Internet Treasure Chest dishonest fraudulent rip-off billing Lebannon Internet

I called ITC back in April of 2002 to cancel my membership according to the instructions published in the brochure that came with the Internet Treasure Chest kit. I returned Internet Treasure Chest kit before the 30-day trial period expired. I thought very thing was taken care of.

A year later I receive a phone call from Customer Service trying to collect for web hosting for the past 12 months. They said they tried emailing me but the mail was returned, this is understandable because Yahoo closes mail accounts after four months of inactivity.

They also said they tried billing my credit card but it was expired (expired 11/02). Had they billed me after the 30-day free hosting I would have refuted this charge with my credit card company and filed a complaint.

Now, they want me to pay $172 for web hosting a site that should have been closed back in April of 2002. They told me they would cut me a deal by only charge me 60 percent ($104) to settle the matter.

My question is, why didn't they contact me sooner using another method, like the U.S. mail or telephone, other than email?

Now they're threatening to take me to a collection agency and ruining my credit if I don't settle.

Tim
Glendale, Arizona
U.S.A.