Money taken from account...now in an awkward situation.

[Pollytom]

I've AIBU for traffic.

A couple of months ago, I purchased some fitness classes at my local gym. An invoice was sent to my email and I paid for the classes with my instructor. After the sessions, another invoice was sent over (the instructor had incorrectly billed me) but I paid the invoice anyway and notified her of the error, which she just said she would take off next time. There was absolutely no indication at any point that I had signed up to any type of subscription. It was simply an invoice with the amount for the sessions and then the option to pay for the classes using my bank card. There was no contract, and I didn't sign anything that reflected I had entered into any type of agreement.

Anyway, after two block of sessions with her, I notified her that I wouldn't be continuing as I felt confident to do my own thing. No invoice arrived - but a large chuck of money left my account. I've reached out to her to query this, and her response is that she needs 14 days notice and I must continue with this block of sessions. She didn't tell me I needed to give her notice, and she didn't tell me at any point that it was a subscription I was entering into. I don't have a clue how this has happened tbh. Why send me invoices, and then suddenly no invoice but an automatic withdrawal.

I feel awkward now as I needed that money for DD's birthday and now it's gone and will have to continue with classes that aren't even needed.

@MushMonster Fabletics makes it clear its a subscription service and that you either cancel it or go onto your account to skip a month you don't want the payment to be made

x-posts with lots of others.

I see you’ve already submitted a visa dispute through your bank, but the more evidence you can produce that you have attempted to resolve things with the merchant the more likely that Visa will find in your favour.

I would request that she email you the terms and conditions which you apparently signed up to when you joined. Because if there are terms and conditions, she will have them.

I would also speak to your bank to find out how you can prevent any future payments to this woman, there will be a means to block future payments from this particular provider.

Wtaf? Open to abuse. Paypal don’t allow that.

Thanks for the head’s up - not paying anything via Stripe.

I wonder has she now set up a continuous payment on your card. It's like a direct debit which us linked to a card usually a credit card.
Dh has one for his Spotify and Netflix accounts. Banks can cancel these.

This, I don’t understand either. If you’ve paid an invoice how does she have your bank details?

Yes agreed. I thought you always had to enter your cvv manually when making a payment. I won't use Stripe again either if it doesn't require any further verification from the buyer.

Read the thread and you'll find out how it was done!

It’s quite straightforward OP just report this as unauthorised transaction to your payment provider. They will send a claim form for you to fill out.
I might include the info about the two options for Stripe merchants and underline you were not notified and did not authorise.

Don’t bother contacting her again. She’s knows what she’s doing, it will just waste your time.

No. There’s a difference between a direct debit and a recurring visa payment.

Netflix and Spotify are recurring visa payments and ideally you need to cancel the subscription in order to stop paying. If you don’t actively cancel the subscription then the merchant can attempt to take payments in future. If you absolutely can’t cancel the subscription then you can prevent future payments to that particular merchant.

But people really do need to know the difference between a direct debit and a recurring visa payment.

Now she’s got those details on Stripe, the only way to block further payments is to cancel your card.

You need to not be so polite now, she wasn't so polite to you when she debited your account without permission!

I’ve just read it, I can’t believe it! We all know never to use stripe.

good luck, OP.

If she hasn’t informed you of terms and conditions and you haven’t entered into an agreement, I would ask her again to return the money on those grounds. If she refuses tell her you will be contacting Trading Standards as there are laws around full disclosure and cooling off periods. And yes, chargeback, as others have suggested.

I think you need to get tough and chase the money back. And if there's a possibility to post critical reviews/feedback online, do so.

This is the info from stripes website.

Being a wimp is not funny!

Be assertive and stop apologising for wanting your money.

Yeah, it is frustrating. It'll be how this person has set up their stripe payment account. They'll have marked it as a repeat subscription - which is very naughty, but not unheard of.

Yup.

I’d contact stripe themselves and report it as a fraudulent transaction as she didn’t gain permission from you: https://support.stripe.com/questions/reporting-a-fraudulent-transaction-from-a-business-using-stripe?locale=en-GB

It's likely the business will lose their Stripe facility, and in addition they'll get a hefty chargeback fee from Visa. It's a huge no from both Visa and Mastercard to take payments without authorisation so it's likely the business will lose their Stripe facility, and in addition they'll get a hefty chargeback fee from Visa. Serves her right too.

If you read it they tell you report the transaction to your card provider and they contact Stripe.

Thats fraudulent. You need to report them for it. Companies are not allowed to store bank/credit card details, without authorisation.

Well that is fraud then. She took the money with no contract in place. Pursue with visa through the complaints process.
Also there should be emails from the first 2 stripe payments confirming the payments. The third one too?

That's because you're not a thief