Hi all,
I recently got trapped by an internet "company". The website http://www.nimimit.de/. It is even listed on Googlemail! So beware!
By the first look it's just another website for mitfahrgelegenheit. I registered for free and then received a bill of 110 euro one month later (the exact time point when the Widerruf period ran out). The first Mahnung came one week later with 15 euro more on the bill, with the threat of lawsuit.
I went back to check the website again. Apparently what I am trapped LEGALLY for two years. Right now I have no idea how I am going to get out of this. I will be really grateful if someone can give me some advice.
Thanks!
Jerry
Germany's English-speaking crowd
In association with The Local
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A warning about the NiMiMit.de carsharing service - Germany
Contract entrapment fraud
It sounds not dissimilar to this sort of scam which someone else here was stung by... I guess the advice given then would be pretty much valid to your case too - though warning, I'm not a lawyer...
Ye be royally rogered methinks, you are right about the two years bit. A translation from the website:
Terms and conditions of pricing, invoicing and payment:
a. By clicking on "register now" the user is registered as a member of nimimit.de. Doing so finalises a two year contract costing EUR 9.90 incl. VAT. Whereby the first month is not invoiced.
b. Billing is annually in advance
Send a recorded delivery letter to them, terminating the contract, otherwise renewal is probably automatic.
Terms and conditions of pricing, invoicing and payment:
a. By clicking on "register now" the user is registered as a member of nimimit.de. Doing so finalises a two year contract costing EUR 9.90 incl. VAT. Whereby the first month is not invoiced.
b. Billing is annually in advance
Send a recorded delivery letter to them, terminating the contract, otherwise renewal is probably automatic.
But they didn't say that they will pay back the money for the months after the termination... annoying annoying!
you can find a long discussion about nimimit and similar companies at http://www.netzwelt.de/forum/vermeintliche...n-seitz-67.html and a sample letter to send to the company under 'download' on this page: http://www.sat1.de/ratgeber_magazine/akte/.../content/15358/
In this case, I would like to know how they can prove that it was you that signed up. If they don't have your signature, I don't know how it's possible.
If you didn't like someone, you could just sign them up to 10 of these things with just knowing their address/mobile number.
In this case though, they seem pretty clear about charging you.
If you didn't like someone, you could just sign them up to 10 of these things with just knowing their address/mobile number.
In this case though, they seem pretty clear about charging you.
At some point Germany has to rewrite its contract law to protect consumers from this sort of entrapment. Coming from the UK, where consumer protection laws do just that, it's pretty surprising to find even reputable companies can lock you in to a multi-year contract with just your signiature.
There are a lot of these websites popping up that the German Consumers Association are aware of, e.g. a website with addresses in several countries, you only have 2 weeks to cancel the contract, telephone numbers with high fees.
Best advice is to go to the consumers association and speak with them. Munich address is:
Verbraucherzentrale Bayern, Beratungsstelle München, Mozartstraße 9, 80336 München
http://www.verbraucherzentrale-bayern.de/
You'll probably get more and more threatening letters telling you to pay...extra fines...threat to go to a debt collection agency. There was an article in Spiegel about such sites and they mentioned that no-one (at the time of writing) had been succesfully sued.
Of course you should always 'do your research' (Google) before signing up for a website you know nothing about even if it is for 'free'.
Best advice is to go to the consumers association and speak with them. Munich address is:
Verbraucherzentrale Bayern, Beratungsstelle München, Mozartstraße 9, 80336 München
http://www.verbraucherzentrale-bayern.de/
You'll probably get more and more threatening letters telling you to pay...extra fines...threat to go to a debt collection agency. There was an article in Spiegel about such sites and they mentioned that no-one (at the time of writing) had been succesfully sued.
Of course you should always 'do your research' (Google) before signing up for a website you know nothing about even if it is for 'free'.
...a report on Spiegel Online indicates that a related company has sent out thousand's of threatening letters but as yet have not sued anyone - just playing on people's fears:
Spiegel Online: Internet Service AG
Spiegel Online: Internet Service AG
By the way the UK address mentioned on this site:
http://www.nimimit.de/index.php?seite=impress
Eg. (but a couple of years old):
http://resources.alibaba.com/topic/7178/Ko...ammer_.htm?va=0
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/lofiversi...php/t15188.html
http://www.nimimit.de/index.php?seite=impress
NiMiMit ist ein Dienst der Polyphem Media Limited
POLYPHEM MEDIA LIMITED
69 GREAT HAMPTON STREET
BIRMINGHAM B18 6EW
GREAT BRITAIN
companies register of Cardiff
Company No. 06200907
appears in a few forums ...as being a scammer site with lots of dodgy companies associated with it (and probably just a postbox):POLYPHEM MEDIA LIMITED
69 GREAT HAMPTON STREET
BIRMINGHAM B18 6EW
GREAT BRITAIN
companies register of Cardiff
Company No. 06200907
Eg. (but a couple of years old):
http://resources.alibaba.com/topic/7178/Ko...ammer_.htm?va=0
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/lofiversi...php/t15188.html
Here's that mail you should send.
Perhaps a scam thread should be a sticky.
Perhaps a scam thread should be a sticky.
Adressdaten Absender
Per Einschreiben mit Rückschein
Adressdaten Empfänger
Ort, Datum
Ihre Zahlungsaufforderungen (Aktenzeichen………………………..)
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
hiermit erkläre ich Ihnen gegenüber, dass ein Vertrag mit dem von Ihnen behaupteten Inhalt mit
mir nicht zustande gekommen ist.
Eine Erklärung in Ihren allgemeinen Bedingungen oder versteckt auf der Internetseite, wonach die
Dienstleistung kostenpflichtig ist, ist nach § 305c BGB als überraschend zu bewerten. Eine solche
Erklärung wird nach dem Gesetzeswortlaut nicht Bestandteil des Vertrags.
Hilfsweise fechte ich sämtliche in diesem Zusammenhang von mir abgegebenen Erklärungen
wegen Irrtums und arglistiger Täuschung nach §§ 119, 123, 142 BGB an.
Höchst hilfsweise widerrufe ich meine Erklärungen gemäß §§ 312 b, 312 d, 355 BGB. Da ich nicht
über mein Widerrufsrecht informiert worden bin, konnte ein Fristablauf nicht beginnen.
Ich behalte mir vor, die Verbraucherzentrale und auch die Staatsanwaltschaft über Ihre Aktivitäten
zu informieren. Der Weitergabe und Nutzung sowie Speicherung meiner Daten widerspreche ich
ausdrücklich.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Per Einschreiben mit Rückschein
Adressdaten Empfänger
Ort, Datum
Ihre Zahlungsaufforderungen (Aktenzeichen………………………..)
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
hiermit erkläre ich Ihnen gegenüber, dass ein Vertrag mit dem von Ihnen behaupteten Inhalt mit
mir nicht zustande gekommen ist.
Eine Erklärung in Ihren allgemeinen Bedingungen oder versteckt auf der Internetseite, wonach die
Dienstleistung kostenpflichtig ist, ist nach § 305c BGB als überraschend zu bewerten. Eine solche
Erklärung wird nach dem Gesetzeswortlaut nicht Bestandteil des Vertrags.
Hilfsweise fechte ich sämtliche in diesem Zusammenhang von mir abgegebenen Erklärungen
wegen Irrtums und arglistiger Täuschung nach §§ 119, 123, 142 BGB an.
Höchst hilfsweise widerrufe ich meine Erklärungen gemäß §§ 312 b, 312 d, 355 BGB. Da ich nicht
über mein Widerrufsrecht informiert worden bin, konnte ein Fristablauf nicht beginnen.
Ich behalte mir vor, die Verbraucherzentrale und auch die Staatsanwaltschaft über Ihre Aktivitäten
zu informieren. Der Weitergabe und Nutzung sowie Speicherung meiner Daten widerspreche ich
ausdrücklich.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
At some point Germany has to rewrite its contract law to protect consumers from this sort of entrapment. Coming from the UK, where consumer protection laws do just that, it's pretty surprising to find even reputable companies can lock you in to a multi-year contract with just your signiature.
The law does that, though. It's highly unlikely a contract like this one would hold up in court. Changing contract law wouldn't make a difference because these companies never actually sue anyone. Basically you're dealing with businesses simply sending out lots of baseless invoices. Normal courts are too slow to deal with companies that can disappear and pop up again under a different name in a matter of days. Even a special small claims court for cases like this one probably wouldn't be quick enough. Maybe an up-to-date customer complaint database would help.
wow. Thank you all for advices. I will dig in a little more on this. Perhaps there is a chance to get out of this clean afterall.
Just out of interest, which part of "monatlich 9,90 Euro" did you not understand?
They changed the layout. Originally the fees were displayed way below the actual sign-up form, only visible when you scrolled to the bottom of the page.
STB, often the layout of these sites is different depending on how you enter the page (i.e. through some ad on another site or directly).
Someone else had a similar issue like this and posted about it here and also got a "smartass" reply just like yours (don't remember who wrote that one, though).
Also, agreed with Punchbear, a sticky might be a good idea, we seem to be getting a topic like this every week now, and while the site / service changes, the scam idea and the proceedings how to deal with it don't.
The two other recent topics about similar scams:
Getting caught out by a "free" SMS website
Scammed by the survey company "Umfragenscout"
(The second is the one CartoonCat already mentioned.)
Someone else had a similar issue like this and posted about it here and also got a "smartass" reply just like yours (don't remember who wrote that one, though).
Also, agreed with Punchbear, a sticky might be a good idea, we seem to be getting a topic like this every week now, and while the site / service changes, the scam idea and the proceedings how to deal with it don't.
The two other recent topics about similar scams:
Getting caught out by a "free" SMS website
Scammed by the survey company "Umfragenscout"
(The second is the one CartoonCat already mentioned.)
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