@%$&! auto-billing scams

[Dreamstalker]

I've been fighting with both my credit card co and this "merchant" to get some auto-billing "savings club" removed from my card (I can't even suss out where the hell they got the card from, I had to cancel it for an unrelated reason and it showed up on the new one).

I call the number, am told I "need to" cancel online. Okay...except they want a Member ID. Which I need to call to get. I call, and am told they have no record of my information (funny, you seem to know it well enough to be able to bill me). I disputed it through my card company and stated explicitly that I had tried to cancel the program and wished to cancel, including all the hoops I had jumped through and their claims that I was not in their system.

That results in a credit for last month, and the charge is again on my card for the current billing cycle...so what was the point of the dispute then?

I'm tempted to report that card as lost, except I sense that the charge will again show up on the replacement...that alone is VERY suspect indeed (how do they know the number has changed?). If I thought my credit score was good enough, I would apply for another card, transfer that balance and close the one in question completely.

[lordlundar]

That results in a credit for last month, and the charge is again on my card for the current billing cycle...so what was the point of the dispute then?

A bit of a sidetrack, credit card companies/issuing banks can't put a blackout on a company(I had a recurring charge on a canceled service myself and I asked about it), and a dispute is covered on a by-billed basis. The outcomes are reported though and if a problematic pattern develops, they can and will cut off all the one billing access to the company. (funny, I put in biller and a spell check came up bilker. Very appropriate.)

That said, contact the FBI's Fraud department. Have proof of the disputed charge and let them know that you never signed up.

[Plaidman]

When I was playing Final Fantasy XI, and had lost my internet, I was incapleable of canceling my service. So every month they'll charge me. I called customer service, and they said they canceled it. They didn't Still charge me. I called again, they told me I could only cancel through my ps2 game. I told them i have no internet, no way of doing that. They transfered me around, adhoc adhoc.


I ended up having to go to my bank, (BoA). They just canceled my card, rerouted the by month charges I wanted, and basically cut FF11 off completly. So yay. It stop. Though it took along time.

[lordlundar]

When I was playing Final Fantasy XI, and had lost my internet, I was incapleable of canceling my service. So every month they'll charge me. I called customer service, and they said they canceled it. They didn't Still charge me. I called again, they told me I could only cancel through my ps2 game. I told them i have no internet, no way of doing that. They transfered me around, adhoc adhoc.


I ended up having to go to my bank, (BoA). They just canceled my card, rerouted the by month charges I wanted, and basically cut FF11 off completly. So yay. It stop. Though it took along time.

Geeze, you too with problems with them? They declared the CC I was using as invalid (no where near it) And canceled the account, after they billed me for a month already and when it came time to renew it. Then threatened that I had to pay or they'd cancel the account and ruin my credit rating.

Mind you, I was already sick of the game anyway so I told them to go ahead and cancel it (well, my wording was if they don't then I will) and paid them their money.

[elsporko]

Sounds like a fraud specifically set up so you can't cancel their service and spot getting billed

[insertNameHere]

It is very easy to accidentally sign up for something. There was some credit protector that when my dad called to activate my card from our home phone since i was at school and they forwarded it to me. They automatically signed up for and a I had a month or two to cancel it. When I called to cancel it they kept telling me what a great service it was, lol my aunt at the bank assured me 95% of what they did was also required FREE services from the bank. They made it hard to cancel, offered me $50 in rebate vouchers, at which point they asked where what my address was, and said they would send the vouchers there and I said NO I WANT TO CANCEL THE SERVICE. They just don't want to make it easy.

[Dreamstalker]

Apparently, the member ID that I need is in a "welcome packet" that I received...guess what, I never got anything in the mail. From what I can figure, it's one main marketing firm that has quite a few shell companies (all with multiple rants against them on complaints.com, ROR and another site I can't recall) and it has been confirmed that card companies are selling their lists/working with them.