HELP! Automatic Renewal on site that was supposed to be closed
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HELP!!! I just got automatically renewed for a site that I used only once a year ago for a Spanish class. I got emails from WP warning me that the site was about to expire, which is what I wanted, and now, suddenly, I get billed for $99 for something that could not be more worthless to me when I am unemployed and quite literally on the verge of homelessness!!! HELP!!!
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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The message above says I need help with johnrain62.com, but that is not correct. The blog that is about to make be homeless is “LaCosaEsQue.”
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HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I am sorry to hear that you were surprised by an auto renewal charge.
However, I see that you have disputed the charge. Due to that, there is nothing I can do to help you. You will have to discuss the situation with Paypal and/or your credit card company.
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Thank you for responding. Your answer clearly implies that there WAS something that you could do if I had not disputed the charge. (“Due to that [i.e., your disputing the charge], there is nothing I can do to help you.”) Is that what you meant to imply? That’s hard to understand. It would seem you could do whatever you could have done to help me anyway, no?
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I cannot process a refund once that has started. There should be no problem actually getting the refund through the dispute process. I have a feeling it would have been faster if it had been done as a standard refund rather than a dispute.
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Okay, thank you, Rootjosh. I hope you understand that this hit genuinely threatened to make me unable to pay my rent – (I have a new job starting in a few weeks, but my first paycheck won’t come until the end of August!) – and I didn’t see any way to quickly and reliably contact anyone at WordPress. (I can’t believe there’s not a number to call, ever…?) So I went the dispute route. (Again, I had no idea I was set up for automatic renewal. There was NO reason for me to have that arrangement… since I only created the blog for a Spanish class that ended a year ago. And, more importantly, I got notices telling me that my blog would expire UNLESS I renewed… which is quite misleading if WP intends to automatically bill me even if I don’t renew.)
Finally, did I give WP at any time permission to charge my PayPal account indefinitely?
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Hi there!
This is Brooke from the payment department of WordPress.com. II’m sorry you are frustrated about this situation, so let’s see if we can figure out what happened. Our records indicate that on August 8th 2013, you purchased a WordPress.com Premium upgrade for $99. By default all upgrades are set to auto-renew. This is a convenience we offer our users to prevent them from losing their upgrades. However, the auto-renew may be turned off from the Store > My Upgrades page at any time prior to renewal.
On July 6th we debited your account for the auto-renewal and you initiated what we call a chargeback. This means that you disputed the charge.
Chargebacks are considered to be serious matters by banks and PayPal, as they are only used when fraud occurs (for example, when someone steals your credit card and makes an unauthorized charge). For this reason when a chargeback is issued we are unable to issue a refund and all funds are held until the dispute is resolved (typically a period between 30-75 days)
If you would like a full refund prior to the dispute period being over please cancel the chargeback with PayPal or your bank before July 10th allowing us to issue a refund quicker. If we do not here back from you by July 10th or the chargeback is not cancelled we will assume you are pursuing the chargeback and a refund will be issued by PayPal or your bank as soon as the chargeback closes.
Thank you for understanding.
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Brooke, thank you for getting back to me. Your email implies that you will issue a refund if I drop the dispute with PayPal before July 10, so I gather by tomorrow, July 9. Is that correct? Thanks. John M.
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Hi John,
That is correct. If you cancel the chargeback before the 10th will we be able to start the refund process on our end. This process is much faster than if you were to let the dispute close with PayPal.
Cheers :)
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Hi Brooke,
Okay, done: “Your complaint has been cancelled and the seller has been notified. Thank you for using PayPal.”
Thanks for your help.
Best,
~JM -
Hi John,
Our records show that the chargeback has not yet been cancelled. It is possible that PayPal is processing the request and it may take a few days before we here back from them. I’ll keep an eye on the transaction and let you know as soon as I have more information.
Cheers :)
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I was just on the phone with a representative at PayPal who said that you can do a refund without waiting for them. I read him your communication word for word, and he said that it was not accurate. He tried to call WP, but could not reach anyone. (“I guess they don’t have phone support for this situation, but they should know better.”) Then he said he could release the funds to you immediately at my request, and I told him to do so. I see documentation that that has happened on my end. Wow, this is no fun at all. Okay, Happiness Engineer – you’re on!
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Brooke,
In case it wasn’t clear in my last message, I just authorized PayPal to re-release the funds to you, and they indicate that they have done so.
Best,
John Rain -
Thanks John,
The dispute must be closed before we can issue funds. However, now that the dispute has been closed and the funds made available to us I have issued a full refund.
Let me know if you need anything else.
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