One.com & Blackwater uk limited

[Epicurus]

Hi,

 

Last year I decided to try some web design. Saw a good deal with one.com and decided to give it a go. To cut a long story short I was not that good at it and decided to give it up. I did not pay much for the hosting and domain reg. Earlier this year I got a reminder that the 1 year was due to finished and what it would cost to have this service for another year.

 

As I had given up trying to manage my own web site as a bad idea I email their support to say I was not interested. That's the end of that I thought..

 

Today I get a letter from BlackWater UK Limited (company number 06860290) a uk based debt collection agency, so the letter says..

 

My question is can I be billed for a service which I have not really had. The fees are up front fees (no credit agreement)

 

This letter I have does not go into details on the Balance I am due which is £40.27. Not time period is specified.

 

Anyone here able to offer some advice on this

 

Many thanks in advanced for your help

 

J

[qa19]

They charged you for domain renewal and hosting I take it? With nearly all domains and hosting you MUST cancel it through the proper methods and believe me they make it as difficult as possible. You usually need to let them know at least 1 month in advice, phone them and send a signed cancellation fax/scan. You should check your contract but if they don't mention a signed form and you have your sent email as proof you may get away with it. I think you will probably need to pay this and then phone them to go through proper cancellation procedures incase they charge you next year.

[bramblebuster]

I can't really offer advice, just an experience and opinion!

 

I've just had the same snotty letter from Blackwater UK re a website One.com held for me. They're demanding £36.74 which is oustanding from the renewal due at the start of Oct. If they'd sent me a big red reminder, I would've paid up instantly, but nope, they decide to go straight for the throat instead.

To go straight to a DCA is ridiculously heavy handed and verging on bullying IMO, and has done nothing more than get my back up. It appears that more and more companies are happy to call in the debt collectors from the word go,regardless of the amount outstanding, the reason it's unpaid and the damage it does to the individual.

My experience started as a forgotten payment but due to One's attitude, it's now become an incredibly serious financial matter.

Idiots.....

[qa19]

don't they have to take you to court before they can legally use debt collectors?

[AngryNugget]

i have just been onto the one.com website as hadn't received an invoice for this year. Turns out I was sent one back in July but got picked up by my spam filter.

 

I am now being told I need to pay through blackwater because my account has been referred to them for non payment, even though it was only due to be renewed a month ago, and I went online to pay it today.

 

It sounds like they are sending things to a debt collection agency very very quickly.

[IdaInFife]

don't they have to take you to court before they can legally use debt collectors?

 

 

No

[bramblebuster]

I could understand a DCA being called in if the amount was a few hundred pounds upwards and it was months late with a customer refusing to pay, but £30-40 being a couple of weeks late ??? The finance/credit industry need to change their attitude sharpish because before long, they'll be very few 'credit worthy' customers left

[Rithotyn]

I'm in the same boat. Can see now how this company offer can afford to offer such a good product at a low price. I tried to appeal to their better nature by politely informing them of the fact that I hold a number of domains with them and it would be in both our best interests to let it go this time, while accepting my mistake.

 

I sent this

I have recently received a letter from Blackwater UK Limited demanding payment or face legal proceedings for the domain gbgem.co.uk which I hold. Despite numerous requests, the client, who this site was set up for, did not respond to changing the domain to his name after the completion of the site. I had no personal interest in renewing the contract as the site was complete. I'm sure you can understand how frustrating it would be, to have to take pay to take ownership for a further year for a site which will not be used.

 

Mistakenly, I was under the impression that as with most domain and hosting companies I have had dealings with, failure to pay around the time of renewal simply resulted in loss of ownership of the domain and I incorrectly assumed this would be the case with yourself.

 

While I appreciate that this oversight is my fault, it saddens me that a company I have enjoyed dealing with for several years, and who I have actively promoted to others has taken this action. While the payment reminders sent specify that an amount is due to maintain ownership of the domain, I got the impression that failure to pay would simply result in loss of the domain and that there was no legal requirement to pay this.

 

As a student finishing his final year of a web design degree, I had hoped to continue to use one.com for all my current and new clients domain and hosting needs as you have offered an excellent service at an excellent price. Only last week, my recommendation to a fellow student resulted in a new sale for yourself (xxxxxxxxxxx dot com).

 

As I understand that you will have incurred some costs at the involvement of Blackwater UK Ltd, I would be happy to pay the £7 stated as their costs within their letter.

 

I hope we can resolve this in a manner that will continue to be beneficial to us both.

I got this reply.

Hi there, Thank you for contacting One.com! Please be informed that, as per our Terms of Business (link here) you need to cancel your order at least 35 days before the new subscription period begins. If we received your cancellation request after the 35 days period, your order will remain active until the next subscription period and you are obliged to pay for another period. Before we have forwarded the account to Blackwater, we have sent you multiple notification via mail and post but we have not received any reply from your end. It is the responsibility of the owner of the domain to cancel the account if it is not in use. Since the account is already forwarded to Blackwater, we can no longer pull it back from them and that you will have to pay the amount due to them. Here is their contact details: Address Blackwater UK Ltd P.O. Box 735 Rotherham S66 6AX Tel: 0844 472 0016 Fax: 0844 472 0009 Best Regards

Didn't even have the deceny to read my email and send a personalized

response or thank me for my custom. Well ultimatley it's their loss. Several of my accounts are up for renewal soon, and you can be sure they'll get notice that they all will be cancelled.

[Dragons Dennis]

Actually, their terms are incorrect if they are totally relying on them.

 

'If we received your cancellation request '

 

Notice begins from when you SEND the notice, not from when they receive it. Small technicality yes but enough to make the terms unenforcable.

[bramblebuster]

Just an update on the idiots at BlackwaterUk. They're so arrogant, that they can't even be bothered to acknowledge a simple request in a letter I sent. I asked them to communicate with me in writing only. Not a challenging request by any means. However, this morning, the harassing telephone calls began. Watch out for someone called Helen and be firm (to the point of rude) with her....

[Dragons Dennis]

Oh, I love it when these type of clowns ring when they have been told not to. Here is how to answer them:

 

DD:Hello?

Them: Hello. can I speak to Mr Dragons Dennis please.

DD: Sorry, he is in the jungle.

Them: In the jungle?

DD: The mighty Jungle. The lion sleeps tonight.

Them: Pardon?

DD: A wimaway, a wimaway, a wimaway, a wimaway,A ooooooooooo!

[Rithotyn]

I got my first call from Blackwater, wasn't in and the machine took it. I called them back the next day (Helen was the name of the person on the answering machine, don't know who I spoke to though), and asked them how long before legal proceedings started as I was disputing this with one.com, she politley said we'll give it a week and call us back then.

 

I sent an angry email to one.com finishing with is all my years of service only worth 36 odd quid to you. They replied with

Hi there, We have checked this case further with our admin team and as a special consideration, they have agreed to delete the order for your domain provided you settle the incasso fee to Blackwaters. We have already deleted the order for your domain gbgem.co.uk as well as the invoices and you do not have anything to pay us on this order. However you need to pay Blackwaters 7GBP as the case has not been retracted from them.

Best Regards

So I got out of that, I phoned Blackwater to pay my 7 quid and the guy ( who was very nice) said that technically I didn't owe one.com any money, so they couldn't justify taking 7 quid off me for admin charges! Wahhey!

[Rithotyn]

I got my first call from Blackwater, wasn't in and the machine took it. I called them back the next day (Helen was the name of the person on the answering machine, don't know who I spoke to though), and asked them how long before legal proceedings started as I was disputing this with one.com, she politley said we'll give it a week and call us back then.

 

I sent an angry email to one.com finishing with is all my years of service only worth 36 odd quid to you. They replied with

Hi there, We have checked this case further with our admin team and as a special consideration, they have agreed to delete the order for your domain provided you settle the incasso fee to Blackwaters. We have already deleted the order for your domain gbgem.co.uk as well as the invoices and you do not have anything to pay us on this order. However you need to pay Blackwaters 7GBP as the case has not been retracted from them.

Best Regards

So I got out of that, I phoned Blackwater to pay my 7 quid and the guy ( who was very nice) said that technically I didn't owe one.com any money, so they couldn't justify taking 7 quid off me for admin charges! Wahhey!

[techietim]

I paid Blackwater £40 for my one.com account (£33 for one.com and £7 for Blackwater) back at the end of August. I have just had an email saying the £33 is still outstanding from one.com. When I advised I had paid already, they asked me for a 10 digit number from Blackwater as proof!

 

Surely Blackwater should be clearing this with One.com as part of their "Services", why am I having to jump through hoops to prove this?

[paulm1]

I have a similar problem with Blackwater. I was also sent a threatening letter which came as a big surprise. I proceeded to pay the balance and admin charges within 48hrs of being contacting by Blackwater. Now, 7 weeks later one.com have still not received the funds.

 

I keep contacting one.com support staff, but always get the same generic response that Blackwater have not told them that i've made payment. This is absolutely crazy as i have checked with Blackwater more than a month ago and they have received my money, and i can also tell from my bank statement.

 

I am at a complete loss as to what to do. I've tried contacting Blackwater again but for the last few weeks all that exists on the helpline is an answer phone message.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated

[Surfer01]

If you are disputing the charge, advise the DCA then they have to return the bill to the originator! Keep it bouncing and waste their time!

[paulm1]

I'm not disputing the charge, though i wish i could as i was not aware of the automatic renewal policy of one.com, the issue is that after having sent a cheque seven weeks ago, which was cashed five weeks ago, Blackwater have still not informed one.com that i have made the payment.

 

All my attempts to contact one.com to get information on this situation are met with a generic unhelpful response.

 

Blackwater, as the DCA, do not even have a means of contact now. The helpline that i used and spoke to an agent through a month ago to confirm the payment is now just an answer machine message.

[P Doff]

Has anyone found a way of getting through to Blackwater or alternatively getting them to return a call? I recieved a letter from them last week and I have to admit that the money is owed but after repeated attempts to ring their "help line" I haven't been able to talk to anyone let alone pay the money. All I get is an answerphone with the message "leave your number, well call you". Which they don't. Ever. Apparently. HELP!