Yes you did, you just don't know it. Where were you at the beginning of the year. There were 3 threads about this very topic.
Chess.com pippin off credit cards
Sort:
Well i'm a PC engineer and usually pretty careful about this sort of thing. I'm disgusted that by some means of not upfrontedness it was done. If it had been crystal clear when i entered my details for 1 months membership i'd be fine with it. But when companies like this resort to fine print or not being crystal clear i get very annoyed. Chance of getting a refund? zilch no doubt.
I cancelled my membership.
This is pretty standard practice for free trials, the first month is free, after that you have to opt out. I'm sure that if you revisit it you'll see that it was stated in the fine print. Netflix's free trial month works in exactly the same way.
There are two really good reasons for this -- the first is to increase the conversion rate from trial users to paying members. The second is to ensure that people can't just created account after account and surf free premium trials month-to-month without ever paying by restricting the trials to one per card number (at most you can do one per credit card you own).
Now, chess.com is really reasonable about these things. I think you may have cancelled your card a little too hastily. If you'd reached out to them prior to this I'm sure they would have simply refunded the withdrawal and downgraded your account. I'm sure that if you raise a ticket they'll still honour the refund in this circumstance.
Thank you grobe; At 1st, I thought this was a young kid with no credit card experience, but he's a PC engineer?? That's a lot of anger. He cancelled his membermhip, AND cancelled his card, at more of his cost?? Now THAT'S an expensive way to learn chess.
Point is it was not a trial? I paid for 1 months membership it cost me in NZ dollars after exchange 7 dollars last month. This morning i got a 6.10 deduction with visa hold. Pondering i ring my bank as no details given who the visa hold was for to be told it was from chess . com. There was no TRIAL. As far as i understood the visa transaction you smart arses it was pay monthly. To me it looked like i could pay a month see if i liked it and either upgrade to 6-12 month membership or keep paying monthly by re submitting a monthly membership. Seems i was mislead or there is some fine print i was not aware of or had spotted. At NO point did i see any reference to it will be ongoing and auto deducted.
Excuse me for being a PC engineer thanks for the sarcasm . By it, i was meaning i am usually pretty carefull it uses HTTPS so the card number is secure and that i read it well enough to spot this exact thing of recurring debits, having had to fix people from porn sites as part of my pc technicians duties more often than you would realize. When they submit there CC card details and porn sites deduct from there visa accounts willy nilly. To me this is the same stuff as porn sites do and this i thought mistakenly was more reputable being a good chess site.
I cancelled my card as i do not like the thought of people being able to just help themselves to monthly fee's from oversea's sites. Especially if it's the US of arrogant A who think they rule the planbet and the rest of the world are just third world minions to be exploited.
Yeah, sounds like your anger is rooted elsewhere. I don't think chess.com is making foreign policy decisions for the US.
I used the wrong word trial my bad writting. I was meaning i paid for 1 months membership to try out the site to see if paying for membership was worth the cost, I had actually thought yes it was until this deduction happened this morning with no reference to who deducted it in my online banking details. Just visa hold $6.10(5 US dollars) though the exchange rate isn't that high either which is another issue alltogether seeing NZ dollar is about 86+ US cents ATM.
I'm angry i complained about getting CC card deductions i was not expecting? and you think you can kiss chess.com but by defending them? Yep can see what sort of suck up you are then?
I'm suggesting you get in touch with them. I've seen them correct countless similar issues in the past. Far from "kissing chess.com's butt", I'm trying to help you and letting you know that they're really reasonable about these things.
Quite frankly, and humbly, in fact, it seems to me that TheGrobe may be feeling just a tiny bit of anger for someone other than SPW.... He was right about the sarcasm...
Oh? Do tell.
You mis-understood me about being a PC engineer. I apologise, if I offended. I cannot speak for chess.com, I am only a member. But here's how I think it works. You sign up for 1 month (4 weeks). You will get 6 weeks of membership. (2 free weeks). Your billing cycle won't renew, until 6 weeks later.(not 4 weeks). If you talk to Matt, in billing, hopefully he can help you. 1 more suggestion. If you use pay-pal, it will still auto-renew, but if there's not sufficient funds, it will not. Myself, and The Grobe are not trying to make you angry. Trust me, we have enought other threads for THAT. What we're trying to do, is help you become a member; where you can come in, and help us with THE REAL ANGRY THREADS.
All this fuss over a standard business practice? I don't get it...
That's because your a dog, and you allways get free cookies. Someone has to PAY for those cookies ya know!
Hi Ronald, Have to admit yes i am a bit angry as i felt immediately when i checked my banking this was not a reputable site, but reading your comments Ok i was wrong and it is. Anyone can have a .com site. people often mistake them for being tied to the states and i thought maybe this is some bad site like the porn sites where they fleece your account. Could be i did over react. It's 7 am here i woke up with side splitting pain and wasn't to cheerie to start with this morning and to see the deduction i over reacted.
However i didn't see any of this 2 weeks free get 6 weeks stuff. I just purchased 1 months subscription so i could try out membership benifits and see if i liked it. Whether i played it enough to justify the outlay and whether i learned to be a better player. Etc i was very happy with the site just miffed at not being given the oportunity to make the decision to buy again of my own free will.
As for the standard business practise comment following you REALLY? No that's standard porn site business practise, i expect more from reputable companies who should be upfront and clearly state it autorenews so I can make an informed choice. Not slipped in by comments like it's standard business practise.
Tell you what standard business practise is why we down here in NZ are still bailing out the US banks with higher bank fee's higher insurance costs etc and there standard mortgage business practises that created a global financial melt down. NZ and the rest of the countries around the globe. Yet they get bailed out. Someone please bail me out of my mortgage why don't they.
I'll repeat that if you get in touch with them directly they'll very likely correct this for you:
http://support.chess.com/Tickets/Submit
Mar 7, 2014
0
#18
This is the type of mistake that you only make once. It happened to me too, only it was on MLB.com, not here.
Never said it was right mate. Just said it was standard business practice. I'm no more happy with the current state of capitalism than you are. It really is a lot more than just porn sites; pretty much any digital delivery system uses the same billing practice. Anyway, sorry to have upset you further. I shouldn't have posted in the first place...
Thank you for your honesty. Now I'm more concerned about the pain in your side. no need to apologize. We've all had bad days like that. I'm familiar with the pain in the side. That's where it starts. I take it you didn't sleep well either. A slipped disc in your back will cause that pain to move down your leg. I've had 2 back operations, but we can talk about that later. I also agree with your rant about banks. There are Americans; and then there's AMERICA. Some americans aren't worth the shit there made out of. The whole world's in tough shape, but I digress. Let's help you with one step at a time. IBUPROPHEN will get any swelling down with that pain. Consult your doctor before listening to my medical advice. How has your 1 month on the site been without the financial surprise?? I'll let you get back to your day, but call me anytime for any assistance.
I paid for 1 month trial to try out the site, Chess.com helped themselves to my credit card the next month without my permission. My bank says you can now do that whenever you want and i have to ask you to stop. I cancelled my credit card at more of my cost and think your all a bunch of A-Holes for doing that. It's illegal i didn't sign up for repeated withdrawls.