Always watch your money!

    Mea culpa. For months I've been paying nearly $15 for a service that I never used . I can blame only myself, because I saw the charge every month on my bank statements and didn't do anything.
    That's about $90 down the drain. That's a credit card payment. Two weeks worth of groceries. A car insurance payment. Half a plane ticket home to New York.
    For months I saw this strange charge on my bank statements for "My Bargain Link" in Quebec. It would also raise an eyebrow, but then I would forget about it or assume that it was something I bought.
    Apparently, way back in September I signed up for some mystery shopper nonsense that then automatically enrolled me in a shopping discount Web site. I jotted down the phone number and the date the "free period" ended, but for some reason never followed up to cancel the service.
    I never once logged onto the site and never got a mystery shopper assignment.
    I forgot about it. Sometimes the charge would disappear from the current charges screen before I saw it because I hadn't checked my statement for a week or a few days. Yesterday I saw the charge again and knew I hadn't used my check card in days. I checked back through my statements and saw that I had been paying for this on the 11th of every month, like clockwork, since September.
    Duh, duh, duh, duh, DUH!!
    I called the number and asked for a refund even though it was totally my screw up. I'm going to get three months back... I suppose if I had raised a little more hell I could have gotten it all back. I felt too stupid and sheepish to argue. Although, in hindsight, I should have made a case to get the full amount. Maybe I'll still try it.
    When you sign up for things and they very quickly say they'll sign you up for something else that you don't want either stop the transaction right there or MAKE SURE you cancel whatever it is long before the free period ends.

    Lesson learned: Never sleep on your own money. And never be too timid to get what you're owed!

Comments

[SingleMa]

So sorry this happened to you but I'm glad you noticed it and decided to call. I think you should fight for all of your money back though.

Like you said, $90 is "a credit card payment. Two weeks worth of groceries. A car insurance payment. Half a plane ticket home to New York." Isn't that worth a few minutes on the phone...shoot, even an hour? That's more than 2x my hourly rate at work. Think about it. *wink*

[lpkitten]

its never too late to ask again. whats the worst that can happen? they can say no but at least you tried!

[mapgirl]

You know, the same thing happened to me with Restaurant.com. It's why I don't think it's a worthwhile service. It was about $10 a month for 2 or 3 months. It took me a long time to figure out what it was. The CSR rep was really testy about my cancellation too. Because she was so combative, I didn't bother asking for a refund. I was happy just to hang up the phone.

[inagm]

It's alright, at least you got half of it back. Next time, you learn. No excuses next time, right? =P

[Ms_Leo]

Minding your money is good sense. I saw your link from College Grads typepad and I love what you ladies are doing. I'm a Gen Xer and so far I've done "okay" with my money management.

In my mid-20s I was buck wild on credit cards and actually went into a 12-step program for help. Check your local newspaper for anonymous groups to overcome debt. It may seem a bit drastic but it took a while to get in debt and it will take a while to get out.

I'd say - stop using your credit cards and you'll immediate see the debt toll stop rising. I feel like sometimes I'm on a rollercoaster ride with my cards (I can pay them down for a big purchase and then watch it rise again). For the past 6 months I've been cash/debit only and it feels so good. My 2006 motto is NO NEW BILLS. Not even as much as a Netflix subscription.

I'll be checking in on ya, keep it up.

Leo

[Financial Freak]

I have done this as well this month. I found out that the bargin price on my MSN Dial-up subscription was only good for 6 months. Then it jumped to 21.95. I called and cancelled the subscription, but unfortunately didn't get my $$ back.

The other is with my freedomlink subscription. I found out (because I didn't read closely enough) if I cancel before the ned of the first year, I would have been socked with a $100 cancellation feel