Auto Renewal - NowTv Rip off

[GPB]

It's quite clear really, the following is on the receipt they email you:

If your order includes any of our Month Passes, they’ll roll on each month at the standard price, unless you cancel. Check out the T&Cs below to see what you’ll pay.

If you’re on an offer or a free trial, you’ll start paying the regular price when your offer or trial period ends. To see details of exactly what you’ll be charged and when, log in to My Account and head to Passes & vouchers.

 

[Ifwecouldjust.......]

I'm after some advice. Last season I purchased a Now TV Sky Sports for 10 months for £179, paid it it one go and got Sky Sports for 10 months. What I didn't realise is that after 10 months I went onto a contract worth onto £33.99 a month.

For one reason or another I've only just spotted that they've taken 3 lots of £33.99 off my credit card. I got on live chat to tell them I wanted it refunding, but they said it was in the T&C (it was, as I've now read them).

I kicked off and said I'll report the transactions as fraud to my bank as I didn't want them. They didn't seem arsed.

I've done some quick research and come across this on the government's website (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/unfair-terms-explained-for-businesses-full-guide)

"Terms that can be used to extend a contract beyond what your customer would normally expect may be unfair. The effect of these types of terms is to potentially tie customers into paying for something which they no longer want or need."

& this

"It is made clear to customers at the outset how their subscription or contract will be renewed and the contract requires that they are sent a reminder a reasonable time before it is due to be renewed. The reminder should include clear information about the terms of the proposed renewal of the contract and the reasonable steps customers need to take to stop the renewal, if they wish to." - On this one they never contacted me to remind me.

Anyone got any knowledge with this, that can give some input of how to best proceed. Challenge it with NowTv? Report it as fraud to the bank, or what?

Under the direct debit guarantee you can ask the bank to recall the three payments whilst you resolve the problem with Now TV. I would suggest that you right to them stating that you didn't receive any notification of the renewal / price hike. Its not fraud so i wouldn't state that... try and resolve with Now TV by offering payment at last years monthly rate.


https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/Pages/DirectDebitGuarantee.aspx

 

[denislawsbackheel]

I get what you're saying, but I do feel it's different from a phone or gas as you're knowingly still using the service and I'm guessing you pay monthly for and/or there's a credit agreement. I paid for 10 months up front, used the service for 10 months, then found myself paying monthly for something I neither used or needed. I've e-mailed them and thrown it a bit of the stuff about unfair contracts above.

My insurance auto renews, but they're more transparent and e-mail a few weeks before, so I routinely check their quote to others before renewing. I've no issue with that.

I paid 12 months up front for a further discount.

Some of the “advice” you are getting on here will land you in court straight away.

The terms and conditions were quite clear, the fact you didn't read Them but ticked the box to say you had read and understood them leaves you defenceless.
Your unfair contracts sideline is a complete red herring and won’t get you anywhere.

 

[Stoned Rose]

Take the bumming.

Cancel.

Crack on with your life.

 

[TheRemainsOfTheDave]

I paid 12 months up front for a further discount.

Some of the “advice” you are getting on here will land you in court straight away.

The terms and conditions were quite clear, the fact you didn't read Them but ticked the box to say you had read and understood them leaves you defenceless.
Your unfair contracts sideline is a complete red herring and won’t get you anywhere.

I'm not sure about this. I've just looked at the Ts & Cs for the current 10 month offer and there doesn't seem to be any specific section about payment structure when the customer pays for 10 months in advance and what happens afterwards. It explains that daily and weekly passes don't automatically renew and that monthly passes do, on a monthly basis. The Ts & Cs in my opinion should explain that the 10 month offer is actually a discount on the monthly fee, making the monthly fee £19.90 as opposed to £33, and that will be the price after the 10 month period. Based on the Ts & Cs that the customer has said they read (by ticking the box) it could be fair to assume a customer is treating this purchase as a one-off purchase without an automatic renewal because they do this for other passes. Can anyone else see something I've missed?

@Wafty Cranker - are you looking to renew for this season? Have you tried asking if they would apply the money you've paid (or part of it) towards a new season pass? They might just agree and you can chalk it down to experience.

And for anything you buy on the internet, if you are clicking Ts & Cs boxes, always print them to a pdf file on the computer as this gives the file a timestamp so you can prove what you agreed to at a later date.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

I'm not sure about this. I've just looked at the Ts & Cs for the current 10 month offer and there doesn't seem to be any specific section about payment structure when the customer pays for 10 months in advance and what happens afterwards. It explains that daily and weekly passes don't automatically renew and that monthly passes do, on a monthly basis. The Ts & Cs in my opinion should explain that the 10 month offer is actually a discount on the monthly fee, making the monthly fee £19.90 as opposed to £33, and that will be the price after the 10 month period. Based on the Ts & Cs that the customer has said they read (by ticking the box) it could be fair to assume a customer is treating this purchase as a one-off purchase without an automatic renewal because they do this for other passes. Can anyone else see something I've missed?

@Wafty Cranker - are you looking to renew for this season? Have you tried asking if they would apply the money you've paid (or part of it) towards a new season pass? They might just agree and you can chalk it down to experience.

And for anything you buy on the internet, if you are clicking Ts & Cs boxes, always print them to a pdf file on the computer as this gives the file a timestamp so you can prove what you agreed to at a later date.

See GPB’s post.

I have signed up to NOW tv deals before now at their discount rate.

24 hours later I cancel.

I still get the period I have agreed to with the knowledge that’s all I have signed up to.

 

[Blue Til Death]

Take the bumming.

Cancel.

Crack on with your life.

This is your best option, lesson learned and move on..!

 

[TheRemainsOfTheDave]

See GPB’s post.

I have signed up to NOW tv deals before now at their discount rate.

24 hours later I cancel.

I still get the period I have agreed to with the knowledge that’s all I have signed up to.

That is true, but the bit they ask for confirmation of is the fact you have read the Ts & Cs (which was also what you put as your main point against the customer) and in this area it is vague to say the least and is the matter that would be main focus in a legal challenge.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

I'm after some advice. Last season I purchased a Now TV Sky Sports for 10 months for £179, paid it it one go and got Sky Sports for 10 months. What I didn't realise is that after 10 months I went onto a contract worth onto £33.99 a month.

For one reason or another I've only just spotted that they've taken 3 lots of £33.99 off my credit card. I got on live chat to tell them I wanted it refunding, but they said it was in the T&C (it was, as I've now read them).

I kicked off and said I'll report the transactions as fraud to my bank as I didn't want them. They didn't seem arsed.

I've done some quick research and come across this on the government's website (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/unfair-terms-explained-for-businesses-full-guide)

"Terms that can be used to extend a contract beyond what your customer would normally expect may be unfair. The effect of these types of terms is to potentially tie customers into paying for something which they no longer want or need."

& this

"It is made clear to customers at the outset how their subscription or contract will be renewed and the contract requires that they are sent a reminder a reasonable time before it is due to be renewed. The reminder should include clear information about the terms of the proposed renewal of the contract and the reasonable steps customers need to take to stop the renewal, if they wish to." - On this one they never contacted me to remind me.

Anyone got any knowledge with this, that can give some input of how to best proceed. Challenge it with NowTv? Report it as fraud to the bank, or what?

It isn’t fraud and you’ll end up in trouble if you do that. We offer some subscription based services in work, occasionally we have people claim they didn’t know it was a subscription (despite the fact it’s all over our website). In the couple of cases where people have filed chargebacks for fraud/unknown charges, we won the disputes by proving they’d subscribed. Had we not, we would have pursued them through a small claims court for our losses and time spent dealing with it.

Personally I’d cancel immediately and chalk it up to experience. But that’s just me.

Surely a company as big as Now TV would have this squared off properly to comply with consumer law? I’m being lazy and cba checking myself.

Its on your credit card so raise the dispute. Don't say fraud - say you were not made aware and claim you did not give consent to the payment (the small print T&C is irrelevant).

I work in a Bank and many years back worked in the world of credit card issues like this. The card provider (bank) will refund you first and then make Now TV justify there actions. While they might have a legal case the Banks hate these sorts of issues and 1 may find in your favor as they will strongly favor the card holder and 2 will at least monitor the number of these things and pull the service from Now TV if they are causing too much trouble.

If you keep the claim honest - you were not made aware and were given no prior warning - you have nothing to fear.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

I paid 12 months up front for a further discount.

Some of the “advice” you are getting on here will land you in court straight away.

The terms and conditions were quite clear, the fact you didn't read Them but ticked the box to say you had read and understood them leaves you defenceless.
Your unfair contracts sideline is a complete red herring and won’t get you anywhere.

I seriously doubt Now TV are going to take anyone to court for ~£100. I'd go as far as to say there is zero chance, worst case is they sell your debt to a debt managaement company assuming the bank gives you your money back. There costs would be in the £'000s just for a simple small claims as they will not do anything on the cheap. Claim your money back via the card and let Now TV argue it out with the Bank.

If that process is found against you then you suck it up.