TeamViewer Charging me for a Trial I never used

[Uzushin]

Hello people,

I am currently facing a major issue with Teamviewer.

I was called by a sales rep who signed me up for a trial. He then mailed me if I was interested in a trial and I replied yes. I ended up not using the trial nor reading his mail afterward. (big mistake on my part)

To my surprise, I find that I am being invoiced for an annual subscription to TV.

However, I didn't even activate a trial license even once.

Upon reading his mail I see him mention that I must revert to his mail in seven days if I am not satisfied. However, there is no mention that if I do not respond I would be automatically signed up for an annual subscription. (I can share screenshots of the entire email thread if that helps)

I really would like to know how to resolve this.

1. I did not activate the license.

2. I was not provided a EULA and therefore have not signed any. 

3. There was no mention that not mailing my dissatisfaction would mean an agreement to start the annual license. 

I feel it is very unfair to be billed for something I never even used once. I was not even provided a contract to sign where it was mentioned that I would be starting a license.

 

Is there anyone who may be able to tell me what to do?

 

They are asking for 800$+ and have sent an automated email that they may forward this to debt collectors.

 

This is a borderline scam, would really like to raise awareness about this.

 

 

[Tech87]

9 minutes ago, Uzushin said:

Hello people,

I am currently facing a major issue with Teamviewer.

I was called by a sales rep who signed me up for a trial. He then mailed me if I was interested in a trial and I replied yes. I ended up not using the trial nor reading his mail afterward. (big mistake on my part)

To my surprise, I find that I am being invoiced for an annual subscription to TV.

However, I didn't even activate a trial license even once.

Upon reading his mail I see him mention that I must revert to his mail in seven days if I am not satisfied. However, there is no mention that if I do not respond I would be automatically signed up for an annual subscription. (I can share screenshots of the entire email thread if that helps)

I really would like to know how to resolve this.

1. I did not activate the license.

2. I was not provided a EULA and therefore have not signed any. 

3. There was no mention that not mailing my dissatisfaction would mean an agreement to start the annual license. 

I feel it is very unfair to be billed for something I never even used once. I was not even provided a contract to sign where it was mentioned that I would be starting a license.

 

Is there anyone who may be able to tell me what to do?

 

They are asking for 800$+ and have sent an automated email that they may forward this to debt collectors.

 

This is a borderline scam, would really like to raise awareness about this.

 

 

If you never provided them with any payment information,  then I wouldn't worry about it,  as they won't have any way to receive funds.

 

I see this being deployed as a common marketing tactic by other companies and I'm not impressed. 

 

As you mentioned, it has a very scammy feel, and I wouldn't deal with a company like that.

[Bad5ector]

Weird tactic, usually this only happens when you provide the sales rep with billing information. The company banks on you forgetting to cancel the subscription and goes on the premise, no news is good news. IE, they didn't cancel, so they must want to continue with the service.

Haven't had a case where I've signed up for a free trial without providing any billing information and this sorta thing happens. I mean, if they have no billing information from you, how are they going to send it to collections? Can't just send something to collections based on a name... feel like you are leaving part of the story out. If you provided the billing information, you should have read the fine print as they got you dead to rights. Your only recourse would be to contact them directly and explain your situation.

[Avocado Diaboli]

I suggest you share the actual contents of the email here, otherwise it's largely impossible to determine what went down. If you gave them your payment details and verbally agreed to take part in a trial that turns into a regular paid subscription automatically after the trial period ends, you've entered a valid contract.

[Kid.Lazer]

TeamViewer has done some shady things, but cold-calling offering a free trial sounds a bit farfetched. Sounds more like a third-party scam to me.

[RAS_3885]

This smells like the start of a "refund scam". Without email context it's hard to say for sure.

[Uzushin]

57 minutes ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

I suggest you share the actual contents of the email here, otherwise it's largely impossible to determine what went down. If you gave them your payment details and verbally agreed to take part in a trial that turns into a regular paid subscription automatically after the trial period ends, you've entered a valid contract.

Yup Here isthe conversations below,

 

I never provided my payment details (i.e credit card/paypal etc). I once went to Teamviewer's checkout page and quit and that's where the rep got my number I believe. (quite disturbing now that I think about it).

 

In our phone conversation he never mentioned the specifics of the trial to license.

 

Below is the email thread (notice the sneaky use of the word "satisfaction" instead of trial which I didn't realize then. He never took the effort to clarify any of this during the call nor did he correct me when I used the word trial in the call or the email)

 

 

I may have messed up and not done enough due diligence and assumed the trial would simply end if I didn't use it. 

 

I may be liable to pay but this doesn't change the fact that this is a very messed up practice.

 

[Uzushin]

59 minutes ago, Bad5ector said:

Weird tactic, usually this only happens when you provide the sales rep with billing information. The company banks on you forgetting to cancel the subscription and goes on the premise, no news is good news. IE, they didn't cancel, so they must want to continue with the service.

Haven't had a case where I've signed up for a free trial without providing any billing information and this sorta thing happens. I mean, if they have no billing information from you, how are they going to send it to collections? Can't just send something to collections based on a name... feel like you are leaving part of the story out. If you provided the billing information, you should have read the fine print as they got you dead to rights. Your only recourse would be to contact them directly and explain your situation.

I went to the checkout page of Teamviewer and left without paying a day before the rep called, I believe that's where he got my contact details.

 

In our conversation the rep never mentioned specifics of the trial. mentioned a 7 day non commitment trial. Now that I notice the email the rep sneakily used the word "satisfaction" rather than trial which I hadn't noticed then. 

 

In our call or the mail he never told me that I would be billed with an annual license if I didn't specifically say mail no. Only to mail them if I am not satisfied.

Clearly I didn't pay too much heed to this nor read the fine print. (I own up to that)

 

In my reply I only consented to a 7 day trial which he didn't bother clarifying/correcting and proceeded to a full fledged license which I didn't pay heed to until now. 

 

I may be liable to pay from a legal sense but their tactic is downright predatory and should be made aware of.  

 

 

 

 

[LogicalDrm]

This sounds like a scam from start. You should contact TeamViewer directly, through their support system. If you want to be careful, use different email for it and don't mention this rep before they have confirmed this being true or false. Also, did you have "I agree to be contacted for exclusive offers" box tick?

 

As general note, just saying "yes" on phone or via email should not be enough for any contract, but scammers be scammy. Stating your CC number, phone number, address or email is definitely going to be used for subscriptions.