Findababysitter.com ARGH. Thieving bastards...

[MayfairMummy]

AIBU to think that even if you put it in the fine print (literally - about 5 font on a 12ish font page), if you're going to keep taking recurring money from someone, you should send them an email to say you're taking it, or a receipt?

I signed up for 3 months to Findababysitter.com because of a £20 cashback deal, which FAB didn't honour, for not reason at all. I let them off because it looked like it would be a good site (and i was getting 4 hours sleep a night and had better things to do). Roll on 6 months of not using it at all and i discover that they're billing me regularly but not bothering to tell me. Last bill was 5 days ago (3 month cycle).. I said, sorry, i didn't know. could you please cancel this cycle and refund. short answer was no, it's in the fine print,, and they terminated the conversation so i can't reply to it. AAARGHHH.

YABU. It's not their fault you didn't read the fine print.

Whilst I agree re the fine print, it's genuinely tiny (check out their payment page if you don't believe me; i had to put my glasses on to read it earlier today, while i could read everything else fine), and they didn't email to say they were taking money, or receipting it. On top of them not honouring my original £20 cashback, I think it's misleading and bad business. Perhaps I should have taken note at their first dodgy dealings (yes, I did do everything right for the cashback), and complained/cancelled back then.

How much have they taken?

Terms and conditions section 6 makes it very clear that the subscriptions are renewed automatically, and the print size is reasonable.
Plus, on a screen, you can make the text any size you want.
You got burned, but you will be more careful next time.

How do you not check your bank account or credit card for 6 months?

Chalk it up to experience.

Be more careful about whom you give your credit card details to.

YABU. On the Prices and Joining Costs there are asterisks next to several of the options and it is highlighted on the bottom of the screen that your subscription will be automatically renewed. You also failed to notice at least two payments leaving your account.

You're all correct in saying that the OP should have looked more carefully.

But contract conditions like this are deliberately created to catch the unwary, so I do sympathise.

but that just brings you back to my question.

Sorry OP, I can't see anything there that would make me think it's a one-off payment. It's per month, per year or per quarter.
Seriously, I know you're pissed off but do you not even glance at your bank statement/ credit card bill?

We may sympathise, but it doesn't mean that they were thieves, or that she's entitled to a refund. I
t's the sort of thing I often see 'Little x has spent £10,000 on Pokemon apps, Teenage J has a phone bill of a million dollars' and I wonder what happened to adults taking their time to check anything they sign or agree to, and double checking?
They are a business, in it to make money. Lots of online subscriptions work like that, where it's free if you cancel after the first 3 months. They make the money on those that forget.

sigh ... morning after; ok; I accept I'm being unreasonable . This is the 2nd time they've billed me (unexpectedly), and I've seen this one. how did i miss the first one? Don't know. I do know what i was focussed on 3 months ago, and that took a lot of my time, and I'd still prioritise that a million times over (baby's health issues).... but i'm still predisposed to think they know what they're doing is going to catch people out - particularly after the initial cashback incident.

I'm usually VERY good at noticing recurring bill type things when I sign up. I genuinely didn't think i'd be rebilled. I don't know if the website has changed since then (google reviews and you'll find other people complaining of the same thing), or it was just me being in a rush (see issue above, and add a house move on top of it - i'm pretty sure i wouldn't have read all the t&c properly), but nonetheless, this is the first time i've actually been caught out by anything like this. Life would be nicer if i could blame someone else .

Thanks for getting me off my high horse, folks!

Thought you might laugh ... today I'm wearing my glasses so I can read all fine print .... about the 3rd time ever ...

Good Gods, a reasonable poster on AIBU. One who is able to reflect and review!
There ought to be 76 trombones at least.
I'm sure you look marvelous in your glasses. They make you cleverer you know, that's why all cartoon boffins have them.

Ah, I love a happy outcome. I agree the website may have changed.
Some companies do seem to do this. Amazon have been accused of it with their 'try amazon prime free' promotion.

Well I don't think it's U to expect an invoice or receipt for any money taken, especially not when it can be delivered electronically. I have a few web hosting ones and they send me an invoice every month. It's just professional good practice and if they don't do it it makes me think they're either a shower or a scam.

They've taken £75 from me that I as far as I'm concerned I didn;t agree to. Feel sorry for everyone else that this has happened to.

They're still at it - findababysitter.com - AVOID, AVOID, AVOID! Site seems wonderful until you want to unsubscribe! We followed their website procedure to unsubscribe via the account page and were still charged the monthly fee!!! When we complained, they just ignored the content of our complaint email and just stated that we were now unsubscribed but no refund would be given, offering some crappy one months free subscription as compensation! There are better sites out there - use them.

AVOID, AVOID, AVOID! Site seems wonderful until you want to unsubscribe! We followed their website procedure to unsubscribe via the account page and were still charged the monthly fee!!! When we complained, they just ignored the content of our complaint email and just stated that we were now unsubscribed but no refund would be given, offering some crappy one months free subscription as compensation! There are better sites out there - use them.