Turbine, Inc. - Dungeon & Dragon Online (DDO) - Subscription Problems

[JamesConnolly]

I live far away from my brothers, so some of the things we do is play video games together. We all had DDO accounts through Turbine Inc., which charges 14.99 per month.

In January I was moving, so I cancelled my account. In early February, I re-opened it. By late February I had a chronic illness and cancelled the account (amongst a lot of other services). There were plenty witnesses about, I was having people help me cancel it and making sure my bank would take care of my finances - etc.

I just now realized that I've been charged for March, April, and May. Not a large sum, so I call them up. Very very rude. Won't refund it. I insist I cancelled the thing, but they said it doesn't matter since it didn't cancel.

Then they cite some Terms of Service I agreed to. Now I'm not a lawyer yet, but I'm in law school. There's no bargaining with a ToS. Just because it was agreed to, does not NECESSARILY mean it's enforceable. Especially when the agreement is so insane as "you accept all charges, even ones that aren't legitimate or authorized." That isn't a quote from the ToS, but is rather a quote from the customer service rep. I asked to speak to a supervisor. He told me I can't, but one will email me.

One did, shortly after, stating there is record of me closing in January and reopening in February. That wasn't the issue. He avoided it completely.

The billing cycle is the 7th of each month, with June coming up I wanted to make sure it was cancelled. I tried cancelling it. It looked like it went through...but in actuality it did not. Probably what happened to me in February when I cancelled it in good faith. I tried three other times and it acted as if it was cancelled. But if I re-logged in, it didn't show it as cancelled. So I called customer service and they said they had no records of me trying to cancel today. I video-taped this procedure.

So I write the supervisor, explain the situation, and inform them that I expected prompt action on this. Failing so I'll contact XYZ. Well, that put them off I guess. The supervisor said he cancelled my account but can't speak to me because I threatened legal action. Fine, I guess they forced my hand. I checked my account and even though this supervisor claims it he/she cancelled it...it is not cancelled and still scheduled to bill me on the 7th of June. I took photographs of this, which include the time that the email was sent saying the account was cancelled and the time I checked the account which demonstrated it was not cancelled. Several hours had gapped between the time and from past experience I know that the cancellation request is immediate.

As they forced my hand I will have to follow up with what I said I would do. They seemed annoyed, like I did not have the right to inform them of what actions I would take if they failed to act appropriately. It is only a problem if I had no intention, but my intention was clear and fulfilled most of it that very day. My credit card company will almost certainly refund the charges. They will rue any attempts to collect, as I have a lot of documentation that the charges are unauthorized and not legitimate. I've already filed with the BBB and FTC and tomorrow will contact my AG's office and the AG's office at their HQ.

This is just a warning to the rest of you - be very careful signing up and cancelling with this lot. Now I'm sure a lot of you had no problems, I didn't the first time either - but that doesn't mean a problem can't happen. Apparently a glitch on their part becomes, in their eyes, your liability. It's rubbish, but just be warned.