Have I been scammed? - Registration not been cancelled trick

V-Dubstar - forgive me for lowering the tone, but if this were a viable way of trading on the internet then every pron site would operate this way, but clearly they know that 99.9% of people would enter fake details and download to their heart's content and not pay anything.

Technically this site has a point, but I don't see it being worthwhile them appointing a debt collection agency and incurring bailiff costs when there's no certainty they'd recover anything. even if they had a case.

Just because a bailiff comes calling at your door doesn't mean you are obliged to pay up. You can still dispute it in court, as many people realised when a UK payday loan company recently issued thousands of court summonses in error.

If there aren't 10,000 designs as advertised, then that's sufficient grounds for cancellation. Strictly you should notify them of cancellation immediately, and this bizarre note on the sign up page doesn't help their case.

By registering you take out a paid subscription at the cost per end-user of only 8.- pounds, including vat, for a duration of 12 months and with an advance annual charge. The annual contribution of 96.- pounds shall be charged once a year in advance, and must be settled within 5 days from receipt of invoice.

I think they missed out 'per month' from the amount of £8 but it's their responsibility to make the cost clear.

Also take a look here

http://www.tattooartists.org/Gct30_Japanese_Tattoos.asp

Even the categories are very similar, and these are available free.

Ok, thanks GomerPyle, I appreciate yours and everyone elses feedback here tremendously!

As mentioned I haven’t had an email reply back from him in a couple of days, but have had one today:

Dear Mr./Mrs, --------,

We are pleased that you have ordered our services. Unfortunately we have not yet received any payment from you. We therefore request you to transfer immediately the unpaid invoice amount of 96-pounds into the bank account mentioned below.

Please take this warning seriously and respect the 5 days’ term of payment.

Since we would like to save you high collection and lawyer fees, please carry out the transfer promptly.

For your information:
The payment claim mentioned below is based on a service contract concluded with us for the provision of the online-database besttattoodesigns
You have registered for this service offer, providing your name, your address and your e-mail address.
You have also confirmed that you have read and accepted the underlying terms and conditions of this contract.
You have not exercised in due time or effectively your right to revocation.
Particularly, a revocation is no longer possible after the activation of the service.
Please review the contract accepted by you, as well as the Terms and Conditions and the right of revocation, visible anytime on the web site besttattoodesigns
This payment reminder has a deadline and ensures that you are now responsible for costs caused by the delay.
Specifically, this includes, also, the additional costs of prosecution, such as further reminders, the engagement of a collection-/legal office or the commencement of a legal procedure.

Description:
Access to the besttattoodesigns database for a 12-month period at a monthly fee of 8.-pounds, corresponding to a total annual fee of 96 Pounds payable in advance.

Subscription Validity: 12 Months
Automatic Renewal: No
Price: 8£ per month
Total: 96£ Payable in advance

Please pay the invoice within 5 days

***************************************************

The details supplied to us by you with your registration are as follows:
Registration Date: 22/11/2010
Registration IP: -----------

***************************************************

Forename Surname: -----------
Address N.: ---------
City/Town: ----------
Postcode: ----------
Email: ----------
Date of birth: --------

***************************************************

Payment Methods:

Bank transfer To:
Account Name: Netmedia Systems Ltd
Account Number: 52126613
Bank Sort Code: 40-06-21
Purpose of Payment: NMS-TT-54321-923

International Bank Transfer:

IBAN:GB46MIDL40062152126613
SWIFT-CODE:MIDLGB22

How to make a payment with Paypal/Credit Card

http://www.paypal.co.uk/uk

Payable To: [email protected]

Please pay the invoice within 5 days

Important: In the "purpose of payment" field, please specify, and list Netmedia Systems Ltd as the account holder, otherwise your payment will not be assigned to us.

***************************************************

We ask you to pay the above amount within the mentioned deadline to avoid the emergence of additional collection expenses.
If you have questions regarding this invoice or our services, our customer hotline is at your disposal from Monday to Friday , from 8am – 6pm.
In the attachment you will find the invoice in its original format on our letter paper.

The attachment is virus-free. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to be able to view the invoice.
Yours sincerely
Team besttattoodesigns.co.uk

Netmedia Systems Ltd.- 1A Pope Street London se1 3ph
E-mail: [email protected]
Fax: +44 203 151 07 16
Director: Vincenzo Salvia
Registered in England No 06980123

Any advice on sending back a kickass email? I’m thinking of basically saying that at no point was my ‘consumer’s cancellation right’ made clear to me as per the Office of Fair Trading’s ‘Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000’, and that the stated ‘Over 10,000 Tattoo flashes’, is no-where near the amount he has on the site as per his ‘Administrator’s Right and Duties’, section 3. Therefore, this ‘contract’ is void and this terminates any subscription I have with them.

Is this a good solid base for an email? Any tips? Or should I just ignore it completely?
Thanks, again!

On reflection - the website owner is generally correct, legally speaking. However, it is difficult to see it as much more than a try on and it depends on whether you want to co-operate, and pay up meekly, or dispute it.

The website offers an unusual proposition, as there's no defence against an imposter entering fake details and getting access to the photos. This equally means that the site owner has no definite means of knowing whether or not he's pursuing the correct person in the event of non-payment, and having knowledge of a person's birth date is not conclusive proof of identity. This was recently demonstrated in the case of a payday loan company in the UK who accepted thousands of fraudulent loan applications bearing the names, addresses and birth dates of people who knew nothing about the loans. Their attempts to collect money from the unwitting victims failed.

Perhaps morally and legally you should pay up but, if you feel you were duped and misled, then if you deny that you signed up, I don't see that there's much he can do about it. He could employ a debt collection agency who could send bailiffs around to your house, but it would be up to him to prove his case in court, at great expense to him if he can't prove it.

A company would normally ensure they got your card details before you gained access but I guess he knew he wouldn't get any takers, and there's a formal procedure for recalling payment if the merchant doesn't fulfill his obligations.

It's always a good idea to be very wary of who you supply any details of your identity to on the internet. Though I trust the owner of this site he'/she does not have any details of my identity, and vice versa, as we tend to upset criminals and, even if they can't do me any physical harm, they can always harass me and my personal contacts.