ECA Discussion Thread - WARNING: Some CAGs Who Cancelled Are Being Auto-Renewed

I just got charged yesterday too. I canceled auto-renew right after I signed up. Been going back and forth with them via email but they are definitely unwilling to refund me and keep saying that they have no record of me ever canceling. I like this quote from them:

"Unfortunately you didn't successfully turn off your auto-renew. Did you follow all 5 steps in attempting to turn it off?"

5 steps? Seriously??? I'm calling my bank right now to get them to issue a charge-back, but what do I do if The ECA tries to prove that I didn't cancel and tries to get the bank to recharge me?
 
[quote name='Incinorator']I just got charged yesterday too. I canceled auto-renew right after I signed up. Been going back and forth with them via email but they are definitely unwilling to refund me and keep saying that they have no record of me ever canceling. I like this quote from them:

"Unfortunately you didn't successfully turn off your auto-renew. Did you follow all 5 steps in attempting to turn it off?"

5 steps? Seriously??? I'm calling my bank right now to get them to issue a charge-back, but what do I do if The ECA tries to prove that I didn't cancel and tries to get the bank to recharge me?[/QUOTE]

Email Consumerist with your story. They need to know that this a perpetual issue.
 
I can't believe these asshats are still up to their shenanigans.

I took the liberty of posting a link to the Consumerist article on the ECA Facebook page. Wonder how quickly it'll disappear? :lol:
 
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Wrote this:
It was not a mistake on ECA's part. When everyone at CAG found out that you couldn't opt-out of auto-renewal, there was a giant campaign to get everyone removed from the ECA's database. Letters were sent, messages on their forum were posted, and a huge thread at CAG documented the entire issue. We even sent a giant box full of hundreds of pages of people to be removed.

After the ECA fought us every step of the way, it took CAG's owner CheapyD to step in and contact them directly for them to finally admit something had been wrong on their end. They finally - last December - said they'd remove accounts and put the issue to rest.

Since then, dozens of CAG users have been auto-renewed, despite canceling their accounts during this entire fiasco. The ECA shrugged it off as little more than a "mistake" and then refused to refund the charges immediately, instead sending snail-mail checks with the classic "may appear in several weeks." In a digital age of Paypal and instant credit card transfers, there's no reason they could not have done this instantly, and that's being more than fair in the face of their ridiculous mistakes ESPECIALLY when you consider that they've known about this issue for months.

If you e-mail them, they don't respond. They've made numerous excuses, including "we didn't know we had a backup server with everyone's credit card information in it," to "we didn't know when we deleted the information that it was still there."

They are a shady organization who has done everything to preserve some false image of upholding gamer rights while being completely childish and juvenile with their underhanded actions. This was no mistake on their part - they had been warned countless times, and it needs to be brought to everyone's attention that this entire debacle has been nothing but a perfect example of just how poorly run the ECA is.

Don't give them any more room to squirm around in. It's ridiculous that it has taken this long for it to be resolved.

Let's see if it gets posted. I didn't even compare them to dick raping clown camels yet.
 
This is the the biggest case of BLATANT CONSUMER FRAUD I have ever seen.
I must say in the beginning I thought about giving them the benefit of the doubt, but The ECA has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that that have absolutely NO INTEGRITY!
 
I think this might just be incompetence. I, for example, was not charged and received a warning e-mail my membership would be finished soon.
 
Well I cancelled auto-renew and cancelled the account altogether back when this was all going on. I just tried to login and it appears the account is still cancelled since I couldn't login. Hope this means I won't get charged.
 
I thankfully wasn't charged and I got in on this sometime around mid-September 2009. Apparently, my canceled account (February or so I canceled it? I dunno) was canceled. Works for me.

I do want to say that just hearing the name "The ECA" gets my blood boiling.
 
[quote name='DOMINATOR912']Well I cancelled auto-renew and cancelled the account altogether back when this was all going on. I just tried to login and it appears the account is still cancelled since I couldn't login. Hope this means I won't get charged.[/QUOTE]

Don't count on it, cause that was my case.
 
[quote name='elessar123']Don't count on it, cause that was my case.[/QUOTE]

Ugh, guess I'll go through the dispute process if it happens. Either way, I hope people understand that this shit isn't going to stop until they get nailed with a class-action lawsuit. Until the day that happens, people getting charged after cancelling will continue.
 
[quote name='Incinorator']I just got charged yesterday too. I canceled auto-renew right after I signed up. Been going back and forth with them via email but they are definitely unwilling to refund me and keep saying that they have no record of me ever canceling. I like this quote from them:

"Unfortunately you didn't successfully turn off your auto-renew. Did you follow all 5 steps in attempting to turn it off?"

5 steps? Seriously??? I'm calling my bank right now to get them to issue a charge-back, but what do I do if The ECA tries to prove that I didn't cancel and tries to get the bank to recharge me?[/QUOTE]

Same thing happened to me. I got charged and I KNOW that I cancelled my membership last year. Unfortunately, I don't have any proof of it. I'm debating on whether to contact the credit card company or not. Since I have no proof of cancelling I'm not sure they will side with me.
 
[quote name='gamegirl79']Same thing happened to me. I got charged and I KNOW that I canceled my membership last year. Unfortunately, I don't have any proof of it. I'm debating on whether to contact the credit card company or not. Since I have no proof of canceling I'm not sure they will side with me.[/QUOTE]

9/10 times they will side with the customer. I've disputed several times and they either credit me or do a chargeback against the merchant.

They may have you fill out paperwork, but if you are telling the truth, you have nothing to worry about. I mean "you" as in anyone who reads this.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']9/10 times they will side with the customer. I've disputed several times and they either credit me or do a chargeback against the merchant.

They may have you fill out paperwork, but if you are telling the truth, you have nothing to worry about. I mean "you" as in anyone who reads this.[/QUOTE]

Truth. I did a chargeback when RedOctane wouldn't respond to my warranty emails, and it was very easy. As long as you're telling the truth, they'll side with you.
 
[quote name='gamegirl79']Same thing happened to me. I got charged and I KNOW that I cancelled my membership last year. Unfortunately, I don't have any proof of it. I'm debating on whether to contact the credit card company or not. Since I have no proof of cancelling I'm not sure they will side with me.[/QUOTE]File a dispute with your CC company right now. They'll get a statement from you and then contact the merchant (in this case, the ECA) and ask for their side of it.

Assuming they don't respond, which a number of merchants don't, you'll get your money back without question. If they do, it may go with another round of back-and-forth, or they may just side with you. It just depends on how convincing you are.

Don't waste any time, go ahead and file your dispute.
 
Again, it's worth noting in your explanation to your CC company that this is a 'donation' to a non-profit organization, not a remittance for any services rendered. Even if they tried to claim it was a 'service' they are providing, it is paid in advance, so there is no way they should be able to assert that you 'owe' them anything.

Add to that perhaps some documentation where the ECA themselves have admitted that their website does not work correctly, perhaps the links to that info should be reposted here. The broken ECA website is not the consumer's problem, so if the ECA tries to come back with any crap about 'not disabling auto-renew' or whatever similar garbage send that info to the CC company that this is a documented problem with them and nothing to do with you.
 
So... what exactly is supposed to happen when your account has expired? I just followed up on this out of curiosity (my account expired in June, or at least was supposed to), but I have no problem logging into the site and looking at my membership profile, etc. Is this normal? My profile shows the correct membership expiration date, which has now long passed. I definitely haven't been billed (the CC I used was a temporary virtual number which no longer works), and to the best of my knowledge I never got any emails warning me that my account would be terminated or that they tried to bill me.

I'm not too concerned about all this, but I'm curious as to what was supposed to happen when my membership expired (or was supposed to?). I can't believe this mess is still going on after all this time; it's amazing just how unorganized this organization seems to be.
 
Here are some suggestions you may wish to look into

For those who have NOT YET been charged, but are worried they might be

-The best bet in this instance is to contact your financial institution NOW, and inform them that all of your ties have been severed with the ECA, and that any future transactions by the ECA are, and should be considered, fraudulent. Ensure that you record ALL information relating to the call, such as date, time, and who you spoke to.

While your institution may not actually do anything, and while it may not prevent a fraudulent transaction, you can cite the conversation later during a chargeback.

For those who HAVE been charged

1) Initiate the chargeback ASAP.
2) Contact your local police department, and inform them that you are the victim of credit card fraud. How departments react will vary by locality, but if they are willing to complete a police report, this can assist with the chargeback process.
3) Contact your state's attorney general. A listing of Attorneys General can be found here: http://www.naag.org/current-attorneys-general.php
4) Contact the ECA through certified (signature receipt) mail. Inform them that you canceled your membership as per the membership agreement on XXXXX date, that you have been billed, that you have taken the above steps, and inform them that any continued attempt to bill you for this, or in any other future instance, will result in further legal action.
5) Lawyer up (if you choose to do this, please do this step prior to any of the above.)

(As a word of advice, my personal understanding is that since this is an issue of your cancelation, and not an issue of ToS, since your cancelation has removed the ToS burden from your shoulders, you are not bound to the arbitration set forth in the ToS .... just a little something to think about)

Also

1) Contact the BBB
2) Contact the CT attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, and inform him of the practices going on within his state. (http://www.ct.gov/ag/)
3) Contact all news related sites ... both consumer related news as well as gaming related news. Especially sites which have, at some point, written on the ECA's practices.
4) Good ol' fashioned boycott. Contact the partners of the ECA, and inform them that due to the unethical and illegal practices of the ECA, that you can no longer support their companies so long as they continue to partner with the ECA. Even more importantly: Actually STICK TO IT!

Anyway just some things to think about ... typical disclaimer here, I am not a lawyer, so use these suggestions at your own discretion.
 
I just checked my account and I appear to be safe - my last charge was in 2008 with a non-payment in 12/2009 ($0).

Your Membership term will expire:
12/08/2009 15:47:50

And will auto renew to:
N/A

Your auto-renewal feature is:
Off

Your auto-renewal setting was last updated:
Not Available

:D

Hopefully there are other CAGs with the same status. To get this information, once you successfully log in, click on your email address on the left side in the golden MEMBER LOGIN box.
​
 
[quote name='slowdive21']Just an FYI for the kids: G4 and Adam Sessler support the ECA.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Jodou']No, they support the ESA.[/QUOTE]

I believe theeca listed him as a supporter on their site.


This is the best I can do, with my non existent eca access:


Here is a forum post from the pms forum saying they offered him a free membership. Will Wheaton is on there too.

http://www.pmsclan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36670&highlight=sessler

Plus Sessler had a 55 minute panel with Hal at Pax...
 
[quote name='slowdive21'] Will Wheaton is on there too.
[/QUOTE]
Wil Wheaton had a very public twitter flamewar with Gamepolitics, which is the propaganda arm of the ECA
 
[quote name='chakan']Wil Wheaton had a very public twitter flamewar with Gamepolitics, which is the propaganda arm of the ECA[/QUOTE]

I know that is why I pointed him out. The post is from 2008, so it adds some validity to my statement about Sessler. I know there was a similar post on the eca forums because gypsyfly was our POC for the eca.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']I know that is why I pointed him out. The post is from 2008, so it adds some validity to my statement about Sessler. I know there was a similar post on the eca forums because gypsyfly was our POC for the eca.[/QUOTE]

Adjective
gypsy (not comparable)
(pejorative, offensive)
Of or having the qualities of an itinerant person or group with qualities traditionally ascribed to Romani people, including suspected of making a living from dishonest practices or theft etc.
 
Whats the email people are using to contact the ECA about chargebacks? If they're claiming people who can't access their accounts never turned off auto-renew, might as well send them an email to make sure this doesn't happen again next year.
 
[quote name='beerme']http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/14/eca-to-stage-washington-rally-prior-to-supreme-court-battle/[/QUOTE]

Their amicus brief - if they ever got it successfully filed - contained a petition. Like the Supreme Court is going to ignore the Constitution and make a law based off an internet petition.

Furthermore a rally on the steps of the Supreme Court is just going to be more embarrassment for gamers.

I doubt anyone shows up for the ECA rally aside from ECA employees and those few people they have brainwashed into helping them for free.

I'd love to see a counter-rally though with signs about how the ECA is a terrible organization for video game consumers.

Maybe take the "Obama/Bush Is Not My President" slogan and tweak it it "The ECA Is Not My Voice" type deal.

Too bad I'm on the other side of the country, and so far no CAGs who live in the area have stopped by the ECA's office or called them out them at PAX events, so I doubt anyone will do anything about this rally.
 
No charge yet, so it looks like I'm in the clear.

I closed out my account with them, did the "Do not Auto-Renew" thing, yet got the e-mail.
 
Pretty much told me to take a hike after several email exchanges.
Screw 'em, not worth the time and effort for the 19.99 aholes
"We would have your letter on file if we received it a while back. If we had your letter and you were charged then we would definitely refund your money, but unfortunately we don't have any of your records of cancellation. Please let us know if you'd like to cancel your membership or turn your auto-renew off. Thank you for your patience.

Best,
ECA"
 
[quote name='xfilekr']Pretty much told me to take a hike after several email exchanges.
Screw 'em, not worth the time and effort for the 19.99 aholes
"We would have your letter on file if we received it a while back. If we had your letter and you were charged then we would definitely refund your money, but unfortunately we don't have any of your records of cancellation. Please let us know if you'd like to cancel your membership or turn your auto-renew off. Thank you for your patience.

Best,
ECA"[/QUOTE]
Dispute the charge. Let them fight your credit card company.
 
Are they charging people exactly one year after they first joined? I just checked my old emails and apparently I joined on October 15th of last year and so far, no charge. Should I be in the clear?
 
[quote name='xfilekr']Pretty much told me to take a hike after several email exchanges.
Screw 'em, not worth the time and effort for the 19.99 aholes
"We would have your letter on file if we received it a while back. If we had your letter and you were charged then we would definitely refund your money, but unfortunately we don't have any of your records of cancellation. Please let us know if you'd like to cancel your membership or turn your auto-renew off. Thank you for your patience.

Best,
ECA"[/QUOTE]

Don't even talk to those creeps. File for a chargeback with your CC company, and be sure to point out this is a donation to a non-profit that they are attempting to collect in advance without your permission.
 
Well, I turned off auto-renew nearly a year ago... and just now I was going through my spam filter in gmail, and sure enough, they had sent an email a week ago saying I was auto-renewed. My bank now shows a cc charge:

bluetriangle.gif
10/28/2010 ENT. CONSUMER ASSOC
type_purchase.gif
$14.99
UGH!

To those who have successfully gotten a chargeback, what exactly did you write/say to your bank/how did you go about this?? I'm going to call tomorrow and really don't want to mess this up.

Aside from porieux's helpful advice of "n[FONT=&quot]oting in your explanation to your CC company that this is a 'donation' to a non-profit organization, not a remittance for any services rendered," [/FONT]is there anything else I should do?

Thanks, guys. Death to the ECA.[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
 
[quote name='xfilekr']Pretty much told me to take a hike after several email exchanges.
Screw 'em, not worth the time and effort for the 19.99 aholes
"We would have your letter on file if we received it a while back. If we had your letter and you were charged then we would definitely refund your money, but unfortunately we don't have any of your records of cancellation. Please let us know if you'd like to cancel your membership or turn your auto-renew off. Thank you for your patience.

Best,
ECA"[/QUOTE]

Keep in mind time-and-effort-wise that if you don't put the time and effort into doing something about it this year, they'll more than likely charge you again next year. I mean, they may well try to do it anyway, but if you don't deal with it they almost certainly will.
 
Just tell your bank you had joined this non profit organization at one time and then on there website you chose to cancel your membership to avoid any future billing and after doing this they billed you for a donation again when you didn't want to support them any longer. Regardless if the Eca claims the whole the button didn't work defense any reasonable bank will side with there customer as the Eca never notified anyone of the fact this button never worked and there a non profit not a business billing for services rendered.
 
It was just about a year ago that the shit hit the fan with the ECA and I got so joyously distracted from finals by fighting mighty interwebz warz. Anyone have anything new to report?
 
Ugh - it's back.

Shook my fist in contempt at the promotional message in this week's Xbox newsletter:

Join the Entertainment Consumers Association with this exclusive offer of a year of community activities and special offers for just $1. Enter code: ecamicro.**
Click to expand...

God, I hope they nobody gets suckered too bad this time around.
 
Yeah, I just noticed this eca thing today. What sort of discounts do they give us? I see Xbox Live and Target listed in membership benefits, but no specific details on what those benefits are...
 
[quote name='fatboyjam']Ugh - it's back.

Shook my fist in contempt at the promotional message in this week's Xbox newsletter:



God, I hope they nobody gets suckered too bad this time around.[/QUOTE]

You have personally ruined my whole day by reminding me of this. You're a monster!
 
Is there any type of discount offered for Target at all? They advertise it but I sure as hell cant find any discount for them.
 
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