Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

Getting back non-refundable fees for lack of service

Hello,

I will try to keep this a quick question.

Three weeks ago a friend and I signed up for a service called ''dedicated server hosting'' for $80 a month and $150 as a ''non-refundable setup fee.'' Before signing up, a customer representative let us know that it would probably take around 12-48 hours for our services to begin taking effect. We signed up, and after 72 hours without any notice, we attempted to contact them, but nobody answered. This continued for 4 more days (their web site claims 24x7 support), and after 2 weeks had passed, someone finally responded saying that it would take another ''30 minutes.'' That was 1 week ago and we are out of contact with them again. We have not received any services yet, and we have paid $230 total so far. We have decided to cancel and try to get all of our payment back, since we did not get any services nor support, but I want to make sure I have some sort of legal ground for requesting the non-refundable fee.

Thank you in advance.


Asked on 10/09/01, 4:03 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ken Koenen Koenen & Tokunaga, P.C.

Re: Getting back non-refundable fees for lack of service

They have breached the contract ... simple as that. If you made the arrangements by credit card, contact your CC company and dispute the charges. Credit card companies do not like retailers who rip off the customer.

If you paid by cash, send a letter of demand for a refund based on their failure to perform. Then, if no reply, file a small claims action.

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Answered on 11/21/01, 6:23 pm


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