'The Spectator' fobbing off my complaints about unwanted subscription. UPDATE

CazzieT

UPDATE - this issue has now been resolved and a refund made.

In May I took out a digital subscription with The Spectator, £2.99 for 4 weeks over three months.  It took a few days to sort out as it came on the back of another subscription that they had messed up which I successfully cancelled.  When the confirmation of the purchase came through, there was no expiry date given so it was hard to tell when exactly the start and end points were.  I didn't think unduly of this as I had been given advance warning when a previous subscription was about to expire and expected the same would happen again. 

On August 4th, with no advance warning yet given, I realised the subscription must be due to end and, since I did not want to renew at a higher rate, I sent a query to customer services asking the exact date of expiry and stating that I did not want to renew.  I was told that the subscription would end on August 22nd so I asked for it to be cancelled then and this was confirmed. On August 11th,  I saw from my bank statement that £8.99 had been paid to The Spectator on July 22nd so wrote to customer services again for an explanation and was told that this was for the renewal of my subscription which was on continuous credit card payment.  I pointed out that I had been given no end date for the subscription nor advance warning that it was due to end and asked how, in that I case, I was supposed to know the expiry date for cancellation purposes.   I also pointed out that their T&Cs say that, if a renewal is made at a higher rate before the subscriber has had a chance to cancel, he has 14 days to claim a refund.  If I had been given the correct information about the end date of my original subscription when I spoke to customer services on 4th August, I would have had the right to cancel there and then, it being within 14 days of the renewal payment.

I have pointed all of this out to them over several emails, asked them to honour their T&Cs and also asked for details of their complaints procedure but every response I get fobs me off, saying that they are awaiting further information from another department and will contact me when they have it.  I have been given no complaints procedure details/case number etc.  I see from Trustpilot reviews that there is a lot of dissatisfaction with The Spectator's customer services department though this doesn't help me to get this resolved.  It looks as if they are just going to continue to fob me off and I'd be grateful for any advice as to what my next step should be - would the ombudsman be any use?  I know it's not a massive amount of money but I feel they ought to pay up.  Thanks for reading.

DoaM

Contact your CC company and a) dispute the transaction and advise them that you'd cancelled the renewal as per advisement from the vendor on 4th August, and b) tell them to cancel the CPA (Continuous Payment Authority) ... if they say they can't without the vendor's agreement then ask to speak to a manager, i.e. someone who understands the law - the CC company must act on your instruction to cancel a CPA.

CazzieT

Thanks very much for the rapid response and your advice.  The CPA has gone - they did cancel that when the renewed subscription was cancelled but will the CC company take my word for it that I'd legitimately cancelled the renewal?  Although they haven't said as much, The Spectator would no doubt make the case that on 4th August I was cancelling the renewed subscription, not the original one to which I thought the customer services agent was referring.

born_again

Given it was cancelled on 04 August. You have no right to claim anything back via the bank prior to that date of cancelation.
You only recourse is via the retailer.

>>In May I took out a digital subscription with The Spectator, £2.99 for 4 weeks over three months.  It took a few days to sort out <> there was no expiry date given so it was hard to tell when exactly the start and end points were.<<

Rule of thumb. If you have no dates, but you know when it was taken out. Either cancel week before the 3 months are up. Or contact them straight away to say you want to cancel at the end of the trial period. 

dinglebert

Your problem is there is no new subscription from 22nd July, there was only a price increase on your current one.  You didn't cancel it prior to the increase.

CazzieT

The T&Cs say that, if you are not able to cancel before the subscription renews at a higher rate, you can cancel within 14 days of the renewal date and receive a refund.  

dinglebert

CazzieT said:

The T&Cs say that, if you are not able to cancel before the subscription renews at a higher rate, you can cancel within 14 days of the renewal date and receive a refund.  

I have just read them and you are perfectly correct.

If your subscription upgrades to a higher rate before you’re able to cancel, you have 14 days from payment to cancel and claim a refund.

You need to forward everything to them.  I have found them to be very good at cancelling in the past.  I have had frequent very cheap; deals with them.  Never paid the full price.

Just checked current offers and can get 13 issues for free and a Parker pen chucked in.  Will put a forward on my calendar to cancel after 2 months.

CazzieT

Thanks. The problem is that, having sent them everything already, the customer services department are not being proactive in dealing with my query - they're just keeping me on hold with promises of getting in touch when they 'receive information from another department'.  I've had a few subscriptions with them too, some good deals, but they have so many different deals that they don't seem to be able to keep up with them to the point that I've had to send them previous emails as proof of the length of time I was supposed to be paying for.  They just seem to be a rather inefficient bunch.

dinglebert

CazzieT said:

Thanks. The problem is that, having sent them everything already, the customer services department are not being proactive in dealing with my query - they're just keeping me on hold with promises of getting in touch when they 'receive information from another department'.  I've had a few subscriptions with them too, some good deals, but they have so many different deals that they don't seem to be able to keep up with them to the point that I've had to send them previous emails as proof of the length of time I was supposed to be paying for.  They just seem to be a rather inefficient bunch.

I do feel your pain.  I hate it when someone doesn't step up and take ownership of a problem.  I do prefer companies who employ people who will take ownership.  Best of luck

CazzieT

Thank you!