UseNeXT Nightmare

[wilsul]

Hello everybody, this is a great site!

 

I’ve joined CAG forums specifically to warn people about Usenext’s 14 day free trial and the way they try to extract money from unsuspecting victims (yes that’s me!).

 

Believe or not, I actually liked the service and after 13days of the trial tried to order a further month’s download volume.

 

I used the member area to try and purchase the package, but straight away got an “invalid payment information” email back from Usenext.

 

I made five attempts to make payment, but kept getting the same email reply.

 

I’ve been told since then that Usenext don’t accept debit cards as a method of payment – I don’t know whether this is true or not.

 

They certainly accepted my debit card details when I filled in the on-line form to start the 14 day trial. (I only have a debit card so I couldn’t try with a credit card).

 

It was obvious by then that I couldn’t buy the package so I cancelled – well within the 14 days.

 

Imagine my surprise when the cancellation confirmation e-mail said that I now had a month’s contract.

 

What they are saying is that I’ve got to pay for the months “contract” even though my payment method can’t be accepted and I haven’t had any download volume from them.

 

I don’t use Usenext any more so if I paid up I’d just be giving them money for nothing!!

 

They have handed this over to Omega debt collection agency and the charge has gone from €9.95 to £34.26 (€38/39) in the space of one month!!

 

I’ve written to Aviteo/Usenext and e-mailed them several times, but they won’t listen and keep telling me to pay up.

 

I’ve also e-mailed Omega and explained that this invoice is disputed – their reply 30 minutes later was “Unfortunately, we cannot trace having received your payment on this account. We must requestyour immediate settlement of the account”.

 

My advice to anyone thinking oftrying out Usenext’s 14 day trial is – DON’T DOIT!!!!

Edited June 30, 2011 by wilsul

[rebel11]

Hi wil

 

Welcome to CAG

 

The guys will be happy to advise as soon as they are available.

 

Thread moved.

[wilsul]

thanks for your welcome rebel11 it is much appreciated

[dx100uk]

moved to the bb forum

 

others have had this questionable practice too

 

type in unenext in our advance search or browse this forums posts

 

dx

[wilsul]

thanks dx

[postggj]

Usenext is a german company i believe

 

do they have a uk company address

 

this omega dca

 

is it a british company

 

a web link would be nice to omega

[wilsul]

Hello postggj

Yes Usenext have a London address – I wrote to them but they didn’t reply.

 

Aviteo Ltd

Gainsborough House

81 Oxford Street

London W1D 2EU

 

I don’t know what nationality Omega is - it has a British PO box address

Omega Credit Services

P.O. Box 171

Shrewsbury

SY4 1ZZ

 

e-mail address accounts(at)ocs.gb.com

Their website is (www)ocs.gb.com

Edited June 30, 2011 by wilsul

[postggj]

do you have any letters from this omega

 

its a company or credit licence number ime after

 

its normally at the bottom of the letter

[postggj]

http://www.usenetshack.com/usenext-[problem]-review-usenet-provider/

 

have a nose

[postggj]

Application / Licence Details

 

 

 

Licence Number:0628681

Licence Status:Current

 

Current Applicant / Licensee:

 

Name Mr George Frederick Morley

 

Categories:

 

Debt collecting Provision of credit information services, excluding credit repair

 

Right To Canvass Off Trade Premises:No

 

 

Trading Name(s) (Current):

 

Cheshire Credit Investigators Omega Credit Services

 

Issued Date: 16-Jul-2009

Date Maintenance Payment Due: 15-Jul-2014

 

 

Legal Formation:

 

Sole Trader

 

Nature of Business:

 

Debt Adjusting

 

Current Address(es):

 

Address TypeAddress CorrespondenceP.O. Box 171, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 1ZZ Principal Place Of BusinessFelton Butler, Montford Bridge, SHREWSBURY, SY4 1AS, United Kingdom

 

Historic Address(es):

 

Address TypeAddress Principal Place Of BusinessFelton Cottage, Felton Butler, Shewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 1AS

[wilsul]

Hello postggj

Thanks for all of that info - I have read the usenetshack article before, unfortunately only after I'd had all of this trouble.

Also, after I googled "Usenext" when looking for info about them, there seemed to be a lot of articles about usenext scams so it appears to be more widespread than i knew.

Omega have only been in touch by e-mail so far (2 e-mails up to now) on the bottom of the e-mails is - Consumer Credit Licence Number 628681.

[UseNeXT Team]

Dear wilsul,

First of all we are very sorry if you had any problems with our service.

We are keen on clarifying any misunderstandings. There might have gone something wrong during your registration process.

During the free trial period, you can cancel anytime via mail, support inquiry or simply by using the cancel button in the member area. You can pay UseNeXT packages using your credit card or PayPal.

 

Since we highly value customer satisfaction and are constantly trying to make our service as easy and transparent as possible, we would like to ask you to send an e-mail again to us describing your problem. We will then try to find a satisfactory solution.

Best regards,

Your UseNeXT Team

[wilsul]

Hello Usenext team,

 

Thanks for replying here.

 

During my 14 day trial I really liked Usenext and wanted to buy a download volume package for 1 month (€9.95).

 

I ordered the package in the member area but got an “invalid payment information” e-mail back.

 

In total, I tried to pay for the package five times but only got the same “invalid payment information” e-mail message each time.

 

I’ve been told by someone that has used Usenext for many years that Usenext does not accept debit cards as a method of payment.

 

Is this true? If it is, it would explain why I couldn’t buy the package.

 

Also, if it is true, Usenext should not have accepted me for the 14 day trial in the first place – I gave my debit card details when applying for the 14 day trial.

 

I only have a debit card; I do not have a credit card.

 

When I couldn’t buy the package I cancelled my application for it and also cancelled the 14 day trial in the member area – within 14 days.

 

I then got an e-mail that said that I now had a contract that would finish on 19/05/11 – that is where theproblem is.

[wilsul]

Dear wilsul,

First of all we are very sorry if you had any problems with our service.

We are keen on clarifying any misunderstandings. There might have gone something wrong during your registration process.

During the free trial period, you can cancel anytime via mail, support inquiry or simply by using the cancel button in the member area. You can pay UseNeXT packages using your credit card or PayPal.

 

Since we highly value customer satisfaction and are constantly trying to make our service as easy and transparent as possible, we would like to ask you to send an e-mail again to us describing your problem. We will then try to find a satisfactory solution.

Best regards,

Your UseNeXT Team

 

Hello UseNeXt team

I've done as you asked - I sent e-mail to mediarelations(at)aviteo.de,

I've also sent a PM to you, as well as posting a reply but I havent heard back from you.

[wilsul]

Usenext have answered my e-mail – it said:

Thank you very much for your inquiry on 05.07.2011.

The answer to your inquiry:

You do not need a credit card in order to complete the open payment.

Please contact our billing service to make the payment.

 

I appreciate that there may something lost in translation here, but they won’t listen and want me to pay for something that I’ve ATTEMPTED to buy but couldn't!!

Breathtaking!!

 

Indeed, I may not need a credit card to complete an “open payment” as you call it,

But can I use a debit card to buy the UseNeXT 30 package from the member area?

It's a simple question, but it hasn't been answered.

Edited July 5, 2011 by wilsul

[wilsul]

I went to my bank today – they say that they can find no record of any request to withdraw money from my account on the dates and times stated by Usenext.

 

I gave Usenext my debit card details when I applied for the14 day trial.

I’m assuming that Usenext must have accepted this as my payment method otherwise they wouldn’t have authorised the 14 day trial.

 

In an e-mail reply to me dated 28.06.2011, Usenext said they were trying to charge my credit card – “We would like to confirm that you signed up for our 14 day free trial on 6 April 2011 indeed. Since you have ordered our UseNeXT 30 package on 19 April 2011 in the member area on our homepage, we have tried to charge your creditcard (invoice ID ********)"

 

That is probably why there is no record of any request to withdraw money from my account; Usenext’s system was looking for a credit card account.

 

As I’ve said on previous posts, I only have a debit card; I don’t have a credit card.

As this is clearly a mistake made by Usenext, I don’t see why I should be penalised for it.

They still haven’t answered my question – can you buy the UseNeXT 30 package in the member area with a debit card?

If not, this should have been made clear to me – I tried to buy the package but couldn’t, even though I had given the correct account details and had enough money in my account to pay for it.

I'd be interested to know what Usenext team think of this.

 

I’d be grateful for any advice or comments.

Edited July 8, 2011 by wilsul

[wilsul]

Hello everybody

 

I had previously posted a thread in broadband and other internet issues called ‘usenext 14 day trial problems’, but things have got a lot worse today due to Usenext’s refusal to reply to any messages sent by me. I now have a debt recovery company threatening me.

 

My story is that I tried to buy a ‘usenext 30’ package from usenext 13 days into their 14 day free trial.

I tried to initiate payment for this package on their site in the proper place but instead got back an e-mail with the title ‘usenext – invalid payment information’.

This e-mail urged me to check my payment details and initiate payment.

I checked my payment details and they were correct.

I tried to initiate payment again only to get the same e-mail reply – in total I tried 5 times to initiate payment, but kept getting the same reply.

I then clicked on cancel because obviously they were not accepting my payment details – I also cancelled the 14 day trial as well, within the 14 days.

I then got an e-mail confirming my cancellation, but stating that I now had a contract until 19.05.2011 (which is 30 days after the cancellation e-mail)

I didn’t receive the ‘usenext 30’ package.

 

I thought that was the end of it – I was wrong.

 

A month later I got a payment reminder e-mail from Usenext, so I e-mailed back to explain that I didn’t owe them any money because they wouldn’t accept my payment and I didn’t get the ‘usenext 30’package.

I also wrote to their office in London saying the same thing.

They didn’t reply to either communication.

 

A month later I got the first e-mail from Omega credit services asking for £34.26!

 

I started a thread in broadband and other internet issues called ‘usenext 14 day trial problems’ and actually got a post from someone called ’usenext team’ that asked me to e-mail my problem to Usenext and they would tryto sort it out.

I don’t know whether there is a language problem here or what, but their idea of trying to sort things out was to send me an e-mail saying that they had been trying to charge my credit card and telling me to pay up!

 

I found the reason for Usenext not accepting my payment so I sent e-mails to them to explain what happened – they won’t reply. I also sent private messages via the CAG thread – still no reply.

 

It’s a simple mistake by Usenext’s payment procedure – Usenext say that they had been trying to charge my credit card.

My bank says that there is no record of any request for payment from Usenext at the times stated (or at any other time) – the reason why there is no record of a payment request is because I don’t have a credit card!

I gave them debit card details during registration for the 14 day trial and Usenext accepted them.

A friend who uses Usenext told me that Usenext don’t accept debit cards as a method of payment in the UK – if that’s true, they shouldn’t have allowed the 14 day trial in the first place!

 

Things took a turn for the worse today though.

 

I got a threatening e-mail from Omega credit services saying that if I don’t pay up within seven days, they will start proceedings in the county court and it would cost another £60 for additional court and solicitor’s costs and interest accrued – there’s red writing everywhere!!

 

This is why I’ve started this thread – all of this is very worrying to me so I would be grateful for any advice on what to do about this threat from Omega.

 

The thing that amazes me is that Usenext would take me to court for simply trying to buy something from them.

 

Or is true that all of this is really part of a big [problem] like a lot of people have said.

Edited July 13, 2011 by wilsul

[wilsul]

Hello

 

I’d really appreciate some advice on how to deal with a debt recovery company.

They sent me an e-mail demand for what they say is an unpaid bill at the end of June this year – I dispute this bill.

I e-mailed back to tell them that I disputed the bill and was going to ask the CAB to deal with the matter.

On 13.07.2011 another e-mail arrived from them that says that if I don’t pay within seven days, they will start proceedings in the county court and it will cost another £60 for additional court and solicitor’s costs.

I can’t get to see the CAB until after that, so what can I do?

[alfwithhair]

What kind of debt is it they claim you owe?

Who is the DCA

[wilsul]

The dca is omega credit services.

I tried to buy a service online but my payment details werenot accepted.

The company, Usenext, then billed me for the service amonth later.

[PGH7447]

http://www.usenetshack.com/usenext-[problem]-review-usenet-provider/ - Tell them to take a hike, or send the prove it letter

[alfwithhair]

I wouldn't worry about the court action, it is just a bluff to get you to pay.

CAG has an official rep from Usenext,

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/member.php?318577-UseNeXT-Team

Contact him, I am sure he will sort the problem out.

 

Don't worry about Omega, they have no powers to do anything.

[wilsul]

Thanks for that - I've read the usenetshack article before.

what is the prove it letter?

[wilsul]

Cheers, the usenext rep has replied to a previous thread I had and seemed to want to sort it out.

usenext team asked me to e-mail them with a description of my problem and they would sort it out.

I did that but only got an email back telling me to pay up!

[PGH7447]

Dear foolProve I owe the debt you claim in your letter dated xx/xx/xxRegards