Britbox .. mis-spell your email and it could cost you

FriendlyDave

When setting up a Britbox account I mis-spelled my email and thought it hadn't worked so tried again and an account was set up via itunes.  When I got my bank statement they had taken 3 payments of £5.99 for a bogus account created in error and are refusing point blank to refund more than just the lastest payment on this - saying I should have noticed sooner.  Surely email verification should be a basic for setting up an account like this. I notice Britbox have 82% bad reviews on Trustpilot .. Any suggestions on how I can get my money back or comments on Britbox in general?

JJ_Egan

And many other services , wrong details may cost you .

Neil_Jones

FriendlyDave said:

When setting up a Britbox account I mis-spelled my email and thought it hadn't worked so tried again and an account was set up via itunes.  When I got my bank statement they had taken 3 payments of £5.99 for a bogus account created in error and are refusing point blank to refund more than just the lastest payment on this - saying I should have noticed sooner.  Surely email verification should be a basic for setting up an account like this. I notice Britbox have 82% bad reviews on Trustpilot .. Any suggestions on how I can get my money back or comments on Britbox in general?

There are no end of services that allow you to sign up without any email verification at all, some of which are very successful.

Unfortunately its not the provider's fault you put the wrong email address in, that's like saying its Royal Mail's fault for delivering a letter to the wrong house because you put the wrong address on the envelope.

FriendlyDave

I still think it's very poor practice not to have some sort of email verification check  .. this site did .. and all it takes is one character in a long email address to be off .. with so many people using mobiles with small screens and keypads, any service that is taking money from you, should in my honest opinion either be courteous enough to recompense honest mistakes or have such a double check in place.  Hopefully this post will make people more aware of this issue or bring about some changes. Thanks, I appreciate your comment.

Neil_Jones

FriendlyDave said:

I still think it's very poor practice not to have some sort of email verification check  .. this site did .. and all it takes is one character in a long email address to be off .. with so many people using mobiles with small screens and keypads, any service that is taking money from you, should in my honest opinion either be courteous enough to recompense honest mistakes or have such a double check in place.  Hopefully this post will make people more aware of this issue or bring about some changes. Thanks, I appreciate your comment.

Like I say, not the provider's fault you put the wrong email in.

There is nothing to stop you doing any of the following:

1) Zooming in, 2) Using another keyboard on a phone, plenty on the Play/Apple store, 3) using a desktop to sign up instead where you can read what you're typing if that's an issue to you, and 4) reading and double checking what you've entered.

And this website is different as this is a discussion forum, that's been standard practice for many years.  Britbox is not a discussion forum and works in the same way as most other entertainment providers.

Takmon

FriendlyDave said:

I still think it's very poor practice not to have some sort of email verification check  .. this site did .. and all it takes is one character in a long email address to be off .. with so many people using mobiles with small screens and keypads, any service that is taking money from you, should in my honest opinion either be courteous enough to recompense honest mistakes or have such a double check in place.  Hopefully this post will make people more aware of this issue or bring about some changes. Thanks, I appreciate your comment.

You were free to double check the email address yourself when you typed it in but you obviously chose not too. Just be happy that you did this mistake on a Britbox account and not something important like a registration on car insurance for example. 

Just take this as a lesson to always check your details before submitting.

I actually find it a bit annoying when you have to type your email address twice for example because it just takes extra time and people should just be more careful in the first place.

Scruff1977

Some of the comments here aren't very helpful, my computer illiterate friend has been paying for Britbox at £5.99 for 24 months and is unable to cancel the payments as she is unable to provide the email address that is being subscribed to. Natwest will not block the debit as when she asked a month later Britbox asked for a payment saying it had been used. Both Natwest and Britbox remain unhelpful - although Britbox have said if Natwest contact them my friend may be entitled to a refund of 24 months payment. Natwest seem reluctant in looking as to any details as to where the payment is being made ie the email address for Britbox! Beware of Free Trials, they are not easy to cancel if an email is misspelt!

Neil_Jones

Scruff1977 said:

Some of the comments here aren't very helpful, my computer illiterate friend has been paying for Britbox at £5.99 for 24 months and is unable to cancel the payments as she is unable to provide the email address that is being subscribed to. Natwest will not block the debit as when she asked a month later Britbox asked for a payment saying it had been used. Both Natwest and Britbox remain unhelpful - although Britbox have said if Natwest contact them my friend may be entitled to a refund of 24 months payment. Natwest seem reluctant in looking as to any details as to where the payment is being made ie the email address for Britbox! Beware of Free Trials, they are not easy to cancel if an email is misspelt!

So don't mistype email addresses then.

Surely if your friend was *that* computer illiterate they wouldn't have been able to sign up in the first place?

southsidergs

Scruff1977 said:

Some of the comments here aren't very helpful, my computer illiterate friend has been paying for Britbox at £5.99 for 24 months and is unable to cancel the payments as she is unable to provide the email address that is being subscribed to. Natwest will not block the debit as when she asked a month later Britbox asked for a payment saying it had been used. Both Natwest and Britbox remain unhelpful - although Britbox have said if Natwest contact them my friend may be entitled to a refund of 24 months payment. Natwest seem reluctant in looking as to any details as to where the payment is being made ie the email address for Britbox! Beware of Free Trials, they are not easy to cancel if an email is misspelt!

Why must something always not be their own fault these days? Your friend was able to sign up so surely they are perfectly adequate to cancel on their own too...

macman

Scruff1977 said:

Some of the comments here aren't very helpful, my computer illiterate friend has been paying for Britbox at £5.99 for 24 months and is unable to cancel the payments as she is unable to provide the email address that is being subscribed to. Natwest will not block the debit as when she asked a month later Britbox asked for a payment saying it had been used. Both Natwest and Britbox remain unhelpful - although Britbox have said if Natwest contact them my friend may be entitled to a refund of 24 months payment. Natwest seem reluctant in looking as to any details as to where the payment is being made ie the email address for Britbox! Beware of Free Trials, they are not easy to cancel if an email is misspelt!

2 years? If your friend is still subscribed, all she has to do is go into Britbox, and, under 'My Britbox', it will show the email address she is subscribed with...
It's not paid by 'debit' (if you mean direct debit), it's a CPA (Continuous Payment Authority) on your friend's debit card, and the bank would have no idea what Britbox account that related to, or what the email address linked to it was. All they get is the card info that enables them to debit the correct account. 
The comments have been helpful, they just didn't give you the answer you wanted to hear.

Bigphil1474

Presumably to go into Britbox, you need to know which email they are subscribed with in the first place. It's easy done if you're not organised. I have 3 email addresses I currently use regularly, and have had half a dozen more in the past. My OH is constantly losing login details and asking me to reset passwords and user names. Some people struggle, so I have sympathy with the op.