GS1 Germany GMBH Scammers won’t let me out of contract….

Hi All,

I am a foreigner living in Germany and have lived here 14 years. I’m aware that Abos can be very difficult to get out of, and have experienced this before. However I’m stuck in one now, despite asking to cancel my account 5 times. 1 per phone and 4 per email.

I guess I might get chastized (this is r/germany i know), for not writing a physical letter. But AFAIK email cancellation is also legally binding, but maybe a lawyer can confirm that?

The short of it is: I had some barcodes from a business experiment I did 3 years ago. After closing the experiment, I wanted to cancel my barcode yearly payment (like 300+/year). They told me in email, that I had to reply to a specific email address asking to cancel. Which I did. I did not hear anything back. I sent a follow up email asking if they can confirm my cancellation. No answer. 6 months or so go by. I recieve a letter from a collection agency that I owe 348 dollars or something for the barcode bill I didnt pay. I pay it IN FULL. I write them again asking if they can confirm my cancellation. No answer.

I assume it was a bill that had come in before I had cancelled or within the cancellation window, hence why I paid it (my fault for not cancelling sooner).

Another year passes, and I receive a hold on my bank account from Hornleyn and Freyer the collection/law firm handling the original bill that I paid in full like a year or something earlier. So now not only do we have the original company (GS1 Germany GMBH) who are ignoring my cancellation requests and keep billing me for a service I no longer am using, BUT ALSO complete incompetence from the collection agency whom I fully paid the outstanding amount. And they have now put a hold and probably a mark on my schufa.

I sent them an email explaining I already paid this, sent all the proof, all the emails, bank account transfer proof. No answer.

Now today I recieved another bill for the fucking barcodes. After I spoke with someone from GS1 Germany (who was nice, and who said: i see you do not have an active account with us any longer).

What….the….fuck.

I don’t even know how to untangle this mess at this point, but I’m ready to contact a lawyer for both cases (GS1 billing me despite my multiple requests for cancellation, and Hornleyn and Freyer putting a hold on my account for an outstanding bill I already paid).

Any reccommendations on what to do? It’s kind of late to send a physical letter now, at this point I think i need to escalate with a legal letter to both parties.

Looks like i’m not the only one. This is basically a scam company that generates a big part of their revenue from ripping people off due to complicated legal and canellation clauses.

Check the reviews:
[https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.gs1-germany.de?languages=all](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.gs1-germany.de?languages=all)

by Haitsmelol