We Delay, You Pay

Some people might wonder why I kept sending emails after emails instead of calling. I was located in Burnaby, BC, Canada at the time and held a full-time job. Being in the different time zone from 1&1, the only time I can call them is during my breaks or during a tiny window right after I get off work.

On August 23rd, I quickly typed up a fax, stating everything they required in the previous email. I gave them a call and asked them if they have received the fax. They said they have received the fax and will process the refund and that I should check back in a few days to see the status.

I checked my credit card website daily to monitor the refund. After hearing no words from them I proceeded to call them once again to see if my refund is being processed. The representative told me that they did receive the fax, but there was no ID included in the fax, so they could not process the termination. No where in the email they sent me indicated that a copy of my ID is required. Over the phone I explained the entire situation once again to the representative in the billing department, he asked me to speak to cancellation department.

Fed up, I called my PC financial master card customer service and filed for a dispute on the amount to get things rolling if this turns bad. They sent me a letter for me to sign, declaring the transaction was fraudulent.

Every time I call 1&1 Internet is roughly a 10-15 minutes wait time. Mind that I can only call them while I was at work, I was limited to calling them during my lunch hours. After being tossed back and forth 2-3 times between billing and cancellation departments, finally a rep was willing to initiate a cancellation for me but he asked me to try to reach my cousin in the mean time. After two days of no response from my cousin, he finally agreed to terminated my account.

He then once again, transferred me to another department, the cashier. The cashier refused to issue me a full refund, because almost a month has elapsed since the the beginning of the new contract. I was outraged, I initiated the refund process as soon as I found out about the charge. It was 1&1 who continued to delay this process and now I was the one to be charged. He was unwilling to budge. Given that 1 month fee is only a few dollars, I opted for the partial refund as I was about to leave the country for my master's program.

Before I hung up the phone, I had the representative recite the following to me:

1. All accounts have been terminated.
2. There is no account related to my credit card.
3. There will be no further charge to my credit card.

I was happy. Despite all the grief they had put me through. I called into PC Financial master card to cancel my dispute claim. I left for Japan on September 25th, roughly a month after the ordeal. Little did I know it was not over yet.

Continue Reading: 11/07/2007 --- Fraud