Last fall my son really got into the new Massively Multiplayer online
game, Star Wars Galaxies. SWG is run by the same company that produces
Everquest. For his birthday last fall I used a credit card to purchase a 6
month membership for him so he could play online as much as he wanted. He
used it pretty heavily for about 4 months, but has moved on to newer online
and he's also trying the Lineage II beta.
So he let his Star Wars membership lag without re-upping after the 6
months passed. However, Sony of America or whomever is running Everquest
and SWG, automatically renewed his subscription for another 6 months. I
did his original purchase online so there is no contract that I signed, yet
I'm sure they had stuff buried in whatever legal agreement they threw up
during the online registration process.
The big problem arose when I called Sony to cancell the membership..No
problem they said..."We have cancelled any further 6 month subscription
extensions."
"Fine says I, and what about a refund of the $77? His account has been
inactive for two months and he didn't request an extension"
"Well we can't do THAT," says them. "You've already paid for it with
your credit card."
"But you can still refund it right?"
"Nope...."
Fine..expect a call from Visa Shortly.CLICK
The moral of the story is VERIFY any online subscription you purchase.
We have contacted a 3rd party company that mediates Credit card disputes
and they 'THINK' we should be able to get a refund, but they are not
certain.
I think I'm gonna start getting a whole slew of visa cards for online
purchases..then cancel the buggers just as soon as the payment goes thru.
dave henrie
You mean you actually spoke to a real person at Sony? I recently when
through the same thing with my kid, who was into Everquest. I played
like hell getting my credit card info away those pricks. From now on
he buys prepaid online time through a local software outlet.
On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 22:18:57 -0500, Dave Henrie
<[email hidden]> wrote:
> Last fall my son really got into the new Massively Multiplayer online
>game, Star Wars Galaxies. SWG is run by the same company that produces
>Everquest. For his birthday last fall I used a credit card to purchase a 6
>month membership for him so he could play online as much as he wanted. He
>used it pretty heavily for about 4 months, but has moved on to newer online
>and he's also trying the Lineage II beta.
"Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> Last fall my son really got into the new Massively
> So he let his Star Wars membership lag without re-upping after the 6
> months passed. However, Sony of America or whomever is running Everquest
> and SWG, automatically renewed his subscription for another 6 months. I
> did his original purchase online so there is no contract that I signed,yet
> I'm sure they had stuff buried in whatever legal agreement they threw up
> during the online registration process.Sounds like the typical "unless we are notified within XXX days we will
automatically we will re-new you subscribtion for YOUR convenience."
I believe AOL was the first to invent that cash cow.
You should watch more episodes of "Dragnet"... that darned Joe Friday had an
answer for everything. (Except when I have a problem with GPL or Nascar
X.XXX...damnit, now that I think about it, Joe didn't seem to know anything
about online racing) jk
You're doing probably the best thing you can do...alert everyone you to the
problem and/or scam and Caveat Emptor.
Which reminds me of the "Brady Bunch " episode when Greg buys the Chevy
and then.......
>Sounds like the typical "unless we are notified within XXX days we will
>automatically we will re-new you subscribtion for YOUR convenience."
>
>I believe AOL was the first to invent that cash cow.
Nope - Columbia House did it WAY before then.
"We will automatically send your Selection of the Month unless you return the
card and mark "Don't Send".
Eldred
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On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 22:18:57 -0500, Dave Henrie
<[email hidden]> wrote:
It's standard practice that they rebill you automatically if you don't
cancel before the deadline.
Quoted text (31 lines)
> Last fall my son really got into the new Massively Multiplayer online >game, Star Wars Galaxies. SWG is run by the same company that produces >Everquest. For his birthday last fall I used a credit card to purchase a 6 >month membership for him so he could play online as much as he wanted. He >used it pretty heavily for about 4 months, but has moved on to newer online >and he's also trying the Lineage II beta. > So he let his Star Wars membership lag without re-upping after the 6 >months passed. However, Sony of America or whomever is running Everquest >and SWG, automatically renewed his subscription for another 6 months. I >did his original purchase online so there is no contract that I signed, yet >I'm sure they had stuff buried in whatever legal agreement they threw up >during the online registration process. > The big problem arose when I called Sony to cancell the membership..No >problem they said..."We have cancelled any further 6 month subscription >extensions." > "Fine says I, and what about a refund of the $77? His account has been >inactive for two months and he didn't request an extension" > "Well we can't do THAT," says them. "You've already paid for it with >your credit card." > "But you can still refund it right?" > "Nope...." > Fine..expect a call from Visa Shortly.CLICK > > The moral of the story is VERIFY any online subscription you purchase. >We have contacted a 3rd party company that mediates Credit card disputes >and they 'THINK' we should be able to get a refund, but they are not >certain. > I think I'm gonna start getting a whole slew of visa cards for online >purchases..then cancel the buggers just as soon as the payment goes thru. > >dave henrie> The moral of the story is VERIFY any online subscription you purchase.
> We have contacted a 3rd party company that mediates Credit card disputes
> and they 'THINK' we should be able to get a refund, but they are not
> certain.
> I think I'm gonna start getting a whole slew of visa cards for online
> purchases..then cancel the buggers just as soon as the payment goes thru.
Doesn't help in your current plight, but for future reference, in lieu of
the "slew of credit cards".... a reasonable alternative offered by some
credit card providers is an "alias" card number that you can generate for
online purchases.
I know that MBNA offers this, since I've used it for several years...but I
suspect that others offer it, as well. When you want to make an online
purchase, or any other purchase where you'd prefer that the vendor not have
your "real" credit card number, you go to the card provider's website where
you can generate a new card number with an expiration date and spending
limit of your choosing. The vendor sees only the "alias" card (with the
expiration date and limits you created), but on your end, it gets billed to
your normal account (with a footnote of some kind indicating that a
"virtual" card was used). In the case of the runaway Sony billing, for
instance, you could just set the expiration date for some point less than
six months out, and set the credit limit for $100 or so. When they try to
re-bill, the card won't get authorized.....voila, headache averted.
itazura
