What kind of scummy company charges a customer for a non-service?

[Anonymous User]

I tried the NowTV free week trial. They added in a Boost package which wasn't obvious. I cancelled the trial and I'm pretty sure I cancelled all the items.

Now I find they are taking £5 a month for a Boost package (The boost is completely useless by itself since it provides HD and up to 3 devices). The name Boost itself is self evident that it cannot and should not exist without a running package.

What kind of scummy company takes money from its customers for a service they cannot even get any use from?

I suggest if you suffered from this too you should do what I'm doing and contact your credit card company and raise a dispute. I've also begun writing to Trading standards to raise an official complaint. 

[redchiz1]

@RoyB They have changed it at some point.Glad to see you're still poking. 

[RoyB]

@Anonymous User 

It depends how you read:-

NOW Boost will either automatically end after a minimum of 30 days following cancellation of your memberships or where there is no monthly membership service on the account.

You seems to be reading it as

NOW Boost will either automatically end after a minimum of 30 days following cancellation of your memberships, (comma) or where there is no monthly membership service on the account.

But it is ambiguous, and can be read as 

NOW Boost will either automatically end after a minimum of 30 days, (comma) following cancellation of your memberships or where there is no monthly membership service on the account.

An earlier poster had a Boost outlive his memberships, and it duly cancelled when the latest month of the Boost had expired, so I lean towards the second interpretation, i.e. that the Boost would take 30 days to end if you didn’t cancel it during the trial, which would mean you had one chargeable month, but it would not run on after that.

[Anonymous User]

@RoyB It's quite clear. I cancelled my membership before the end of the trial, therefore there was no service running before the payment was taken.

During my online chat with customer services when I asked about the charge, they told me I would need to cancel the Boost otherwise it would continue to be taken again in March. 

I've since emailed customer services and they stonewalled me, so out of principle I've raised a chargeback on my credit card having completed the fraud form.

[redchiz1]

@Anonymous User So to recap: you cancelled all your NOW TV memberships other than the Boost; and once those subscription periods had lapsed you continued to be charged for the Boost alone, after its expiry date? 

[Anonymous User]

Exactly that. To recap:

In addition, I was told I should cancel the Boost if I didn't want to get ongoing future charges, depsite having no running services.

My emails disputing the original Boost charge have been totally ignored. I filled a fraud with my credit card company.

[RoyB]

@Anonymous User 

I think you were told wrong about Boost continuing indefinitely; I think it would only have run for one paid month.

But I do think that if you have a trial membership 7 days, and Now add Boost, and you cancel the trial membership so you don’t pay anything, then the Boost should also stop before you get charged for it.

This would cause the least misunderstanding, as well as being fair and equitable.

It is worth noting, though, that on dropping an established membership there can be a case for keeping Boost running, even when you haven’t got any other current memberships, if your Boost is on a discounted offer.

If you are dropping a membership, but intend to pick it up in another month’s time, and you currently have Boost discounted to £2 a month, then you will lose out if your discounted Boost expires before you pick up, and you have to pay £5 for the first new month, even if you get back on the £2 deal subsequently (which is not guaranteed).

A bit of a corner case, true, but the member contemplating this, except with a two-month gap, would only be £1 down in the third month if they could keep their Boost deal, and would achieve breakeven or better in a fourth month against any subsequent Boost deal, even discounted, if it wasn’t discounted down as far as £2 again.