Quickest way out with no consequences?
May 11, 2010 8:35 AM Subscribe
If a company tries to charge me fraudulent charges and I've cancelled my credit card so they are unable to charge me, can they otherwise impact me or can I ignore them and consider the matter closed until they stop trying?
I've been paying for a dedicated server from a hosting company. They revealed to me that the server was actually just a trial, and on May 15th I should cancel or be automatically upgraded to a much more expensive package. Their instructions in the email were "To cancel your service, please open a ticket with our Customer Service Department, and our representatives will guide you through the process."
I opened a ticket asking for my account to be closed and was informed that I needed to fill out a form send the form, a copy of my ID and the credit card to them via fax or mail. Not only is this inconvenient for me, but this is providing extra information that I did not need to provide at signup. It sounds extremely fishy to me. Furthermore, the credit card was a virtual card given by Paypal and I've already closed the credit card so that they can't charge me. In addition they said they need 30 days of notice. The date they gave before is just a few days away; so I think they are going to intentionally upgrade my account and charge me $35 for a previously $5 server, and THEN process my cancellation (possibly charging me a second time, as they say it takes two days to receive my cancellation form).
So they have my name (but I gave them a nickname for my firstname, ex. Bobby instead of Robert), the now-closed Mastercard info, my address, my email, and my Google Voice phone number.
There are other reports in the BBB for similar practice from them, some people being charged nonsense several-hundred-dollar charges. I should've checked it before going into this deal.
The optimal solution is to ignore them. They can't charge me. But I'm unsure about the ways companies deal with this; can they report me to some agency which will take legal action against me? Can it affect my credit score?
A second solution is, according to their terms of service, "17. Distribution of Viruses: Intentional distributions of software that attempts to and/or causes damage, harassment, or annoyance to persons, data, and/or computer systems are prohibited. Such an offense will result in the immediate termination of the offending account." So according to that, I can go find spyware, put it in the server's web folder, lock down the server tightly so that support can't "help me" remove it, and then report myself and my account will be cancelled; right? Has this been done before? Is this a good course of action? It seems to be the quick way out and is not in any way illegal like most of the other violations are...
In the meantime, I have asked them how to send them a copy of the virtual credit card, and they mentioned I can black out parts of my ID so I've asked them what parts I can black out. I will play their game but I don't want them to sit around for 30 days and try to charge me extra for nothing.
Thank you for reading all this, and please help me out with anything I should be aware of and any suggestions you have. I'm just a college student, I hardly have time to deal with this crap (it's exam time right now, ugh) and I just want to be terminated the easiest way possible without negative consequences or extra payments.
I've been paying for a dedicated server from a hosting company. They revealed to me that the server was actually just a trial, and on May 15th I should cancel or be automatically upgraded to a much more expensive package. Their instructions in the email were "To cancel your service, please open a ticket with our Customer Service Department, and our representatives will guide you through the process."
I opened a ticket asking for my account to be closed and was informed that I needed to fill out a form send the form, a copy of my ID and the credit card to them via fax or mail. Not only is this inconvenient for me, but this is providing extra information that I did not need to provide at signup. It sounds extremely fishy to me. Furthermore, the credit card was a virtual card given by Paypal and I've already closed the credit card so that they can't charge me. In addition they said they need 30 days of notice. The date they gave before is just a few days away; so I think they are going to intentionally upgrade my account and charge me $35 for a previously $5 server, and THEN process my cancellation (possibly charging me a second time, as they say it takes two days to receive my cancellation form).
So they have my name (but I gave them a nickname for my firstname, ex. Bobby instead of Robert), the now-closed Mastercard info, my address, my email, and my Google Voice phone number.
There are other reports in the BBB for similar practice from them, some people being charged nonsense several-hundred-dollar charges. I should've checked it before going into this deal.
The optimal solution is to ignore them. They can't charge me. But I'm unsure about the ways companies deal with this; can they report me to some agency which will take legal action against me? Can it affect my credit score?
A second solution is, according to their terms of service, "17. Distribution of Viruses: Intentional distributions of software that attempts to and/or causes damage, harassment, or annoyance to persons, data, and/or computer systems are prohibited. Such an offense will result in the immediate termination of the offending account." So according to that, I can go find spyware, put it in the server's web folder, lock down the server tightly so that support can't "help me" remove it, and then report myself and my account will be cancelled; right? Has this been done before? Is this a good course of action? It seems to be the quick way out and is not in any way illegal like most of the other violations are...
In the meantime, I have asked them how to send them a copy of the virtual credit card, and they mentioned I can black out parts of my ID so I've asked them what parts I can black out. I will play their game but I don't want them to sit around for 30 days and try to charge me extra for nothing.
Thank you for reading all this, and please help me out with anything I should be aware of and any suggestions you have. I'm just a college student, I hardly have time to deal with this crap (it's exam time right now, ugh) and I just want to be terminated the easiest way possible without negative consequences or extra payments.
If I'm reading this correctly...if they can show that you agreed to a 30-day termination, they could probably bill you for $35 or whatever that 30 days is. If left unpaid, that could go to some dinky collection agency.
Your 'second solution' is a bad idea. No further comment there.
You've cancelled the card. I'd leave things sit where they are for now. Let them make the next move--if any.
posted by gimonca at 8:57 AM on May 11, 2010
Your 'second solution' is a bad idea. No further comment there.
You've cancelled the card. I'd leave things sit where they are for now. Let them make the next move--if any.
posted by gimonca at 8:57 AM on May 11, 2010
I opened a ticket asking for my account to be closed and was informed that I needed to fill out a form send the form, a copy of my ID and the credit card to them via fax or mail.
Do they have any kind of phone number where you can talk to a human being? If so, you can try calling them and doing the ask for a manager thing over and over until they cancel your account. Generally people don't like being on the phone with an angry customer for an extended amount of time, and at some point they might cave and give up the $30 they think you owe or whatever. If this does end up going to collections they are going to be hounding you with phone calls to try to get you to pay it, so you might as well preemptively start the phone war from your side if you can.
posted by burnmp3s at 9:04 AM on May 11, 2010
Do they have any kind of phone number where you can talk to a human being? If so, you can try calling them and doing the ask for a manager thing over and over until they cancel your account. Generally people don't like being on the phone with an angry customer for an extended amount of time, and at some point they might cave and give up the $30 they think you owe or whatever. If this does end up going to collections they are going to be hounding you with phone calls to try to get you to pay it, so you might as well preemptively start the phone war from your side if you can.
posted by burnmp3s at 9:04 AM on May 11, 2010
Best answer: Dealt with these guys myself - they are scammers through and through. If you cancel the credit card, they'll bill you another $300 and threaten to send you to collections. I fought with them for quite a while, but in the end I just decided to go along with their fax-or-mail game. I sent a letter, which they ignored and denied getting, then a fax, which they ignored and denied getting. I had to get a fax confirmation sheet and give them the date and time from that before they finally went away. Since I had originally sent the fax before they tried to bill my cancelled card they had to reverse the $300.
I won't mention the company name as it looks like you intentionally didn't, but you might want to rethink that - why not get their name out there if it might help some future Google searchers stay away from the scam?
posted by pocams at 9:12 AM on May 11, 2010
I won't mention the company name as it looks like you intentionally didn't, but you might want to rethink that - why not get their name out there if it might help some future Google searchers stay away from the scam?
posted by pocams at 9:12 AM on May 11, 2010
Response by poster: pocams I think you're right. I typically don't name-drop but I think it is in the interest of Googlers that they know, this is ServerPronto (from Infolink).
Their BBB rating, by the way, is an F. Their "terms of service" is tacked onto the bottom of their Acceptable Use Policy and constitutes both of these policies combined, which can be found here.
posted by Ricket at 9:19 AM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
Their BBB rating, by the way, is an F. Their "terms of service" is tacked onto the bottom of their Acceptable Use Policy and constitutes both of these policies combined, which can be found here.
posted by Ricket at 9:19 AM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You can also complain to the state attorney general's office.
I'm in North Carolina, as I see you are. I've done this re: Domain Registry of America and their own misleading "advertising" practices (they've sent "renewal notices" to my clients which look like invoices, but which are actually requests for the clients to transfer domain names to DRoA - their domain names were actually registered through another registrar entirely). Enough complaints can lead to a lawsuit.
I'd consider perhaps sending ServerPronto a sternly-worded, official-sounding letter that mentions that you've reported them to the state attorney general's office. If the situation is heinous enough, and if you are interested in pursuing it (I see you're in college), you might even find a way to have a Real Lawyer send them a letter asking them to cease and desist.
Or you can do as pocams did and just play their game. Personally, I'd be too angry and too interested in preventing them from profiting from stupid ploys like this.
posted by amtho at 10:16 AM on May 11, 2010
I'm in North Carolina, as I see you are. I've done this re: Domain Registry of America and their own misleading "advertising" practices (they've sent "renewal notices" to my clients which look like invoices, but which are actually requests for the clients to transfer domain names to DRoA - their domain names were actually registered through another registrar entirely). Enough complaints can lead to a lawsuit.
I'd consider perhaps sending ServerPronto a sternly-worded, official-sounding letter that mentions that you've reported them to the state attorney general's office. If the situation is heinous enough, and if you are interested in pursuing it (I see you're in college), you might even find a way to have a Real Lawyer send them a letter asking them to cease and desist.
Or you can do as pocams did and just play their game. Personally, I'd be too angry and too interested in preventing them from profiting from stupid ploys like this.
posted by amtho at 10:16 AM on May 11, 2010
Best answer: Send them your cancellation via certified mail. Reference the date of your phone conversation in this correspondence and summarize the situation and timeline accurately. Also send the same by fax and save the return receipt.
Deny all credit card charges and offer your evidence of cancellation to the credit card company.
If sent to collections, force them to jump through the legal hoops of providing you with documentation of the debt. Then submit your own files to them and tell them to take court action if they think they have a case. The collections agency will likely drop the case at this point.
You most likely should be fine and it will never get to court over such a small amount.
I am not a lawyer.
posted by jameslavelle3 at 11:12 AM on May 11, 2010
Deny all credit card charges and offer your evidence of cancellation to the credit card company.
If sent to collections, force them to jump through the legal hoops of providing you with documentation of the debt. Then submit your own files to them and tell them to take court action if they think they have a case. The collections agency will likely drop the case at this point.
You most likely should be fine and it will never get to court over such a small amount.
I am not a lawyer.
posted by jameslavelle3 at 11:12 AM on May 11, 2010
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As for what they might do, the issue could be sent to a collections agency, who might then tack on all sorts of other fees for settling the matter.
posted by jquinby at 8:49 AM on May 11, 2010