Can I get a full refund from JustAnswer.com? They say no :-(

s@sha

Hi there,
So back in September I paid £5 to ask a legal question on JustAnswer.com. I'm usually pretty astute at checking what I'm actually getting, so I was surprised to find that I have since been charged two monthly charges of £50 for a 'membership' that I never wanted and didn't know I had signed up for. I don't recall seeing any info about the £5 charge being a trial, or about membership. I thought it was a one-off payment to ask a question.
Anyway, I've just contacted JustAnswer by phone, they say they will only refund the latest £50 charge. Something to do with the first £50 being outside a 15 day limit, or something? Sorry it's vague but the line was very poor and the lady had a very weird accent, both of which meant I could barely understand her.
So, basically, are they allowed to refuse a full refund? If so, is there any point in trying to get the other £50 back? I've emailed explaining the situation, but had a reply back that just regurgitates what she said. Doesn't even look like a human even read it, it came back within 5 minutes.

km1500

from their website...

Clear, fixed fees

The real cost of medical, legal, car, and home repair is hard to know beforehand. Here, your cost is fixed for a regular monthly fee, and any premium service fees are always upfront.

s@sha

But when I signed up, there was a massive thing on the home page about being able to py £5 to ask a question. It basically said pay £5 and ask a question, it wast't clear that if you pay that £5 that they are then signing you up to a monthly fee. The home page looks different now, that £5 offer thing isn't there anymore.

Their help service is rubbish, I can't even get a proper answer about this. They say they have 'live' chat and agents are online, but it's not 'live'- its an AI chatbot. I've sent two emails, which just come back with exactly the same wording which doesn't even answer what I'm asking. Obviously auto-generated. Can't get to speak to a human about it.

eskbanker

s@sha said:

So back in September I paid £5 to ask a legal question on JustAnswer.com. I'm usually pretty astute at checking what I'm actually getting, so I was surprised to find that I have since been charged two monthly charges of £50 for a 'membership' that I never wanted and didn't know I had signed up for. I don't recall seeing any info about the £5 charge being a trial, or about membership. I thought it was a one-off payment to ask a question.

Seems clear that £5 is a trial subscription, not a one-off price?

Only have one question?

Noproblem! Sign up for a trial period to get your answer and cancel before thenext billing period to avoid further monthly charges.

[...]

JustAnswer is a monthly membership-based service. Single-question customers must cancel during their trial period to avoid incurring monthly membership charges. Membership will continue until cancellation. Click here to cancel anytime.

[...]

JustAnswer is a monthly membership-based service that provides fast and easy access to Experts online. After paying a trial fee, you will automatically start a monthly subscription plan after your trial period ends. You can cancel at any time. If you want to stop using JustAnswer, please do so before your billing period is due. Like a phone contract, you must cancel in advance to avoid a future charge.

https://www.justanswer.co.uk/help/pricing

Aylesbury_Duck

s@sha said:

But when I signed up, there was a massive thing on the home page about being able to py £5 to ask a question. It basically said pay £5 and ask a question, it wast't clear that if you pay that £5 that they are then signing you up to a monthly fee. The home page looks different now, that £5 offer thing isn't there anymore.

Their help service is rubbish, I can't even get a proper answer about this. They say they have 'live' chat and agents are online, but it's not 'live'- its an AI chatbot. I've sent two emails, which just come back with exactly the same wording which doesn't even answer what I'm asking. Obviously auto-generated. Can't get to speak to a human about it.

You'll need to get hold of the terms and conditions that were in effect at the time you signed up to them.  If you're right, and those terms didn't inform you of an ongoing subscription, then you have an opportunity to challenge them on the additional £50.

You have no email receipt with terms and conditions from the time?  It's the first place I'd look to.

s@sha

!!!!!!.

Ok. I accept that I did not go into their pricing menu at the time. But that was because their home page was completely different to how it looiks now. Was plastered with this massively misleading "pay only £5 to ask a question" stuff, and saying that's all you have to do -pay £5. No mention of it being a trial. I can see I should have checked it more thoroughly, but it was certainly designed to imply that you only needed pay a one off £5, not that you were signing up as a member.
Lesson learned :-(

user1977

Also it looks like any consumer rights you have are likely to be those under Idaho state law (where they are based) rather than the UK.

born_again

s@sha said:

!!!!!!.

Ok. I accept that I did not go into their pricing menu at the time. But that was because their home page was completely different to how it looiks now. Was plastered with this massively misleading "pay only £5 to ask a question" stuff, and saying that's all you have to do -pay £5. No mention of it being a trial. I can see I should have checked it more thoroughly, but it was certainly designed to imply that you only needed pay a one off £5, not that you were signing up as a member.
Lesson learned :-(

TBH.
This has been the same for years, that it is a trial. All I can say is you are not alone in getting caught out. 👍

In many cases, you can get the same answer from a simple google.

DullGreyGuy

s@sha said:

Hi there,
So back in September I paid £5 to ask a legal question on JustAnswer.com. I'm usually pretty astute at checking what I'm actually getting, so I was surprised to find that I have since been charged two monthly charges of £50 for a 'membership' that I never wanted and didn't know I had signed up for. I don't recall seeing any info about the £5 charge being a trial, or about membership. I thought it was a one-off payment to ask a question.
Anyway, I've just contacted JustAnswer by phone, they say they will only refund the latest £50 charge. Something to do with the first £50 being outside a 15 day limit, or something? Sorry it's vague but the line was very poor and the lady had a very weird accent, both of which meant I could barely understand her.
So, basically, are they allowed to refuse a full refund? If so, is there any point in trying to get the other £50 back? I've emailed explaining the situation, but had a reply back that just regurgitates what she said. Doesn't even look like a human even read it, it came back within 5 minutes.

It's a US company and terms are subject to Idaho law. The US has much lower level of consumer protection and rights which in part explains why things are often cheaper there than here. 

Ignoring the odd Court of Appeal decision last week, especially as it has no jurisdiction in Idaho, generally you have to read the terms you are agreeing to and whilst most people dont that doesn't subsequently give you an excuse. Like many sites it offers a cheap initial trial followed by a more expensive monthly fee. You're somewhat lucky that it renewed to a monthly contract, many default to an annual contract unless you change it to the higher monthly option. 

soolin

There’s a couple of threads about this company running already, this is the most recent one which might be worth a read. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81064447#Comment_81064447?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=justanswer

Keep_it_in_the_family

Don't stand for it ! I have just successfully had 4x£50 charges refunded after the first two refusals under the 'terms and conditions' small print argument. The 3rd strongly worded letter pointed out their obfuscation at every opportunity to be clear about what I was 'signing up' for. I think the clinching argument was that new UK legislation  under the Digital Marketers and Consumers act 2024 nails this as a SUBSCRIPTION TRAP.  Under the new act they may be fined under the CMA for up to 10% of their worldwide annual turnover. I threatened to pursue legally under this and have now been promised full £200 refund, hopefully back to my credit card next week. If I don't update here, I WON. Good luck to you to do the same.