- Report: #413762
Complaint Review: Constant Contact - Boston, Waltham Massachusetts
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Author Confirmed
Why?
Constant Contact
84 Gainsborough Street #105 Boston, Waltham, 02115 Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Phone:
617-859-8998
Web:
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Constant Contact, Constant Contact, Complaints Ignored, Company Billed Expired Card, Constant Contact Refused to Cancel Waltham Massachusetts
I find it amazing that Constant Contact believes that it is okay for thier company to have billed my EXPIRED credit card for many months after expiration. In addition they will offer no refund at all on an account that was canceled after the card expired, even though they continued to bill it without authorization.
I tried to cancel in writing before my call, but was told that cancellation were only valid by telephone. I complained to Constant Contact several times, but they refused to even attempt to resolve my issues about unauthorized billing.
Instead of responding to my issue with any reasonable offer at all, this company wrote several paragraphs about what they thought my cancellation call was actually about, and then wrote: "Pursuant to credit card regulations, our recurring billing is performed regardless of the expiration date listed in your account as long as these charges are authorized by your credit card company."
This is not true. The agreement actually says Constant Contact will only bill a VALID credit card, which does not include EXPIRED cards, as they are not valid. It is amazing that to defend their actions, they wrote to me to tell me they would bill any card, even if it was expired.
It also says they will stop billing after cancellation, which is not true. They billed an expired card and did so after cancellation for may months.
Here is the actual text from their Terms Of Service: "4.4 Payment. Payment for Products will be made by a valid credit card accepted by Constant Contact. ... If the monthly payment option is selected or if you have previously provided your credit card for payment, you hereby authorize Constant Contact to charge your credit card for such amounts on a regular monthly basis beginning at the end of your free trial period and continuing until such time as your account is terminated. "
This clearly outlines the OPPOSITE of what is stated in their reply to me.
The company fraudulently billed my expired credit card, against their own terms of service, failed to honor a cancellation against their own terms of service, and is keeping $1575 in unauthorized charges. Lots of money.
Their final advice to me was to contact my credit card issuer and dispute the charges.
Richard
Boston, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
I tried to cancel in writing before my call, but was told that cancellation were only valid by telephone. I complained to Constant Contact several times, but they refused to even attempt to resolve my issues about unauthorized billing.
Instead of responding to my issue with any reasonable offer at all, this company wrote several paragraphs about what they thought my cancellation call was actually about, and then wrote: "Pursuant to credit card regulations, our recurring billing is performed regardless of the expiration date listed in your account as long as these charges are authorized by your credit card company."
This is not true. The agreement actually says Constant Contact will only bill a VALID credit card, which does not include EXPIRED cards, as they are not valid. It is amazing that to defend their actions, they wrote to me to tell me they would bill any card, even if it was expired.
It also says they will stop billing after cancellation, which is not true. They billed an expired card and did so after cancellation for may months.
Here is the actual text from their Terms Of Service: "4.4 Payment. Payment for Products will be made by a valid credit card accepted by Constant Contact. ... If the monthly payment option is selected or if you have previously provided your credit card for payment, you hereby authorize Constant Contact to charge your credit card for such amounts on a regular monthly basis beginning at the end of your free trial period and continuing until such time as your account is terminated. "
This clearly outlines the OPPOSITE of what is stated in their reply to me.
The company fraudulently billed my expired credit card, against their own terms of service, failed to honor a cancellation against their own terms of service, and is keeping $1575 in unauthorized charges. Lots of money.
Their final advice to me was to contact my credit card issuer and dispute the charges.
Richard
Boston, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Larry Streeter - Vp Customer Support
Waltham,Massachusetts,
U.S.A.
Constant Contact Billing Practices
#2UPDATE Employee
Tue, January 20, 2009
I spoke with Mr. Rogers on Monday, January 19th in an effort to explain our billing processes and come to a resolution on the Better Business Bureau complaint that had been filed against our company. Constant Contact takes customer dissatisfiers very seriously and continually seeks ways to improve our processes and communications with customers in order to provide them the best possible experience using our product! I expressed my understanding of Mr. Rogers' situation and in the end we were able to agree on a monetary resolution to the issue. However, I would like to make it clear that the decision to authorize charges on credit cards is the decision of the credit card networks and the cardholder's issuing bank. We simply pass the information we are required to and those parties determine if the account is valid. All major credit card providers require that we include the "Recurring Payment Indicator" for recurring, pre-authorized charges. Based on the inclusion of this indicator, issuing banks normally authorize charges to accounts in good standing, regardless of card expiration. This is commonplace for recurring charges. If needed, we can provide Mr. Rogers with documentation from all major credit card providers outlining best practices for recurring charges, including the requirement to include the "Recurring Payment Indicator". Again, we do appreciate Mr. Rogers' feedback and are actively taking steps to enhance our proactive communications to customers on our monthly billing processes.
