How can I help my 78 year old friend recover fees she had no idea about

jayneeWales

This dear friend during lockdown has been alone, isolated and clinically vulnerable. She doesn't go out and everything is delivered. She has limited funds and her savior is Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky. 
In April last year she was frustrated at not being able to get the new tv remote to operate all these TV channels. None of us could visit so couldn't really help.
She went online and bumped into Just Answer - what a horrid shower of people - advertising themselves as experts, extorting money for is most definitely not "expert advice"
She asked how to use the remote, he directed her to a Nigerian YouTube channel and left.
As she thought it had cost £5 for the advice she just thought - that was awful and forgot about it
however they have continued to debit her £35 every month since - 13 x £35 = £455 for a C**p answer.
Now I have cancelled it - she luckily saves all sign ins on her computer as she had no recollection or details of the login in her book to say she indeed had an account.
They are totally following the company rules and issued standard phrases on both my conversations saying, she signed for a free trial and the membership fees and had a chance to cancel them.
For goodness sake she just thought he was a nice man trying to help who charged her £5 for some useless info and probably a link to a Nigerian fraud!
I am stuck as how to get her money back?

They totally deny all responsibility. Her technician was "Ameen " no photo just a rating of 6000 happy customers and detailed as Physician???????
Total rip off site - they are not experts they are just expert in extortion!
The credit card treats it like a card purchase so not covered by DDM system, she has been duped into the membership as it was misleading and in effect has been robbed of £450.
She didnt see the card payments - as an old lady her family set up her other payments like sky and netflix from this account and it should have been cleared monthly on a more suitable date from her bank via ddm. So until she got her annual interest statement from the card company because she had not infact been clering the bills monthly because of this she now has interest to pay too and she really cant afford it? 
What can we do?
I had chat with Just answer on line - one girl told me it was cancelled in january - I cancelled it 1st May 2021 so I said thats your error pay back the 4 months Jan to April
No they said and cut me off - twice.
How do I help her? I just want to cry!

GSDMum

Makes my blood boil! Hope your friend has her money returned. 

Hasbeen

jayneeWales said:

This dear friend during lockdown has been alone, isolated and clinically vulnerable. She doesn't go out and everything is delivered. She has limited funds and her savior is Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky. 
In April last year she was frustrated at not being able to get the new tv remote to operate all these TV channels. None of us could visit so couldn't really help.
She went online and bumped into Just Answer - what a horrid shower of people - advertising themselves as experts, extorting money for is most definitely not "expert advice"
She asked how to use the remote, he directed her to a Nigerian YouTube channel and left.
As she thought it had cost £5 for the advice she just thought - that was awful and forgot about it
however they have continued to debit her £35 every month since - 13 x £35 = £455 for a C**p answer.
Now I have cancelled it - she luckily saves all sign ins on her computer as she had no recollection or details of the login in her book to say she indeed had an account.
They are totally following the company rules and issued standard phrases on both my conversations saying, she signed for a free trial and the membership fees and had a chance to cancel them.
For goodness sake she just thought he was a nice man trying to help who charged her £5 for some useless info and probably a link to a Nigerian fraud!
I am stuck as how to get her money back?

They totally deny all responsibility. Her technician was "Ameen " no photo just a rating of 6000 happy customers and detailed as Physician???????
Total rip off site - they are not experts they are just expert in extortion!
The credit card treats it like a card purchase so not covered by DDM system, she has been duped into the membership as it was misleading and in effect has been robbed of £450.
She didnt see the card payments - as an old lady her family set up her other payments like sky and netflix from this account and it should have been cleared monthly on a more suitable date from her bank via ddm. So until she got her annual interest statement from the card company because she had not infact been clering the bills monthly because of this she now has interest to pay too and she really cant afford it? 
What can we do?
I had chat with Just answer on line - one girl told me it was cancelled in january - I cancelled it 1st May 2021 so I said thats your error pay back the 4 months Jan to April
No they said and cut me off - twice.
How do I help her? I just want to cry!

Perhaps posting in the Consumer Rights  would get more help, than here on random acts of kindness and all things positive? Link below.

Consumer Rights

pogofish

Posting in an appropriate forum and reading one or more of the standing threads about shyster sites would be the best start.

This is an ongoing problem, not just a COVID issue.

elsien

They’re not a UK based company which may limit your options somewhat. 

Perhaps she needs to start checking her statements every month - this lot aren’t the only people out there who work on this type of model unfortunately. 

jayneeWales

I spent hours trawling their web site - US company based in Idaho. Set up by CEO for all the right reasons. Wife was pregnant, had health issues thought it a good idea for people to be able to access advice online for such circumstances, eg. medical questions, conveyancing, legal issues, technical problems.
Seems like a limited liability company. They have proper rules and regulations set out in a manual detailing how the accounts should run.
The idea was if you want one off advice they connect you to an expert in the field and agree a one off payment. Or you can choose to use a subscription membership whereby you agree a set monthly amount and it collects in your account - which you can then use as and when you wish instead of keep using one off agreements. They are supposed to give you a choice of amount, supposed to advise you re the debits and to advise of the subscription renewal. They are supposed to be experts in their field.
I think the UK based company is copying the model but not controlling it in the same way as the US site.
I forwarded a copy of their company policy underlining the above facts in their policy and asked for them to meet us half way.
They have now agreed to reverse the payments for 12 of the 13 payments.
There are people with morals after all. One very happy old lady.

Perhaps the copy of that policy below may help someone else!

3.4 Charges

 

3.4.1 JustAnswer's platform allows Customers to post questions to Experts in subject-matter categories, facilitates communication with Experts via chat, emails and online message boards, and enables delivery of answers to your questions, among other services (“Site Access Benefits”). Customers on the Site may be presented with one of two payment models:

 

(a) a pay-per-question model; and

(b) a subscription model.

 

3.4.2  With the pay-per-question model, you select the voucher price that you are willing to pay for a voucher that may be redeemed for a single question to any Expert who is willing to answer your question on the Site. Once you have selected the voucher price and submitted your payment information, your question will be posted on JustAnswer. You will be charged once you enter your payment information and purchase a voucher or coupon. 

 

3.4.3 The subscription model allows you to purchase multiple vouchers up to an amount equal to $500.00 per month through setting up a recurring monthly fee. The fee is automatically charged to your payment source as provided by you on the Site and placed in a pool out of which vouchers may be redeemed to pay for an Expert’s services (the “Voucher Pool”). At the end of each payment period for which you have subscribed, any unredeemed amounts remaining in the Voucher Pool will be deemed to have expired and will therefore be retained by JustAnswer.

 

3.4.4 Subscriptions allow Customers to receive multiple vouchers for multiple questions on the Site for a monthly recurring fee. Customers who elect to pay for subscriptions are hereinafter referred to as “Members.” The fee is automatically charged to the Member’s payment source provided on the Site and placed in the Customer Payment Pool (account of all Members’ payments). JustAnswer will send at least one email notice of upcoming auto-renewal prior to auto-renewing your subscription. Auto-renewal will remain in effect until withdrawn by you or terminated by JustAnswer. You can stop auto-renewal of your subscription by (1) clicking the cancel membership button on either the help center page or your account’s membership page; (2) sending a written notice of cancellation via e-mail to support@justanswer.com or (3) talking to a customer support agent via our online chatbot or through calling 1-800-509-5721. Your withdrawal must be received by JustAnswer at least 30 days before your renewal date to be effective with respect to the next billing cycle

HampshireH

jayneeWales said:

I spent hours trawling their web site - US company based in Idaho. Set up by CEO for all the right reasons. Wife was pregnant, had health issues thought it a good idea for people to be able to access advice online for such circumstances, eg. medical questions, conveyancing, legal issues, technical problems.
Seems like a limited liability company. They have proper rules and regulations set out in a manual detailing how the accounts should run.
The idea was if you want one off advice they connect you to an expert in the field and agree a one off payment. Or you can choose to use a subscription membership whereby you agree a set monthly amount and it collects in your account - which you can then use as and when you wish instead of keep using one off agreements. They are supposed to give you a choice of amount, supposed to advise you re the debits and to advise of the subscription renewal. They are supposed to be experts in their field.
I think the UK based company is copying the model but not controlling it in the same way as the US site.
I forwarded a copy of their company policy underlining the above facts in their policy and asked for them to meet us half way.
They have now agreed to reverse the payments for 12 of the 13 payments.
There are people with morals after all. One very happy old lady.

Perhaps the copy of that policy below may help someone else!

3.4 Charges

 

3.4.1 JustAnswer's platform allows Customers to post questions to Experts in subject-matter categories, facilitates communication with Experts via chat, emails and online message boards, and enables delivery of answers to your questions, among other services (“Site Access Benefits”). Customers on the Site may be presented with one of two payment models:

 

(a) a pay-per-question model; and

(b) a subscription model.

 

3.4.2  With the pay-per-question model, you select the voucher price that you are willing to pay for a voucher that may be redeemed for a single question to any Expert who is willing to answer your question on the Site. Once you have selected the voucher price and submitted your payment information, your question will be posted on JustAnswer. You will be charged once you enter your payment information and purchase a voucher or coupon. 

 

3.4.3 The subscription model allows you to purchase multiple vouchers up to an amount equal to $500.00 per month through setting up a recurring monthly fee. The fee is automatically charged to your payment source as provided by you on the Site and placed in a pool out of which vouchers may be redeemed to pay for an Expert’s services (the “Voucher Pool”). At the end of each payment period for which you have subscribed, any unredeemed amounts remaining in the Voucher Pool will be deemed to have expired and will therefore be retained by JustAnswer.

 

3.4.4 Subscriptions allow Customers to receive multiple vouchers for multiple questions on the Site for a monthly recurring fee. Customers who elect to pay for subscriptions are hereinafter referred to as “Members.” The fee is automatically charged to the Member’s payment source provided on the Site and placed in the Customer Payment Pool (account of all Members’ payments). JustAnswer will send at least one email notice of upcoming auto-renewal prior to auto-renewing your subscription. Auto-renewal will remain in effect until withdrawn by you or terminated by JustAnswer. You can stop auto-renewal of your subscription by (1) clicking the cancel membership button on either the help center page or your account’s membership page; (2) sending a written notice of cancellation via e-mail to support@justanswer.com or (3) talking to a customer support agent via our online chatbot or through calling 1-800-509-5721. Your withdrawal must be received by JustAnswer at least 30 days before your renewal date to be effective with respect to the next billing cycle

Great outcome. Well done

Hasbeen

Great result!
I would also question why your elderly friend is subscribed to all below?

"She has limited funds and her savior is Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky. "

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've moved this to the Consumer Rights board