Hi all and a very happy Christmas to every one.

Not sure if I am posting this new post in the right place but i am sure some one will let me know one way or the other.

I joined an Auction web site called Ziinga.com about a month ago.

On filling in the form on line to register it requested that you give your debit/credit card details.

I assumed so that you could purchase bids and pay for any thing you won in an auction. I saw no reason to think it was in any was dubiouse.

I only used the site once, I used the free to bid auction to win some bids, For this they debited my card £3.78 or there about.

I tried to bid on other items the same day but noticed that how ever many times you bid, you were always outbid in the last 1 second. and the bidding could go on for days. I then realised that if you are paying for each bid, you could end up spending a fortune just trying to win an auction. I saw no point in this so never went back to it again.

yesterday I had £59.99 taken out of my bank, I could not see who it had been taken by as it was not showing on my statement at that point, so I telephoned my bank.

They informed me that it had been taken by debit card at 03.13am that morning by Ziinga Hoofddorp. I told my bank that I had made no payments to any one of that name. The bank said they would see what they could find out. They then informed me that if I looked up the name on Google I would see that it is a [problem].

The person at the bank then searched the internet again and came back to me telling me that it was a subscription site and because I had joined this Ziinga that I had subscribed to this.

I explained that I was not aware of any subscription but as far as the bank was concerned it was tuff, I had agree to pay them a monthly fee.

I then searched the internet and found this site http://http://reviewopedia.com/workathome/ziinga-reviews-legit-or-[problem]/

I am not the only one in this situation it seems.

I tryed talking to this Ziinga on their live chat thing on there site. They insisted that I had a contract with them now to pay them £59.99 a month and the only way to cancel it is to pay them another £28.

I get angry with them but politely, informed them that I had no idea it was a subscription thing.

They informed me that as soon as you make a bid you automatically become a premium member and are then bound by their terms and conditions which apparently state some where that you have to pay this monthly fee.

I tried arguing the fact that, this is not made clear any where when you sign up or give your card details. My argument being that if it is blatantly obvious then how come they are catching so many people the same way. They were having none of it.

I telephoned my bank again to cancel my card and request a new one, but they advised me that this may not stop them as they have my details and do not need the last 4 digits on my card any way in order to make another transaction. Apparently there is some technical reason for that.

Basically they are stealing our money and getting away with it.

They are based it seems in Malta.

It also appears that the people in America has been caught by them big time.

I suspect there are many more people in this country too who have yet to come forward.

I am wondering if any one on here has had dealings with them.

Would like some help with this one, I really need my money back and I do not want them to take any more.

If it wasnt made absolutely obvious that there was a subscription then I think you are within your rights to insist the bank puts a stop on any further requests for money from this company and also refund what you have paid.

You should do this in WRITING to your bank.

I will flag your thread for other input.

if you received no written notification of WHEN

and HOW MUCH

they were going take

then DO A CHARGEBACK

and dont take NO for an answer!!

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/

I am going to go to the bank and speak to them personally on Wednesday as soon as they open. If I don't do this them they will take more every month. I will write a letter and hand it to them.

I was so shocked when I saw the money missing from my account, especially this week when there was only 3 days left to Christmas. I bet who ever owns this site is having a lovely, wealthy Christmas.

Thank you for flagging this post, I hope it will act as a warning to other people about this Ziinga site.

There was NO written communication of any description of when or how much they were going to take.

I will ask at the bank on Wednesday when they open about doing a charge back, they never suggested that when I spoke to them..

Print off that report you were linked to earlier and take that into the bank. It appears that some staff are probably not aware that you can actually do the Charge back. Stand your ground with them And please come back and let us know how you got on.

no phone the number on the back of your card and do a chargeback

then specifically TELL them NOT to allow any more payments to XXXXX

if they do, you will sue them.

very few banks understand chargeback

keep going up the chain till you get someone to do it.

they should immediately refund you ALL payments

THEN do their investigation.

dx

I will talk to them about it next week when they re-open but do not hold out much hope. They have already said they can not do a charge back or investigate it as from what they can see I subscribed to a subscription service. Well, That is the banks opinion.

As much as any thing else i want to warn other people about this Ziinga.com.

the law doesnt require it to be made 'absolutley obvious' if it is reasonably easy to find on there web site - which it is when you look in the terms.

Yes but it should let you know that this will happen before you sign up to the site. if a certain other site suddenly put this in their terms and conditions and started to take money from you for nothing you would not be very happy.

Also they should send you a bill or invoice or some thing before they take it to let you know when itc, they don't!! they claim to send them but you never get them and you have no idea when that money will be taken form you.

They also send people emails telling them they have won things, eg, free ipod shuffle, then apparently take a lot of money from your bank for p&p. I got one of these emails myself this morning but have ignored it.

I have spoken to the bank again today. No joy. They say they can still debit my account every month with £59.99 as they have set up a continuous debit card payment. This I had no idea about. The bank say to wait until the amount shows on my bank statement, then telephone them and they will see what they can do. They said if they cancel the continuous debit card payments before that, then I will definitely loose my £59.99 but if I wait until it shows then ask them to do a charge back and then cancel the payments to them. Then if after 31 days if they take any more payments the bank will have to refund them to me.

All very complicated.

once again you are letting your bank control your money

who the hell do they think they are

oh well let it come out.

plase name and shame them..........

Not sure if I am allowed to name and shame them on here. But they begin with the letter "B". I am sure you can guess who they are.

well how do you think cag works?

just read a few threads................

dx

siteteam

Thats how continous payment authorities work - i have no dubt they cause a lot of problems with payments not being cancellable.

Looks like the easiest way is to close the bank account and open a new one. What a pain.

I really understand your anger. The same thing happened to me today ziinga took 59.99 from my account. I was totally unaware of this charge. I only signed up to get the i pod shuffle and was told it was £1 for postage. When i contacted them to get back my money the woman said the terms are clear and i had to pay £28.00 to cancel my account with them. What a rip off i was so mad. They said they would refund the 59.99 but take the £28.00 from it. £28.00 FOR NOTHING as i not even used the site. So i contacted the bank they basicy said we can t do nothing about it only the company can refund you the money. So now i am going to end up with 31.99 which is going to take up to 30 to go back on my account. I am really not happy Ziinga should not be allowed to get away with hidden charges or such outrageous cancellation fees. I want my money back but there is nothing i can done robbed once again by internet scams.:-x:-x:-x:-x:-x

We have been telling people to put a letter into their bank instructing them not to make any payments under any circumstances to these companies - it works!

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/

banks MUST follow written intructions from their customers !

This fsa guide has now been updated:

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/consumer_...ghts_guide.pdf

Here's the text:

Cancelling a regular

card payment:

When you give your credit or debit card

details to a company and authorise

them to take regular payments from

your account, such as for a gym

membership or magazine subscription,

it is known as a ‘recurring transaction’

or ‘continuous payment authority’.

These are often confused with direct

debits, but do not offer the same

guarantee if the amount or date of the

payment changes.

In most cases, regular payments can

be cancelled by telling the company

taking the payments. However, you

have the right to cancel them directly

with your bank or card issuer by telling

it that you have stopped permission for

the payments. Your bank or card issuer

must then stop them – it has no right to

insist that you agree this first with the

company taking the payments.

Be aware, though, that you will still be

responsible for paying any money that

you owe.

Hi Nakeshia,

I did contact my bank in December, They put me in touch with their fraud department who are still investigating it.

The bank put a hold on my payment of £59.99 and the bank returned it to me. yesterday I checked my statement to find that it had gone out of my bank account again causing me to become overdrawn.

I telephoned the bank and they informed me that they had taken it back as I had forgotten to sign and return one of the forms they sent to me. (this was yet another from from the card services department.) I overlooked it as I had 3 letters containing forms all at once.

Anyway I yesterday returned the form to the bank and they said I have to wait 10 working days for them to consider returning the £59.99 to me again while they continued with the investigations.

As the bank wanted evidence I went on the internet and printed off some of the complaints about Ask Zinga.com. which I found on line. I sent them a whole pile of them.

The bank also at my request have sent a letter of what ever to ask zinga's bankers requesting that they cancel the continuous debit. They have 31 days to comply with this. the bank said if after 31 days they take any more then the bank will become liable and have to pay me back.

I suggest you contact your bank, tell them that you want to speak to CARD SERVICES and the FRAUD department., I am with Barclays bank.

Explain that you DID NOT authorise this transaction. and that you were totally unaware that this company were charging your account. Be very institent with them. tell them that this is theft from your account. Tell them you want a cancellation put on this continuouse debit by this company from your account.

they have to do this.

I have learnt from other people that canceling this with Zinga and paying a cancelation charge does NOT stop them, many people have said that they still take the money every month. I have reported them to BBC Watchdog and the BBC One Show. P'haps you could do the same as the more of us that do put in a complaint the more likely they are to try to do some thing to stop this.

Let me know how you get on, we all need to stick together on this, we are not the only ones. I expect their are many more of us out there that have not spoken up yet.

If you get any emails from Zinga telling you that you have won i Pod's etc please IGNORE them, delete them. It appears to be another one of their little games. People are claiming that they pay zinga for the supposed ipod and extortionate p&p and then nothing ever turns up.

I get these emails regular from them now.

BE WARNED !!!

Hi thank you for the information.

I will contact my bank as i am with barclays as well.

I thought once i had cancelled with Ziinga the payments would stop so thanks for the heads up.

I have also contacted watch dog cause this is so wrong Ziinga should not be allowed to diddle people like this.

Like you they took all my money that was for bills was completely gutted and its really stressing me out.

Even through they are going to refund £31.99 i still have to wait up to 30 days its not right.

I want all my money back.

Ziinga needs to be exposed for what the really are spoof artists.

If you have any further developments please keep me informed i will let you know to and also make people aware of this evil website.

get onto barclays

do a chargeback

see above.

dx

I tried the chargeback thing with Barclays but it did not wash, the were having none of it. but I am getting it sorted through Barclays now one way or the other.

Glad you have reported it to watchdog as well, the more the better.

It has left me i a terrible mess now for the next month, It has caused all my payments for normal things to bouce and I have now incurred a £8 bank charge for each one making a total of around £48 in charges on top of the £59.99, it puts you in an esculating situation if you are like me and count every penny and have only enough in your bank to cover normal bills.

Hope that makes sense.

Any more developments please do let me know.

I want to see Zinga stopped.

Enjoy your weekend best you can.

By the way have you got snow as we have loads of it here in Shropshire.

Marcus: Welcome to Ziinga Live Chat Service! For me to better assist you, may I have your Ziinga username?

nakeshia: nak26

Marcus: How can I help you?

nakeshia: my account with you is soposed to be canceled and a refund sent. why is my account still active?

Marcus: Let me go ahead and check that one for you.

Marcus: May I have your e-mail address?

nakeshia: xxxx

Marcus: Sorry for the wait.

Marcus: Upon checking, we have not yet received your payment for the cancellation fee of £ 28.00.

Marcus: Subscription Status: Unsubscribed (Active until 2012-04-03)

Marcus: Please be informed that once payment has been posted, your account will be automatically inactivated by the system and your account will no longer incur further charges.

nakeshia: what is going on i recieved the comfirmation email to say i would be refunded the 59.99 less the 28.00 cancel fee i was told i would get 31.99 back and have a recepit email to prove it.

Marcus: Yes. That's right. Payment not yet settled in our system.

nakeshia: so when is this account to be closed i want no more payments taken and nothing to do with this site you have thousands of bad reviews.

Marcus: We'll follow up on this.

Marcus: I would like to apologize for the inconvenience.

nakeshia: when will the money be sent back to my account?

Marcus: Once processed, please allow within 30 days to be posted back in the account.

Marcus: I would like to apologize for the inconvenience.

nakeshia: I have read from reviews that you still take a futher two payments even when the account is canceled is this true?

Marcus: No. We do not.

Marcus: If ever that type of instance occurs, we will process a refund for the charge.

This is the conversation i ve just had with ziinga the lying crooks.I am going to cancel my debit card and get a new one to be on the safe side. I have read a lot of other reviews from people and the exact same thing has happened to them. They cancelled there card as this stops any payments coming from your account as your new debit card will have a different long number i would advise everyone to do the same as the crooks will take you for everything you got. Do it quick cause once you have enough in your account the money will be gone as the payment is already waiting on your account. Lets hope watchdog exposes them. cause by the looks of it hundreds of complaints have already been made to watchdog. Good Luck.