings and see for yourself whether this is a company whose "cover" is even worth the pixels it's written on. Its sole raison d'etre is to obtain people's credit card details and then charge them money for nothing:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/recovercover.co.uk
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/recovercover.com

Nyland

I’m having similar issues with this company. My cover doesn’t start until the 6th of this month and they took a credit card payment on the 30th of last month. When I called them today to say I had never authorised an automatic renewal and could they refund my money (bearing in mind the cover hasn’t yet started) they said they would give me a part refund and deduct an £8.99 admin fee. I would avoid this company like the plague as I think there’s something dodgy going on.