DISQUS

Marie · 2 years ago

In case you change your mind? They never stop selling.

What's scary is they put a charge through on a card with an expired date and relate it to the successor account.

Excellent analogy on the restaurant.

Several years ago I bought some clothes for my kids at a national chain in the mall. Three or so months later, my bank calls me wanting to know if I was making long distance calls to Germany. No. Well, it turns out that the clerk at the store pocketed my credit card information for future personal use. How they traced it back to that person, they never told me. But, thanks to some eagle-eye software at the bank, they caught it and the charges never even showed up on my account statement. I did appreciate the bank calling me for that.

So, here's a question. Who are these people that work for these companies that have our credit card and debit card info?

Donna · 2 years ago

AARGH! I've had automated calls like that. And snarky customer "service" reps like the one you dealt with at CCBill. I feel for the waste of time you had to endure to try to straighten all that out. Makes you want to forego using credit at all -- but I'm afraid it's near to impossible to do that these days. (Having rented a car yesterday -- so many businesses simply will not work with you without a card.)

Hammer Time · 2 years ago

Well, first things first. You or someone with access to your card signed up for a membership service. It isn't a restaurant, it's a membership and the fees are considered dues. Your analogy to a resaurant doesn't even come close. You aren't buying a tangible good you are buying access to services based on a monthly access fee. It's up to you to cancel them. Of course both ccbill and msn will try to get your money, it was offered up to them with an online agreement that "you" signed by charging your account.

Secondly, do you know how many people charge back their cards in that industry? Do you know that it is pretty difficult to challange it from the side of the business? Fraud is at an all time high and yes they have gotten serious about it to the point of making it harder and harder to cheat them by charging back. In your instance with the porn sites, there is no way on Earth to discern whether or not you made the charge or "sticks" did. So do I blame them for being difficult, no. Has it happened to me, yes.

I also use ccbill as a billing solution because they are strict and honest. There are a number of less reputable companies that hammer porn site members and ccbill keeps their nose pretty squeaky clean.

There is also a huge difference in credit card transactions and debit card transactions. I've cancelled debit cards before (with wells fargo) and had new plastic issued only to have the same thing happen. The bank treats it as a check, not a credit card so the protections you have with a true credit card are not in place. The banks just never bother to tell you that.

So, you are upset that someone you know took advantage of your card and you didn't bother to call CCBill immediately. Don't be the victim here. I'd never give my 17 year old boy or girl access to my accounts.

Sorry, just calling it as i see it. You, ultimately, are to blame and I admire the tenacity you've expressed in getting the situation resolved to your liking. Be careful with your cards and your accounts.

karoli · 2 years ago

You have two situations mixed up. The MSN situation shouldn't have happened at all - the card was expired, I declined to give them new card info, and the account should have terminated.

On the issue of the 17-year old, it was HIS card, not mine. And after ccBill had been notified that all charges were to be stopped, that should have happened. Before they were notified, it was his problem. AFTER they were notified, it was their problem. The card should NOT have had to have been terminated and reissued to stop billings from being submitted. That's a failing on their part, not his. The first charges -- all his responsibility. No question about it.

David SIlver · 2 years ago

What a truly scary story! -- Check out PaidByCash -- it might be exactly what you are looking for to prevent this from ever happening again.