Charged for Boast and Cinema without my approval

[Lizbran]

I signed up for NOW entertainment - 1 week later I was charged for Boost and Cinema without requesting this. anyone else experienced this?

[schnapps]

Hi @Lizbran 

Sounds like you have signed up to a NOW Entertainment offer and included in the offer was a 7 day free trial for Boost and Cinema (see screenshot 1 left hand side offer).

If you didn't want the 7 day free trial for Boost and Cinema then you either needed to cancel them within the free trial window or when on the checkout screen there is an option to remove them (see screenshot 2 below where I have circled in red the remove button option to click on).

If it's the same exact offer from the NOW website then it looks like you have agreed to a six months minimum Entertainment term.

With regards to the Boost and Cinema charge, then jump over to live chat and explain to them what's happened and ask them to cancel both unwanted Memberships and see if they will also provide a refund for Boost and Cinema.

To reach NOW live chat click on the green chat online button from the link page below (don't click on the get help quicker button towards the bottom of the link which is just a chat bot).

https://help.nowtv.com/article/how-to-submit-a-complaint 

[RoyB]

@schnapps 

If @redchiz will forgive me for another software subscription reference, then Which? this month are covering subscription offers that include add-ons to the main product by default:-

“We saw two examples where following the path of least resistance during the buying stage can end up with you adding an extra subscription. By default, both X and Y (which are the same company) give you the option to sign up to an extra product after you’ve entered your card details. However, the ‘yes’ box is ticked by default and if you click on ‘review order’ you will end up adding this to your basket – you have to actively opt out.”

”…This is a hefty amount to pay for not noticing you had to untick a ‘yes’ box [in fairness, rather more than the amounts involved with Now, but the principle is there] and we think this is a breach of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013.”

Which? also talks about unused subscriptions, where it says :-

”… CMA [Competition and Markets Authority] guidance says they should notify customers who they believe are not using the products at all…”

This is just guidance, but I have always thought that Now, who can tell when an account is being paid for but not used, shouldn’t let that go on for more than (say) three months without getting confirmation from the user that this is what they want.

Both these things might lose Now a little bit of revenue, true, but would surely more than make up for it in good will ♥️♥️♥️

[redchiz1]

Hi @RoyB not sure why you brought me into the conversation? But it's a bit rich coming from an organisation who play fast and loose with their own subscription offers. And yes I speak from experience. 

[RoyB]

@redchiz1 

Preemptive strike 😛

[Wazza]

Yes! Exactly the same. I only actively requested Entertainment at £6.99. Very, very underhand practice to add two items by default that I didn't request. I notice now that they were said to be £0 but that is only for 7 days. I'll be asking for a refund and won't be renewing my membership after the minimum period, can't trust this company.

[gavs82008]

@Wazza 

Have a look through this thread. Sounds like the entertainment offer for 6 months was taken and this comes with a free trial of boost and cinema then £6 and £9.99 unless cancelled. This is explicitly mentioned in the offer and the offers T&C
https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Account-Billing/i-have-been-charged-for-cinema-and-boost-which-i-do-n...

[Wazza]

It’s not an ‘offer’ if it’s being sneaked into your basket. And the automatic charge is not explicit in the ‘offer’ either - it just says 7 day free trial, £0, and cancel anytime. Would be very easy for them to say ‘note that you will be automatically charged after 7 days’ if they didn’t want to be sneaky about it. And it’s not just a small addition either - the money they’ve taken is three times the amount I actively signed up for! Totally illegal. 

[RoyB]

@Wazza 

But they do say that, in the very small print under each of those £0s. See this in the posting above:-

https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Account-Billing/Charged-for-Boast-and-Cinema-without-my-approval/m-p/...

If anything here is totally illegal, it’s those ‘Remove’s, which act as pre-ticked boxes, something that is frowned upon, and may indeed be illegal if this:-

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/fr/MEMO_11_675
is still enshrined in UK law, as many EU rules still are, even after Brexit.

As an aggrieved person here, you may want to take this up with OfCom, and seek a ruling on the matter.

[Wazza]

No, they don’t say that at the point at which you are invited to ‘claim offer’. That’s the crucial part. See the first pic on the link you provided. Sliding the wording in later in the sequence is not acceptable, as by that stage the user has already opted to ‘claim offer’. 
Aside from that, the crucial info i.e that you are in effect signing up for a much more expensive service, is tiny compared to the ‘£0’ next to the option. It’s deliberately misleading and unlawful.