I signed up for RealtyTrac.com on Aug 23, 2008. I cancelled my account on Sept 4, 2008. My confirmation number for cacellation is : FNR-49O8-10999704 and the e-mail stated the folowing:
"You were not charged for the subscription since you canceled during the trial period."
No charges on my CC statements related to any real estate dot coms appeared for Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec 2008. Then out of the blue I received an e-mail from
[email protected] on Feb 2, 2009. Here's the transcript:
"
Dear American Express customer,
Due to a communication problem between our credit card processor and American Express, you were not billed your monthly recurring charge for hosting or marketing services for the month of November and December of 2008. Please be assured there was no uninterrupted service with us during these months. Your services remained active and accessible. In working with both companies on how to resolve this issue and to collect the funds for services rendered the decision was reached to re-submit the billings. This was done on January 29th thru February 2, 2009. You will notice a charge equaling two months of charges on your January statement from American Express. Please accept our apologizes and we look forward to working with you.
If you should have questions, we can be reached by telephone at 801-705-5325 or by email to
[email protected].
Real Estate Promoter
"
I saw the two transactions totalling $84.90 in my january statement along with the new charge of Jan 5, 2009: $39.95. Thats my hard earned $125 taken for nothing.
I filed a dispute with AMEX and they were nice to suspend these charges and undergo an invetigation. To my horror, they concluded the investigation being convinced that I did become the member of this website according to the details provided by the merchant RealEstatePromoter.com when i signed up for RealtyTrac. Attached were two pages, one a copy of terms and conditions I accepted and another page showing the pop up advertising their product on the partner website RealtyTrac with no mention of my name whatsoever. I am PRETTY sure that I did not accept the pop up and even if I did, its hard to make out that pop was selling a product. The fine print about the trial and subsequent charges was written in almost unreadable form. Furthermore, if I did sign up for their services, why did'nt I get a Welcome e-mail from them just like I did from RealtyTrac ? Its ridiculous. When I cancelled my account with RealtyTrac, why did'nt they inform me about an existing subscription with RealEstatePromoter ? When they let their partner advertise and show their information on their sign up, is'nt it unprofessional to not inform me that I should also cancel the partner account if I created one through their website ?