If the terms of the offer stated that none cancellation resulted in continuation of contract for 1 year at X amount per month then you do indeed owe them that money as the I euro payment was you confirmation of this acknowledgment. Crap lesson I know, so pay it, dispute the late charge and continue to use the service until it runs out. Put it in writing that you wish for the contract to terminate the day before renewal and get them to confirm. That's pretty much all you can do.
This smelled like a scam so googled it & quickly found this, worth a read if you haven't read it already. http://www.usenetshack.com/usenext-scam-review-usenet-provider/ Personally I would not pay them a penny & would add there email to spam & just forget about it. You cancelled before the end of the trial so they are taking the piss IMHO.
I'd second this. While you might be able to wiggle out of it eventually (probably with a fair bit of effort), I'd fear that the terms you agreed to initially would put you on very shaky ground. As above, I'd agree to pay according to the terms (while asking them to drop the late charge) and then use the service. Then bear in mind to in future to check you are happy the terms and with cancellation procedure before signing up for trials. EDIT: Actually, looking at the post above, I'm not sure. I didn't look at the specifics of the service. I think the last sentence stands though for what it's worth.
Without seeing the terms of the original agreement, it's not possible to say whether this debt is enforcable. However, there are plenty of services where you sign up for a trial at a reduced rate and, unless you cancel, that automatically converts at the end of the trial period to a full subscription. If that was the case here, and given that you say yourself that you should have called them to cancel but didn't, then it looks as if you may be on the hook. You're going to need to check the terms of the agreement. Incidentally, the fact that you didn't use the service after the trial period isn't relevant to whether or not you may have to pay for it - you're paying for the opportunity to use the service, so non-use on your part doesn't mean you have no obligation: your obligation is to pay for the service per the agreement, and their obligation is to provide you with that service, whether or not you choose to use it. It's also irrelevant whether or not the service "revolves around illegal file sharing" - they would simply argue that it has a legal application, and is provided for that purpose only. I'd imagine the terms of use will state that you are not to use the service for illegal means, and if you do so then it's on your own head. That link that Waynio posted actually seems to back up the idea that you do owe them money - it appears from that link that failure to cancel before the end of the trial period will result in a one-year subscription (notwithstanding that people who did cancel still ended up on the hook too, of course - that is bang out of order, but not applicable to your situation). Disclaimer: I'm not a legal bod, so all of the above is just my lay opinion and any or all of it may be complete pish.
It may be worth your while contacting the provider themselves, rather than their lawyers. Probable chain of events is that an automatic response to your late payment was created, somebody e-mailed it to the lawyer, and they're now nailing you. If you speak to somebody with real responsibility, they may look at your records, go "oh yea, this guy hasn't used our service at all since the end of the trial, it would be a really ****ty thing to try and charge them, something only a cold hearted git would do, we'll wave the claim. They'll let the lawyers know to stop bothering you and everyone's happy - as the lawyers will still get paid... gits. Or the people you made the contract with may also be gits, and insist you pay for your mistake.
This, they said I must pay. I had a letter from them and a letter from their debt collectors. Looks like i'm going to have to pay it, thanks for your responses guys
https://www.nationaldebtline.org/ Have a chat with these fella, Personally I'd be inclined not to pay it, often it all a load of bluffing and you can still chose to pay when you get the CCJ form before it gets to court.
It does sound like from what you've said that failing to cancel automatically means a 12 month contract (with whatever the associated charges are). In saying that, you may want to get some advice from the CAB or similar with respect to the debt. Specifically whether terms etc need to abide by UK laws and whether a debt with a German company is enforceable via CCJ in the UK. You may find yourself still owing the original amount (due non-cancellation within the defined period) but any "extras" maybe avoidable. Did you have any correspondence from usenext with respect to non payment or was the first notification of outstanding amounts raised via a debt collection company? It seems a little harsh that the second correspondence you received was for non-payment and the third litigation!
While it's a little naff if you can only cancel your trial via phone, it's also equally naff to knowingly not bother to do it because you think they can't go after their money. Paypal can also absolutely be used to set up recurring payments, which is what this site actually appears to be doing. Did you mean you keep your account empty so that funds can't be taken from it? Looking at the excerpt from their user agreement upon signup, it seems that you can actually cancel through the website or email, I wonder if this is a new thing that was implemented after your signup? On a side note, arguing that court won't help them because their service is used for piracy is about as relevant here as trying to get Vodafone to back off by insinuating that they're dirty too because some people use their phones to arrange drug deals. This is a registered legal company, it's not like they're only able to operate because the rozzers haven't seen them yet. EDIT: On another side note, this has been pointed out above but you not making use of the service doesn't mean they didn't fulfill their part of the contract. They had given you access to Usenet for the duration.
Whether it can affect your credit rating will depend on how solid their contract is and how legit / serious their debt collection service / solicitors are. Do you feel like risking it? Given that you admit to knowing you should have cancelled and didn't do it... Just pay them the money you owe them. And in future don't agree to pay for a service and then not pay for it whilst still retaining the ability to use the service. It's often that the case that the company who provides you with access to their service wants to receive the money you agreed to pay them.
You might want to edit the quoted email chain, because you've basically publicly admitted to paying for a service in order to perform unlawful activity. ("How come this Is apparently a legal contract which revolves around illegal file sharing.") That's not a smart thing to do.
Did you see this thread too? http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.u...?182690-CCI-Legal-for-Aviteo-LTD-T-A-Usenext/
You wanted to cancel. You say you needed to cancel by ringng them. But you couldn't be bothered ... !?! And you walked away from a service you had signed for ... !?! This isn't how to survive in the real world. Always stay on top of contracts and your finances because "I'm a poor student" is not a great defence!
