[Ikashashi]

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of:

First off, I apologize if this is the wrong forum...

I recently got an email from a site I visited yesterday. I'll come right out and say it was an adult website, though, it is rather irrelevant to the situation.

This is the source of the problem:
http://pics.**************.com/ [EDIT - I guess web addresses aren't allowed, my fault]

I entered my e-mail and such, and Gained access to the mediocre website. This morning, I checked my email, and I got a message from a company called "United Payment Limited" Billing me for 59 Euros and it has to be payed within 7 days or some jargon like that. I am kinda freaking out at the moment, because I entered no credit information, but they have my e-mail and ip address. Am I really gonna have to pay this? I mean, I saw no charges or anything upon joining at all, and now they throw this at me.

Help me out?

-Thanks

[LawResearcherMissy]

Did you read the TOS before you signed up? What did it say?

EDIT: Googling for United Payment Systems, I found the site in question. It says right at the top "The 30 days softporn membership costs 59 EUR, incl. VAT."

And the TOS clearly states:

§ 5 Prices and Payment Terms

A one-time fee of fifty-nine (59 EUR) including value-added tax (VAT) applies for the use
of our services.

The invoice total must be credited to the account as stated on the invoice no later than by
the seventh day following receipt of invoice. In case of intentional or negligent delay of
payment, the Service Provider is authorised to demand compensation from the Customer
for damages caused by such delay.

Unless otherwise indicated, all prices shown on the invoice are final prices and include
the applicable statutory VAT.

Did you check the little box asking if you agreed to the TOS? You must have, or you wouldn't have been able to view the site. It's a bad idea to agree to terms you've not read.

Looks to me like you're on the hook.

[divemedic]

However, as a practical matter, I seriously doubt that they are going to come after you.

[LawResearcherMissy]

Given that the site owners weren't smart enough to set up a "pay first, fap later" model, I tend to agree.

[Ikashashi]

Yeah. At this point, I've checked out a few other websites that are pretty insistant that this is a scam... I mean, it was 72 USD for 8 30-second clips, and maybe 50 pictures... It wasn't even worth a dollar in my opinion.

They are based in Germany, it would be a waste of them for the to get me over in America, and the judicial system will laugh at them because it's undoubtably a scam.

[patback]

oh man, im glad i found this website. i was freaking out for about an hour, trying to find out who this company was. im soo glad i dont have to worry about this now. 'United Payment Limited' is a scam. and there is a new one out there. just google vivis homepage (dot) com

[jcook]

oh man, im glad i found this website. i was freaking out for about an hour, trying to find out who this company was. im soo glad i dont have to worry about this now. 'United Payment Limited' is a scam. and there is a new one out there. just google vivis homepage (dot) com

How do you know it's a scam?
I have also fallen in their trap.. I registered my e-mail and clicked the terms of use but I did never see anything about payement :/ (on vivis crap page)
I don't know how I accessed the site, I had a bounche of pages up and suddenly it was there.. Got curious and registered.. did not see anything about payment.. and the so-called "register buttton" only says "click me".. I have visited the site again and saw that it costs 59 Euro.. I think the site was scrolled down a bit when I entered it and I did not see that it cost.

I received an invoice from "United Payment Limited" for 30 day use..
I'm afraid that if I don't pay the invoice they can come in the future and require a lot of money because I haven't paid the invoice.. Or am I wrong?

[tomtastic]

There is no need to worry this is clearly a scam. Once you read the entire e-mail you can tell. The end of the e-mail is an entire warning about how they will prosacute because the website as been abused by "fakers" (they used the term fakers in a legal notice)
Also if if were a legitamite page they would not need to warn you, it's just scare tactics into getting you to pay.
I was worried at first but you just have to use some common sense

[divemedic]

How many one post users are going to talk about this site? Is someone trying to spam the board, or is this a real question?

[jcook]

There is no need to worry this is clearly a scam. Once you read the entire e-mail you can tell. The end of the e-mail is an entire warning about how they will prosacute because the website as been abused by "fakers" (they used the term fakers in a legal notice)
Also if if were a legitamite page they would not need to warn you, it's just scare tactics into getting you to pay.
I was worried at first but you just have to use some common sense

Yeah, you are right.

How many one post users are going to talk about this site? Is someone trying to spam the board, or is this a real question?

I have not found many threads on the net talking about this site?
I got worried and had to check.. I never ever register myself on such sites, but I don't know why I did it this time, got curious or something..


I don't know how I entered the site, it was suddenly there, I had a bunch of open windows.. Saw the window and I'm really sure that the page was scrolled down a bit, because I am 100% sure that I had seen the login and password fields and the text that stated that it was a fee on 59 Euro.. I never saw that the first time and that is pretty weird in my opinion..
And also when register the register button only says "Click me", not "Register" or "Sign up" or something that should have been a better fit ..