Movieconnect charging for lost DVDs.

surfprof · Joined: 12 Dec 2005 Posts: 18

Don't bother m8. He's not going to indicate that he's critical of them at all, because to do so would be to agree that you have a point. He's not prepared to do that.

What galls me the most is that in his last post he said the following:

intalex · Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 38

SURFPROF
Yea, I wouldn't be surprised if he failed to accept even the slightest bit of criticism for Movieconnect's handling of the situation. To be honest, I think he'll probably just choose to not answer that question like he's been doing all along. He'll probably come back again asking for legal this and legal that. Poor guy doesn't seem to understand that if it doesn't sound right in the common sense, then how can it be right in the legal books?

ROBO
Why don't you at least tell us who you work for if it's not Movieconnect? I am interested in finding out which other companies charge customers for discs they never received in the first place.

A REQUEST TO ALL ONLINE DVD RENTAL CUSTOMERS IN THIS FORUM
I am very interested in hearing from anyone who has successfully free-trialled with Movieconnect and cancelled easily without having to anything, especially ones who may have had a DVD go missing in the post during the free trial.

I am also interested in hearing from Movieconnect's paying members who have had a DVD go missing in the post. Did they write it off immediately or did they keep you waiting for months before doing so?

crazyfj · Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 23

I can't even get signed up! Just keep getting an error message, so e-mailed them, they have never answerd (tried twice)

i am with blockbuster (who for me is very good), but its always good to try a new company.

intalex · Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 38

maybe i can help you there. i think your acount might actually be created despite the error message. if your specified password does not let you log-in, then follow the "forgot my password" link (which will probably end up with an error message too but your password will be emailed to you) and then use the password that gets emailed to you to log-in.

once you log-in, you may notice that they have actually replied to your emails, but instead of emailing you back, they actually placed their responses online. hardly useful when your query itself states that you were unable to sign up in the first place. the place to look for your responses is "My Account" > "My Questions".

it's nice to see someone has the courage to try out their service despite what has already been reported in here. are you just interested in the free trial or would you become a paying member? in either case, good luck and let us know how you get on with them.

intalex · Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 38

Okay, so after more than 4 months of waiting for a refund, it all comes down to one question, which I asked Movieconnect Ltd today:

Do they have any evidence of the disc in question being delivered to me, which justifies the payment they took from me?

Surprise surprise, they simply won't answer that question.

They can't say yes because: I think we all know that they would have produced it aready if they did have any evidence.

They won't say no because: On what grounds will they then claim to have charged me in the first place if they didn't have any evidence of the disc being delivered?

This question pretty much forms the basis of my court claim, which by the way, doesn't just ask for my refund, but also goes as far as to question and demand compensation for their act of charging me in the first place without first producing any evidence to warrant the charges.

crazyfj · Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 23

intalex · Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 38

You should get a 14-day trial, but your trial starts from the day you first signed up and got those errors while doing so.

Just be very careful whenever you do decide to cancel nearer to a payment due date. Cover all possible angles to avoid being charged unneccesarily. Some scenarios whereby they can charge you, and how to protect yourself from them, include:

(i) Make sure you pay that little bit extra for recorded delivery so you can track exactly when they received the last discs back. This way, even if you post your discs back a day or two before the payment due date, you can track exactly when they received them back.

(ii) Only ever cancel your account while in possession of your full quota of discs, and only send back these last discs after cancelling your account online first. This way, no vacated disc slots can be pre-occupied with the "pending despatch" status, which could otherwise lead to you being tied down for an extra month's paid subscription. PM me if you don't get what I mean by this.

(iii) If a disc goes missing on its way to you, you will probably be charged for it on the assumption that it was indeed delivered (even if you email them to report it as lost) - purely because it is impossible to prove that the disc was never delivered (it's as though you are presumed guilty until proven innocent). Since they would normally charge you for this loss on the payment due date, make sure you cancel the payment authority by emailing NetBanx. If you do get charged before you get a chance to do this, then claim a chargeback right away.

(iv) If a disc arrives more than 2 working days after their alleged date of posting, which then leaves you with insufficient time to return it before the payment due date, make sure you demand a copy of their proof of posting the disc to you, and verify that it was sent to you on the stated date.

These are the only scenarios I can think of which are in a bit of a grey area and which the customer needs to be protected against.

intalex · Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 38

Wanna hear something else?

When you send an email to Movieconnect using their online feedback facility, they would also place their response online rather than emailing you back their response.

At first, I didn't make much of it, but this morning I noticed that they had edited one of their responses which they sent to me yesterday. When I questioned this, they came back to me saying that is the only way they can update their communications with their customers. I mean, why do they have to delete a record of their original response to replace it with a edited response? Can't they just keep the original response with its reference number and then write a new response with a new reference number?

Good job I now have a print-out each of both versions of their response, should I ever need it to prove that they can change their responses as and when they please.

Today they came back to me with a very bizarre request, whereby they asked me to fax/mail/scan&email a Certificate of Posting for when I sent back the other two movies which I did receive from them. My online account clearly shows that they received both of these back a day before the payment cut-off date, so I find it very difficult to understand the motive of their request.

Anyway, I disposed of the Certificate of Posting as soon as I received confirmation that they had already received my last returned DVDs. Just waiting to find out if this will lead to any more surprising consequences.

intalex · Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 38

crazyfj · Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 23

thanks for you advice intalex, I let you all know re the outcome.

can i ask a quick question, but can you not just do a credit card charge back?

intalex · Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 38

NetBanx (Movieconnect's own payment processing service) also recommended that I claim a chargeback from my bank. However, I was still keen to get this resolved directly with Movieconnect so that they would then clear my "DVDs at home" list and close my account completely.

But maybe my hopes are too high, as my described saga with them suggests.

A court claim would indeed solve all my problems, and it looks like the only way for me to get what I want. But I have become so busy with other more important things that I just don't know if I'm ever going to get a chance to finally submit my court claim. My lawyer mate, who has uncovered some pretty strong evidence, is also pretty tied up with work so it won't be easy to go through all this right now.

But the option of a chargeback is still available to me and I may yet use it just to get my money back for now, and leave the court claim for a later date to demand compensation for what they put me through.

I'll have to think it over again once I'm through with my other more important tasks.

flower · Joined: 08 Feb 2006 Posts: 2

Hi, been following your posts with interest, as I'm in the same situation. update me please, have you received a refund yet?

intalex · Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 38

I've been too busy lately to go ahead with the court claim. I haven't received any refund directly from them either. They have even stopped responding to my emails now and last said that they had "drawn a line under the issue". I think that pretty much means I can forget my refund regardless of the Royal Mail's verdict of their "lost-in-post" claim.

I might just have to go ahead with a chargeback now to save me some time and effort. It was after all NetBanx's recommendation to file a chargeback, so I can't go wrong with that route.

What was your situation like? Was it exactly like mine (and with Movieconnect), and if so, how far back does your story go?

flower · Joined: 08 Feb 2006 Posts: 2

Hi, I joined for free trial with "movieconnect" end of sept, first disk never arrived or any others after that, cancelled before first payment, disk filed as "lost in post" told a claim would be filed with royal mail. First payment then taken out of bank account, rang to query, told standard practise, refund when claim with royalmail succeeds. Fine....nothing I can do. next month another payment taken out, but put back in immediately??
Dec, first disk finally arrives, I ask myself was it ever sent in first place, contact them, told to return, which I did promptly(yes big fool!)
After numerous emails full of bull****telling me refund being processed, I'm still waiting! I've even been accused of hoarding the disk, I really wished I'd never sent it back. Beginning of January I got a snotty email telling me that because it had taken me 2 months to return disk, they would refund me in a "timely" manner! talk about petty. I emailed again yesterday for update & got a reply starting "at this very moment, finace department dealing with it!" more bull****??
I seriously thinking of complaining to "watchdog" Incidently can you do chargebacks via bank accounts or is it just credit cards?
I let you know, whatever.

intalex · Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 38