Money Circle dormancy fee charges

jon81uk

martinajane12 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

What terms and conditions did you agree to when you set up the account?  I suspect they allowed them to charge the fee.  I'd go back and check because if you did agree, then you're going to have a hard time claiming back what seems like a reasonably low annual fee.

Were you contacted?  

I don't know the terms, if I had seen anything about closure fees I would not of signed up. Yes I said in the message they contacted me.

They aren't charging a closure fee.
The fee is for NOT closing your account down.

Aylesbury_Duck

martinajane12 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

What terms and conditions did you agree to when you set up the account?  I suspect they allowed them to charge the fee.  I'd go back and check because if you did agree, then you're going to have a hard time claiming back what seems like a reasonably low annual fee.

Were you contacted?  

I don't know the terms, if I had seen anything about closure fees I would not of signed up. Yes I said in the message they contacted me.

You might not know the terms now, but you will have agreed to them at the time.  This isn't a closure fee, so you're looking for the wrong thing.  

I'm afraid it's not their fault you didn't check your emails.  I stand by my original thought that the fees are due.

jon81uk

martinajane12 said:

jon81uk said:

Why didn't you withdraw the money years ago? How do I cash out money from my Circle account? – Circle Help Centre

It does cost to run these services, the internet doesn't magically run for free, servers, line rental everything costs money. 

The changes came in over a year ago Circle Pay Dormancy Fee – Circle Help Center

Did not withdraw money because of severe illness I did not see the email to say the account is closing and you will be charged yearly.

You mention running costs, I did not think of these. However I'm still wanting my money back because I think they are charging a lot and it's not fair I did not see the email.

Yes I know the charges came in over a year ago which is why I said it is £30 a year and so far they have charged £60.

Unfortunately it isn't their fault you didn't check your emails.
You mention that some people don't check emails or they go to spam. Did this actually happen to you, was the email in the spam folder?

If it was one charge as you didn't see it in the three months between the email and the charge I think there could be something worth arguing. But to then leave the money sat there for a further year unfortunately makes it a different case.

born_again

martinajane12 said:

I was gifted money into my account on Circle Pay. It's a bit like PayPal. I had at least £230 in there. I recently went on my email after being severely ill for a long time and I was informed in my emails that Circle Pay has been discontinued and about their dormancy fee. To my shock the company is taking out a yearly fee of £30 for an online account that is doing nothing to warrant them taking any of my money. It's my money not theirs. When I challenged this, as I want my full money back, they said I can withdraw my money minus the fees, once I provide them a mass of information which will take me time to get together due to still being very unwell with the disability called ME / CFS chronic fatigue, which means I have no energy to get everything they require quickly and am mostly house bound, sometimes bed bound (this potentially meaning I get another yearly fee in the meantime! They require lots of forms of ID and information from my bank like the bank number. Don't worry they are not asking for my bank card info). I am not happy to be charged any fees, I think they have no right to do this. I have not been informed of this by postal address (though this is an online service), but communication by email assumes that all customers are going to see this before being charged - I think they hope people like me won't notice because it means they get thousands of pounds for doing nothing.

I challenged Circle Pay and they will not budge. Is there anything I can do, because I think they have stolen my money! So far they have taken at least £60 for doing nothing!

Their response was to say I was told Circle Pay was closing (by email) and that the dormancy fee is for the technical side of keeping my account, which is all nonsense because they are not actively having to maintain it or do anything that warrants a fee.

 It's an online account that when I had it I never paid a penny for it, and it was active then without them feeling a fee was needed. However a fee is charged after they close though my account is sitting there, still the same as it was. To me it's obvious they are just doing this to grab my money freely.

Additionally I have explained to them not everyone sees email they can get missed as was my case / emails also go to junk box / I have chronic health problems and have not checked my emails due to genuine severe illness which I could prove (otherwise of course I would have done something about this 2 plus years ago) / they did not send me adequate notification by soley emailing me assuming that is enough when potential fees are involved.

Additionally I am too ill at the moment to be gathering the information they require so am concerned. I have asked them to put any fees on hold until I can get the information but I don't trust they will help me given their response so far.

I'm really angry they can do this because they have no right. What are my rights please? I have asked CAB but they said, Circle Pay informed me by email which seems reasonable given they are online and gave no way to help further on revoking these fees.

Basically. You do not have any.

This is just the same as PayPal are doing. ML warned people about that....
Accounts that are not being used cost money to maintain, as they are not making any money for the company via any fee's they will get for purchases etc.

You said "not everyone sees email" then "they did not send me adequate notification" well if you are not checking emails, that is your fault. You should always be checking Junk folders. Online companies do not send out letters, that is the whole point of "Online" accounts.

Your only hope is good will by them, but they have already said NO.
CAB have also said you have no right, so why do you think anyone here is going to YES you have a right to your £60 back?

mattyprice4004

It's an online service, so why would you expect postal correspondence? In addition, as you say the service has always been 'free' how do you think they'll cover the cost of sending letters when emails are essentially free?
Sorry, but you're onto a loser here. Regardless of reason you didn't check your emails.

IvanOpinion

martinajane12 said:

IvanOpinion said:

Why do you think they should offer you a service for nothing?  if you missed emails then that is your fault not theirs.  How would you have liked an ecommerce company to send you information, and did you check to see if they offered alternatives means of communication and request that to be used?
What exactly do you mean by a 'mass' of information?  Usually it is only 2-3 items.  It looks like you have until the end of September to sort this out.

Because as I said it's dormant, they are not providing a service that I see, as I said.
I don't think it is my fault completely for the reasons I gave.
I would of liked an e-commerce company to of posted me too for the reasons I gave including not everyone sees an email from them.
I'm not aware of alternative forms of communication offered.
It's a mass of info way more than 3 things, but it's not relevent, point is as I said it is going to take me ages to get together because I'm ill.

How did you work out you think I have till the month of Sept by the way?

Your account may be dormant but they have to keep systems up and running - I am sure they would love to simply shut them all down but they are giving people time to extract their money - they have overheads and you are expected to pay your share.

Your reasons for it not being your fault are invalid.  Unless you explicitly told them about your health issues then that is irrelevant to them.  They informed you by email (which is exactly what one would expect an ecommerce site to do - similarly Amazon send information by email as does my bank (only certain legal/regulatory notices are sent through the post).

Usually all they need are things like photographic evidence, proof address or other things that prove you are who you say you are. What is it that they are asking you for?  Maybe you are over thinking it and it isn't as complex as you think.

As others have mentioned the cost is an annual charge taken at the start of October.  So you have plenty of time to collate the information and get this sorted - don't stress about that - you have loads of time before the next charge is taken.  Sadly I think you are going to have to suck up the other 2 charges.

martinajane12

It's hardly their fault that you weren't reading your emails.

We'll have to agree to disagree for the reasons I gave

Yahoo_Mail

martinajane12 said:

It's hardly their fault that you weren't reading your emails.

We'll have to agree to disagree for the reasons I gave

None of the reasons you gave make it their fault that you didn't read your emails.

Aylesbury_Duck

martinajane12 said:

It's hardly their fault that you weren't reading your emails.

We'll have to agree to disagree for the reasons I gave

That's an interesting take.  Perhaps you could explain how the company is at fault for you not reading your emails from them?