1&1 Payment Scam
Solved
Hello,
I’m writing to share a problem with 1&1 and I would need your help to see how to resolve it:
On 04/27/14, I subscribed to a basic 1&1 offer on promo for €1.19.
Shortly after, I canceled the domain (according to them as I was sure it was the contract) and I confirmed the cancellation by phone. On 04/27/15 (the anniversary date of my contract), I received an email from 1&1 asking me to pay a bill of €71.86 for the second year and then supposedly get a refund since I canceled (which they told me on Facebook)...
I go to my client space, and to my surprise, my contract has not been canceled. I therefore cancel again and call to confirm the termination of the contract. I told them on the phone that I had already called before to cancel but they have no record of the call and on top of that the guy I had on the phone asked for a phone recording (which I obviously do not have).
I sent them a message on Facebook, and they say that if I do not pay in the coming days they will call on a collection agency (infoscore, which coincidentally when you type "infoscore" on Google almost all results lead to sites dealing with 1&1 and infoscore...) (I looked on Google "scam 1&1" and there I see a ton of results!)
What should I do as there’s no way I’m paying?
Legally they must send a letter and email 3 months at the earliest before the anniversary date of the contract and 1 month at the latest so that the client can cancel without problems, which has not been done! ... Moreover, the "phone recording" that customer service/technical support is asking for increases my doubt about 1&1’s compliance with the law...
Thank you in advance for your responses.
Best regards.
Have a good evening.
I’m writing to share a problem with 1&1 and I would need your help to see how to resolve it:
On 04/27/14, I subscribed to a basic 1&1 offer on promo for €1.19.
Shortly after, I canceled the domain (according to them as I was sure it was the contract) and I confirmed the cancellation by phone. On 04/27/15 (the anniversary date of my contract), I received an email from 1&1 asking me to pay a bill of €71.86 for the second year and then supposedly get a refund since I canceled (which they told me on Facebook)...
I go to my client space, and to my surprise, my contract has not been canceled. I therefore cancel again and call to confirm the termination of the contract. I told them on the phone that I had already called before to cancel but they have no record of the call and on top of that the guy I had on the phone asked for a phone recording (which I obviously do not have).
I sent them a message on Facebook, and they say that if I do not pay in the coming days they will call on a collection agency (infoscore, which coincidentally when you type "infoscore" on Google almost all results lead to sites dealing with 1&1 and infoscore...) (I looked on Google "scam 1&1" and there I see a ton of results!)
What should I do as there’s no way I’m paying?
Legally they must send a letter and email 3 months at the earliest before the anniversary date of the contract and 1 month at the latest so that the client can cancel without problems, which has not been done! ... Moreover, the "phone recording" that customer service/technical support is asking for increases my doubt about 1&1’s compliance with the law...
Thank you in advance for your responses.
Best regards.
Have a good evening.
1 réponse
Hello,
It seems that you are confusing the tacit renewal contract and the open-ended contract.
For the former, there is indeed a legal obligation to notify you before the renewal of your contract.
However, in the latter case, there is no renewal since the contract is concluded for an indefinite duration. It is a contract that remains active until your request for termination.
Regarding 1&1, subscribing to a contract commits you to an open-ended contract (Paragraph §5.2 of the General Terms and Conditions https://www.ionos.fr/terms-gtc/cgv/
A refund will therefore be issued after the effective termination date (the date of your termination request, plus a notice period of 10 days https://www.ionos.fr/assistance/?utm_source=old_hc )
Best regards,
--
Swen, from 1&1 Internet France
It seems that you are confusing the tacit renewal contract and the open-ended contract.
For the former, there is indeed a legal obligation to notify you before the renewal of your contract.
However, in the latter case, there is no renewal since the contract is concluded for an indefinite duration. It is a contract that remains active until your request for termination.
Regarding 1&1, subscribing to a contract commits you to an open-ended contract (Paragraph §5.2 of the General Terms and Conditions https://www.ionos.fr/terms-gtc/cgv/
A refund will therefore be issued after the effective termination date (the date of your termination request, plus a notice period of 10 days https://www.ionos.fr/assistance/?utm_source=old_hc )
Best regards,
--
Swen, from 1&1 Internet France
Social Media Support Manager at 1and1
I would like to confirm the lack of seriousness of the company 1&1.
I had reserved some domain names for a few years.
In 2013, I made several requests for cancellation on their platform.
It wasn't easy and I even asked for help from technical support.
To my surprise, in 2014, my credit card was charged by 1&1 for supposedly the payment of the domains in question. I contacted 1&1 several times and expressed my dissatisfaction. I let them know that these domain names had been canceled, but they refuse to acknowledge it. My contact assured me that he would cancel it immediately. After this incident, I had to file a complaint with the bank to cancel the debit. Unfortunately, my bank advisor was unable to cancel the payment. He then recommended that I cancel my credit card to prevent future payments. That's what we did. In 2015, once again, 1&1 asked me to update my bank details because the payment wasn’t going through. I was harassed by phone several times and each time I repeated that my contracts have all been canceled since 2013. They continue to ignore me. I just received two letters from Infoscore for amicable recovery. I called Infoscore and explained the situation. The lady on the line gave me the number to contact at 1&1. Once again, the advisor, after hearing the whole story, transferred me to a manager who asked for proofs that I do not have. I am not supposed to keep proofs from 2013.
He promised me once again to cancel the contracts.... But a few hours later, I still have no response that would at least prove their seriousness.
Of course, on my side, I can no longer do anything, because my accounts have been blocked for a long time.
Here’s the vicious circle I'm in today. This is really blatant theft and it is a scam. The amounts claimed are €35.97 and €59.94, for domains that were normally canceled since 2013.
Thank you for advising me on the next steps to take.
In order to assist you better, I would need you to provide me with the domain names in question (you can send them to me via private message if you do not wish to disclose them publicly).
I will still provide you with an initial response, considering your situation.
The termination of your domains (as well as your contracts) is done directly online. You can get help from the page https://www.ionos.fr/assistance/?utm_source=old_hc
The process is simple, and an email will be sent to you at the end of the operation to confirm your termination.
Also, considering the amounts you mentioned, it seems that you have terminated some domains, but not the hosting, which is the base contract. (Sorry for not being able to be more precise, I do not yet have any concrete elements allowing me to access your 1&1 customer file.)
Best regards,
Swen, from 1&1 Internet France
Social Media Support Manager at 1and1