On February 8 2010 I have responded to advertising from be2 and opened a trial one month membership for $5.00 US. On February 9 2010 I have determined that the service does not meet my expectations and I have taken steps to cancel my account.
Attempting to follow directions on the be2 website for canceling an account I was only able to view pages advising me that canceling a profile does not cancel the membership and provided other links which all lead back to the beginning. There was no option that I could find to cancel the membership. I was trapped in the service.
I have found information for canceling the membership by mailing a letter with copies of legal documents provided, however this practice is contrary to Canadian privacy regulations and I felt that I should not be required to mail a copy of my government issued documents in order to cancel my account, especially since this information was not required to create the account in the first place.
In the end, I have submitted a contact form through the be2 website and specified the category “Payment and ending your Premium Membership” which I selected from the drop-down list. In the contact form I have requested immediate cancellation of my account. I have received an automatic reply from [email protected] which provided information on how to delete my profile and a notice that deleting a profile does not cancel my membership.
On March 12 be2 has withdrawn $179.94 US from my credit card. This transaction was over a month after I have notified be2 that I wish to cancel my account, and over a month after I have last used it (for only a day). I have reported this transaction to my credit card company as unauthorized. My credit card company has attempted to contact be2 however be2 has ignored their attempt to make contact just as they have ignored my request to cancel my account in the first place.
At that point I have received an email from be2 requesting that I provide my new billing information, and a “PS” requesting that I contact customer service if I have not used the service. I have clicked on the link provided in hopes to find some contact information to the said customer service however all I have found was a web page requesting my new billing information and no other links or contact information, not even the normal footnote links with trademark and other such details that be normally provides on their other web pages.
At the same time I have started receiving several unsolicited emails per day from the service which I have not been receiving previously. The email contains two links to stop the unsolicited emails by changing my email settings in my profile or visiting the help page. Both links lead back to the page requesting the billing information. There is no way for me to unsubscribe from the flood of unsolicited emails.
The web page which requests my new billing information advises me that be2 can take legal action or forward the issue to a collection agency if I do not make payment. This is extortion. My reply to this email was not answered. I have sent dozens of emails in the past few days to [email protected] in the past few days, one for each email I receive from them, at a rate of a couple dozen per day. I have received a small handful of automatic responses, maybe 1 to every 20 emails I send out. The automatic response tells me how to delete my profile and advises me that doing so does not delete my membership. The same email also advises me that if this answer doesn't help me then I should reply to the email. I have done so for every one of these emails that I have received and so far I have not received a single response. This "service" is a trap with no way out.
I am considering a class action law suit against be2. Clearly the practice of fraud and extortion is a normal course of their business. I have created an email address of [email protected]. Please email if you are interested in joining the class action.
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