Streamline.net taking money from my account

[Netyard]

I was wondering if anyone could help me on this issue:
I had opened an account with streamline.net for a 3 month free trial of a domain name and web hosting which I intended on closing just before the 3 month trial period ended as I was just trying it out on a website idea.

I sent an email to cancel the account

Date: 01/01/2008 11:53:04Ticket Number: 261852
Could I please have my website and account removed as I no longer require it

The reply I got was:

Date: 02/01/2008 10:26:40Ticket Number: 261852From: Streamline.Net ( Billing Department )

Thank you for your query

We are very sorry to hear you want to cancel your hosting account with us. However before we cancel please ensure that you have made backups of your website and hosting space. Please reply to this ticket to confirm this has been done in order that we can proceed to cancellation for you.

Before I received this message I stopped using the registered email address as I did not require it and thought that the account had been closed but just recently I had £91 taken from my bank account so I managed to log back in after several attempt to remeber my password and sent another email:

Date: 23/01/2008 00:30:26Ticket Number: 261852

have just checked my bank account and it shows that money has been taken from my account this month (January),

I did not want to continue with the account and emailed to confirm that I wished to cancel it so that I do not have any charges, however the money has still be taken from my account and has left me in financial hardship, please can the amount taken be refunded I have just logged into my streamline account and read the message that says to close the ticket to confirm I wanted to cancel it, I did sent an email to cancel.

I very much hope I can be refunded

The reply I got for that was:

Date: 23/01/2008 12:25:04Ticket Number: 261852From: Streamline.Net ( Billing Department )

Thank you for your query

This money was taken from your account for the renewal of service. We automatically renew all services you have ordered, when you sign up you agree to our terms and conditions as stated at: Streamline.net - The home of good value web hosting

I then emailed back saying :

Date: 23/01/2008 12:44:08Ticket Number: 261852

So can I have a refund please as this has caused me a lot of trouble, the terms and conditions state:

ACCOUNT CANCELLATION POLICY:

If a customer wishes to cancel services with Streamline.Net this cancellation must be requested by submitting a support ticket via their account control panel at: Streamline.Net Account Control Panel. We will then confirm this cancellation by reply to the support ticket.

As per the T&C I have emailed and opened a support ticket to cancel the account, the money however has been taken from my account

I would appreciate if this amount can be refunded otherwise I will have no choice but to take legal action

I hoped that when I mentioned legal action they would just refund the money by good will or something, I then had a reply saying:

Date: 23/01/2008 12:47:42Ticket Number: 261852From: Streamline.Net ( Billing Department )

Thank you for your query

We can see that you requested cancellation on the 01/01/2008 at exactly 11:53:04, we then replied to this request on the 02/01/2008 at exactly 10:26:40 with the following:

We are very sorry to hear you want to cancel your hosting account with us. However before we cancel please ensure that you have made backups of your website and hosting space. Please reply to this ticket to confirm this has been done in order that we can proceed to cancellation for you.As this was never replied to, your account was renewed as per the terms and conditions, streamline.net cannot be held responsible for accounts being renewed according to the terms and conditions if tickets are not responded to when a response is clearly warrented.

Could anyone please let me know if I got any chance here or should I just swallow it and move on, I just think that they are cold hearted and un-human.

[dx100uk]

if its being taken direct from your a/c then it is covered by the direct debit guarantee. call your bank direct and get them to refund it you do not need to involve the isp at all.

dx100uk

	The Direct Debit Guarantee • The Guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that take part in the Direct Debit Scheme. The efficiency and security of the Scheme is monitored and protected by your own Bank or Building Society. • If the amounts to be paid or the payment dates change, we will notify you three working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. • If an error is made by us or by your Bank or Building Society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid. • You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by writing your Bank or Building Society. Please also send a copy of your letter to us. This is a term of your banking contract and you can sue on it.

[Netyard]

Thanks for the reply dx100uk but unfortunatly the money was taken straight from my account with my debit card

[Gertie100]

Not trying to upset anyone here - but did you reply to their first mail confirming that you had made a back up as requested?

It seems to me that this is reason why they have automatically renewed your sub.

Now, I'm not saying this is the right way to do it - and I'm sure a lot of people don't reply and end up with a renewed subscription, but from a legal / contract point of view I don't know where you stand...can someone advise please?

[brinny]

Originally Posted by Netyard

Thanks for the reply dx100uk but unfortunatly the money was taken straight from my account with my debit card

I know if it was a Visa Debit card Visa oreparte what is called Claim Back, if the funds were taken from your account without your Authority. I dont know If it works the same with Switch, Maybe someone can advise. As you have the approp evidance that you clearly canceled within there T&C Visa have no option but to refund your account and reclaim the monies back from Streamline.
Hope this help, lets know how you get on

[vortex]

Have you got a copy of their Terms and Conditions mainly their cancellation policy?

[ZipDee]

NETYARD, Andrew Dollamore, self-styled 'Managing Director (CEO)' of Dollamore Ltd, and Streamline.Net 'bombed' my computer when I totally and utterly refused to deal with a thief - he did to me what he did to you and has been doing to many others and at least since 2002 I have found, namely, offering a 3month trial as a lead in to a most expensive 2year web-hosting agreement, refusing/not communicating to accept a cancellation of the trial when requested, waiting out the 3months until the day after the trial would have finished and then making a withdrawal to the value of the 2year hosting.

Contacting the Derby Trading Standards Officer, who are well versed in the shenanigans and incompetences of Mr Dollamore, should ensure your money will be repaid into your bank account, as have been my money and the money of several other people who have contacted me after the same was done to them.

Those who contacted me regarding technical letdowns and what seemed to be a reticence to let go of web sites unless money exchanged hands (a contravention, I have been led to believe, of the terms of fasthosts.com who talents this con man uses but seems unable to manage well) seem also to have found satisfaction after contacting Derby trading standards.

If you want a sense of the risky tightrope Mr Dollamore is willing to stumble along before, possibly, a momentum of abused ex-customers gathers to ensure he is yanked off by his felt collar, enter in Google either 'Andrew Dollamore, legal' 'Streamline.net, legal' or 'Dollamore Ltd. , legal'.

If you are a member of any other forums, please inform others of these Google entries. The man is certainly bad for international commerce on the net, and must be killing peoples future interest in web-hosting if his dealings are the first most come up against, and to the detriment of good hosting companies. Perhaps these 'good guys' should combine to get rid of the cancour!

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[ZipDee]

I have found this comment on another forum

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION, if you have a .uk domain name registered with the registration agent Streamline Net Limited you are not considered the legal registrant regardless of what Streamline Net state under there terms and condition on there website.
They state that they register all domain names to “Streamline Net (on behalf of a customer)” and that these domains are owned fully by the customer, however this is not the case. Nominet UK the national registry for .uk domain names has confirmed to myself that in fact the legal registrant of the domain name is Streamline Net and not there customer despite what is stated on there website.
You may be asking why this is such a big deal, it is for many reasons but the most frightening for all people who have brought .uk domain names via Streamline is that if the Limited company was to collapse all the domain names would be cancelled off making them available on first come first served bases and there will be nothing you can do to stop this, also if your hosting package isn’t what you would of liked you are unable to instruct Nominet UK to move your domain name to another provider as you are not listed as the legal registrant.
I advise everyone who has a domain name registered with Streamline Net to look at Nominet UK’s website under dispute resolution http://www.nominet.org.uk/DisputeRe...on/AboutTheDrs/ as this is your only hope in gaining back the ownership of your .uk domain name unless Streamline Net agree to transfer the ownership to you but at a cost of £30 plus vat per domain name a company with 13000 domain names will not be doing that option. '

Any comments?

[britesprite]

Originally Posted by ZipDee

I have found this comment on another forum

I advise everyone who has a domain name registered with Streamline Net to look at Nominet UK’s website under dispute resolution http://www.nominet.org.uk/DisputeRe...on/AboutTheDrs/ as this is your only hope in gaining back the ownership of your .uk domain name

Any comments?

Yeah ... the link doesn't work
And searching Nominet's website for "streamline" doesn't provide any answers either

Can't find the info either

Could you go back to where you found it please ZipDee and try and find a working link

[ZipDee]

Britesprite,

please do what I was forced to do and enter into Google either 'streamline.net , legal' 'Andrew Dollamore , legal' or 'Dollamore Ltd , legal' and research every one of the at least a dozen forums that pop up (ie , entries that do not have 'streamline.net' as their progenitor) and therein you will bump into expertise that I could only aspire to in a decade or so.

Forgive me, but I do not know how to approach your problem, but there are great guys in these tec forums that can shift planets , never mind a [edit] like Dollamore

[britesprite]

Hi ZipDee -- thanks for getting back so quickly. So, just to make sure and save be an age of searching, you cannot remember where you got the "VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION" quote you posted above?

Cheers.

[ZipDee]

britesprite, each of those 3 Google 'legal' entries will throw up about 6 or 7 of the net's techie forums, usually the same ones minus one or two that another will have - you will find the 'VI nominet' message of mine on a lot of them that I was able to quickly join for the purpose of posting the message, so I was involved in doing a lot of differing things at the time was tracking Mr Dollamore and haven't a clue which I forum I found it posted, but it was obvious the guy was genuine.

Derby Trading Standards office would be interested in your problem with Mr Dollamore, and to the point where they would solve it I believe.

If I do manage to find the time to run a search I will contact you when I find the actual posting.

Best I can offer at present, sorry.

[britesprite]

No worries .. we all have better things to do than remember where we googled several months ago!

For the record, I don't have a specific problem, just very interested in the whole domains/streamline thing.

[mfpa]

Originally Posted by britesprite

Yeah ... the link doesn't work

Try http://www.nominet.org.uk/Disputes/

[paganpete101]

Yep - same just happened to me and I have over 30 client sites hosted with them - but not for long!

see my rant about it here - I am not a happy bunny - neither are Derbyshire Trading Standards!


Their terms and conditions do not say you have to reply to TWO emails - gotcha!

[ZipDee]

The address you write to
Derek Rudeforth - Trading Standards Dept.
Derbyshire County Council
Chatsworth Hall
Wellington Street
Matlock
Derbyshire DE4 3FW

To the best of my knowledge all of the people I've directed here have had refunded the cash taken from their bank accounts without authorisation.
Mr Dollamore gets his jollies on continually referring people to his terms and conditions, so it is pointless arguing with him, he will just go on interminably. I cut off dealings with him immediately a deadline for returning my money had passed - I blocked all possible streamline extensions and the cheeky sod sent me a present, which I returned, rang me up and then 'blew-up' my computer (it's just a volume effect) when I left him with a flea in his ear.

Companies that have your bank card details act all powerful because they know they can sneakily access your bank account given a dispute. The 'Theft (Amendment) Act (1996) should give them cause for reflection :

1) A person is guilty of an offence if by any deception he dishonestly obtains a money transfer for himself or another

5) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a term of imprisonment not exceeding ten years.

The private prosecution of one person will probably be the only way to test and set the precedent to deter this cut-purse behaviour.

One forum refused to publish me on grounds that a libel case might ensue, but the fact that an individual would be providing grounds for indictment for perjury a la Jonathan Aitken when trying to pay the required £20,000 deposit the justice system esures they get before the lawyers bankrupt you, is a sufficient deterrent I would argue.

[paganpete101]

Thanks Zipdee - I was not giving him empty threats - I have spoken to one of Derek's team at Derbyshire TS about it - they are ringing me back. I am not communicating with him now as I said in last ticket that no more will come from me. I will leave it up to TS - I have already contacted my bank about it too.

He is a slimy piece of work by the sounds of it!

[ZipDee]

I think he believes he is a gentlemanly entrepeneur beset by peasants who don't like paying their bills, and he is cockily arrogant regarding his being fireproof - but the shadowy terms and conditions, and which he has not attempted to alter to avert the situation he always seems to arrive at, [edit], is open to being presented as a continued use of the law to promote offences - something the law will not permit and comes down on with a fierce and heavy hand.

[pinkbeef]

Had the same thing about 3 years ago. cancilled the account, but Streamline took the renewal fee from wifes debit card. phoned the bank, explained the money was taken with out consent and they need to put it back. bank sent a claim form which she filled in and the money was returned it took two weeks.
Good luck.

Answer to edit
This post was edited for the reason "Spam Removed", I did not “Spam” this form and would never do so. The link I posted was to advise your customers of a Web host that offered value for money. I understand the intention of this forum is to ensure the consumer is offered advice on which business offer value for money and those that do not.
In any case to label the post as “Spam Removed” is insulting to say the least. On occasions when I have to remove links from forums, I ensure the edit reads as such "Link Removed". I do not brand the poster as a Spammer, as I feel its unfair to assume so.
If I have upset you then I apologise, and in future will reframe from posting.


Thank you,
Graham (the no good low life spammer, or so some would think) Docherty.

[heartopp]

Originally Posted by pinkbeef

Had the same thing about 3 years ago. cancilled the account, but Streamline took the renewal fee from wifes debit card. phoned the bank, explained the money was taken with out consent and they need to put it back. bank sent a claim form which she filled in and the money was returned it took two weeks.
Good luck.

Answer to edit
This post was edited for the reason "Spam Removed", I did not “Spam” this form and would never do so. The link I posted was to advise your customers of a Web host that offered value for money. I understand the intention of this forum is to ensure the consumer is offered advice on which business offer value for money and those that do not.
In any case to label the post as “Spam Removed” is insulting to say the least. On occasions when I have to remove links from forums, I ensure the edit reads as such "Link Removed". I do not brand the poster as a Spammer, as I feel its unfair to assume so.
If I have upset you then I apologise, and in future will reframe from posting.


Thank you,
Graham (the no good low life spammer, or so some would think) Docherty.

Chill... I am sure this was not done to upset you!