ADVFN UK - be aware!

S

silviaic

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Hi everyone,

I'm quite annoyed with ADVFN. I went for the 30 day free trial, which I forgot to cancel. Anyway, I decided that I was going to stay with them longer, but I wanted to know how to unsubscribe because I couldn't find the information throughout the website. I sent an e-mail asking how to cancel my subscriptionand this is the reply I received:

Thank you for contacting ADVFN Support

To cancel your ADVFN account you need to send your written consent via the postal system. ADVFN do require 30 days notice on all cancellations or downgrades. Please include your Username as part of this letter and address it as follows.

ADVFN PLC
Subs Dept
26 Throgmorton St
London
EC2N 2AN

Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Regards

Support Team
ADVFN Plc


I think this is ridiculous. Now I definitely decided to unsubscribe. I think this kind of business policy is awful. They've just lost a possible yearly subscription because they are greedy to get a free month when you decide to leave.

Good luck with your trading,

A quite angry Silvia.
 
To cancel your ADVFN account you need to send your written consent via the postal system. ADVFN do require 30 days notice on all cancellations or downgrades. Please include your Username as part of this letter and address it as follows.
Click to expand...
This has been going on for years! I had several threads about the problem.. they kept being locked!
Some people had extreme difficulty getting their subscription cancelled.
I used to have L2 with them, I eventually got it with my CFD provider so no longer needed it, I then downgraded my account even further and no longer subscribed to the PBB because I was so annoyed with their behaviour about the unsubscribe policy.
I thought they may have changed after all these years, but it seems not!
 
'losing' your credit card is a very effective way of cancelling an ADVFN subscription.

worked for me :)


Neil
 
If you read the T's and C's it states the procedure as does the intro email they send you AFAIR. I went through the same thing and had to bite the bullet of a month's outlay. I went to the free service and then upgraded again as my needs changed.

I agree the system is not a good one and needs updating but........

I know you are pissed off at the situation but you would have known about it had you RTM'ed.

Pete
 
robber said:
'losing' your credit card is a very effective way of cancelling an ADVFN subscription.

worked for me :)


Neil
Click to expand...

That's a good one :)
It still doesn't work very well for me, as I have my credit card and bank accounts in another country, and I have to pay the reposition of the credit card. With all the hassle it ends up costing me about the same...Anyway, I sent the letter, let's see how long it takes them to receive it!
Silvia.
 
Did you send it recorded delivery? If you have problems then that might be an idea.. letters can get 'lost'.
 
Just thought I'd post my experience with ADVFN UK so that others can be forewarned. I had a subscription to their services for live prices and wished to cancel (I wanted to change supplier). I followed the instructions on the website to the letter, which involved informing them in writing only (no email or phone call permitted) giving all account and user particulars, one months notice required.

On the subscription cancellation date ADFN proceeded to charge me the subscription fees.

I phoned them up, they say they did not receive the letter; how convenient. I have not used the service since I sent the letter, and to me at least this would indicate that at that date I had the intention of not using the service. It seems likely to me that a person not using and not intending to use a service would cancel the service. Not to ADVFN. They say I can't prove I sent the letter of cancellation, therefore I didn't cancel, and refuse to refund the fee. I have now paid for a service I haven't used in 2 months. Technically I haven't got a leg to stand on, but when they can see my intent, and I have a copy of the letter I can show them (which isn't acceptable either), is it good customer service? Definitely not.

Conclusion: When dealing with ADFN treat them as you would any bad/dodgy/recalcitrant company. Make sure you send the letter registered post so that you can prove you have given them written notice; Otherwise they will just keep taking your money.

Simon
 
Yes that is what happened a few years ago, hence my warning about letters getting 'lost' and make sure you send it recorded.
A mishap with the card might be an idea!
 
Just to add my name to the list of unhappy customers of ADVFN.

I tried to cancel my subscription to one of their services (I can't remember which one exactly). I followed all their instructions but they kepy debiting my credit card. In the end, I got the credit card company to sort it out for me. They suspended any further payments and got my money refunded - well done Barclaycard !!,

When you hear that many people have had the same problem with ADVFN, then you should hear alarm bells ringing. They would seem to be a dodgy company and one besty avoided.
 
as with all things financial, get your credit card company or bank on your side.

If you are paying by credit card, phone your credit card company, and inform them you wish to cancel.
if you are paying by direct debit or through your bank, tell them to cancel any subscription.

this way, YOU take control of the situation, rather than relying on advfn, or any other company to do the decent thing.

re: proof of posting. you can get a "certificate of posting" from the post-office. cost ZERO. the post office records the date and address the letter is going to, stamps it with PO stamp, and you have your certificate.

(admittedly, you dont know in advance who is going to mess you around)

hope this helps for future situations. :)
 
Advfn

I have never been a member of ADVFN mainly because of all the adverse publicity I have heard here and elsewhere. However surely if you set up payment by direct debit, rather than through your credit cards, then you can cancel the direct debit when you like. I am with Nationwide and I can cancel a direct debit within a few seconds online.
 
I was particularly impressed with the ease at which I could upgrade, a click here, miss-click here done. Then I need a letter via recorded delivery to downgrade hmm....
 
Hello everyone,
Has anyone tried to downgrade/cancel their subscription to ADVFN?
The link doesn't work, and after some investigation, I found you have to give them 30 days written (posted) notice.
reading on this board, there are loads of complaints about ADVFN's unsubscription policy,
and several comments of, "we didn't receive your unsubscribe letter". Funny how easy it is to upgrade...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well I telephoned ADVFN and spoke to the Accounts Department a short while ago

The chap at ADVFN told me to write to them to unsubscribe.
I said I've read loads of reports about letters "going missing" and he just "laughed".
I asked him why can I subscribe with a few clicks, but need to go through this rigmarole to unsubscribe",
he told me I should have read the T's & C's. When I told him I'm going to cancel my card to
stop ADVFN stealing any more money from me, he laughed. ****ING LAUGHED...THEN HUNG UP ON ME

My card is being cancelled right now
 
what about the quality of data they supply?
I used their screener for US stocks for a while. Considered it was free, I shouldn't complain. But If I'd get the same quality data after subscribing - what the point then? And there isn't any indication that US Screener is different if payed for.

It kept giving non-existent companies in every scan. Then I have realised that "last trade date" will show some date in the past on these sort of companies. It is not easy to filter them out automatically.
Help on search criteria is organised as Excel file which is always broken. Some obvious criteria are missing (like "last day % change") for the reason that given that some premium services can be reproduced easily for free. So it is big, incomplete, badly documented, with a lot of garbage. And so on and so on. Working with their screener leaves a felling of something dirty and half-broken all the time.
Is it worth paying for?
 
Advfn are complete rip off merchants - You can open an account online - upgrade on line - No problem - To cancel you must write - I have now sent 3 letters and a copy by email - they still won't acknowledge receipt.

Do not use them - they are deceitful to say the least.

W
 
Amazing the contempt that some of these companies have for their clients. The sad thing is you can imagine the meeting when they devise the best way to screw the customer.

This is why it's now so important to read the T&Cs when you sign up for any subscription and anything which doesn't look right or is overly complex probably means the company in question can't be trusted and their business model is based around taking their clients for mugs.

Dump ADFN is all I say and go with http://www.google.co.uk/finance
 
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