Company knowingly billed expired card? Illegal? Legal?

[lnscott]

What is the name of your state? Indiana

Ok, I can only hope that I have the right "subject" and if I don't, please let me know where to put this question to get the answers I need.

A few years ago, I put my grandparents MailStation account on my credit cared. $9.95/month and they always paid me back. The issue here lies with with the company providing the service. In August, they sent them an email
(which I'm going to look at after work) notifying him that the card was about to expire (08/05). At that time, he decided that he didn't use the MailStation enough to even worry about keeping the service and decided to let them just cancel the service.

Well, I've done that a few times and at no point did any company attempt to bill me after that expiration date. This company was never called, they were never given the new date, and they never contacted either of us other than the one notice. This morning, I was looking over my bank statement and found out that they billed me for September! I called them and told them I didn't know how they even got the money and told them I wanted a refund - especially since the service wasn't used. They refused and said they couldn't confirm that the service wasn't used and that they would not refund the money, but they would cancel the service effective today.

I started looking into this to find out if what they did was illegal and did manage to find one clause that says if they knowlingly furnish goods or services with a card that was retained that they know is expired they could be fined for $30,000 to $50,000 plus 2 to 5 years in jail. I just don't know if that applies to this situation or not and I'm still trying to find that information.

In the end $9.95 isn't much to be out and it's not the money I'm worried about as much as the principle of what they did. I guess my question is - was it illegal and what's my recourse?

 

[Debt Guy]

Did you call the company and cancel the service? If so, dispute the charge back to the credit card company.

If not, pay it. You owe it.

 

[lnscott]

Did you call the company and cancel the service? If so, dispute the charge back to the credit card company.

If not, pay it. You owe it.

First, it wasn't my service to call and cancel. The service was my grandparents. They recieved an email telling them that the card was due to expire and to update the information or their service would be canceled. They didn't want the service anymore, so they didn't do anything since the email led them to believe that their service would end at the end of the month unless they updated the information.

I have already sent a request to my bank disputing the charge since they were never given the correct information. In my opinion, they had no legal right to obtain money using an expired card. Since the bank is closed today, I won't get any answers from them until, at the earliest, tomorrow.

In the end, if I lose $10 - it's only $10. As of today, the service is canceled. The issue here is what they did. Are you telling me it's legal for them to send out emails like that (leading you to believe the service will end when the card expires) and then go behind your back and obtain money with an expired card - WHEN THEY KNOW it's expired?

 

[azmother3]

your credit card (so you can call and cancel the service) and yes they can charge the card most credit cards update and the company will assume this is the case.

 

[Debt Guy]

Yes, they can. It might not be entirely legal. It might not be ethical. It certainly is lousy customer service.

What are you going to do about it? All you can do is bring a lawsuit. Over $10?

Geeez.

 

[lnscott]

Yes, they can. It might not be entirely legal. It might not be ethical. It certainly is lousy customer service.

What are you going to do about it? All you can do is bring a lawsuit. Over $10?

Geeez.

There's not much I can do about it apparently. I've disputed it with the bank on the basis that it was unauthorized since they were never given the updated card information. I've also sent a letter to EARTHLINK. Maybe I'll get my money back from one of them, maybe I won't. I've already said that it's only $10 and it could be worse. In reality, it's not even my $10 - it'll be my grandparents.

Regardless, I caught it now (one month later) instead of six months from now. So, the service is now canceled and I should not be getting billed anymore.

In the meantime, I have no plans of bringing a lawsuit. I make more than $10/hr - obviously not worth the time off work or for an attorney. I simply wanted to know if what they did was legal and if I was entitled to refund. Apparently, they can do whatever they want and that includes the decision to refund the money - and that's not right. It makes me wish I could ride on that side of the "legal line." So do I think something should be done to stop them from doing this sort of thing, absolutely!! Does that mean I'm suing - NO.

Thanks for your replies and might I give you a piece of advice? Your smart aleck comments are unneccessary. People, like me, post questions on here to get answers - not to be made to feel stupid. "GEEEZ." While your answers have been appreciated - that wasn't.