I am well aware that this is not a deal and many will flame me and say this is the wrong forum or that this is a re-post. However, at one point it seems like the majority of CAGs gave these people their credit card information in order to sign up for a "free" membership. It should be emphasized that everyone who became a member(including free ones) had to give their credit card info, in case you have forgotten. Many if not all who signed up immediately canceled the auto renew billing feature using the website. It appears that it is now ECA's stance that anyone who did this, did not actually cancel their membership because it was never a working feature of their website. The original thread where I got this info from is found here, full credit should be given to Cager arcane93 for pointing all this out.
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...240887&page=20

I believe as many CAG's as possible need to see this so that they are made aware they may be charged again by the ECA and of how this organization conducts its business. I fear the other thread is not visible enough for many CAGS to see it. Call this the anti deal if you will, but I am just trying to look out for fellow CAGs and save them some money. Despite this not being a deal, I really feel this thread belongs where it is and should not be moved, so that as many people as possible are made aware of the situation. My main issue with this is not that it is difficult to cancel- that is a common business practice by this type of organization....my problem is that they removed a function from their website and are claiming it never worked and have done nothing proactive to notify anyone who used that function and has every reason to believe they canceled.
The ONLY way you can cancel your membership is by a letter through some form of TRACEABLE mail.

send your cancellation here, which according to their terms must be sent 30 days prior to your renewal date:
Attn: Accounting, ECA, 64 Danbury Road, Suite 700, Wilton, CT 06897-4406.

What info is needed to cancel?
Just say you want to cancel and include your full name and email.

---for those concerned about potential unwanted charges: the charge shows up as: "ENT. CONSUMER ASSOC" Phone number 203-761-6180 CT"

Here are some tidbits from the ECA mod's themselves, taken from their forum:
http://forums.theeca.com/showpost.ph...6&postcount=59

Was there a button for auto-renewing?

Yes, for some browsers, but it wasn’t intended to be there, wasn’t a working option and was removed as soon as we became aware

Why can’t we terminate via email?

Because the org has grown too large to handle the volume and requiring a mailed piece separates those who are serious from those who are lazy or finicky – joining and leaving repeatedly – and it gives us written documentation, a paper trail to reconcile against

5.Right to update Credit Card Account Information. If the credit card provided by Member to ECA has expired during an attempt to bill fees per section 4, ECA will revise the expiration date and proceed with billing using the same credit card account.

12. Receipt of Mail. ECA cannot guarantee that it receives any mail that Member claims to have sent. Member should, at Member’s own expense, send any notices to ECA in a form to ensure to Member that their communication arrived at ECA, which form may include but not be limited to FedEx, UPS, USPS Return Receipt Requested and USPS Certified Mail.

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Consumerist has an article about this now:
http://consumerist.com/2009/12/eca-t...canceling.html

Kotaku artices:
http://kotaku.com/5417143/entertainm...llation-policy
http://kotaku.com/5417416/eca-presid...ation-concerns

Joystiq article:
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/02/ec...ation-hassles/

IGN article:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/105/1051204p1.html

Penny Arcade's comment:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/12/...28Penny+Arcade


Better Business Bureau:
http://www.bbb.org/connecticut/busin...on-ct-87070995

ECA contact info:
http://theeca.com/feed_back
phone: +1 (203) 761-6180
fax: +1 (203) 761-6184


Here are parts of the comment from the President of ECA, please see link below for his full statement:
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/12/02/eca-statement

"We updated our website during the same timeframe in a long planned for Content Management System upgrade and an inactive back-end feature became visible, which looked to give some members the option to opt-out of the association. We were alerted to the error and removed the non-functioning feature immediately. Because it was viewable and then removed, those same few members became concerned that it was a feature that had been live all along and was suddenly removed. We then attempted to explain the situation and allay their concerns."

"There were then concerns about the auto-renew structure of our payment system and business model related to that same function. We explained that we are working on ramping up infrastructure to become more automated going forward, but due to a small but active number of members who were repeatedly joining, leaving and re-joining the organization – in an effort to exploit our member benefits and unduly take advantage of our partners' generous offers – we would require a mailed letter, as per our membership agreement. Needless to say, that incensed the exploiters who then contacted the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and their personal banks to report that we attained their membership under fraudulent conditions, in effect committing fraud themselves. Upon investigating the opened investigations, the respective banks and BBB all found ECA to be soundly reputable. We understand that several of the banks have since opened fraud investigations into their customers and that they take such matters very seriously."

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While the President offers an explanation for the button as some kind of short term technical glitch(that button was actually there for some period of time), I believe the ECA has still not done enough to proactively contact members to tell them they still may be charged even if they used the button that told them their account was canceled, thus I hope this thread serves as some kind of notification to fellow CAGs. The main purpose of this post is to inform CAGers that believed they canceled that they apparently have not and to tell them, and others wishing to cancel, what they need to do in order to not be charged in the future.

What's the ECA?