Contract for service - no service provided due to Covid - Company continued billing

JonathanB

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
My wife has a contract with a salon that typically provides her with monthly products and service and charges $425/mo. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic they did not provide any products or service for 3 months, yet continued to bill for those 3 months. We did a charge back with the credit card company that was being billed but ultimately they said they can not reverse the charges because the service was not canceled. The problem is that we tried to contact the business multiple times by both phone and email during these three months to pause or cancel the service but no one responded to the emails nor the phone calls, and that we'll need to work it out with the business when or if they do re-open. They also mentioned that they they cannot help because of "government rules put in place due to Covid".

Are they correct? What are our options here?
 
Are they correct?

If you have no idea if THEY (whoever that might be) is correct, no one else will either.

What are our options here?

Only YOU know your abilities, therefore your options.

You can choose to bring a small claims lawsuit against the salon for the $1275 or whatever amount you believe you don't owe, because you received no products or services over the past three months.

Be prepared for additional Covid crisis stymies, as many small claims courts have shuttered their operations as the nation stumbles along during the Covid crisis.

You could also ask your credit card issuer to issue a new card.

Once the new card is issued, it should eliminate anyone being able to charge against the old number.

It is also a good idea to not allow anyone authority to do periodic billing.

I pay for charges personally each month, as I distrust automatic billing for the reasons you've cited above.
 
we tried to contact the business multiple times by both phone and email during these three months to pause or cancel the service but no one responded to the emails nor the phone calls

What does the contract say about how it may be cancelled? Did it occur to your wife that an actual letter might be a good idea?

They also mentioned that they they cannot help because of "government rules put in place due to Covid".

To whom does "they" refer in this sentence?

What are our options here?

Your wife's rights and obligations are dictated by the terms of her contract. If someone is making a recurring charge on her credit card and won't stop, she may want to consider cancelling the card.
 
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