udate.com

Christian of Madison AL (4/3/02):
I signed up for an online dating service, udate. All interaction with other members is done by logging into their web site. I paid by credit card on a monthly basis. At the end of the month, upon logging into their web site, I would receive a message highlighted and in bold near the top of my browser that my membership would expire in 3 days (then 2 days, and then 1 day). Each month, when I got to my last day, I would go to their payment page and authorize billing for another month.

I didn't have any problems with the service, but decided at the end of February to let my membership expire. Near the end of the month, I received the "Your membership will expire in 3 days (then two days, and then 1 day), and a statement urging me to renew. This was a clear and direct statement that unless I took action, my membership would expire and I would no longer have access to the site or be billed for the service. However, when I received my credit card statement at the end of the month, I saw a charge for $24.95 from udate on it for the month of March, an unauthorized charge, since I had allowed my membership to expire.

I contacted udate to complain and ask for my money back. The only contact information given on their web site is an e-mail address. I had to send at least three e-mails over a week-long period before I received any response. When I did receive a response, it was curt and rude. They stated that according to the user agreement, their service automatically re-bills your credit card unless you cancel your membership.

This is an unethical and contradictory practice, since I was clearly told, in no uncertain terms, that my membership was about to expire. Expiration of membership clearly means that you will no longer have access to the service, and that you will not be billed for it. I have sent several more e-mails complaining about this matter, and I always receive the same rude response.

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